8 Years Old!!!

This little girl is no longer little; she is 8 years old!! I still can't wrap my head around this concept yet. She was just a baby and now she's getting her ears pierced and completely into fashion. Where did the time go? She told me a couple years ago that she wanted her ears pierced but I told her she had to wait until she was eight years old. Well the time arrived:(

She was so brave and so excited!!! I don't know if I was worried it was going to hurt for her or if I was just sad because she is older but I was so emotional while she was sitting there all brave and stoic. 

I try to make my kids' cake each year for their birthdays. Rhaegan wanted a purse cake so I did the best I could. She loved it so it was a success.

Friends and cousins came to celebrate with her making her day super special!!

Grandma Cupps sent a box with 8 presents in it because she was turning 8. Of course for any kids opening 8 presents is a dream come true. Among those eight presents was a pair of gloves and hat. Rhaegan was thrilled because all she has are mittens and mittens are apparently not cool anymore. She was hoping Santa would bring her some gloves for Christmas. Now he doesn't have to:) Happy Birthday, Rhaegan!!! We love you so much and can't believe how grown up you've become. We are so happy and proud to be your parents and hope you had a wonderful day!

Holiday Spirit

I love chocolate covered pretzels!! The mixture of salty and sweet flavors is irresistible. This year I thought it would be fun for Rhaegan and Marlee to make some of these yummy treats. They had a blast and I think they all turned out beautifully!

Rhaegan, my little perfectionist, was still decorating long after Marlee had finished and left the room. It was definitely a fun family activity for us. It might just have to become a new family tradition:)

Horses

My girls LOVE horses!! They will do just about anything I want them to do if it means they get to ride one. Luckily we have some great friends who have a couple of horses and they live about a half a mile away from our house. 

Harper was ready for her turn! She was so excited that she kept escaping into the ring while Marlee was having her turn. She would scream bloody murder when I would catch her and take her back out.

Marlee was so nice and let Harper ride with her. Of course Harper threw a fit about this as well. She is definitely an independent little thing. Shae would rather have Harper ride the horse that we have in the basement. He feels much more comfortable when she's on that one:) Thanks Shane for always letting us ride your horses!!

Amoxicillin

Harper was prescribed amoxicillin last week for an ear infection. In my family amoxicillin is like another member of the family. She was on her eighth day of the medicine when we noticed some small red spots all over her body. We kept an eye on them for a few hours in which time they grew a significant amount. Shae took her to the doctors and was told that is was an allergic reaction to the antibiotic and to stop taking it and give her Benadryl every 6 hours. This was Harper after the doctors and her first dose of Benadryl.

This was Harper 4 hours after that first dose. Of course you can't tell but she was miserably itching her whole body for the ENTIRE night!

The next morning this is what we found when we got her out of bed. Her eyes were almost completely swollen shut, her hands and feet were three times their normal size and she had purplish/reddish welts all over her body. We took her right into the ER because her amazing uncle Josh (an ER doctor himself) was super concerned that the swelling might attach her throat. 

The doctors in the ER were extremely concerned with the look of the rash and the amount of swelling to her hands and feets so the had some blood work drawn.

Luckily the blood work came back normal and she was diagnosed with a severe allergic reaction to penicillin. After some steroids, two Popsicles and a cute stuffed animal from her nurse we were on our way back home. She is still super swollen, which in was told would subside in a few days, but she is slowing returning to normal Harper. 

Color Run

This past weekend we participated in Middleton's Color Rama Fun Run! It was a 5k run, walk, or stroll with 7 stops along the way where you would get blasted with color. Our girls were so excited about the idea of being covered from head to toe in brightly colored cornstarch. We of course had to take a before shot.

Rhaegan, Ashton, and Madison getting ready to start the race.

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Marlee and Brooklyn doing a little pre-race posing. 

And the after shot....

Harper stayed pretty clean the whole time until the end when her cousins decided to give her a little bit more color on the top of her head.

Rhaegan was completely covered and the smile on her face tells you she was LOVING IT!! We all had a great time especially the grand kids. They all decided to ambush grandma as she crossed the finish line. I got a video of the whole thing but no pictures:( it was hilarious!!

