TWILIGHT!

Mindy, Jess, Kristi

Mindy, Jess, Karissa, Kelsi

Jess, Kelsi, Karissa

Karissa, Kelsi, and I went to see 'Twilight' with my sister Kristi, and their cousin Jess. We were all very excited, had a great time and of course, loved the movie!

Thanksgiving Dinner 2008

Jacob, Mindy, Karissa, Sam, Kelsi

Jacob, Bryan, Karissa, Sam, Kelsi

Bryan cooked a DELICIOUS THANKSGIVING DINNER!
Isn't he AMAZING? I was his assistant--I even made the homemade rolls! I was very grateful to him for fixing the wonderful dinner. If I would have had to face it by myself, I would have cried...or bought 6 Jennie-O turkey loaves like Karissa suggested :)
It was great to be together as a family and enjoy good food!
We are all VERY THANKFUL for all our many blessings!

Hotel Taylor

We had a great fall break!

We had thought about going to a hotel for fall break, but then we came up with an even better idea--'Hotel Taylor'--free of charge! The rules were no friends, no phone. It was great!

We went to the store and got all sorts of good food, treats and snacks, like we would take with us if we were going to a hotel.

We played games, watched movies, went to the park, went to Chuck-a-rama, and we even went to Build-a-Bear, and each of the kids picked something out. Everyone had a good time--it was a great fall break!!

Snow Creations!

The first snow!.....Sam was the only one at our house
that was excited by the whole idea.
He played for hours and hours...every minute of spare time,
he had so much fun building snow creations.
He couldn't get his brother or sisters to come out with him.
He finally talked me into going out with him...
we built a snow wall and threw snow balls at pretend bad guys.
I felt like a kid again--oh what fun a 5 year old brings!

"I'm so excited to build so many things!"

"Come see the 4-wheeler I made!"

"Look at the snowman I built all by myself!"

"This is the best day ever!"

Kids just say it like it is...

While Sam and I were playing in the snow, he went over and picked up a rake that had been left out, and said, "Wow!--Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" And he began raking snow over to the wall we were building and said with amazement: "Look, I'm getting lots of snow!" I asked him how he thought of such a good idea, and he answered, "I just be quiet and listen to my head...that's what you do."

Wow!

'Wow!' is the theme for Reflections this year.
We sort of have a tradition of making sculptures
out of model clay each year for Reflections.
It's the one time we actually buy the model clay,
and all the kids get very excited to create with it.
They are all very artistic (which they surely
don't get from me), and they always do a great job.
Here's this years creations...

Wow! -A Pig Eating Pizza!
by Karissa

Wow! - An Oreo Tree
by Kelsi

Wow! - A Colorful Creation!
by Jacob

Wow! - A Talking Raindrop!
by Sam

Karissa ventured out and also entered a photo
she took for the photography category of Reflections.
Here's the photograph she took and entered.
The first thing I said when I saw it was...Wow!
And, oh yeah, this would be the donkey that sneezed
on her at Thanksgiving Point Farm.

Ahhh, it's Fall!

I love Fall.
I love the crunching of the leaves.
I love the colors.
I love wrapping up in warm
blankets and jackets.
I love the pumpkin treats.
I love the early nights.
I love the 'angel' in the leaves.
I love Fall!

"Mom, I'm making a leaf angel!" -Sam