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Wednesday, April 30, 2008

I am found!

After a tutorial from Brooke - I have been found! I will post more on myself later...

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Evelyn (John & Emma)


She will be 7 months next week!

Monday, April 28, 2008

Craig's Tag

Two names you go by: Craig and Smeee
Two things you're wearing: pajamas and glasses (hey it's night i'm getting ready for bed)
Two of the longest car rides: not counting several trips with dad, the time I drove with cindy to the bar-j ranch for our other grandma and grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary, the time I drove with my wive and daughter up to rexburg. counting the trips with dad i've been from california (we hit disneyland) to the top of the empire state building within a week of each other.
Two things I want right now: play computer games, go to bed (I think go to bed is winning)
Two animals I've had: blacky as a kid, our current dog smokey
Two things I ate today: ramen noodles and home-made chicken noodle soup
Two people I talked to last: mindy and emmalee (wife and daughter)
.Two things to do tomorrow: watch emmalee, go to work
Two favorite holidays: christmas and thanksgiving. (yeah i know most people's)
Two favorite beverages:water and my mom's punch with homemade grapejuice
Two people I tag:hmm...

Emmalee (From Craig & Mindy)


Emmalee - age 2 1/2

Sunday, April 27, 2008

another note about a TAG

HI
Just a reminder to check and see if the person you are tagging has already been tagged, to try to avoid duplication. And please send them an email and BEG them to participate, so it gets around to everyone. There are a lot of people in the family, so we want to hear from all of them!!

TTYL
Aunt Betty

Cindy's Tag:


Two names you go by: Cindy and Ci-Ci

Two things you're wearing: Hair clip and a dark blue skirt.

Two of the longest car rides: Missouri, Illinois, and New York for a Church History trip just after getting married. It took 3 days, traveling 10-13 hours each day. The second one is a trip to California. 9 hours.

Two things to do today: Go to church and go to my mom's house for the evening.

Two things I want right now: Chocolate and Ice cream (Maybe even together).

Two animals I've had: My cats Maggie, a calico, and Jaeden, a gray domestic long hair.

Two things I ate today: Cereal and a grilled tuna sandwich.

Two people I talked to last: My mom Janet, and Derek (my husband).

Two things to do tomorrow: Go to work, and climb a rock wall.

Two favorite holidays: Christmas, and Valentines day (only because my birthday is the day before).

Two favorite beverages: Root beer float and sprite.

Two people that I tag: Craig and ................ Rochelle

Saturday, April 26, 2008

A minute of peace

Well, my house still needs some cleaning, but my kids are down for a nap and I figured that I had better do a better job of introducing myself. As I said earlier, this is Debbie Bartholoma (Haroldsen.) I have been married for 6 and a half years, and I have 5 children. My husband is Chris, and he works at Verizon Wireless. My oldest kids are Nathan and Alex, the twins that made up the 4th generation of twins for the Guiness World Records. They are in kindergarten now and their teachers are very impressed with how smart they are. Savannah comes next, and she wants to do everything her brothers do, including going to school, even though she is only 4 as of april 11. Jennifer comes next. She is 2, and the biggest news with her is that she is potty training (Just one kid in diapers!!!!! Yeah!!!!) She still has accidents, but considering she only turned 2 in february, I'm not complaining. She hasn't really started talking yet, but she is so focused that I wouldn't be surprised that one day in the near future she will be speaking complete sentences. Last but not least is Robert. He is 2 months old now, and he is just starting to babble and make noises other than crying.

As for me, I work at Beehive Clothing. I hem garments in the men's bottoms department. (Sometimes when I'm being silly I tell people that I handle men's bottoms for a living :)) I am also going to school at Western Governer's University. It's an online university, which is the only way I can take classes now with my kids. I am majoring in accounting, and I hope to be done in a year or so.

Ok Kim. I took you up on your challenge. I will try to post pictures later, but you can see my family and new baby in the archives on Feb 19.

TIme to get back to cleaning my kitchen and doing laundry. Bye.

