Since I'm not in North Carolina......

Technically I should be enjoying some major beach fun right now, but since I'm not I better keep up with the normal blogging. Last week, Shae's parents were in town to help welcome their newest granddaughter (Shae's brothers newest daughter) so we got to spend some time with them. We ended up doing so many fun things even though it was 100 degrees pretty much everyday. I've come to realize that I HATE the heat unless I'm at the beach. Anyway, we decided to try out this new amusement park thing called Liberty Land. It is in Lehi right off of

I-15. It was a blast. There was nobody there and Rhaegan was even able to ride the big roller coaster (with me sitting next to her of course). I wasn't really expecting it to go so fast but it did and Rhaegan loved it. She even had her hands in the air like a true roller coaster pro.

The bumper boats were a huge hit. We got wet which helped us all cool off a little. Rhaegan thought they were "so cool" as she put it.

You can't see Rhaegan but we are in the front car coming around one of the big turns, Shae was trying to catch at least one good picture of Rhaegan on the ride but she was too small to be seen over the front car.

We also enjoyed some time is good old "Farm Country" at Thanksgiving Point. Rhaegan decided to be a little cowgirl. I couldn't resist a picture.

As you all know Rhaegan loves animals and was in heaven with all the different breeds at the farm. She wanted to touch and feed them all. She even got to ride a pony all by herself. Of course my camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get any pictures of it. We really had a lot of fun. Thank you, Reed and Jackie.

Where have I been???

So I feel like I need to apologize for the blogging hiatus I have been on for the past couple of weeks. There has been so much going on and so little time to sit down and blog. However, I do have a lot of entries to enter so you are all in for a treat.
Last week began our busy schedule with a wonderful visit from my best friend, Katie. We met in Fremont, CA 3 years ago and have been great friends ever since. She now lives in Davis, CA and needed a break from her extremely busy life. And what better way to do that then with a quick trip to Utah. We had so much fun. It was as if we hadn't been away from each other for almost 2 years! It started off with a trip to Cafe Rio for dinner right after she arrived. She loved it (well who wouldn't)!

At the airport. She thought Rhaegan was so big. The last time she had seen her she was 9 months old.
Next...we of course had to have a BBQ up in the canyon. Our friends Bart and Crystal joined us and we had a great time eating great food.
We then had to get a picture before the three girls headed up the mountain for a little hike.

We had a lot of fun. We of course did a lot of fun stuff throughout the rest of the weekend but I never remembered to take anymore pictures. Oh well, I have the great memories in my mind at least. Thanks Katie for a great weekend. I love you and hopefully we'll see each other again soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMMY!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMMY!

We Love you Sam and hope you had a great day.

You're the best 4 year old we know!

Love you!!!

10 Things I Love About Rhaegan!

From the day Rhaegan came into our lives we have been thankful that we were blessed with such a sweet little girl. She of course has her moments but always finds a way of melting our hearts and helping us remember everything we love about her. There are definitely more than 10 things I love about her but the blog would go on forever so I had to narrow it down a little bit.

1. She has the biggest blue eyes and knows how to work them in her favor. They can hold such big emotions and when she cries they produce the best "crocodile tears" (as my dad use to call mine).

2. She loves to read! Her day begins with books and ends with books. Before she even starts to think about going outside with her friends she has to flip through at least 30 books. What an adorable little nerd.
3. She is so polite and kind to others. Of course we have to remind her to say "please" and "thank you" for time to time but they are a big part of her vocabulary.

4.She has so many great friends. She loves to play outside with all of them and enjoys trying new games that they make up each day. She has a love for Spiderman and Power Rangers because 99% of her friends are boys. We could say "she's one of the guys."

5. She helps out around the house all the time. Her new favorite chore is cleaning the toilets and folding the laundry. She always wants to help and tries so hard to do a good job.

6. She loves to swim (just like her mom). Whenever I mention the words "pool" or "swimming" she immediately runs to find her suit and sunscreen. She's my little fish.

7. She loves going to church and nursery (surprisingly). It took us about 1 year to get her to stay in nursery but now that she's comfortable she asks for it daily and loves to comfort those kids who are upset when their parents leave.

8. She loves animals. She's not afraid to pet them, hug them, eat their food, whatever it takes to get near them she will do. She especially loves dogs and hopefully one day we will have one of our own.

9. Her prayers are so sweet. My eyes fill with tears every time she says one. She loves to bless the food even when we're not sitting down to eat and always, without fail, blesses President Monson. She really helps bring the spirit into our home.

10. She loves to try new things. Her current favorite activity is doing puzzles. She wants to take them everywhere and loves to do them for all of our friends.

There are so many more things that I love about Rhaegan. Maybe this blog will be a "to be continued....." blog. We'll see.

Beauty Queen in the Making

My little Miss Rhaegan decided one day that she was old enough to start wearing makeup. I don't have any makeup besides mascara so that is what was going to have to do. She found it, opened it, and applied it. Doesn't it look beautiful? She came walking out of my bathroom and was so proud of herself that instead of getting mad I thought what a perfect photo opportunity. There is a picture of me at her age with makeup all over my face so it must be genetic.
You will still sometimes find her in my bathroom looking for the mascara but luckily I found a great hiding place for it. Now it's on to the deodorant. She is definitely becoming a girly girl.

Annual Ward Campout

Last weekend was our ward's annual camp out and Shae and I decided (pretty much at the last minute) we would try out the whole camping thing with Rhaegan for the first time. I was a little bit nervous because when I don't get enough sleep the next day is pretty much the day from you know where. I really thought Rhaegan would enjoy an exciting new adventure and so I told myself "one night won't kill me." Well...we didn't sleep but it was a lot of fun. Our tent was on a major slope so we kept ending up at the bottom of the tent on top of each other. It was also really cold and I hadn't prepared our family for the drastic weather change. Rhaegan was layer is all the clothes I had brought for her. It all turned out okay and we survived and what's even more amazing is so did Rhaegan. I think we might just try camping again some day. Rhaegan loved the tents. It was like her own little fortress.

Breakfast the next morning was prepared by the bishopric and while they were making the bacon the smoke started to fill the lodge and off went the alarms. It was so loud as you can see from the above photo.
We put together a friendly game of volleyball which turned out to be a blast. I don't even remember who won.
Rhaegan discovered the fire pit right by our tent and enjoyed throwing rocks into it and then fishing them out, ashes and all.

X Game Contestant

Watch out X Games, we have a new contestant entering the four wheeling competition. Her name is Rhaegan Taylor and she will be riding with a little man known to most as Dennis the Menace.

Rhaegan was a little nervous to get on the four wheeler but once she got a little taste of how exciting it was she didn't want to get off. Her friend "Dennis" loves giving the neighborhood kids a ride on the back and went nice a slow for our little girl. They look like a young teenage couple off on a date or to the Prom. Thanks for the great ride, "Dennis."