Fall 2011

What a crazy few months.  Adam made it through his first semester of law school and I got a job as a financial analyst for Intermountain.  We both played on an intramural soccer team with a bunch of people from the law school and had a blast playing together again. But most of all we have loved being around all of our nieces and our nephew!

 Adam paced Bronson Kelly in a 100 mile ultramarathon and ended up running about 53 miles of it.  Consequently, he also ended up with the biggest blisters that I have ever seen and he emptied almost an entire container of icy hot in the days after the race.



In our new ward, we both got called to primary.  Adam got called as to teach the 10-11 year olds and I play the piano.  Primary is the best and we love being with all the kids.

Halloween came and went all too fast with the Pumpkin Party at Susan's and a great Halloween party with Jess and Matt at their house in Orem.  We dressed up as the couple from Up  - Although it is probably hard to tell...

We also had the great idea of making our own caramel apples.  They turned out so tasty even though the mint green chocolate didn't look too appetizing.

We also had a blast with Heather and Platte at Cornbelly's.  Heather makes a wonderful angel I would have to say.

In November, we celebrated my grandmother's birthday with a Mushroom Chicken dinner and the best pecan pie that I have ever tasted - way to go mom!

Fall was wonderful living at the mouth of the canyon and biking together through all the fall leaves.  And with a pool and foosball table in the basement I claim the only shutout win in foosball 10-0.  Although Adam wins probably 86% of the time.

Thanksgiving was hosted at our house this year :).  Adam spent a ton of time studying and I made more mashed potatoes than I ever have.  Ezra was in town for the holiday and we had a blast playing with the little twins - and helping the Ropers take family pictures.

We took part in a little Black Friday madness and convinced my parents to come with us - a first for them.  Luckily, we were able to do most of our Christmas shopping online this year and avoid most of the craziness that comes along with shopping.

On Saturday, Daniel and Andrea invited us to come press apple cider with Andrea's family - a tradition that they do every year the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Watching the old fashioned press do its magic was amazing, and the cider was some of the best we have ever tasted.

As Thanksgiving break ended, the next few weeks flew by (Adam would beg to differ) with different Christmas festivities and spending time with family and friends.  How fun it was to enjoy the Ugly Sweater-Talent Show-Opa's Birthday-Christmas Party at my aunt Diane's.

My mom helped me make a gingerbread house for the ward party -- I am proud to say that my gingerbread house was the only one that got eaten by a group of primary kids - out of the 20 or so houses that were placed around as centerpieces.

We made the rounds at temple square with a bunch of cousins from my dad's side, the Evetts and Pessettos and had a lovely dinner with all of them.

Adam's finals didn't end until the 19th and I had work up through the 23rd, so its been a bit different than the three week break we are used to, but we are grateful to be where we are at.  A couple days before Christmas we had the annual hike to the tree.  It was freezing, but so fun to sing Christmas carols around the tree - the cinnamon roles and hot chocolate that followed helped too!  I carried my camera all the way up there only to realize that it didn't have a sim card in it... haha - but Adam's phone did an ok job.

Christmas Eve was held at Adam's house with his family and the traditional Bethlehem supper.  We were serenaded by Whitney and Amanda and loved the nativity with the little guy as baby Jesus.  It is so fun to have Whitney back from Jerusalem!

That night on our way to Alpine the Blacks were sending off floating lanterns like the ones in Tangled - so cool.  We drove around to see Christmas lights and were whisked off to bed.  Nathan only negotiated with my parents to wake up at 8:30 and was received with a whole lot of, "that was the best you could do?" from all of the rest of my siblings.



Not a moment too soon, Christmas morning came and the day flew by from there with presents and food and family ending with a wonderful dinner at my grandparents where all the grandkids received awesome new quilts.  Since Christmas our days have been filled with running, work, nerf gun wars, and a lot of games.  We are so grateful to our wonderful families who we get to share the holidays with and we acknowledge how greatly blessed we are.  This past year has been filled with plenty of adventures and we look forward to many more in the year to come.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our dear friends and family.

Summer 2011

Coming back into the States was a bittersweet experience.  We loved the inexpensive food and the fact that Adam wouldn't have to keep track of a billion different coins anymore and we could enjoy not sharing a room and bathroom with 14 other people.  Not to say that we didn't enjoy our experience, but it was nice to not have other people hanging up their underwear to dry from the bunk above us.

