We're Still Alive, I Promise. ANNOTATED

Brooke here! The reason my mom hasn't posted in almost a year is because she's too awesome for her own good. (She's too kind. The reason I haven't posted in almost a year is because I'm good at making up excuses not to post, like I don't have good pictures of what I want to blog about, or just plain procrastination.) The family is in a perpetual state of motion--they start before dawn and work/school/practice/perform/host/teach/help/serve/etc until they drop well into the night.(This is pretty much true. But whose family isn't busy?)So here's a quick update of what everyone's up to. (As far as I can tell, anyway. They don't call me anymore. (We do too call, just not as often as she'd like.))

Dallin has most of his college applications in and is auditioning for North Texas University today.(He did great! Chris and I sneaked into the foyer where we could hear after he'd gone into the audition room and were soooo proud of our French horn playing son! Turns out his auditioner (is that a word?) knew one of Chris's music professors at BYU.)  He survived the craziest semester imaginable and otherwise laughs in the face of stress. He was brass captain of the Regiment this year and he and John both marched in the Rose Parade this year. (We went to see it live-my first time ever- and it was awesome!)

John is still obsessed with band and plays first alto in the Stage Band. (He's auditioning on Tuesday for Wind Symphony, so he plays classical, too. Although he really prefers jazz.) He has great teachers (I would know, I had half of them at his age) and is otherwise awesome.

Jared is a...blue(?) (nope. green) belt in karate now and returned to public school this year. He's a sixth grader and clearly the smartest kid in his class. (True. But he's humble about it. He made the million word club, and has a goal to read 3 million words by the end of the school year.)

Noah is also at the public school and is probably the most well-spoken third grader in the country. (Well, maybe not the entire country, but he's not shy to talk to anyone about pretty much anything.) His AYSO team made the playoffs (will this season ever end they win?) and he can talk soccer all day long (as long as you don't bring up famous teams or players).

My parents are still working hard at their callings (Dad's in the bishopric and Mom's YW President) and manage to get everyone where they need to be on time. They still look too young to be married for almost 21 years.(Has it only been 21 years? It seems like forever- and I mean that in a good way!)

That's all I can think of for now, and Mom can fill in the rest. (Thanks for updating, Brooke! Feel free to continue, and I'll edit where necessary:)

Brooke here! Since my mother lacks the time and energy to post, I'm going to do it for her! She just doesn't know that right now since she's napping.

So here's HER name poem, written by the YCLs:

This girl is a leader of most everything

From primary to just making people feel a part of something

She likes the color red

And gets outta bed to make sure you're fed.

You're the super mom of the Taylor family

She may not laugh a lot but Brother Taylor

Sure makes her giggly =]

Kids love her but she loves them more

With her there's never a bore.

She is very serious where need be

but get to know her; and she's chill, you'll see.

You can come to her with most anything

She's a great listener who won't go snoozing.

Majoring in early childhood education at Brigham Young University, Provo

Makes her perfect with children you know.

She loves to read and can always be found

reading away and never will frown.

She can cook anything and never the same thing twice

From sugar to spice, it's always nice.

Working with your children was your prophesy

that's why here at camp Taloa you will be known as...

ODYSSEY

And here's HIS, written by me:

Here's a face that we've seen at Taloa before!

When you're around Brother Taylor, there's laughter galore.

He works hard as a teacher & always has a plan,

but his favorite is being a family man.

He tells wonderful stories of his days as a scout

and his Palm smart phone he is never without.

He has many talents, we really must say-

like portraying the lead in "Willy Wonka," the play.

He also plays trumpet and has been to far lands

with Synthesis, the BYU Cougars Jazz Band.

He'll fix your computer or DJ for you-

This technology whiz is happy to aid you.

His Mac holds all music from rock to the blues,

so here at Taloa he'll be known as

iTunes

Celebrate Good Times, or Girls' Camp part 2

It seems like a long time ago now, but girls' camp concluded only 23 days ago. I had a fabulous time, despite silly string attacks and the usual drama that occurs at girls' camp.  It was unseasonbly cool, so the evening firesides were brought indoors to the lodge, which for my talk, worked out much better.  The theme as designated by the Youth Camp Leaders (the oldest group of girls who are going to be seniors in high school in the fall) was "Celebrate Good Times."  Each day at camp was dedicated to a certain time period- 1st day= ancient times, 2nd day=Jesus' time, 3rd day=modern times. The evening speaker for each day focused on that time period.  I spoke about Ruth from the Old Testament, and had a great time with the girls. Courtney, a 1st year girl from my ward, came up to me the day after and asked some questions during scripture study, as she was reading the account of Ruth and wanted some clarification.  Thanks, Courtney- you made my week!

