Long Time no See...

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to get things up to date here but life has been sooooo crazy!  We went two weeks ago to pick up the kiddos from ABQ and then spent the week there.  I have a ton of pics here so I am sorry that this post is going to last forever but I thought that I would add pics from ABQ too.

We went to a birthday party (Monica 5, and Leah 2),

I got my new camera!!! A Canon 50D.  It is a  MONSTER, and I love it :)

We played "Itsy, Bitsy, Spider".

Took a picture of Jonah.

Read a book.

Listened to Grandpa play some music :)

Met my new niece, Naomi Jean, Love her!!!

Loved this pic of Emily and Naomi!

Took some pics of Naomi once they got home.

Saw some cars in the sand at Cadillac Ranch...

Almost got rained on...

We got home and have been braving out the rain.  Tonight we had a BBQ with our neighbors and met a few others after the fact.  There are a lot of kids on our street and it is so nice that there is a good mix of boys and girls.  The kids are all so excited to ride bikes all the time and meet and play with all the other kids.

The Star of the Show

There was a picnic for the clinic today and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to finally make her a shirt with this fabric.  (I have enough to make all the girls skirts.)  I wanted to make a 4th of July shirt and here it is.  She was soooooo sweet; she walked around saying hi and being friends with all the folks that Lewis works with.  It was adorable!!

Hello, Goodbye, and a little Bling!

We Made It!!  We are officially in OK!  This is the front of the house and believe it or not we will get the van in the garage by the end of the week (fingers crossed).

And this is the view out the back door :)  So nice!!!  We have...

a pear tree...

and blackberry bushes in the back.

When it rains (which has been almost everyday)  we have a TON of little frogs.  We even had a brave bigger frog jump into the house Saturday night.

Katie loves all the frogs and have universally named them "Fred".

On Monday the kiddos helped Papa pack up the truck and they went to ABQ for the next few weeks.  And yes those are plastic deer in the neighbors front yard,  hahaha!

Why is it that Lewis can never take a nice picture?!?!

Love you guys!!  Be good for Nana and Papa!!!

The last point of business (sorry for the long post) was that we finally got Natalie's ears pierced.  She was so brave, I think that it had something to do with the sucker she got in the end :)

What a cutie.

She loves to run all over (I think that it has something to do with the three days that she spent in the car to get here).

Without the older kiddos here she has begun helping Daddy with the weeding.  I went to take the camera in and then when I came back she was putting large handfuls of dirt in her mouth :)  Kids Man...

Thanks a Million!!

This is our dear friend Jared.  He was an Elder for our church in VA.  When he went home he offered to come and help us move to OK.  Well I am not so sure that he really signed up for driving a moving truck cross country or the sleeping lad that kept kicking him in his sleep.  Jared you will never know how much we appreciate all that you did for us.... So we thought that we would grant you a wish :)

I think that the grin says it all :)

Thanks again!!!

The Ride

I know that this is a little off topic but it is the last picture that I took at our home in VA.

So on the 6th we took off and started our journey west to Oklahoma.  It was the 6 of us in the Taylor clan, Nana and Jared W. (our wonderful friend that got more than he bargained for by offering to help).

I drove the whole first day so there are no pics till the second :)  I love the iron bridges!

This one was way cool too!  The yellow caravan is us and, it was way too long of a drive.

Katie and Natalie rode with me and Mom, Ashley drove with Lewis and Austin was with Jared.

Any trip is better with a good snack and a DDP :)

Austin and Jared.

Katie (the last two pics were from a stop we made).

On this day, the book saved us.  I love how Natalie reads with her feet too.

Nana was such a great sport, taking the kiddos swimming every night after we stopped.  I know that she was just as tired as the rest of us but she was such a trooper.  

THANKS MOM!!

We drove by the Arch..

and Busch Stadium.  And eventually made it to Enid.  I am way excited to get the house in order to show to you all but that will be much later this month. 

For Naomi

I have been wanting to post this for a while but wanted the gift to be a secret until it was received.  My brother and his sweet wife are expecting their first baby the end of June and I made this great little quilt for her.  I finished it a month or so ago but finally got it into the mail last week so that they could get it before she had her baby shower.  Love ya guys!!

The front.  Momma doesn't like pink so much so she asked for purple. I love  how it turned out!

I love how it looks all washed and puckered up.

This is the first time that I did a pieced back (it was a technique that I saw online a lot),  but I really like it and will do it again.

I can't wait to meet you this summer sweet baby Naomi.

Playing in the Sun

With the sun finally shining and the rain gone (for now) we were the headquarters for a fun afternoon.  The kiddos had a blast playing out in the yard with their buddies.

I totally loved this pic.  Natalie was using the calculator as a phone. What a girl!!!

Wolf

Last night was Austin's last Pack Meeting here in VA.  He and I worked really hard (now I know why they recognize Mothers when the boys reach new levels) so that he could get his Wolf.  He was really excited but I could not get a good pic out of him to save his life.  So I sewed the patches on his uniform and took some this afternoon in his new Bear Scout uniform.  

Lewis gave him a pocket knife to celebrate.

Austin was not sure the best way to display his knife for a picture :)

I totally love this boy!

Last VA Pics

Yesterday I took my last set of pictures here in VA, at Burke Lake.  

Ashley - 10

Austin - 8

Katie - 6

Natalie - 1

Happy Mother's Day

A Mother's Prayer

Help me dear Lord, as a mother, I pray 
And bless these hands folded in prayer today; 
May they be ever strong as they guide, as they teach, 
Being never too far for a child to reach. 
May they never, with selfishness, try to dissuade, 
Nor too quickly punish, nor too slowly aid. 
May they point out the pleasures in laughter and song, 
And may they show, wisely, the right from the wrong, 
So that one day I'll know that I've helped all I can 
To make her a woman, to make him a man.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Love you Mom, Evalee,Grandma Kathy, Big Grandma, Anna, Emily, Elisha, Kristen, and Lydia.

Update

Quick note to all.  In the next few weeks I will be going nuts packing and purging the extra junk from my home in preparation for our upcoming move.  I will most likely not have more than one or two more posts till we get to Oklahoma in June. Love you all!

Jenny

Okay, like I need to be completely insane prior to our move; we have added Jenny to our family.  She is a great little pup that we rescued.   She is so tiny and sweet that I am not loosing my mind yet.  Even Lewis loves her :)

I added this picture so that you could see how little she is.  (We had to buy her a cat collar which isn't so bad since it has a little bell on it we always know where she is)  Supposedly she will not get any bigger than about 7lbs.  I love that wirey hair.

How can you not love that sweet face?!