Taylor Turns Seven

It must be April! The Pansies are in full bloom.... The Dogwood tree has blossomed....

And it's Taylor's Birthday!!!!


My Sweet Taylor,

It seems like it was only yesterday I flew to Utah to see you right after you were born. I couldn't wait to get to the hospital to hold you and to look at you. You were absolutely perfect! I spent a week with you before I had to go back home to California, and I cried when I had to leave. That was such a special time!

Soon you moved to California where I got to see you a lot more. I was pretty excited about that, and knew I'd better take advantage of the time we had because somehow I knew it wouldn't last forever. I never grew tired of that beautiful drive from Placentia to San Diego.

You even lived close enough that I got to babysit you. Your parents were pretty new at this parenting thing, and it was pretty funny watching them fuss over you. One time when I got to babysit you, your mom left me with detailed instructions for your meal times:

Meal Time

Morning (7:30 a.m.)

Bottle with rice cereal when she wakes up.

1 hour to 2 hours later give snack (i.e., fruit, muffin bar, yogurt)

Afternoon (1-2:30 p.m., after nap)

for lunch she likes hot dogs, mac & cheese, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, string cheese, fruit, yogurt.

Dinner (4:30-5p.m.)

She will eat any of the same as above.

7:30: Breakfast

9:00-10:00 Snack

11:00 nap with bottle

1:00-2:00 lunch (if grouchy, give bottle for snack)

5:00 dinner

8:00-8:30 bedtime (unless tired earlier)

This was just part of the instructions I was given. The best ones were what your Dad wrote:

Getting Taylor to Bed (8:30-9:00)

1. Get a bath drawn.
2. Get house a little darker
3. No loud TV, softer voices, no romper room play!!
4. Take Taylor into dark bedroom
5. Sit down in rocking chair (put rocking chair in bedroom beforehand).
6. Rock Taylor while you feed her bottle (she likes being sung to).
7. When she finishes bottle, lay her down in her bed.
8. Say "Go night night Taylor, close your eyes".
9. Cover her with her blanket.
10. Then leave and close the door.
11. Listen for 5 to 8 minutes to see if she cries out loud.
12. If she cries out loud, go back in, don't say a word, rock her until she goes back to sleep.
13. Once asleep put her back in crib.
14. If she wakes up, repeat the rocking....DON'T TALK TO HER!

If she doesn't go to bed!!!

1. 1. Take her for a drive
   2. Go on the 57 Freeway to Pathfinder Road and back. That will probably work.
   3. You WANT to get on the Freeway!!! (Evidently it was best to be on the freeway where I wouldn't hit any stop lights.)
   4. Put her straight into bed...close door.
   5. If that doesn't work, you have a LONG night ahead of you!!

Amazingly enough we survived!!!! I think they were surprised to come home and find out that you did great. We didn't even have to make that drive on the 57 freeway.

You are such a beautiful little girl and have brought so much love into our family! We love you so much! Have a happy happy birthday!!!

Love,

Grandma Nannu

Goin' home, Meeting Anne, Conference, and a Birthday

The weather changed and allowed us to make our flight on Friday morning getting us to Salt Lake City by 11:00 a.m. Of course, to get there by that time meant we had to leave our house at 4:00 a.m. to leave Nashville at 6:00 a.m. If you EVER travel with us, you can rest assured you will NEVER be late! You will also we awakened in plenty of time to get your "tired ol' @**" out of bed and your A.I.S. (a term now used in our household frequently meaning your blank, blank, blank, in your seat in time to get you to where you are going plenty early....thanks Steve, or should I say....thanks Everyone Loves Raymond). Being late, or just on time, is NOT an option! You'd think he'd run into long security lines a time or two or something.

Nashville to Colorado...Colorado to Salt Lake City. What's up with the snow? It's April right? We landed in a snowstorm! Note to self....listen to your son when he says you should bring your winter coat. Since you did not listen this time, you'll just have to think warm thoughts while you are standing in the freezing cold snow.