Something else that was a ton of fun was getting my camp name. Camp Taloa has a tradition of giving camp names to girls during their 4th year, and to leaders after their 2nd. Not only did I get my name, but so did Chris!  He visited on Thursday night which is the traditional night for bishops to come, but the invitation was extended to the entire bishopric this year, so he came.  Our camp names are. . hmmm, I feel a game coming on! Here are your choices for Chris's camp name: 1) Goofy 2) iTunes   3) Mac or 4) Schoolhouse Rock  Here are the choices for me (Staci): 1) Betty Crocker  2) Mama Bear     3) Odyssey  or 4) Mary Poppins  Leave your guess in a comment, and I'll post the correct answers in a few days! (Brooke, no playing! --She made up both of our names! And, speaking of Brooke, you should go check out her blog, too.  Go here to see her latest post.)
I love the spiritual charge I get at camp from being up and away from the usual cares and worries of life.  I get home ready to face everything again with a renewed sense of purpose and enthusiasm. Hurrah for girls' camp!!!

Enough words-- here are some pictures!

The drive up-

In the lodge-

 

 

Sister Moore, (camp name A la Mode) Stake YW, and photographer extraoridinaire-

In the kitchen with Brother Lakey (All Star), Sister Thomas, Brother Thomas, and Brooke (camp name Energizer!)-

Silly Youth Camp Leaders, a.k.a YCL's-

Camp Director Purple Heart (Sister Toth), center, with Tinkerbell, left, and Sister Crosby, right, hanging out by the pretty much empty pool (there are a few crazy girls down at the other end of the pool out of the picture shot)-

Cutie Kristen from my ward and silly-stringed Zury from my cabin-(Did I mention I hate silly string?)-

Mail call. Each group of girls sings for their mail-

Or, if you're lucky and get a letter from a boy, you sing by yourself for it! Sister Burke from the Stake young women lives up to her camp name of Tart 'n Tiny-- she's not shy when it comes to singing for her mail!

The leaders kick back and enjoy mail call-

 

The girls and leaders from Upland 5th ward. The different colored shirts represent the number of years a girl has been to camp 1st years are green, 2nd years are purple, 3rd years are orange, 5th years are pink, and leaders are tan-

Sister Heupel on the left (Mosaic) was my fellow cabin mom and we had a great time together. Sister Hiatt (Tye Dye) is the assistant camp director and our bishop's wife. The leaders are from the "Stone Age", hence the sign-

December Happenings and Happy 2009

December was a memorable month! Birthdays, the Nativity art and music festival, Elizabethan dinner, a car accident, illness, and of course, Christmas.


Noah and I are one year older and wiser. (I think I'm just older, but Noah's definitely wiser.)

Brooke experienced her 4th and final Elizabethan dinner as part of the Upland High School choir program. Brooke was happy to be a quadrant leader for the servants for the 3rd year. Her friend Gigi was the queen this year--you can see her in the picture below.

The show always ends with the Madrigals dressed in royal garb singing Silent Night with candles they light as they sing, and then blow out all together at the end. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of the Savior.

Then there's the 16th Annual Christmas Art and Music Nativity Festival that is sponsored by our stake--it's a sight to behold. Thousands of nativity scenes, hundreds of performers, and a really fun children's activity room. Another great way to celebrate and remember the real meaning of the Christmas season!




Chris was in a minor car accident, which injured his lip. This was really bad timing, as he was supposed to play his trumpet with a couple of guys the very next day, and also the day before Christmas Eve. He's fine now, but his lip was pretty grusome for awhile. The picture shows his lip before stitches. He got slammed from behind by a drunk driver, which pushed him into the car in front of him and set the air bags off. The bag beat him up! Fortunately, no one else was hurt, even though the guy took off and hit another car going the other direction. (The only other thing that marred our month a little was this awful virus that gave us all searing sore throats, stuffy, then runny noses, a nasty, phlegm-y cough, and NO energy. I wish I could blame that on not sending out Christmas cards, but alas, I can't.)


And last, but certainly not least, we enjoyed Christmas! My camera was set wrong, so none of our pictures of the kids opening anything came out, so all you get is the tree. It was pretty nice having everyone home from school and Chris around a little more than usual. We had a kick-back morning just enjoying our gifts, and then we headed to Chris's parents house in the afternoon for more laid-back fun. The kids always enjoy running around and playing with all of their cousins, and wii, and being outside. Ahh, if only Christmas break could have lasted for one more week! Oh well, on to 2009!

Fill in the Blanks

So, I should be doing something else, but instead I'm posting--finally. It's been too long, as usual, but I never feel like I have anything to say unless I wait a really long time in between posts. Or I think, "I'll do it later. Right now I need to______________." Fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind----take kids to__________ [another fill in the blank--seminary, school, work, a friend's house, band practice, church youth activity, the store, etc.] do homeschool, exercise, clean the___________[kitchen, bathroom, garage, floor, etc.] make dinner, read___________[scriptures, the newspaper, my book-club book, everyone's blogs, etc.], or even take a nap (yeah, right!). Anyway, so now that I think about it, that something else I should be doing--the audit for Foothill Knolls PTA (where my kids don't even attend anymore)--I'd better go do it while the kids are playing at a friend's and I can actually think. So, I guess now I have to say, "I'll blog some more later, right now I have to___________________." [audit] (Blech.)