7 Years

It's a big day for Samantha! 7 YEARS OLD!!

 Of course we woke up bright and early to open presents.....

A new robe, beads to make jewelry and hoola hoop were a few of the presents.

We spent the rest of the morning at the Magic House.

The Magic Tree House exhibit...

Arts and crafts.....and experiments...

Spent time in the grocery store......

 We went fishing.....

 let our fishes go and watched them return to the pond....

 Fixed a car......

Worked at a Pizzeria.....

Took care of the babies in the nursery......

Put in a full days work at the bank......

We did MANY MANY more things---we were all worn out by the end.....proof----

all Owen could do was lay down with his lion!

We all came home and took naps! Later we had the requested birthday dinner--- RIBS! I love that my 7 year old daughter wanted ribs for dinner! 

She also wanted a Lady Bug birthday cake.

Samantha Christine Taylor

A quick look through the years......

We are so proud of the sweet girl that Samantha is. She is very mindful of others-- especially her little brothers.She is always wanting to make things or draw pictures for others--. She loves to make friends. She is SO enthusiastic about just about everything. She has a strong personality. A a beautiful little spirit.

We are so incredible blessed to have her in our family. We Love You- Samantha!

Ward Christmas Party

 Our shepherd and angel getting ready for the Nativity 

 Visit with Santa

Owen was too concerned with picking out his candy cane(he grabbed 3) to sit on Santa's lap to tell him what he wants.

Felt

I think the theme of this years Christmas is FELT. Between a gift that Mike and I are giving the kids for Christmas and then the advent calendar-- I don't think I want to see another piece of felt for a very long time :)    I FINALLY completed our family Christmas Advent Calendar. It has been in the works since our first year in Medical school-- but I just kept putting it off. Luckily this year a friend was doing the same calendar on her blog- so it gave me the motivation that I needed. I first saw this calendar on Pottery Barn Kids-- and just like everything from that place-- it was SO far out of our budget. I spent FAR FAR less money and  plus it gave me chance to make it a little more OURS. Yes it took a while to finish-- but I am happy with the way it came out. I hope that it will be something that the kids will cherish and will provide many memories. I still remember our advent-- and remember how exciting it was to see each day pass-- getting us closer to Christmas!

(a big shout out to my mom for drawing the template of the tree,star and stump- thanks Mom!)

I still have to add our name to the bottom-- that will happen sometime.....

CHOIR

Samantha's 1st grade choir class had a performance a few weeks ago. The theme was "Bedtime" They all wore their pj's. She was so excited- especially because she had a speaking part.

Samantha standing in front of the schools mascot (they are the Oakville Lions)

The crazy boys while we were waiting for the performance to start

The Performance..... (our camera doesn't take the best pictures long distance)

Samantha doing her speaking part

They all did such cute job. The songs they sang- Llama, Llama Red Pajama, I Dance Myself To Sleep, Twinkle, Twinkle and Hush Little Baby and one other one that I can't spell-- (it's a french song).

We ended the night with a icecream cone from McDonalds :)

He's making his list and checking it twice...

One night Owen didn't want to go to sleep (he's in the transition from a nap to no nap) and it's hard to ignore his cute little yells to Mike and I. So we let him come out with us for a bit. He spent a lot of his time on the floor looking at a Toys'R'US ad and pointing out all the "Car-Vroom" 's that he wants. He is MAJORLY into CARS2 right now-- has to watch it atleast once a day.

Sisters....

A couple of days ago there was a big fat box with my name on it--inside was a pair of super cute, super comfy, super warm boots. My sister Steph had surprised me. I can't begin to express how much those boots mean to me. Not because they are fabulous boots-- but because Steph had sacrificed some of her hard earned money(and believe me she deserves every penny she earns with the job she has) to buy me something that I could not even come close to affording. These days an extra 10$ is a big deal--so these boots are a huge deal to me.
My other sister Cassie is currently going to school full time and working-- which those who have been in that situation know how tight money can be. She is saving her money right now so that she can fly out and visit us sometime at the beginning of the year. She knows how homesick I've been-- so of course I can hardly wait.
I've been incredibly blessed with amazing sisters. Both very giving, kind and thoughtful. We were raised by a woman who taught us to be just that through her example. I am so grateful for our relationships.We have such a good time together. In fact Samantha said to me once "Mom, when you get with Steph and Cassie you guys like you're 12 or something" which funny thing--- she is pretty accurate! I love the woman in my life (sisters in law included) I am so incredibly fortunate-- so extremely blessed.

Prayer

These past 2 weeks have been a difficult time for the Taylor family. In just one short week we've had our 18mo old niece diagnosed with Leukemia and our brand new nephew end up in the ICU with severe problems with his lungs.

Living away from family is always hard- but it especially is when things like this happen. You want to help-- you want to do so much- but the miles apart make that impossible. Thankfully there is one thing that we can do-- and that is pray. I am SO grateful for the knowledge of prayer. I am so grateful to know that when I pray, there is a loving Heavenly Father listening. I know that our prayers are answered-- and answered accordingly to the will of the Lord. I am grateful that our prayers offered on behalf of our family members are felt by them hundreds of miles away.

Thankfully things are looking up. It's still a long road for both families-- but things are going in the right direction. Sadie's prognosis is a good one. She has been diagnosed with a highly curable form of Leukemia. She has been responding well to her treatments. The doctors are hoping/expecting that if her little body responds to the 28 day cycle of chemo and other treatments- the cancer will be gone. 

Zach is slowly being weened from the medications he is on as well as the amount of oxygen he is on. He recently had his chest tube removed and he is on a less intense ventilator- which is good news. They are hoping that if he continues to do well-- tomorrow his mom will be able to hold him again-- which she hasn't since the morning after he was born (over a week ago). And then hopefully he will remain stable enough to be moved to the CT scanner-- so that they can get a better look at his left lung to see what is causing the problem.

Mike has some pretty incredible sisters(and families)- wonderful mothers with amazing faith. They are an inspiration to me and I am so grateful for their examples. 

So- yes- we haven't been able to physically help- but we have been able to pray for them-- and that is just as important and perhaps even more effective. I know prayer is strong and it is real.