Next stop Robyn's house. From this point, the weekend is a blur! We just hit the ground running...literally! So if any of our family is wondering what exactly it is that we do to keep us so busy while we're in Utah, here's a brief synopsis...

Goal....meet future daughter in law! Hope she's not disappointed! Be fresh, beautiful, alert, witty, and fun!

• Arrive at Salt Lake International.
• Baggage claim.
• Rental car.
• Drive as fast as we can to Parker and Avery's house, glad Robyn and Joe are there too.
• Feel bad that we don't have that horse that Parker told his mommy grandpa was bringing to him.
• Stop at Del Taco for a combo burrito.
• Arrive for hugs and kisses and see how much the kids have grown.
• Take kids to see "Monsters vs Aliens"
• Meet up with Michael and Anne at Red Robyn.
• Meet our future daughter in law in person!
• Crash in bed.
• Up early to take TRAX to downtown Salt Lake City to go to conference with Michael, Anne, and Robyn. (Thanks to Joe for watching the kids.)
• Wait in the freezing snow in the longest security line ever because I didn't leave my purse behind.
• Be glad that we had to wait in the freezing snow when we see friends (Elder Dalton and Louise) from California!!!
• Shed a few happy tears!
• Enjoy conference!
• Anxiously await arrival of Luke, Taylor, and Blake....glad Kimberly and Devon came with them.
• Enjoy a girls night together while the guys attend the Priesthood session of conference.
• Eat pizza and learn the Cleveland Shuffle (thanks Kimberly)
• Have my makeup done by the expert...Kimberly!
• Crash in bed.
• Awake early to drive downtown (forget TRAX) for early session of conference with Kimberly.
• Meet up with California friends (Randy and Linda).
• Shed a few happy tears!
• Home for steak dinner prepared by our sweet Robyn who is such a good sport to have all of us in her home.
• Surprise Happy Birthday to Me!
• Eat Anne's delicious chocolate strawberry shortcake!!!
• Later more surprises.
• My family shows up to say happy birthday!!
• Mom brings delicious chocolate cake.
• No worries though birthday cake calories don't count!
• No candles (thank goodness).
• Laugh over improvised matches on birthday cake!
• Shed a few happy tears!
• Say tearful goodbye to daughter #1 and her family.
• Visit and laugh with family.
• Get things together.
• Crash in bed.
• Awake at the crack of dawn to have my A.I.S. to get to the airport in plenty of time.
• Take off.
• Arrive home.
• Unpack.
• Crash in bed!

Salt Lake City to Chicago.....Chicago to Nashville. What's up with the cold weather. Doesn't anyone know it's April for crying out loud?!

Goal achieved...met future daughter in law in a loud restaurant with popcorn between my teeth, baby banana fingers on my sweater, sticky kisses on my cheeks, straight hair from the wet snow, bags under my eyes from having to get up at O-dark thirty and have my A.I.S. early enough to be at the airport before on time, and smeared mascara from happy tears shed. She, on the other hand, was absolutely gorgeous! I think she liked us anyway! All in all, a perfect weekend! Not "picture perfect",but perfect just the same!

My Next Career....Storm Chaser!

What happens in the South in the springtime when the air is warm and a storm is in the forecast?

TORNADOES!!

For the second time this week, we've had to seek shelter. The first time was last Saturday when Penni and Rick were here. We took Bob's brother Rick to the airport on Saturday morning and then headed to downtown Nashville for a fun-filled day. We toured the Country Music Hall of Fame, walked to Demos' for lunch, and then headed back home. The weather had been GREAT all day. It was a bit windy, but other than that it was a perfect day to be downtown.

When we got home, Penni and I decided to go to town and rent a movie. As we were driving down our street, I heard something. I thought maybe it was the radio, so I turned it up. It wasn't the radio. Just then, my cell phone rang and it was Bob telling us we may want to turn around and come home because we were under a tornado warning. It was then I cracked the window of the car and heard the eerie sound of the tornado sirens in the air. It was sunny outside and looked like we might get some rain, but didn't look that serious. Then I looked to the West and saw this big black cloud moving our direction. Needless to say, we headed home.

