Family

My niece Kristi and I.

Beautiful cousins

By brother, Woody, Sister-in-law Karan, India, Jarrison and Noah.

Krist's husband, baby McKinley and Noah

Playing tourist in Seattle

We decided a couple of weeks ago to go play tourist in Seattle. Living less than an hour away we usually get to Seattle several times a year but we have never stayed the night up there with the kids.

So off we went. First we went to the Woodland Zoo, which is a fantastic Zoo. After that we went and checked into our hotel that was on the water and we had a beautiful view over looking the sound. We then headed down to Miner's landing for a dinner at The Crab Pot and hung out at the arcade and merry-go-round.

Taylor-bear!

We were so close to the bear we could see the snot dripping from his nose.

Watching the elephants.

Mommy and Tay.

Hanging out with Dad.

First Merry-go-round ride.

This was the fastest Merry-go-round I have ever been on. It was totally making us dizzy.

On the second day we went to the Space Needle and decided to go on a duck tour. Which is a bus that was used in WWII that went on land and then into water. It was an hour and a half tour and was so much fun. We drove downtown Seattle, over to where the Mariner's and Seahawks play and then into Lake Union. We learned a lot about Seattle that we didn't know and were the only ones on the boat who were locals!

Wait for me!

Beautiful day.

The sleepless in Seattle house in the background.

It was a great quick little trip and was fun to play tourist. We are grateful to live by such a cool city with a lot of rich history and interesting people. And it was wonderful to spend time together!

Trying to catch up!

If I don't post new pictures of the kids my parents are going to kill me! Here is a quick update on what we have been up to the past month. It's been a long month filled with a lot of appointments for Taylor. He is now in Physical Therapy for his Tortacollis and is doing great and hopefully this month will be filled with more fun and not so many doctor appointments.

The boys at a chess tournament. Notice Jarrrison is all smiles. This was taken when he thought he was getting a trophy!

Here is a picture of the boys after Noah got his medal and qualified for the WA State chess tournament and Jarrison did not! Priceless picture!

India taking Taylor for a ride.

On Valentine's, we set up a scavenger hunt for the kids. The prize? A Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake in Taylor's bed!

The shirt says it all!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Taylor at 9 months old. 18 lbs and 27 inches. He is still little but he seems huge to us now. He has come along way from 5 lbs and 17 inches!

Crawling!

The new Manatee Mascot for Jarrison's class! This was taken at his Cardiologist appointment.

Noah's awesome pinewood truck! He placed 4th in the derby. Woohoo Noah!

Jarrison with his fabulous teacher on Author's night. He did so great reading his story in front of all the parents and kids in his class.

The best Valentine's present ever

This morning while getting ready Noah handed me his essay that he wrote for school. Here it is...

My mom, Christine, gave birth to a tiny cute baby boy named Taylor. He's been alive for 9 to 10 months. He's so much fun. He is also a great conversation starter. He means a lot to me.

Taylor loves to sleep. When he falls asleep he won't wake up for about an hour and a half. Wake up sleepy head! Yesterday night, Taylor fell asleep for a good 45 minutes, then India woke him up. Remember, always bribe your sister with a toy so she'll be quiet. One time, Taylor fell asleep in the car when there was so much noise. Deep sleeper!

One day, Taylor started to cry so I played with him. Then I had to go to the bathroom and he started crying again. He loves to play with me.

Taylor's so playful. He loves to play with his toys and likes to play with basically anybody. Taylor will play and play if you play with him. Just smile and he'll usually laugh and smile. He's just so much fun. If you leave him, he will cry.

Taylor's so much fun to watch in his car seat. He just looks at you and he smiles. He just too much fun to watch. He plays with his plastic chains hanging from his car seat.

Taylor will play with his Binky. And he'll put it in his mouth. It's the coolest little thing. But you always have to watch him. He can't be trusted!

He's cute and awesome, he can scoot and roll over all the time. He even waves bye-bye. He so tiny.

One time , Taylor rolled over from the fireplace to the kitchen. When I got home my mom told me, and I couldn't believe it. He's such a little rascal!

Remember, always appreciate your siblings. Do you have any? If you do, say: "Your awesome!"

After I finished reading this I had tears streaming down my face. I know Noah is grateful for Taylor but I am so grateful for Noah and his siblings. They are the loves of my life and I don't know what I would do without them. They have so much love for each other and I am so grateful for this. They truly are each other's best friends. I am so blessed to have these children and a wonderful husband! This was a great Valentine's present:)

Just hanging out with Noah:)

SO frustrated

I am so frustrated. I wanted to update the look on my blog. I changed the background and poof! EVERYTHING on the sidebar is gone.

So PLEASE, please leave my a message with your blog site so I can add you to my bloglist.

And hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and I can update the blog with pictures!

Thanks!

Merry Christmas

I really wanted to send out Christmas cards this year but with Darren breaking his foot, Taylor coming down with RSV, snow and too many kids around and having a house with 16 people visiting, I decided against it. This will have to do this year.

This has been our year for trials it seems. But for all the trials we have had, we have been blessed greatly. Our biggest blessing being our early but healthy Taylor. We cannot imagine life without him and it has only been 7 months. He is such a joy in all of our lives and we are so eternally grateful for Heavenly Father sending him to us.

We had a beautiful white Christmas this year. And it was made even more special with the visit of my parents from Mexico. We had a great visit with them and it went too fast. They were so much help and gave us a much needed break. We can't wait to see them and Darren's parents in 3 months for Jarrison's baptism.

Again, we are grateful for all our blessings and to be celebrating the birth of our Savior. May you all have a wonderful Season.

We love all of you and wish you a Happy, Safe 2009.

Darren, Christine, Noah, Jarrison, India and Taylor

Noah, Jarrison, India and Taylor

Just the boys

Our sweet little princess.

Tay and Lou

He is such a goofy boy:)