Granite Hot Springs

Every year my family goes snowmobiling over President's Day weekend. This was Beckam's first year for the adventure and he did so well. Especially considering it was freezing cold and snowing on our ride. We went to Granite Hot Springs, WY. It is the neatest place! You ride in, change into your swimsuit in a one room hut, and get down the snow covered steps as fast as you can, and step into sweet relief - a natural hot spring. It is so fun to be in the middle of winter, surrounded by tons of snow, and be hanging out in a toasty warm bath tub. Beck LOVED that part of the ride and it was so fun to share this tradition with him.

After we left the hot springs, we drove into a secluded area and made a fire to warm up. I love making a fire in the middle of winter on top of 10 feet of snow, it is the funnest feeling. Beckam was definitely intrigued by the whole experience, and was SO GLAD to finally get some food in his tummy. He is such a good boy and was a trooper on this fun, but crazy adventure!

Baby Pigs!

The mama sow had her babies! I was so EXCITED to share this experience with Mark and Beckam. A little secret that you might not know about is that I grew up being a midwife to pigs. There were many nights spent driving the four wheeler down to the farm - at times in freezing cold conditions- to check on the sow to see if she was dilated or having contractions. We would all take turns and at the first sign of possible piggies, we would call my dad right away and he would be down to help get the process started.

It is definitely one of my favorite memories from my childhood. I loved the experience of being there when they were born and witnessing that amazing moment. Well, the good news is - just recently my dad was able to get two more sows and they both had their babies. A total of about 24 little piglets running around my dad's farm. We took Beck down to see them when they were just a week old and it was so fun! It was both Mark and Beckam's first experience with piglets - priceless!



There she is - the mama pig herself in all her glory. She is inside a farrowing crate. It helps prevent her from rolling on or crushing her babies.

Oh how I love my little rascal!





Driving in the truck with grandpa, listening to "Big, Bad, John!"

Lookin Good

Oh how I LOVE this little man! We put his suit on for the first time the other day and I just think he is adorable! I can't believe how big he is getting... he fills everyday with laughter and fun!

We are so grateful for the joy you bring into our lives Beck. We love watching you learn and grow and feel so lucky to be your parents. You will be two years old soon and we can't believe how big you are! We love reading books with you, watching "shows," bath time, snuggling on the couch, watching you dump out every container you can find :), watching you interact with everyone you see - EVERYONE loves you and your sweet personality, we love hearing you laugh and giggle, taking you out to eat, singing your favorite songs - "Popcorn Popping" and "Patty Cake," teaching you how to say new words, bringing you to Mommy's school so you can entertain her students, playing "1,2 jump," and we look forward to many more fun filled days with you!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Salad Spinner!

I love his curiosity for all kitchen gadgets! He could care less about his toys... he just loves exploring and finding out how things work. This is his all time favorite toy -the salad spinner- I just love him!

Happy New Year!

What a wonderful way to ring in the New Year! We love love love this tradition of spending New Year's with our dear friends the U-Crew! Thanks for a fun night and here is to a wonderful upcoming 2011.





Sorry for the double picture...
This has been a life saver for us! I am getting my gifted and talented endorsement through the State of Utah and I get to use this macbook for my program. The best part is we get to use it for entertainment in the car for Beck. I just love this little man!

Merry Christmas

We just love these two! We had Mark's parent over for Christmas morning and a yummy breakfast. We love spending time with them laughing, playing games, and enjoying our little rascal. Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing this morning with us.
He knows where the good stuff is... sneaking some fruit from Grandma's yummy fruit platter. He loved, loved, loved the presents and excitement, but was definitely ready for some breakfast.
He got caught - with his cheeks full :)

Mark's surprise from me - a Nixon watch
One thing I loved about Beckam this Christmas is he took time to play with each toy he opened. It was so fun to see his little mind at work figuring out how each toy worked.

Beckam asked Santa for a mini-trampoline and that is just what he got! On Christmas morning we actually had to wake him up at 8:00 and when we walked into his room he was jumping up and down in his crib. He was so happy! He must have known what was coming his way. When he got downstairs he was so excited to try out his new toy! He climbed right in and started jumping away. Mark and I really want to create Christmas morning memories that are magical... and I think we got a pretty good start. We feel so blessed to have Beck in our lives. The holidays are so much more fun with him to share them with. He is truly the sweetest boy!

Team Taylor

Mark is the greatest! He bought this neat pop up book of the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2 and read it to us on Christmas Eve. One more tradition that I am very excited about!
Me and my little angel boy... I love him!
Cute Gracie singing the song she wrote for our family - The Twelve Days of Taylor :)
The whole Taylor clan at our family Christmas party.

Dad's Work

Last semester Mark and I didn't see much of each other with our work and school schedules... it was kind of tough. But we were blessed to have two full weeks together for our Christmas Break- free of work and school! It was sheer bliss and we loved every second of it. Mark had to work the Monday after our break started, so Beck and I decided to pay him a visit and see what Daddy does everyday! Beckam was in heaven... there was plenty of room to run around!


Daddy and Beck with his cleaning cart... we love our amazing sweeper man!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

These pics are totally out of order - but definitely one of the highlights for Beck :)






We LOVE this time of year! We have started a new family tradition and we LOVE it! We always love to see the lights at Temple Square, but this year we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. It always seems a little rushed and crazy to drive down and back in one night, so we stayed the night in SLC and took TRAX from our hotel to see the lights. Beck was such a good sport in the cold weather, but he is definitely not a fan of that stroller - oh well... he is growing up too fast!

We enjoyed every second of our little adventure. One of the highlights was a gift from one of my students. She told me there would be a gift waiting for us at the front desk of the hotel and it was a gift card for breakfast the next morning. It was seriously the best breakfast we have ever had... I highly recommend the Little America breakfast buffet. YUMM!

We love establishing new traditions for our family... and are so excited for our two week break from school and work. Merry Christmas!