January in Review

 

A lot has happened in just one month! It was a month ago today that sweet Grandpa Taylor passed away. We were able to say our final goodbyes at his funeral on January 9. It was a wonderful funeral service, and a fitting tribute to Grandpa's extraordinary life. He will be missed, but we all look forward to the day when we can see him again.

Three-and-a-half weeks after Grandpa Taylor's passing, and the day after Grandma Taylor's birthday, Sarah and Joel welcomed a new little guy, Sawyer, into the world. I love this picture of Sawyer and his big brother Leo--look at Leo's eyelashes!! It's neat to think that Sawyer got to spend some time with Grandpa T. before his birth. I bet Grandpa told him all about the wonderful family he was going to join. We're so happy that Sawyer made it here safely and that he and Sarah are both doing well!

 

Also in January, we got to celebrate Dad's birthday! Here is the Birthday Grandpa with four of his favorite girls.

 

One of the highlights of January for me was the sleepover extravaganza with the Barretts! We had a lot of fun watching movies and hanging out with Mom and Dad.

 

Also this past month, I was able to begin presenting a fun program about Joseph Smith's candidacy for President of the United States. I've only presented the program a couple of times, but it seems to be really popular. Everyone's favorite part is seeing this original campaign pamphlet from 1844 that we have on loan from the Church Archives. I love my job!

 

 

 

Today Mom and I had a fun adventure at Macey's Super Bowl tailgate party. It was so much fun! February has gotten off to a good start!

Grandpa T.

 

On Wednesday evening, sweet Grandpa Taylor ("Grandpa T.") passed away at the age of 94. I am so grateful that I was able to visit him last Sunday with Mom and Dad. He wasn't doing very well then, and I'm not sure if he knew I was there, but I hope that he did. I told him goodbye and thank you for being such a wonderful example to all of his posterity. He had such a fun sense of humor, and I will miss him very much. I have so many happy memories of Grandpa, but some of my favorites are from the trip that Mom, Dad, Rich, and I took to Palmyra, New York in 2002 to visit Grandma Cathy and Grandpa on their mission there. One of the most special experiences that I remember very vividly was hearing Grandpa bear his testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon at the Grandin Printing Shop where the Book of Mormon was first printed. And one of my favorite funny memories is of when Grandpa took all of us for a wild ride through the Sacred Grove in a golf cart :) He was such a good person and spent his life in service to others.   

 

I love this picture of Grandpa as a park ranger at Bryce Canyon. That was a special thing Grandpa and I had in common--we were both park rangers (I think it's funny that the uniforms still look the same as they did in Grandpa's day!). One time Grandpa told Greg and me that the National Park Service issued him a gun so that he could protect himself from rattlesnakes . . . and communists :) I will miss Grandpa so very much, but I am glad that he doesn't have to suffer anymore and that he can now be with Grandma, Uncle Richard, Aunt Susie, and many other people who he missed very much. I look forward to seeing him again someday. I love you, Grandpa T.! 

 

On a more lighthearted note, I had a bit of an adventure coming home from work on Thursday. I was riding the FrontRunner train, and we were almost to Lehi Station, which is my stop. We were going through the Jordan River valley just north of Lehi, and suddenly the lights went out in the front car (where I was sitting). The train then started to slow down and soon came to a stop. The train operator said that the train had lost power and she didn't know how to fix it. She pried the side door of our car open, jumped out into the snow, and hiked back to the engine to see if she could get things running from there. The only problem was, the doors she had opened wouldn't close . . . and it was about two degrees outside (see picture above--the view out my window)! So we had no power (no heat), and now the door was stuck open. Finally some other passengers got the doors closed, but unfortunately the operator's sojourn to the engine was for naught. So we sat there for about an hour and a half (45 minutes without light and heat) until they sent an engineer to fix the train and rescue us. I was talking with Mom when the train started moving. I said, "Hey, we're moving!" But then I looked out the window and said, "But we're going the wrong way!" For some reason the train could only go north, so they took us back to Draper where we all transferred to another train that then took us back down to Lehi. I finally made it home three hours after leaving work. It was quite the ordeal, and we even made the evening news!

