Life's Greatest Blessings

On August 25, 2011, "Baby Gwen" was born. Gwen is a beautiful little girl with a Mom and Dad and big brother Jack that love her very much. I've always said that there is nothing like a newborn baby...oh they smell so good and they snuggle and nuzzle even better. Why is it that you can hold and gaze at a baby all day long...well I would if I could. Gwen weighed 7 lbs. and was 19 inches long when she was born. She, as a newborn, looked just like her mommy Jory when she was a newborn. She is changing every day now and growing into herself; she is a good mix of Jory, Chet and Jack. She is a doll! 

Taylor Boys

This is Grandpa Stewart Taylor standing on "Cutie" and his grandson Justin Taylor standing on "Itsy Bitsy". Like Grandpa - like son - like grandson - like great grandson and/or granddaughter...it just goes on and on once you get that "Taylor Blood" in your veins!

A picture paints a thousand words! What else can be said ...?

Aspen is standing and looking at her Dad thinking...what in the heck are you doing Dad?

This picture was taken at Alex and Brooklyn's birthday party on August 13, 2011.

For Heaven's Sake...

Bailee's RHS Graduation must have really wore me to a frazzle!  I think about what I should be writing all the time but I never actually get down to it.  Now I will have to go through all my photos to remember what I have been doing and what I was going to tell about.

Last weekend was the Burnis and Melva Finlinson Reunion in Delta on Friday and then the Ray and Frankie Finlinson Reunion in Oak City on Saturday.  I will need to give a full detailed report on those events.

Kae and I were in charge of the Burnis Finlinson Reunion.  It was a great success.  Some of the men met at the golf course at 1:00 p.m. and golfed all afternoon.  They had a great time! The rest of us visited and swam at the pool at the Days Inn and then went to the Neighborhood Park and ate hot dogs, had pony rides - courtesy of Justin and his ponies and the generosity of his little girls.  Races were held for all ages. To end the night we completed a family tree for a total of 124 posterity plus Mom and Dad.  Kane and I went over to Justin's for a little visit then back to the motel to sleep.  Jaxon stayed with us since his Mom and the other kids had to go back to Herriman. Saturday morning the "diehards" went back out to golf and had a great time.  We met the other kids at "Leo's" and ate lunch then headed to Oak City.

Uncle Bryce and Aunt Edith's Tribe was in charge of the Ray & Frankie Reunion this year.  They did a great job and had lots to do for everyone interested...Bike Ride from the Canyon, Cemetery Tour, Lunch at the Hall, an Auction...I wanted Aunt Norine's quilt but couldn't hang in there with the bidding...I bought some blocks with pictures on them for $20.  Dinner was served and then the dance with the Austin Lovell Family Band.  A good time was had by all!  It was so fun to see the cousins and all the relatives.  It is especially nice to see my siblings and their kids and my kids and grandkids!   Love!  Love!  Love!

Monday night I went to visit Aunt Norine and LaRae.  It was a nice evening.  Aunt Norine was sewing on her Grandmother's Quilt and she has a little more than half done.  She is amazing!  LaRae was tatting around a handkerchief....she is using a new pattern. Now get this...I sewed together a flower for Aunt Norine's quilt. It will be the odd ball flower in her quilt but that is o.k. because I am pretty proud of myself!

Tuesday night was City Council and tonight Bailee went out to eat at the Olive Garden.  Kane is deeply involved in all the events of Midvale's Harvest Days this week.