Raspberries

Harper loves fruit! Any kind will do. However, she does have her favorite...raspberries. Grandpa has an amazing field full of these juicy treats and Harper is a pro at picking them. In fact, if you're not watching her closely enough she will sneak away from you and head down to the raspberry patches all by herself. She will even carry the raspberry bucket with her so she's completely prepared to gather hand fulls of the fruit. 

She somehow finds a way to avoid the little thorns which cover the stems of each plant. She even knows that you only pick the red ones and leave the white ones alone. Papa Taylor has really taught her how to be a great gardener.

Day at the "farm"

So no we don't live on a real farm, at least not the type of farm you're probably thinking of but some times when I'm playing outside with my girls it sure feels like I'm on a farm. Reed (father-in-law) got three cows several months ago which has made it even more fun to be outside. Harper is obsessed with those cows! They must not feel too threatened by herself because they always walk right up to the fence whenever she's standing there. 

Then of course there's the four wheeler which is also super popular with the girls. Rhaegan's bus stop is about three quarters of a mile away from the house so we usually ride he four wheeler to pick her up. Is has become a great bribing tactic! If Marlee gets into trouble during the day then she loses her chance to ride to the bus stop...bummer!! Harper also loves to take rides around the yard. She could seriously ride for hours.

And then there are some great climbing trees. Rhaegan has mastered one of these trees. If you look closely you'll be able to spot her up in the tree with Marlee down below looking up in amazement. The "Taylor Farm" is a great place for these little girls to learn how to love being outside. No need for video games here!

Marlee the Preschooler!!

It cannot believe that this little lady is in preschool now. She was just my little baby it seems like only yesterday. She was definitely ready to go though. She has always seemed older than she really is and she always wants to be doing whatever Rhaegan is doing so it was time for her to have something all her own.

Now it's just Harper at home which is weird and a little relaxing:)

She looks too small to be going to school.

Her own locker...she was thrilled!

There were no tears (from Marlee at least) and she didn't even look back as I left. I sure miss her when she's gone but I know she is having a blast. Love you Marlee!!

Sibling photo attempt

My mom had sent these adorable dresses for the girls so of purse I had to try and capture a picture of them in their dress. It didn't work out as smoothly as I would have hoped but I'll take what I can get.

Harper has never liked posing for pictures and this attempt was no exception. 

Horseback riding!

This s by far Marlee's favorite activity!!! She asks at least twice a day if she can go horseback riding. Luckily we have some great friends who love (at least they say they love) having us up to ride their two horses Raz and Buck. Marlee is on Buck and Rhaegan is riding Raz.

Instead of riding horses Harper decided to play with some chickens. She is obsessed with animals so when the chicken came close she immediately stood up and walked right over to it. When she tried to hod the chicken though it didn't really like that too much:)

Our great friends Kirk and Emalee were able to join our horse riding fun!!! Our girls always seem to have more fun when Emalee and her sister kaylee are there too.

Cascade

This past weekend we were able to spend a couple days with some great friends up in Cascade, ID. We had a great time! However, I don't think anyone had as much fun as Rhaegan did. She was able to drive the Rhino all by herself which made her feel big and special.

I of course wanted a turn driving. I'm still a kid at heart:) so all the kids piled in and off we went. The cabin was beautiful and the views from all the windows were amazing. After all the kids were in bed each night the adults got to play games and laugh until our stomachs hurt. This mini vacation was just what I needed. Thanks Castletons and Tingey's for a great weekend!

My three little ladies!

Rhaegan and Marlee got these cowboy hats from the rodeo and decided to wear them everywhere. Here they are at lunch in the park and of course they have them on.

Harper is walking now! She has been standing and moving along the furniture for months now. One day she just decided to push off of the couch and walk to another nearby chair. Now she is walking everywhere. She especially loves holding someone's hand while walking so when Rhaegan and Marlee both grabbed each of her hands and started walking with her she was thrilled!

Welcome to the 50's

Our wonderful neighbors have the best 50's style diner in their basement and always treat our kids to some homemade malt shakes, old arcade games and 50's music. We decided to spend part of our family home evening at their place last night and of course we had the best time.

The usual shake flavor is raspberry and chocolate which my kids love. However, last night s new flavor estate introduced...coconut butterfingers. Yes I know what you're thinking...gross. To my surprise it was one of the best shakes I have ever had! 

This is a better look at the diner. To the left is a booth straight out of the movies and the telephone booth to the right made me feel like I was back in London. Thank you Phillip and Diane for a great dessert night!!