End-of-the-Year Catchup

Wow-----A LOT has happened since my last post!!! Things have been crazy-fun-busy, and it has taken me this long to get all of my pictures uploaded and to record the latest happenings. So get ready for a long, action-packed blog post!

 

In mid-November, the movie that I have been waiting two years for finally came out . . . Lincoln!!! I was so excited to see it. Mom, Dad, Rich, and I went to see it shortly after it was released, and we all loved it. It was a very well-done movie, and it made me feel nostalgic about the day that Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) and Doris Kearns Goodwin came to the Lincoln Home back in 2010.

On Thanksgiving, Mom, Dad, Rich and I had a delicious Thanksgiving meal together! It was nice to be with them for the holiday (Greg was still in Illinois). That evening we went over to the Barrett's for some tasty leftovers and pumpkin pie.

The day after Thanksgiving, I flew to Springfield to embark on the final leg of our move to Utah (moving Greg and the animal children). That evening we were able to have a fun dinner with our friends the Atkins and the Harmons. It was so great to see them--I do miss my Illinois friends! We spent the entire next day cleaning the house and preparing for the long drive ahead (although I did manage to get a chocolate Coke at Del's and have lunch with my friend Linda!). That evening we had a nice dinner with Greg's friends from the funeral home. They were so sad that he was leaving, but they were happy that he and I would be together again after three months of living in different states. Early the next morning we packed up the animals, said farewell to Illinois, and hit the road. The two-day day drive that followed felt like the LONGEST road trip in history! I have a new appreciation for parents who travel with their kids. We had a carsick kitty who cried for about 19 out of the 21 travel hours, and two wound-up dogs with small bladders. It was quite an adventure, and we were all relieved when we reached Utah! 

Luckily Greg liked the new house I had purchased :) We arrived a few days before the moving truck full of our stuff, so Mom and Dad were nice enough to bring us some food for our first night at the new place. KFC and sparkling cider! If it wasn't for Mom and Dad, I never would have been able to get the house ready to move into. While the house itself was in good condition, it'd had some pretty rough wear, and it took A LOT of cleaning and repair work to get it whipped into shape. Mom and Dad spent many hours transforming it into a beautiful home . . . and Greg and I absolutely LOVE it here!!! 

One of the best parts about being back in Utah is that I get to do fun things with my family. On December 1, Greg and I got to attend Camden and Riley's Christmas piano recital. They were definitely the best pianists in the group, and it was so fun to be there!

On December 3, a new exhibit opened at the museum called "Portraits of Childhood," featuring paintings of kids. This was the first exhibit opening where I had some real responsibilities, and I was a little nervous, but everything went really well. Before the opening reception, Greg and I had a yummy dinner at the Lion House and got to enjoy the Christmas lights on Temple Square.

This is such a pretty place!!!!!

Mom, Dad, and Rich joined us for the opening reception, and it was a wonderful evening. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love my job? :)

On December 7, Mom, Rich, Greg and I had a fun adventure when we attended the Christmas smorgasbord at IKEA--it was AMAZING! Look at all of the delicious food they had prepared! It was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and we strategically placed ourselves near the food, so we were some of the first ones in line :) We decided that we need to make this an annual tradition!

On December 10, the new Utah Transit Authority train, called Frontrunner, began service to Utah County. Since we live just a 1/2 mile from the Lehi station, it makes it really convenient for me to get to work every day. I LOVE riding the train to work!!!! It reminds me of being in Chicago, except that it is less scary here :)

December is quite the birthday month! Some of my favorite people have birthdays in December: my friend Emily, my friend Susan, Aunt Karalie, Ben, Mom, and Sidney! On Sid's birthday, we had a Mom/Sid party at the Barrett's. It was a lot of fun, and Ben was excited to help them blow out the candles. Luckily Greg was able to join us for the festivities--he had just started his new job and was REALLY busy. He has been working very hard, and he really enjoys his new boss.