Bitter Sweet Day at the Taylors

Tonight we went to Mekayla Robertson's wedding in her friend's huge, gorgeous backyard.  She married Brenner Foster.  Mekayla looked so beautiful!  Her dress was absolutely gorgeous!!! It was a cream color with ruffles, ruffles, ruffles...Carolyn is supposed to get me a picture so when I get it I will post it.  All the little grandgirls were in pretty black dresses and they looked so darling. What a party it was -Mekayla and her friends were dancing up a storm...it was fun to watch! So when we went through the line Jackie told us that Justin's horse Haley died earlier today.  Oh that makes me so sad because I know how devastating that is. It is hard not to get attached to those darn animals.  Justin had told us not too long ago that he felt Haley was a keeper...she was smart and very athletic...I am so sorry for Just and Mckinley...they are pretty darn sad about it.  Larry went through that quite a few times. He had to drag horses off somewhere in the night, horses and colts that died..."Bathroom Beauty" a sick little colt that Larry and the boys tended in Grandma Taylor's bathroom, Peppy...Larry said he was more sad about him dying than he was about himself having cancer.

It was fun to see Justin and Carolyn and their little fam, Jessica and Al, Chase and Teresa, Jeff and Amy...they are all so nice.  Sue Nuttal was helping in the kitchen...she is so nice and so talented.  She was in charge of mine and Kane's wedding food...she is such a great gal.

Tonight I am making brownies and cinnamon twists and queso for Jera's Herriman Day's party tomorrow.  The brownies are missing 1/2 cup of powdered milk...hmmm...will they be good? Hope the weather holds out for tomorrow!

Oh, this afternoon I went to the Riverton Arts Festival at the City Park with Bailee and met Jory and Chet and Jack there.  It was pretty fun!  I took some silverware for some fun surprises!  Trace Robinson, our City Engineer, had his booth with Kettle Corn....he is so nice and always gives us ours free. Bailee and Jack went down the huge slide...twice!  Ester Duncan, retired school teacher from Delta, had a booth and was selling silk scarves that she dyed...I bought a pretty pearl gray one...$15.00.  We all bought colorful thread bracelets...a bonding thing.

Well Taylors I am so sad for your loss. I love you.

The Morning After...

This morning was the morning after City Council Meeting.  It was quite uneventful last night...we had our first Budget Hearing and only one person spoke.  Jim Katzdorn and Scott Ball were honored for reaching 25 years with the City.  Jim is retiring this month...he is quite a character!

Earlier in the day a toddler fell into a canal in Riverton...apparently he had crawled through a hole in the fence and went into the canal and drowned...pretty sad event.  I remember when Dot Atkinson's little child fell into a ditch in Oak City and drowned. That was many years ago...Dot is an amazing person.  I have never known anyone like her. She is so happy and positive and fun to be around.  I believe she has had five children die.  When I was young I was at Mel Roper's with my Mom and I was playing outside with some kids and Dot came out to leave in her car and as she backed out her baby crawled under the back tire.  I saw it happen and I also saw Grandpa Mel giving her mouth to mouth.  What a sad event that was.  Lisa her teenage daughter died of cancer and I'm not sure how the other two died.  To be around Dot you would never know but what her life is perfect!  Why can't I be more like her?

I will never forget the time we were together in Branson, MO and we happened into a Wal-Mart and there was a huge map of the U.S. and there were pins at different locations in the map.  Well, silly Dot and I started naming all the cities in Utah that had Wal-Marts in them and placing pins at those locations...we were doing so good and thought we were pretty smart until some guy said, "the pins are where people are visiting from."  Oh my gosh...we felt so stupid and we laughed and laughed and laughed!  I am laughing now just thinking about it.  That was such a fun trip...we were with Howard and Marilyn Clayton, Dot and Jay Atkinson, Will and Kae, Howard and Afton Dutson and Supt. Topham and his wife.  We had so much fun eating, going to the shows, eating some more, going to more shows and eating, eating, eating!  One night we went to an ice-cream parlor and pushed back tables and chairs and turn on the jukebox and had our own dance!  We went twice to Branson with this group - the next time was at Christmas time and we didn't like it as much because all the shows pretty much sang all the same Christmas songs.  The best entertainment was the Andy Williams Show...he was so good and he had a couple dancing...it was so hilarious!