Jumping on the "blogwagon"

I just wanted to jump in here and say "Hi" to y'all. I'm looking forward to the reunion it's been awhile since I've seen some of you. I forgot to bring pictures to post, but I'll try to remember next time. --Mary Murdock (Taylor)

Hello all

Hi everyone. I finally signed up so I can contribute to this blog. This is Debbie Bartholoma (Haroldsen) and I'm just checking in. Can't write a whole lot right now because I have a house to clean and a baby to feed. Talk to you later.

Friday, April 25, 2008

more of the lovebirds
















Jeremy and Rachel


When you "Tag" someone...

I just thought I should put a note on here about the tags. When you tag someone, send them an email or let them know they've been tagged.

-Kim

And if you need their email, please send me one. - Brooke

Ray's new horse

I know you're dying for this picture! We're going up in a few weeks so Chandler can see the baby horsey!
Post a comment on what you think the name should be!

Thursday, April 24, 2008

See, isn't this fun!!!

So good to hear from you! Please spread the news about this blog and encourage your family to post here! We want to hear from YOU!!!

Love
Aunt Betty

Jason's Tag

Two names you go by: Jason, Nesdlorah Nosaj, nes for short.

Two things you're wearing: T-shirt and shorts.

Two of the longest car rides: Salt Lake to New York with dad in his truck, driving to Idaho when I had my Learners Permit

Two things to do today: Go to school, go fishing

Two things I want right now: Go fishing, Finals in school to be over

Two animals I've had: That I can remember,mabey a goldfish.

Two things I ate today: Pizza for breackfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch.

Two people I talked to last: Steve and some store clerck.

Two things to do tomorrow: go to a review for finals, go to a dance with Lucretia

Two favorite holidays: Christmas, new years.

Two favorite beverages: water, and Sprite.

Two people that I tag: ... Danny, and Adam T

Aunt Carma's Tag:




Two names you go by: Mom, Grandma Prete

Two things you're wearing: purple and white sweater and black pants

Two of the longest car rides: Any of the trips we made driving from Kingston to Idaho when our children were young, in the heat of summer with no air conditioning; Driving from Nauvoo back to Kingston after John and Emma's wedding (about 950 miles, driving straight through)

Two things to do today: Work at the Family History Center for 6 hours; plant the peas

Two things I want right now: Mike to rototill the garden so I can plant the peas; World Peace (see Miss Congeniality)

Two animals I've had: Roy and I aren't really pet people, so we've never had pets. Sarah had a hamster and a couple of goldfish, but Roy and I haven't had animals. I remember when I was little we had a dog named Susie and later a dog named Ginger.

Two things I ate today: peanut butter sandwich and an apple

Two people I talked to last: Roy and a lady named Helen at the Family History Center.

Two things to do tomorrow: Plant the peas, if I don't get them planted today; get ready to go to the Toronto Temple on Saturday

Two favorite holidays: Canada Day and Canadian Thanksgiving (I just thought I'd give this blog some variety.)

Two favorite beverages: cold milk and A&W root beer (separately, not mixed)

Two people that I tag: Esther and Rochelle

Posted by Carma

Richard's Tag

Two names you go by: Dadadadadadad, and Richard

Two things you're wearing: White t-shirt and shorts.

Two of the longest car rides: Salt lake to Missoula, Montana in an old army pickup without A/C and a top speed of 55mph, and Salt Lake to Lake Mead in a car that broke down twice(the trip took 2 days).

Two things to do today: Go to a Hazmat refresher class for work and Bradley's T-ball game(weather permitting).

Two things I want right now: Nice sunny weather, and maybe a shiny new motorcycle! (I will accept donations, it is for a good cause!!)

Two animals I've had: My black german shephard named Niko, and our dog when we were kids, Blackie.

Two things I ate today: Pop tarts and Beef stroganof.

Two people I talked to last: Amanda, and Janet.

Two things to do tomorrow: Go to work, paint Bradley's room.