On Christmas Eve we had a fun time with the Taylors and Barretts doing our annual nativity reenactment--only this year we had some cool masks. The white shirt that I am wearing has been the angel costume ever since we were little kids. It used to be an angel dress, but now (at least for me) it is an angel shirt :(

The Barrett kiddos were excited about their new Christmas pajamas! We missed having the Agates with us but know that they were having a nice time together as a family in Illinois.

Christmas morning was a little less-crazy than usual at our house because Greg and I had gotten our main presents before Christmas (a new house, a TV, etc.). But we still managed to create a small pile of exciting shiny papers and bows for Lily to enjoy! We had a wonderful Christmas, except that poor Greg got sick, and I bruised my tail bone. That afternoon and evening, we had a fun visit from the Taylors and a fun visit to the Barretts.

Yesterday I had a fun visit from the Barretts at the museum! They came to see the new exhibits and to enjoy the Christmas lights at Temple Square. The kids all drew a picture to put on the lighthouse in the youth art competition. Here is Ben saying "CHEESE!" by his drawing.

And here are all of the kiddos at the lighthouse. It was great to see them, and I am sorry to hear that they have been sick today! As of yesterday, our Illinois house is officially SOLD! We are very relieved to not have two houses anymore, and we are grateful that it sold so quickly. This has certainly been an exciting month, and we are looking forward to welcoming a new year this coming week!

Halloween Fun and November Snow

What a fun Halloween we had with the cute Barretts! Here are Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa) with Camden Lou Who and Wednesday Addams getting ready for our butternut squash soup and pumpkin bread bowl Halloween feast.

And here is the whole crew ready to do some serious trick-or-treating! Camden Lou Who and Wednesday Addams were joined by Clawdeen Wolf, Frankenstein (aka FrankenBen), Duck Dynasty, and their cute Barrett cousins. FrankenBen was a little suspicious of Darth Vader.

Clawdeen took the post-trick-or-treating candy inventory process very seriously.

FrankenBen was very happy with the results of his trick-or-treating adventure. "Cheese!!!"

 

 

FrankenBen especially enjoyed dancing to "Monster Mash." Sorry that my camera didn't pick up the song in the background, but at least we caught his sweet dance moves. What a fun Halloween we had!

Halloween was such a warm, beautiful day, and even the first week of November was unusually warm and nice . . . but then this last Friday the snow came! I had to drive to work that day because we had a program at the museum that evening, so the commute was rather harrowing, but the snow certainly was beautiful! I had a meeting over at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and this was the amazing view of Temple Square.

Before the program I walked over to the Lion House for a delicious dinner, and when I was walking back to the museum it was SO beautiful outside!!!! It was snowing, and Temple Square was very quiet and peaceful. I did have to be careful when walking past the Tabernacle though, because I had learned earlier in the day that large sheets of snow randomly slip off of the Tabernacle's domed roof! Luckily the large pile of snow from the roof landed right in front of me, instead of on top of me!

 

Mom, Dad, and I have been busy getting the new house ready for Greg and me to move into later this month. It turns out that it has required more cleaning than we originally anticipated. The other day Dad found 29 Crayons in one of the heat vents, and he discovered more in the fireplace vent on Saturday :) I also found a DVD in the fireplace vent. And we have discovered that Mr. Clean Magic Erasers really are magical--especially when dealing with Crayon artwork on the kitchen cabinets. I don't know a lot about our house's previous occupants, but I do know that their kids loved Crayons. Greg's parents came to town the other day, and we had a wonderful dinner with them! So it's been a great last couple of weeks, and I am looking forward to some fun and exciting weeks ahead--this week I will get to be involved with my first exhibit opening at the museum!

