Merry Christmas-2009

It's that time of year when the world falls in love...with their family and friends all over again. We love getting your letters&pictures& seeing you in "real" life! Of course it would be even better in person-you could stop by our house, eat some treats-butter cookies, toffee, hot chocolate-make a snowflake & try to have a conversation while the kiddies run wild.

Leave it to MARYJO (9!)to entertain the little kids since she is constantly holding school with her cousin Gabriella. They are the teachers & anyone is welcome to come to class. If you are good & do your homework & bring it back, next time you'll get a treat. Besides her busy teaching schedule, you"ll find her playing soccer-all year long-,sewing, reading a book, making crafts, using as much tape as possible, decorating and organizing her room- I didn't say cleaning it tho-, making us breakfast in bed-eggs, hashbrowns, the works-,if you're lucky she may have followed a recipe while in the kitchen or she may have made up her own, playing board games, digging 7 peaks in our backyard, riding her bike at the park, going to Activity Days, drawing, texting while I'm driving, watching the boys while I run an errand-oops don't tell-, taking care of Norfie, or doing anything that's creative, thoughtful or athletic...& occasionally she's a normal child who acts her age & reminds us of her hard life as the oldest & only daughter in our family.

JONAS (7 1/2)goes to MJ's school occasionally-especially when there's a party but can most likely be found building Star Wars Lego ships that are quickly destroyed by Mr. Bub, playing soccer all year long& inside our house as well, riding his bike with Tristan, climbing trees in the park, digging trenches in our yard, fighting with light sabers & other weapons, making Star Wars costumes for he & Blue to wear, coveting Dad's legos in the basement, drawing, reading a book-if he has to, acing his math homework, falling asleep when he stops moving long enough, eating his dinner so he can have dessert, peeling carrots, emptying the dishwasher "I just did it yesterday, Mom!", eating cinnamon toast, taking a bath eventhough he just took one on Sunday, wishing he could see his cousins more, mastering the role of oldest brother & just being all around awesome!

BLUE (3 1/2) or Mr. Bub, has the loudest scream in the galaxy-sometimes it's his only defense! He loves just about everything but not as much as he loves everything Jonas has or does & he especially loves the things Jonas builds. Legos are everywhere in our house. That is NOT an understatement! Guys with their weapons are a part of the family. Blue also loves to draw & is often creating his own worlds of battles on paper complete with sound effects. Of course his medium of choice is markers, just like the others at his age-crayons-don't think so. He loves going to MJ's class, running around w/Jonas-anywhere & everywhere, swinging, correcting us when we forget it's his world & we say things that don't fit in-like no more treats, spending as much time as possible with Mom, helping w/anything he can,wearing jammies ALL day, &wrestling with anyone but he really likes to see how much North can take. He just started really kicking the soccer ball around & to Dad's ginormous smile can't wait to go skiing!

NORTH HAWK TAYLOR was born November 4th, 2008 & is better known as Norfie. Oh, the joys of having another baby around! He is the best, despite his silly temper! We cannot get enough of him! He loves the chaos & secretly thanks his Father in Heaven every night that he's the baby! He crawls like lightning & can get into the boys room before they realize they forgot to shut the door. His favorites are sucking on Lego Storm Trooper helmets & putting the helmets back on the lego heads, food, swings, being upside down, books, the bean bag, Mom, going outside, emptying everything, putting things back where they don't belong, throwing or pushing a ball while he crawls, taking a bath, Blue, whatever anyone else has, crawling like a rhino- head down, straight into things when he's really mad, nut crackers, being held if you can do it right & don't try to control him, playing guitar with Dad & being the center of attention as often as he can, boy, what a cheesy grin!
Really who cares about N8& I?! After reading about our "precious little angels" everything else is just well, not as entertaining. 12 years together plus some! Soccer for us all year as well, Lyd is especially lucky because she gets to play with her sister, cousins & BFF's, painted the outside of our house green & blue & tan-egads! at least it's not beige & it's called "Walnut Wash" but it's just the trim & it does look good, N8 teaches MJ in primary, Lyd does R.S. stuff, great families, great friends- old and new! Some of you listened to our plea 3 years ago & to the rest of you,come visit! We have something for everyone! School, soccer, legos, treats, food, games, movies, books, crafts, skiing... well enough of my begging but it'd sure be great to see you& what your snowflake would look like on our wonderland ceiling wreath! Oh yeah! Merry Christmas to all & to all a Happy New Year! We are richly blessed (not rich or "famous" or "popular") & cannot imagine why our Father in Heaven sent us our kiddos except that He must love us!
Love Ya Much, N8, Lyd, MaryJo, Jonas, Blue and North