Wedding

I didn't think we had pics from Kayla's wedding, but I found some on Ty's computer from his IPhone. When Kayla gets her professionals, I'll post some more...she was so pretty and we don't really have any good pics of her. Carter was also the ring bearer and there aren't any pictures of that...so I'll post that later.

These are the practice cakes I made before we left for Spokane. Double layer Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting middle.

The final products. Ty and Isaac were lifesavers and spent the time and armwork tinting the fondant while I worked on the rest of the cake. I thought they got the colors just perfect.

This isn't a great picture, but it kind of shows Kayla's hair. I had so much fun doing a rope braid on both front sides and then all up in curls in the back with pearls and flowers. Kayla had this gorgeous green and gold silk tied into her hair and it really sparkled.

Ty's family are all great dancers....we had a blast with the dancing at the wedding. Carter was so excited to dance with a little girl, Lily. Taylee tried to cut in, but found another partner, Gideon, instead.

All the sisters/sister-in-laws got pedis/manis. It was Taylee's first time and she was so cute about it all. She picked out her favorite color hot pink.

Weekend at the Farm

For labor day weekend, we drove up to Neola, Utah to stay with one of Ty's old mission companions, Anthony Whiting, and his family. Don't know where Neola is? Let's go one town larger... Roosevelt? No? How about Vernal? Neola is about an hour outside of Vernal. It's a tiny town, but really pretty...so much land everywhere!

The Whitings have 3 kids, 2 of which are our kids' ages. The kids all know each other from mission reunions and get along really well. Carter and Taylee were so excited for this trip.

We got to Neola in time to attend church...and everyone was so sweet to us. The primary was sooo well-behaved. I was blown away. There were a lot of kids, but they were so polite and reverent. Whatever is in the water there, we need here.
For dinner, we picked fresh vegetables from their amazing garden.
Then we checked out their land and all their animals

and of course played and hung out

This is Carter's very favorite dog. He wants a dog just like her. Why? She was super pregnant (in fact, she delivered 8 puppies the night we left) and wouldn't jump on him. That's all Carter looks for in a pet....one that will leave him alone.

Making homemade ice cream. The moon and stars were amazing outside

I thought this picture was so cute. Two old mission companions back to work. A guy from their mission in San Diego had moved to Roosevelt, so they got dressed and went to visit him and share a message.

Taking a ride on Anthony's motorcycle.
Visiting the Vernal Temple
Merilynne's family has a dairy farm, so we dropped by. Here's Ty helping milk the cows...I couldn't stay in very long because of the smell, but Ty was a trooper and helped for awhile...and had cow poo on him the drive home to show for it.

Taylee checking out all the milk being stored

and petting all the farm animals...she was in heaven with so many animals

Merilynne gave both kids a drive around the farm

they thought they were pretty neat

It was STINKY! I don't think I could ever adjust to the smell of a dairy farm...at least not with pregnancy sense of smell

While the guys were milking the mama cows, we helped feed the baby cows

and the kids helped shovel some hay...well, I don't really know how helpful it was

We went skeet shootin'....no-Ty, Anthony, and Merilynne went skeet shootin'. I couldn't even hold the gun up...so I watched and took pictures

We discovered Ty has a pretty good shot

Little country gal

Thanks Whitings for a fun weekend!

A week later for Family night, the kids wanted to go back-so we did the next best thing...visited Thanksgiving Point Farms

"I am 16 going on 17"

I guess 2 and a half going on 17 would be more accurate

Our little Taylee is awesome. She has the fastest and most extreme mood changes of anyone I've ever met-BUT-she can change her mood into a happy mood in a matter of seconds. Seriously. She just decides "I'm happy now" and she is. It's incredible. Her "bad" moods...not so incredible. She is super loving and very nurturing to her big brother...I can only imagine how she'll be to little brother. She has a definite style and loves to pick out her own clothes and dress herself. The dressing herself part I love...the clothes/outfits she picks out...not so much. She is very good at expressing love and lets me and Ty know multiple times throughout the day how much she loves us.

She is definitely our little princess and we are so grateful she's a part of our family

She rarely takes naps now, and if she's does-it's of her own free will. This is how I found her a few weeks ago when she put herself to bed. True princess style...with cinderella gown and all

Some samplings of Taylee's style:

notice the princess crown at the lunch table

headwear's important

as are tights...you can never have too many tights

Now, this was my doing...but I was soooo happy that my girl finally has long enough (and thick enough) hair for french braids! Hurray!

For about 6 months now, my kids have just been doing showers. I was done with doing baths and they were happy to move on. They love their hot (and often long) showers. They're pretty independent with them. A few weeks ago at dinner, Taylee said she wanted a warm shower. She got down, cleaned herself up, and got into the shower. She was being really quiet (there's usually loud singing involved), so we went in to check on her and found her like this:

Sound asleep with the warm water raining down on her back. I was super glad it was a shower and all the water drains right out. Warm showers help me get sleep too. Don't grow up so fast my little lady. These young days with you are too precious