Pumking Season

Once again it has been far too long since I have posted anything, but I will try to get caught up on the happenings of the last few weeks. It has been crazy busy, but a lot of great things have happened. First I must mention that I LOVE this time of year--especially because it is pumpkin season, or as we now shall call it: pumking season! There is this funny pumpkin patch that I pass every day on my way to the bus stop, but instead of "Pumpkin Patch," all of their signs say "Pumking Patch." At first we thought maybe they did this on purpose, which would be clever if there was a pumpkin king on their signs or something, but there is just a witch on the sign. We really think that they think pumpkins are pumkings :)

Pumking season means that there are numerous delicious pumpkin treats--my favorite of which is the Arctic Circle pumpkin pie shake! Mom and I have been having a great time enjoying all of our favorite pumpkin treats: pumpkin pie shake, pumpkin smash Jamba Juice, pumpkin empanadas (something we just discovered this year), pumpkin spice Hershey's Kisses, pumpkin spice marshmallows, pumpkin pie Pop Tarts, and pumpkin pretzels--yummmmmmm!!

I have been LOVING my job at the museum. I get to do so many fun things, and I have had some great training opportunities. One of the things I have gotten to do is participate in the National Association of Interpretation certification workshop with some of my co-workers. In mid-October we traveled to a farm in Centerville for the weekend and learned about interpreting history for the public. Apparently I am a sheep whisperer, because when we were walking around the farm, we passed the sheep, and I bent down to say hi to one of them. And then the whole flock came running over! (They must have thougtht I had food.) They were adorable. There was also a baby buffalo at the farm. The man who owns the farm said that he gave the baby buffalo to his wife for Mother's Day--so if you are ever in need of a Mother's Day gift idea, there is always the baby buffalo option. I get to go back to the farm this weekend to complete the training certification and I am really excited. 

The girlies and I have been continuing to enjoy practicing for Halloween by checking out the dress up box inventory. They are so funny!

On October 15, as the last hurrah for their fall break, the Barretts came to visit the museum. Now these are some cute kiddos!

The museum has this funny/random kids' area with "barking" chickens and a lot of different activities. The most fun thing the kids did was learn to do some Mexican dancing. It was SO cute--while the girls were swishing their big skirts around, Ben was trying to follow their lead--except that he didn't have a skirt on, so he had to try to use his shorts. :) He is such a funny guy!

On October 16, there was a beautiful rainbow in Salt Lake. I am especially mindful of rainbows ever since Grandma passed away. The coolest thing is that at the same time as the rainbow in Salt Lake, there was another rainbow down in American Fork! Mom sent me a picture on her phone.

And then later that same evening, there was ANOTHER rainbow in American Fork!

October 18 was Greg's and my #4 anniversary! Since we hadn't seen each other for a couple of months, we decided that it would be fun to rendezvous in St. Louis. So on Friday, October 19, after work, I flew to St. Louie. It was great to see Greg!

We stayed in St. Louis Friday night, and we had been planning to stay there for the whole weekend, since it was going to be such a short trip, but then we found out that our favorite little Emma Atkins was having her birthday party in Springfield on Saturday. She had been hoping that Greg could come to her party (he was one of only two adults she wanted to invite to her party--the rest were babies and dogs). So we decided that it would be too sad to be so close and not attend the birthday festivities. So we drove to Springfield and spent the afternoon with the Atkins. It was great to see them, and I wish that we could have seen more of our Springfield friends, but we went back to St. Louis that evening (since my flight left early on Sunday morning). I was also able to see Lily and the Spikes while we were in Springfield, and they were all so cute and happy to see me! I think the poor animal children are confused about where I have been. It was such a quick trip, but it was great to see Greg, the Atkins, and the animals!

On October 22, I bought a new house! This is Greg's and my cute new town home located in Lehi, UT. We had originally planned to just rent for a while, but we realized that it was going to cost more to rent a place than it would to just buy. So I found a great home in a perfect location--it is right by the Frontrunner train station, so it will be easy for me to take the train to work, and it won't be too long of a drive for Greg to get to work either. We are really excited!

To celebrate the new house purchase, Mom, Dad, and I met up with the Barretts at Gardner Village to check out the Halloween witches on display. There were a lot of nice pumpkins around too!

Poor Ben got a little scared when Camden was hiding behind her cape :)

Here we are by one of our favorite witches--Pirate Witch! And of course the kiddos also loved seeing Witchy Poo :) We had such a fun day! It got pretty cold here last week, but luckily it has warmed up a bit and should be quite nice for Halloween tomorrow. Happy Halloween Eve!