Two favorite holidays: Christmas, and The 4th of July.

Two favorite beverages: Strawberry banana milkshakes, (yup) and Coca-Cola.

Two people that I tag: Hmmmmmmmm.... Jason and Cindy!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Joyce and Randy's Tag


We have been frustrated getting to this place, but we think we have it figured out. Maybe old dogs can learn new tricks!

We are sharing a picture of Dad (Grandpa) with his new pet. It is a battery run cat that has motion and touch sensors in it, so when you move in front of its' eyes or pet it, the cat will move its' head, body and tail and purr and meow. If you grab its tail hard it will growl and hiss at you! It is surprisingly realistic! Except for not having to feed it or clean a litter box! Dad really likes it!

Kim's Tag

Two Names You Go By:  Kim and Dad.  (That's right, by daughter still likes to call me Dad.  I think its a game for her.  She laughs every time I say ma ma.)


Two Things your wearing:  Nothing exciting - white shirt and brown  pants.


Two of the longest car rides:  Almost anywhere now, when I have to go to the bathroom.  (ya, pregnancy will do that to you.)  Other than that, I haven't driven very far.  


Two things to do today:  I just finished cleaning my house, so thats already done - yea.  And watch my friends two kids for a couple of hours later this evening.


Two things I want right now:   I would love to go for a motorcycle ride.  (not generally a good idea while pregnant).  And I wouldn't turn down a brownie sundae, if anyone should bring one to my door.  


Two animals I've had:  The family dog Blackie, when we were all little, and my cat Daisy.


Two things I ate today:  Bowl of Honey Nut Cherrios, and a granola bar.  (still hoping for that brownie sundae!)


Two People I last talked to:  Emily, though she didn't say much back.  And myself (maybe I shouldn't admit that one! )


Two things to do tomorrow:  Go to the office (and get my paycheck - :)  ) and go to a Relief Society meeting.


Two Favorite Holidays:  I'm not very good at favorites.  I love all the ones that Todd gets off from work with pay!!  


Two favorite beverages:  Water, and ice cream.  (Hey, it's a beverage if you let it melt first!)


Two people that I tag:  Hmmmmm....... How about Liz Bryner and John Prete.

Janet's tag

Two names you go by: Janet, Mom, Grandma, Sister Haroldsen, What can I say?
Two things you're wearing: right now, leopard pajamas and wedding ring, (I'm going to mop the kitchen floor before I get in the shower this morning)
Two of the longest car rides: In the truck with Brian from California to Utah when the truck broke down in Wendover years ago and to Arizona to Ben and Ashlee''s wedding last summer
Two things to do today: fold laundry, tend Emmalee, clean house and get ready to go to Idaho. Ok, that's more than two but that's how life is.
Two things I want right now: Enough time in the day to get things done and enough energy to do it with.
Two animals I've: dogs named Ginger and Jinx as a child. I haven't had many pets since I was married much to my family's dismay
Two things I ate today: orangepineapple mango juice and string cheese so far
Two people I talked to last: Brian and Jason
Two things to do tomorrow: Visit with Brian's family and maybe attend the Rexburg Temple
Two favorite holidays: Christmas and Thanksgiving
Two favorite beverages: water and my punch made with my home made grape juice
Two people that I tag: Richard and Aunt Carma

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Ashlee tags......

HI
Since Ashlee is new in our family, she didn't know who to tag, so I'll fill in a couple of names for her. I tag, Kim and Aunt Janet.

Betty

Just checking in

Hi Everyone,
I decided to follow Kim and Betty's advice and contribute again to the blog to update you on our family.
Brian is going to take a short break from the Stouffers run and take a few days off before he does a different run hauling flowers from Oregon. I'm not sure all of the details yet but he will drive thru Salt Lake often and goes thru Montana and other neighboring states. He will start that on Monday. We are going to see his dad tomorrow afternoon for a couple of daysin Rexburg. His cancer has returned and they are getting set up with Hospice.