As we waited to hear back from law schools we postponed the job search for me and spent our time enjoying the awesome weather.  Tennis became a new passion and we played at least four times a week.  Other than that we hung out with family at family reunions and had a blast going to Bear Lake for a week at a time, playing pickup soccer games with friends, and camping of course.  

For the Fourth of July the week before we spent in Bear Lake before coming back down to Centerville where we ran the Centerville race and attended the big breakfast in the park and parade.  The boys gave their best shot at the climbing wall while Belle and Olivia had a blast in the bounce house. 

It just so happened that the festivities were held on Adam's birthday this year.  He turned 24 and we celebrated with a family barbecue.  We stayed at my house in Alpine with my sister Jessica while the rest of my family was at Bear Lake.  It worked out great because we could be there in case she went into labor - which we were praying that she wouldn't until Ezra got back from China, or at least until my mom got back.

On the actual Fourth we were able to go to the Freedom Festival in Provo with Bronson Kelly.  We were on balloon crew duty, so we helped to unload the balloon and get it blown up.  Unfortunately, the balloons got grounded because of bad weather, but luckily we have gone hot air ballooning before.  They were allowed to stand them up on the ground, however, a huge gust gave everyone a scare as we all jumped on the basket with all our weight to keep it from flying away.  

That night my cousin Sara invited us to go to a Real game with her and a bunch of friends.  Fortunately for us, we had amazing seats right on the half line with free food and fireworks.  No complaining there.  Adam and I both love soccer and even though they only tied it was well worth watching.  

Also, given the lack of restriction on aerial fireworks, Alpine was a great spot to sit on the front porch and enjoy spectacular fireworks in any direction.

Just a few short days later we headed up to Aberdeen, Idaho for a Taylor family reunion.  It's always a blast to get together with family and go swimming at the American Falls Reservoir as well as play volleyball and a whole lot of kill.  Nathan almost got killed after he pushed about every member of my family off of the dock into the water when they weren't expecting it - leading to a friendly water war.  The only downside to the whole weekend was the cropduster that must have flown past about 100 times at 5:30 am.  Uncle Frank who is 88 made up for it by going off the tree swing which is over 10 feet off of the ground.  

McKay for sure had the sweetest toss into the water being thrown by both my dad and Adam.

People got tossed, shoved, pushed, coaxed, thrown, and pulled into the water.

Of course with Adam there I had no chance of not getting wet, and although try as I might - sure enough Adam swept me off my feet once again. 

This is me trying to pretend like I didn't care... haha.  Notice Adam is the one still in the water.

Next was cliff jumping.  Or in Adam's case cliff diving.

Dad was the official egg frying champion and I believe over the course of the weekend cooked over 400 eggs.  Way to go dad!

After Aberdeen we headed back up to Bear Lake for another week of sailing, swimming, tennis, and the beach while celebrating the 24th.  Ezra was back from China and we were still waiting on the twins to make their appearance.  I had fun helping out with Jessica's baby showers and working on the baby blankets that Adam and I were making for the twins.

Of course with Ezra back it also meant that we got to go flying--which is always a blast.

Finally, on August 7th, after the longest labor known to mankind, followed by a c-section, Fae Lina and Ila Jane were finally born!  These two little cuties are the most adorable little girls ever and we are thrilled to have them in our family.  Fae is on the left and Ila on the right, I stole this picture from Jessica's blog.

Summer concluded with a trip to Zion National Park doing Subway and Pine Creek canyons.  No summer is ever complete without a trip to Southern Utah.  

August 15th marked the first day of orientation for Law School at the University of Utah.  The following Friday we celebrated my birthday just the two of us with a night on the town in Salt Lake, complete with Macaroni Grill and a carriage ride and flowers, followed on Sunday with the annual Ricks start of school race and dinner, and then Monday with dinner with my family, Marie Calendar's chocolate satin pie, and then Aida starring Josie Nilson - who did a fantastic job in the performance.  

Adam is excited to be back in school and has now survived his first week - only way too many more to go.  I've started the job search and life is just so good here in Utah where we are happy to be staying for the next few years.