This morning Kae called me and reported that Rex Harris passed away.  Rex was a nice guy...he and Kae were very good friends.  He was a Delta Councilman when I worked there.  He is the father of Tina Harris Nielson - she is my age and a very nice person as well.

A New Day!

Today is Friday, June 3rd, 2011, and it is Larry's 63rd Birthday! Happy Birthday Larry, Dad!

Jory just cut and colored my hair so, of course, I look fabulouso...

Tonight we are going to the 4th "Pirates" and we are so excited!

Last night Kane and I went to Les Miserables and, of course, I cried. It was so good...the music is the best. I lucked out because I had a short boy sitting right in front of me where at the last play "Young Frankenstein" I had a big haired lady right in front of me so I was ornery because I missed the show.

So I'm going home now to take care of my To Do List...

...Family Histories

...Finish Painting 

...Make Quilts

...Make Bows and Headbands

I have a feeling my To Do List will be around for awhile...Dang!

By the way, I am excited to do this blog so I can keep track of myself.

Monday, Monday ...

Today was a very interesting day... as a Recorder someone came to me and needed a document that was referred to in an agreement that dated back to 1919. Of course the document could not be located at City Hall so after a few phone calls, we found that the document was supposedly at the State Archives.  My Deputy Joy Johnson and I went up to the State Archives Research Center and found the particular microfilm that the document was located on and the search began... we found it!  We scanned, evaluated, adjusted and printed the documents that we needed. It was a time consuming process and quite enjoyable.  Hopefully  the document will solve any issues that have come up.

The State Archives Research Center is located in the old Rio Grande Train Station.  It was fun to imagine all the hub bub that went on there when trains were used for transportation. We then ate at the restaurant located in the north end of the building...they have great mexican food!  We sat outside and it was such a lovely, relaxing time...the waitress talked us into a Sante Fe Enchilada...it was delicious!

On our way back to work we saw a major water line break happen ... then when we got back to Riverton on 12600 South and Redwood Road an accident had just happened between a white Corolla and an SUV... well when I got home from work Bailee told me how lucky I was that she was still alive... she and the SUV were turning south onto Redwood Road side by side in the two left turning lanes ... the driver of the white car ran the red light and ran into the SUV... Bailee was on the other side of the SUV and swerved out of the way ... How dang frightening is that?

So ... last night we sold our three Four-Wheelers.  It makes me sad because they are so fun but we don't ride them enough to justify having them.  We pretty much got snookered on the deal and it has made my stomach sick.

Friday night we went to Pirates of the Caribbean and, of course, Captain Jack Sparrow is so great!

Saturday night we had a hot dog roast at the Beardens ... topped off with Smores ... what a fun evening!

Catching Up

Well, I've been thinking about what to post on my blog...I think it will be pretty random because that is pretty much how I think.  My purpose is to post things that we have done or are going to do and to keep a journal of those things...until I get caught up things will probably not be in any particular order...


I am going to start with Bailee's Graduation from Riverton High School on June 1, 2011at UVU.  Her graduating class consisted of 605 students with over 1,000 students breaking off to go to Herriman High School last year. It is unbelievable how fast life passes by and now she will be off to college.  She has been such a great daughter and friend to me...what will I do without her here? 

Graduation was nice - Justin & Mckinley, Brian, Jera, Jory and me and Kane were there to witness this big event.  We then had a celebration dinner at PF Changs and then headed for home.  On the way home Bailee had a un-holdable urge and so we took a detour behind a UHaul Truck and took care of that urge!  Once home some of her friends came over and got their presents and then they were off to Boondocks for the Graduation Party...she came home at 3:20 a.m. and then headed off to Kenna's for a sleepover!  


I think, possibly, the hardest times in my life have been letting go.  Letting go and knowing that I now have a different role in my kids lives. I am certainly hoping that I improve in that role! That person needs to improve and also the Grandma that I am needs to improve... stay tuned!