I am tending Craig and Mindy's little girl 3 days per week and 3 of Debbie's kids 1 day per week. It really keeps me hopping when all 4 are here like they were on Monday. I was just put in as our ward Primary president a few weeks ago and am still feeling my way around. I need one more teacher to be fully staffed for a week or two. It always keeps me on my toes but I do love the kids. I am still making quilts for all of the weddings and babies. Life is never dull for me. I just run out of time to do all I want to do.

I got to attend the solemn assembly for conference on Saturday morning and was privileged to sit on the 12th row. My friend had some connections and it was fantastic being up so close. I really enjoyed conference. I also enjoyed Jeremy and Rachel being here with some of our family on Sunday afternoon for our traditional dutch oven dinner. I enjoyed the company and the food.

I will let my kids send in their own information. They've all been given the information, so I'd love to hear from them all.

I am looking forward to the reunion. I especially want a picture of all of the twins together at last. That will be 13 people. Wow!

Have a wonderful week. I hope you all will send in stuff so we can learn more about our family.
Aunt Janet

Ashlee's Tag

Two names you go by
Turtle #2 and Loose Fang

Two things you're wearing
Contacts no glasses YEAH!...and and red-ishy shirt

Two of the longest car rides
Was the trip to my Grandpa LeFevre's Funeral in Utah,...Long and VERY Painful trip!
Oh and just traveling all over Peru some days was very long, but it was nice to visit my parents

Two things to do today
Watering the tangelo and tangerine trees out back and working on making a gift for Jeremy and Rachel

Two things I want right now
Lets see that is hard, either get a baby white tiger, read my scriptures, maybe roller blade around the block, play Disney Scene It 2nd addition or... and tell Ben just how much I love him and show my gratitude for all that he is and has done for me. Sorry more than two!

Two animals I've had
Water Turtle and a Dog named Blanka... aah! Dunno how Mom and Dad spelled it

Two things I ate today
Bread and Sees candies

Two people I talked to last
Ben and Betty

Two things to do tomorrow
Get ready for my tacky party Thursday. Want to know my visiting teacher partner better and the sisters we need to visit. That is more than one thing to do! Oh, and decide how to be dressed tacky.

Two favorite holidays
Do Birthdays count? If not Christmas and Halloween

Two favorite beverages
Better be my moms version of Butter beer (from Harry Potter) and I love good old A&W Root Beer with or without vanilla ice cream mixed in! But if you are talking about hot beverages Apple Cider with some Carmel mixed in.

Two people that I tag

Elder Pearson's missionary moment

Hi
Our ward does a missionary moment, in the newsletter. David wrote this back in Dec. but it was good, and I thought you would enjoy.


Greetings from Paradise!
That’s right, you may not have known that Tampa Florida is the greatest place on earth. It is about a ten-twenty minute drive from the beach… on three sides. Needless to say the salt air is glorious and tracting is wonderful as we share the gospel in 65-75 degree weather.
I guess since this is the first Missionary Moment I had written in the field I’ll share a little bit about the mission. First of all in the Florida Tampa Mission we do things a little bit differently. First of all we don’t teach first lessons in the home. We take investigators on tours of the church building. There we talk about the programs the church has, show them the chapel, cultural hall, classrooms, and family history center. We also teach the first lesson as we highlight some of the art work in the building. We dos this for a few reasons: First, the church is the dedicated house of the Lord. Therefore the Spirit will be present in the lesson. Second, if they can keep the appointment time for there tour, they will be more likely to keep other sacred commitments that we extend to them. Lastly, we are able to focus more on the Savior as we ourselves feel the spirit that is in the chapel. This program has turned the Florida Tampa mission into one of the highest baptizing missions in the United States.
Our mission President, President Colton, challenged the mission in October to read the Book of Mormon before Christmas Conference (Dec 12, 2007). While reading we have been highlighting the references to Christ, Christ’s words, and attributes of the Savior. I must admit, this challenge has been most enlightening. He promised that as we would do this three things would happen:
1. Our love for the Savior would grow,
2. Our effectiveness as missionaries would increase and,
3. Our hearts would be changed through the Atonement of Christ.
As I have read the Book of Mormon I have been amazed how much it testifies of Christ. It took me almost a month to find a single page that did not mention our Savior at least once, most of the time the entire page is colored with his words, names, and attributes. I have come to realize how wonderful the Book of Mormon is. I know that it is a Testament of Jesus Christ. The crowning point of this testimony is when The Lord and Savior visited the New World in his full resurrected glory. Upon visiting them he stated:
Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. (3rd Nephi 11:10-11)
May this New Year be one full of the love of Christ. I know that he is the Savior of the world. As I have read and studied the Book of Mormon I have grown closer to my Savior, I have come to know the power of the atonement in all that I do. I have felt the love of God and Christ daily as I have strived to "always remember Him". My final wish is that of Moroni "And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen" (Ether 12:41).
Love,
Elder David Pearson