We turned the television on and watched them tracking the storm as it was moving our way. We thought that was pretty interesting, but not nearly as interesting as watching the clouds converge from the vantage point of the front porch. Isn't that what you're suppose to do when the sirens are blaring and the clouds are mixing it up in the sky? I mean, how can you take your eyes off of it? Seriously, I think Penni and I could be storm chasers! We finally relented and went downstairs to our "safe place", and did so only after Rick told us it wasn't some little spouts we were looking for, it was THE WHOLE SKY! So off to the basement we went. Thankfully, we had enough light (thanks to the other Rick) and a ping pong table to keep us occupied for the short time we stayed down there. Penni and Rick were able to get the full Nashville experience....country music, barbecue, and tornado warnings!

The second time we had to seek cover was today. Our flight was scheduled to leave Nashville at 5:15. We left home, drove through torrential rain and lightening, parked the car, checked our luggage, and stood in line to go through security. As we were standing there, they suddenly closed everything down, had everyone stand against a wall. Then they led us all to a secure hallway away from any windows. You know the door that says no unauthorized personnel? That one! We were under another tornado warning! We stood there for about 15 minutes before we were allowed to go through security and to our gates. When we got to our gate, we found the flight had been delayed until 6:40. That would have been fine, but we would definitely miss our connection in Chicago. Only problem....no seats on ANY OTHER FLIGHTS! Even if we got there tonight and put ourselves up in a hotel (they don't pay for anything if it's weather related) there were no seats on any flights to Salt Lake City on ANY airlines leaving Chicago in the morning.

You know you've got a real dilemma when the girl at the desk has that "deer in the headlights" kind of look and looks at you and asks..."What do you want me to do?" Uh.....GET US ON ANYTHING THAT WILL TAKE US TO OUR DESTINATION!!! I think she wanted us to say "Oh, that's OK, we'll just go some other time...have a nice day!" We have learned from experience that it is better to just keep cool and keep trying ANYTHING! This, unlike the guy next to us trying to do the same thing. I guess while I was gone and waiting in line at the Southwest counter to see if they had anything at all available to get us to Salt Lake, he started losing his cool, left the counter, and left "cool-hand-Luke" (Bob) with the flustered girl at the counter who finally exhausted all efforts and found the only two seats available for 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. If you're ever in this situation and see Mr. Cool standing next to you....DO NOT LEAVE THE COUNTER! This is the guy that can get you first class seats when you miss your connecting flight and sweet talk the girl on the other end of the phone when everyone else is yelling at her.

When Bob called me and told me to come back because the girl had found something for us, I didn't know about this other guy and how upset he was with this girl for giving US the seats. It must have really rubbed salt in the wound when I returned and told the girl she was a miracle worker and thanked her over and over. I didn't even notice this guy seething next to us. Hmmmmm, I wonder if he's going to conference too. I'd sure hate to ruin his entire weekend for him by saying hello and reminding him where he has seen me before! Guess he'd better work on that little attitude of his now shouldn't he!

We're Wired!

Bob's brother flew in last Thursday night to help us get the electrical work done in our basement. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I mean, how many brothers would fly clear across the country to work? Even more than that...how many wives would allow their husbands to do this on their anniversary? Thanks Connie! We owe you big time!

The two of them worked feverishly for a day and a half to complete the job. Now we have plenty of lights, plenty of outlets, and plenty of switches to turn everything on and off. We're even wired for surround sound for that much needed fourth big screen TV.

If you'll remember, Bob (the builder) LOVES projects...especially when it involves a trip to Home Depot. And...although no wood was involved in this project, the rush of adrenaline produced by electrical wiring tools and supplies delivered the same effect. The difference this time was that he had his brother guiding him through, thus eliminating the overwhelming impulse to buy all the tools and extra items that seem so all-fired important when you are under the influence of the "smell" inside the Depot. Of course, they are brothers....maybe it's genetic!

Thanks Rick!