Aladdin

Last weekend we went to St. George with Jeremy's parents to see Aladdin at the Tuacahn. It was a good play and we had a great time. After the show we were able to meet the Genie, Aladdin, and Jasmine. 

 

Back to School

Taylor started 4th grade today. She was sort of excited to go back to school. She got the teacher she wanted, but both of her best friends are in a different class. Luckily she still gets to see them at lunch and recess. 

 

Taylor insisted on showing off her new shirt. She is obsessed with Hunger Games, particularly Peeta.

 Taylor and her friend Riley

Taylor's teacher, Mr. Gowens

One of my favorite things

 Aren't sunsets gorgeous!

Capital Reef

A couple of weeks ago, Jeremy's parents invited us to go hiking with them in Capital Reef. We left early Friday morning and hit the trail a few hours later. The hike was pretty and we had a good time.

Jeremy and Taylor

Cassidy Arch

The next day we decided to drive through Bryce Canyon before heading home. This was Taylor's first time at Bryce and she thought it was cool.

End of 3rd Grade

I can't believe the school year is over. Each year seems to go by quicker then the last. I wish time would slow down. Yesterday, Taylor's school had their awards ceremony. Taylor received the the Principle's Club Award for having all E's for the year. After the ceremony, her teacher told Jeremy and I that Taylor scored 100% on the end of year testing in Language Arts. We are proud of our cute girl for working hard in school.

Taylor and her BFF Sarah. They both received the Principle's Club Award

Easter & Spring Break

Easter weekend was definitely busy. On Saturday afternoon we went to Grandma and Grandpa Killpack's home for their annual Easter egg hunt. After, we went out to dinner to celebrate Jeremy's birthday. On Sunday we went to my mom's home for dinner and another egg hunt.

Taylor and her stash of eggs

 

For the first time ever, Jeremy had the whole week of Spring Break off of work. We were going to go backpacking as a family, but Taylor decided she'd rather stay home and just hang out together. I was totally okay with her decision since Jeremy and I had just come back from backpacking a week before. We still had fun. On Monday we ordered pizza for dinner and had a movie night. Tuesday we went to the animal farm at Thanksgiving Point. Then we came home and barbequed, had a fire, and roasted marshmallows.Wednesday we went to the movies and saw The Hunger Games. The rest of the time we relaxed and just enjoyed being together.

 

Backpacking

Jeremy loves to go backpacking and he has tried to convince me to go with him for a while now. This year I gave in and went. My mom was super nice and took care of Taylor while we were gone. Coy, our brother-in-law, came with us. We hiked down through Kane Gulch and Todi Canyon. I was worried about carrying a 30 pound pack on my back, but it actually wasn't too bad.

 About 4 miles down the canyon we came to our first ruins. They were really cool. There were several structures and pieces of pottery everywhere. There were also corn cobs left from the Indians. The info we read said the Indians inhabited this area until about 1200AD. It's crazy to think that the corn cobs, fire wood, and structures still exist after so much time.

 This wall is amazing. It is filled with tons of drawings. This picture is just a small glimpse of what it looks like.

A view from the trail

 This ruin was high up on the mountain and I thought there was no way we would be able to get close to it. I was wrong. Jeremy decided to try climbing up the rocks to get a closer look. It scared the crap out of me, but we made it up and got right next to them.

 Split level Ruins.

 There was pottery everywhere around the ruins. This piece was my favorite. I love the design on the piece.

So, I think Jeremy is crazy. On the last day of our trip we were hiking along the trail and high up in the rocks (probably at least 300 ft up) we spotted some ruins. Jeremy decided to see if he could get up to them. Now, I have no idea how the Indians ever got to most of their structures. They look impossible to reach. But of course Jeremy had to try. Coy went with him. I stayed down below and prayed they wouldn't fall.

The picture above shows where they climbed.The ruins are tucked up in the shadows so they are really hard to see. If you follow the shadow line the arrow is pointing at, you may see them.

 

 This is the view looking down from the ruins.

 This picture still scares me. Once Jeremy and Coy reached the shelf the ruins were on, they had to go around the above wall to actually reach the ruins. They had to hang on to the wall to get around it because it came to the edge of a very steep cliff. Those ruins are very old and crumbly. They are lucky the wall held up.