Ben's Tag

Two names you go by
Ben and Benjamin
Two things you're wearing
A watch and a my wedding ring

Two of the longest car rides
The way back from St. George, with it raining the entire 8 hours back...
Puno to Arequipa Peru with my wife feeling really sick the whole way...

Two things to do today
Went to work, and listened to an online lecture for one of my classes

Two things I want right now
Have all of my final projects done and be able to spend more time with my wife.

Two animals I've had
A dog Caesar and my wife's cat Ice Cream

Two things I ate today
Pizza and Wheat Thins

Two people I talked to last
My wife and my mom on the phone

Two things to do tomorrow
Work and homework... My life for the next few weeks it seems...

Two favorite holidays
Christmas & Thanksgiving

Two favorite beverages
Tampico Kiwi Strawberry Punch, and home made Tangelo Juice

Two people I am tagging
Sarah Prete and Jeremy Pearson

Aunt Betty's life

HI All,
I agree with Kim that we all need to post here!!! We need to get to know each other before the reunion, so we can really get to know each other!!! So, come out and play and update us on your lives!!! I hope we all can make it to the reunion. David is the one who has the best excuse, no one can debate, for not being there, and I'll let him off the hook, but everyone else??? I am anxious to see you!!!

OK, update on me and my family.

Ben and Ashlee are in Tucson, and plan on being to the reunion. Ben works for Raytheon, and is working on his master's degree. Ashlee is an artist, and enjoys learning more about art and doing art projects, and other fun things. Jeremy is excited about his upcoming wedding. He was hired at the MTC recently, teaching Spanish. He also works custodial work for BYU, and hopes to do some drafting jobs this summer, too, along with everything else. He and Rachel plan on living with Raylene for 6 weeks, after thier wedding, until they can move into BYU housing. Robert is still in school and trying to find his nitch in life. David is having troubles with his knees, but the diagnosis is a misaligned knee cap and there are several other's in our family who have the same thing, and physical therapy and building up muscles is the best thing that can be done. Cassy just got her drivers license. Yeah, the Baby Taylor Cousin IS DRIVING!!! Delrey is recovering from having knee surgery, but is doing a lot better. We were all sad when his mom died the end of Jan. but life goes on. I'm still working on family history and am loving the new Family Search. I plan on bringing a 4 generation PAF file for everyone, to the reunion, and hope to get some histories together, and maybe work with Carma on sharing some of them. We have an amazing heritage and we need to learn about our ancestor's and appreciate them! We are blessed!!

OK, enough about me. I want to hear about YOU! What is happening IN YOUR LIFE???

take care!
Love,
Aunt Betty

My life in recent days

So, after some talking with my mom, I decided to make my first post on this blog, and let you all know a bit about what's going on in my life. Since I haven't seen most of you since Grandpa's wedding, at least, then I'll start from there.

