Christmas

 This year we had decided that we were going to stay in St. Louis. There was no way we could afford to fly and driving in the winter is always risky- especially if it's a 20 hr drive. Mike really lucked out and got the week of Christmas off as part of his 3 weeks of vacation. We know that this will NOT be the case for the last 3 years of his residency. One day Mike threw out the idea of driving home for Christmas. BIG mistake- because from that point on all I could think about was the possibility of being with our families for Christmas. We decided to wait and see what the weather was going to be and then we'd make the final decision. At last the final decision was made-- we were going to do it. Like I said before-- in the next few years we'll be lucky if Mike has those days off, let alone the whole week-- so why not take advantage of the blessing it was to have that time off and just do it!
We were incredibly blessed to have great weather (only a few little spots of concern) and our kids are traveling rockstars- ZERO complaints or whining during the whole 20 hrs. They were just so dang excited to see their grandparents and aunts and uncles- which made the miserable drive worth it for both Mike and I.
We loved being with our loved ones, and we feel like although we were only there for 6 days and drove roughly 40 hours round trip, it was WORTH IT.

Just like so many other times, I did horrible with our camera(Especially in Centerville-- where I completely forgot to bring it). Thank goodness for camera phones and grandparents stepping in and taking the pictures.-

Decorating cookies for Santa 

(and ourselves-I may have a minor weakness for my moms sugarcookies)

Christmas Eve

We had my Grandparents (my moms parents) and Uncle Paul, Aunt Marianne, Alix and Sarah over for dinner and visiting. Later on we had my moms spiritual message and sat around and talked WAY too late.

We are missing 4 very important Floridian faces in this picture! (Jonathan, Bree Addison and Halle---My brother Jonathan and his family were in the middle of moving to Orlando(luckies)--Jonathan got an incredible job-so as much as we missed them--we are SO happy for them)

My grandparents, Mom and Uncle Paul (her only living sibling)

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning is always a little chaotic- I never got a shot of all the kids--oh well!

My parents got a steal of a deal on this little red car-- which the kids loved.

 In the background of  few of the pictures you can see the felt house that I made for the kids. It took too many hours to count- but they love it- which made it worth it(barely). I did it in the colors of our house in Dublin, that little house will ALWAYS hold a special place in all of our hearts.

 Christmas Day

As I mentioned before, I left my camera in South Jordan, so I didn't get ANY pictures of Christmas Day :(
We started the day off a little rocky-- our van's battery died-- so it took awhile to get it going again. We met Mike's family at church a little late-- but atleast we made it! It was the perfect way to spend Christmas Day. We played games, napped, talked, and had a delicious turkey dinner.

Luckily Mike snapped a few pictures with his phone of the kids bowling on the day after Christmas.

A few other memories that weren't documented on film:

-Playing with cousins and favorite uncles and aunts

-Shopping with Mom and sisters (LOVED that day)

-Mike went shooting with his dad and Stephen

-Seeing our grandparents and extended families

 After the whirlwind of Holiday parties and family time and ALL the driving, we felt a little like this in the end:

Exhausted-- (BUT very happy)

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.