Taylor Family Through the Years

Daniel and I were married 13 years ago today.  We haven't been the best at taking pictures of our family, but I managed to find a picture or two of the family as it has evolved over the past 13 years.  I included the location the picture was taken, just for fun.

We normally celebrate the 'birthday' of our family with a cake, but since I need to avoid all sugars right now, we are celebrating a little bit differently this year.

I am very happy that I married Daniel.  He is a very good husband and I love him very much.  Sometimes I feel like I completely lucky because he married me.  Daniel says that luck is one of his skills, so perhaps we both found good luck when we found each other! 

I decided to try on my wedding dress and I was able to get it on!  It didn't fit the same as it did 13 years ago, but I am still very happy with my body, so all is good! 

So here is a snapshot of my family over the past 13 years! 

1998 (Silver Lake, Utah) (our engagement picture)

 

1999 (SLC Utah)

2000 (SLC Utah)

2001-Spring (Vernal, Utah- in front of Daniel's childhood home)

2001-Winter (Murray, Utah)

2002-Spring (Murray, Utah in front of my childhood home)

2002-Fall  I include this picture, not because it a stellar photo of any of us as it was the end of moving day, but because David (Daniel's brother) was living with us and he was part of our family (and those Halloween costumes I made were adorable! Paul made the cutest Eeyore ever!)

2003 (Grand Junction, Colorado)

2004 (South Jordan, Utah) (I am 8 months pregnant with Seth)

2005 (Sandy, Utah)

2006 (Stone Mountain, Georgia)

2007 (Jackson Hole, Wyoming)

2008  (Riverton, Utah) This is the only picture I can find of our family this year.  Yuki was here with us for just a few weeks during the summer.  (but if I cut him out, Mark winds up having a hand on his shoulder- and that looks weird!)

2009 (South Jordan, Utah)

2010 (Riverton, Utah)

2011 (Draper, Utah)

Here's to many more photos to come!

Ladies and Gentlemen

I was cleaning out my blog posts and found a post that I never published.  This was taken in December of 2009. 




The boys finally discovered that our window seat doubles as a cool stage!

Paul and Seth put on a little play for.  They started it out with the curtains closed and  Paul said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, gather around for some entertainment!". What fun kids!

Pictures From the Past

Here are a few pictures of my family from the fall of 2005.   It blows me away that my boys use to be so little.  They have all grown up so much.  

I have been going through our old videos and I came across this one.  This was taken when Seth was about 1 year old and Paul was about 4.  I absolutely LOVE listening to Paul giggle.  It is seriously one of the cutest sounds ever. 

Pictures From the Past

Girl's Camp 1994  

This picture was taken the last day of camp.  We all had dirty hands and faces.  My favorite camp leader of all time, Karen Ogden, was brave enough to put her face in the photo.  She looks so sad, just makes me want to pack her up and take her home (for a nice long shower!)  (Click on the picture for a larger image)

The Black Crayon

Paul December 2002 age 16 months

Paul was in the kitchen coloring with crayons. I left the room to change the laundry and when I returned I discovered that he ate the black crayon while I was gone! I love how his little teeth are colored black! He looked too cute to be upset, this was definitely a 'Kodak moment'!

The Train Cake

I use to make special themed birthday cakes for the boys. Now that I live by the mantra of "simplify", I no longer spend hours trying to figure out how to make a cake that never turns out the way I envisioned it.




This picture was taken on Mark's 3rd birthday. He was really excited to have a train birthday cake. My friend, Jenny Updike, came over the night before the party and helped me mix the different frosting colors and frost the cakes. I remember it taking us a long time, but we had a good conversation while working.

Mark was so proud of his train cake. And then...



...I cut it into pieces and put in on plates. He was really upset and looked so down hearted. Poor kid. He wanted to keep the train cake, not eat it. I don't remember if he ate any of the cake at all. Kids never seem to eat much cake, that is one reason why I quit making elaborate cakes.

Exhausted

2004 Mark age 4 on the left, Paul age 3 on the right.

I don't remember where we went or what we did, but whatever it was, the boys were exhausted! I was pregnant with Seth at the time, so I made them get out of the van and walk into the house by themselves. They were so tired that they collapsed onto the couch without even climbing all of the way on! I took this picture and then made a little bed for each of them on the floor. I didn't put them on the couch because I had to clean the couch cushion where Mark was sleeping!

When I look at this picture I can feel their exhaustion!

Strike a Pose

I fear that I will be embarrassing myself and others by posting these pictures, but I think that the fun memories that accompany them will be worth it.




1993 Erin Carnahan and Sherron posing as our Avon representative. Erin and I walked around the neighborhood to our friend’s houses and when they answered the door we could say “Avon Calling”. We raided the back of my mom’s closet and her old clothes in the attic for these beautiful outfits. Unfortunately, the glasses that I wore were actually my real glasses, but they weren’t my current pair. I went from these big brown ones to the big wire frames. Wow! I am a beauty!



We later changed the name of this activity to Nerd Vogue-ing. I’ve never had to spell it out, so I’m not exactly sure how one would spell ‘vogue-ing’. This picture is of a group of the kids in the neighborhood.(L to R) Emily and Libby Remington, Ryan Empey, Sherron, Liz Grover and Denise Willes (my sister). 1994



Once again we were at it, this time with (L to R) Sherron, Libby, Emily, Debbie Willes (my sister) Kara Kresser (my cousin) and Denise Willes (my sister). It was a lot of fun to play dress up and run around with very few cares as to what people thought of us. We even went out to eat like this! I am a bit more reserved now! (But Marianne, I am almost serious about wearing the coconut bra to the next Enrichment Night!) LOL!