Shortly after Grandpa's wedding, I started serving my mission in Brazil, in the Brazil Goiania Mission. Goiania is right in the middle of Brazil, about 3 hours away from it's capital, Brasillia. If you google it, you're likely to find it was the site of the second largest radioactive disaster next to Chernobyl. It really isn't well known for tourism, but is a very interesting place. Two years later, I returned to finish my B.S.E in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona, which I completed last May, 2007.



In September, 2006, I was going up to the temple on a ward temple trip, and sat next to a cute girl I had seen at ward Family Home Evening the week before. We talked the whole way up, the whole way back, and were married June 2nd, 2007, n the Mesa AZ temple. She is the love of my life, kind, caring, sweet, and even cuter than the day I met her!


We bought our first house in October, which we hope will serve us well for some time to come. It's definitely come to be home over these last few months.

Ashlee's parents live in Peru, due to her dad's occupation as a mining engineer with Phelps Dodge. We visited them last Christmas, and got to see alot of cool sites in Peru, including Cusco, Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca, and even an unscheduled trip to the ER in Arequipa, Peru. Don't worry, nothing too serious, but it was quite the adventure...


Currently I am working at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ. I just got my first promotion at work yesterday, which I am excited. I'm working with the ballistic missile defense missiles, which has been alot of fun. I am also a part time graduate student at the University of Arizona, studying more Electrical Engineering, with a focus on optical and imagine systems. In whatever spare time I have, I've been known to watch a few TV series, play around with computers, read, and work on our house.

My wife is an Artist, working currently mostly on odds and ends that various people have requested of her, including anything from a Transformer quilt to a backdrop for a Hawaiian wedding. She has done some face painting, and lots of other fun things. She might also hurt me if I forget to mention the Christ pictures that she has done for several people. Well, she wouldn't hurt me, because she's not the violent sort, but, well, you get the idea...

So, hopefully that'll give you all some information as to what's going on in our lives. Whew. Maybe I'll get to posting a bit more, after my semester is done in the middle of May, but hopefully you can all get to know me and my wife a bit from this.

Nursery for Baby

I love the idea of this Taylor blog, and the opportunity to get more acquainted with all of you. There's only one problem; not very many people are posting!!!  So here's another contribution from me, and I hope it motivates all of you to keep posting and not let this blog die out.  

I have less than 16 weeks left until our baby boy comes.  I'm counting down and very excited!!  I have been working on baby blankets and decorating the nursery.  I'm still working on the quilt for the crib, but here is a picture of another blanket I did.  It was a panel to begin with, and I quilted around the stars and the edge border, and added the yellow binding.  I think it turned out very nice, considering I'm still learning.  The nursery is brown and white, accented with blue.  And it has a teddy bear theme. 

                        

More about me: (I'm telling you this not because I love to talk about myself, but so that you will all tell more about yourselves as well.)

I love love love being a mom.  Emily is so much fun.  She is 14 months old, and absolutely adorable, but some might consider me bias.

I work part time from home, which I count as a wonderful blessing.  I worked full time in an office for years before she was born, and then my boss agreed to allow me to carry on from home.  I am a drafter at an architects office, so I get to play around drawing house plans all day. It is lots of fun, and very challenging at times.  

I am in the Stake Relief Society Presidency, as the Enrichment Councellor.  It is a challenging calling, because I'm not as involved with the sister's as I was when serving in the ward.  I've been doing it for 2 years, and am starting to figure it out, a little.  

I was against digital scrapbooking when I first heard of it, but now I'm convinced it's the only way to go.  I don't have to pull out all my supplies every time I want to work on a page.  And I love that I can share my pages with people online.  Here are a few of my favorites.


      

      

Okay, so now it's your turn.  Please take a few minutes and tell everyone more about yourself.  

-Kim

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Reunion Agenda

My goal is to have the reunion agenda and information sent by the end of the week. I know you're waiting anxiously. We are going to have a rip roaring time, so.... be prepared.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Conference Bingo

Here is the link for Conference Bingo. Anything to listen and learn while listening:
http://lds.about.com/library/bl/games/bingo_boards_12.pdf

Here are the markers.

Happy listening!