Thankfully the boys made it down from the ruins safely.

Not much of anything

 My goal this year is to update my blog more frequently, but there hasn't really been much to post about. January and February are usually uneventful months for our family and this year was no different. Jeremy worked a lot of overtime during those months. We have been cleaning and decluttering our basement. This has included going through all of Taylor's baby things. It's been harder then I expected it to be. I love to dejunk, but the finality of getting rid of all the baby stuff is difficult.

Below are the only pictures we have taken since December.

 

One day Taylor decided to get creative and built a castle out of Lincoln Logs. Then she went through Jeremy's old Lego's and found people to go with her castle. 

 

The sign for the Payson Temple was put up recently. We walked down one afternoon so Taylor could have a picture taken next to the sign. She's pretty excited for the temple to be built.

That's about it for now. We have some fun things coming up in the next few week so I should have some pictures to post soon.

Catch up time

Alright, I guess it's time to catch up since it's been 2 months since I last posted. The last couple of months have been difficult and busy for us. For the past 7 1/2 years Jeremy and I have been trying to have another baby. We have been to the doctor countless times and have had many tests done, but everything always came back normal. In October we went to see a different specialist that was finally able to give us some answers. After talking to the doctor, Jeremy and I decided to try invitro. It was an emotionally and physically draining process with tons of hormone shots and lots of doctor visits. In the end it didn't work. I wish I knew why Heavenly Father has only allowed us to have one child, but I guess I just have to have faith that he knows what he is doing. I am thankful that I have one amazing daughter and the most incredible husband. Through all of the craziness we tried to find time to do some fun things as a family. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months.

In November we actually had enough snow for Taylor to make a snowman. She can't wait for it to snow again so we can build another one.

Of course we went to temple square to see the lights. Here is Taylor in front of the temple doors. She loved being so close to the temple.

Taylor started volleyball this year. She loved it and can't wait to play again next year.

Taylor and her friend Ashlyn

Like last year, Jeremy was able to take a significant amount of time off of work in December. It was so nice to have him home with us. We watched lots of Christmas movies and spent a lot of time together as a family. I wish he could always be home.

We had a great Christmas. Taylor got some really nice things including a desk from Santa. I am very proud of her. This year she saved up her own money and insisted on buying presents for Jeremy and I. She even used money she received for her birthday. She said one of the best things about Christmas was watching us open the presents she had given us. She is definitely growing up.

Christmas morning

That's it for now. Unfortunately, Jeremy had to go back to work and Taylor had to go back to school. Life is back to normal.

Taylor is 9!

Yesterday Taylor celebrated her 9th birthday. I can't believe how fast she has grown up. She is a sweet little girl and we love her so much.

Taylor still loves Harry Potter so we gave her the set of books. Now she doesn't have to keep borrowing them from her aunt.


Taylor decided this year she wanted to go clothes shopping instead of having a party. So we checked her out of school and took her to the mall to shop. Then we took her to Brick Oven for dinner. Later, we came home and watched Harry Potter and had cake.

Taylor wanted a dragon cake this year. I don't think it turned out too bad.

Fall Pictures

A couple of weeks ago I took Taylor's fall pictures. I think they turned out cute. Here are my favorites.

Labor Day Weekend

Over Labor Day weekend Jeremy's parents took us to see The Little Mermaid at the Tuachan. It was an amazing show and we had a great time.

Waiting for the show to start

While waiting for the show to start we looked behind us and there was the governor and his wife. Taylor was pretty excited about it and even worked up the courage to say hi and shake his hand. During intermission she decided she needed proof that she met him so she asked if she could take a picture with him and his wife and as you can see they said yes. They were both super nice to Taylor and totally made her day.



On Labor Day, we ran the Payson Day's 5k as a family. I really wanted to improve my time from last year (which I did by 5 minutes!) so Jeremy stayed back and ran with Taylor. I was pretty impressed with Taylor for going that far at her age. She even came in 3rd place for her category and received a medal.

3rd Grade

Taylor started 3rd grade today. I still can't believe it. My baby is no longer a baby and it makes me sad. I'm not ready for her to be so grown up. Here are some pictures from this morning.

Taylor and her teacher, Mrs. Gull