Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! It is so fun to see all of our family members and have a big Thanksgiving Feast! 

This year, all of my mom's brothers and sisters are coming. We are going to have Thanksgiving at my cousin, Jennika's house. That is where all of us can fit. We are also going to have our Annual Turkey Gobbling Contest! I hope everyone has their gobblers ready! Prizes will be awarded! 

In our family, we have two Thanksgivings. One on Thursday, and then one on Friday of all the leftovers.(We still have to make some extra food) Our food is so delicious that we make. Especially with Grandma Janet's lovely white rolls! They are delicious! 

Yesterday, ( Monday) Grandma and Grandpa LaMont, Grandma Birdie and Curty arrived
Today, (Tuesday) Uncle Mitch and Aunt Kristy's family will arrive
Tomorrow, (Wednesday) Uncle Kent and Aunt Kathy's family will arrive.
I can't wait for all of us to see each other! We are going to have a blast!

School has BEGUN!

School is back! I am loving it! I am going to the new Salem Jr. High. I love my teachers. They are really nice. I am now in 8th grade. I didn't really get that much homework the first week of school, however, we just got disclousers.
My favorite subjects so far are health and spanish. I love my health teacher. She is so cute. We are good friends now. My spanish teacher, well, he is really funny. He makes learning spanish really fun.
I am enjoying school quite a bit. I am glad we got today of (Labor Day) I was already ready for a break from school! Have a good Labor Day! -Lauren

Choir Tour 2012

This year for choir tour, we went South. We stayed in Oklahoma, Arkansas, North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and so many other places that I just can't remember.

My mom didn't get to go this year because she had to work cherries. I was really sad. But, I survived without her. 

The bus rides were very long. Some were really short. The overnight bus rides were very loud at some rest stops and others, people actually slept!

During tour I stayed with so many nice host families 6 out of 8 familes had swimming pools. I had a blast. We also stayed 1 night in a hotel.

While we were in Memphis, we went to Elvis' Home. It is very interesting. We were not allowed to go upstairs because it was very sacred. 

When we were in Nashville, we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. There were a lot of country singers from back then, but we also saw country people from today. Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood etc. 

I did get a few shirts. I got 2 spoons for Grandma Lucy. One from Graceland and the other because we drove on Route 66. 

Our concerts went great. Nobody fainted or got sick during the concerts this year! (Knock on wood!)

Concert after concert, they just kept on getting more and more spiritual. I cried at the last 2 concerts. I cried because I missed my mom and because I felt the spirit so strongly. 

It was so great to get home so I could be in my own bed and have a good nights rest. 

Taylor Family Reunion

This Past week (June 11- 16), was our Family Reunion. On Sunday, I went and stayed over at Grandma and Grandpa Eppley's house so I could go early. Brescia also came early and stayed at their house.
On Monday we woke up at 7am and got ready to go to Mt. Pleasant. We got the trailer loaded up and everything packed. We were on our way to Mt. Pleasant.
When we got there, we went to Terrell's Market to get a few groceries. After that, Grams and Gramps took us to Subway. How nice of them.
When we got to the campground, we decided where we were going to stay. We got the trailer all ready to be in and then we went outside and set up a canopy so that we could eat under it. The reunion really started on Wednesday. Our family was in charge this year so we had to do everything. 
That night, we had potatoes and gravy for dinner. We watched a movie, uncle Adrain and Aunt Deanna came from Washington State that night and were staying in a hotel. 
On Tuesday, we did more of the same, set things up and planned. Aunt Carol and Uncle Myron came with Judy and her boy, Cameron came. That was really fun. 
That night, around 8:00pm or so, my mom, all of the kids and Koda came. (My dad was in San Diego on a business trip) We put up our camper and we got settled. 
On Wednesday, everyone came. We did crafts, had lunch together and so many more fun things. 
Thursday, we provided breakfast for everyone. We did more crafts, made duct tape wallets and had fun. 
Friday was really that last whole day together. Around 10am, we went horseback riding at this horse ranch. It was so much fun. When we were done riding the horses, I got to hose them off with water and then we went to the camp ground.(Our dad got to the campground on Thursday night really late)
When we were done there, we had lunch and then we had the kids auction. I got earrings, a mini clipboard, and some flashcards for my school. 
Later that night, we had the Potluck dinner. We had pulled pork sandwiches and everyone brought a salad or dessert. 
At 7pm, the Adult Auction took place. I got a cute watch and Jaxon got a cute stool. 
Saturday morning, we started picking up camp and putting our campers down and getting them ready to go. At 10am, we had the coin and candy scramble. It was really fun for the kids and Adults. We went home after that. We had so much fun at the family reunion. Thanking everyone for all the help they gave us.   

Family Reunion 2012

On Monday night, we had a wonderful family night at Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Charles' house. We ate dinner and then we got right to work on our family reunion duties. 

The boys, men and some of the girls went outside and cut horse heads out of wood for our stick horses. The women stayed inside and made signs for all the different booths in "Taylor Town". We are going to have a saloon, beauty parlor, livery stable, post office and many, many more things. 

Uncle Todd and I are in charge of "Family Feud" Uncle Todd will be the host and I am in charge of all of the prizes. 

We had such a fun time! We also got a lot accomplished. I am so exited for this reunion to come!

Thanksgiving Point

Yesterday, the girls and Jaxon went up to Thanksgiving Point. We met Aunt Lois and her girls, also Jennika and her two kids Logan and Jerrika. We met at the Tower Deli and had lunch.

We looked at the stores, bought  a few things and then we decided to go to the Gardens to see all of the beautiful tulips.

The flowers were so pretty to see. We went by the waterfall and saw far down, a water snake on a big rock. It was so fun to see everyone and to have such a wonderful day at Thanksgiving Point.

New Puppy!!!

On Saturday March 24, 2012, after the garage sale, we went over to Cal Ranch and we just drove through the parking lot. A man and his wife on the side of the road had cute little puppies. We parked the car and went over to see the cute puppies. The man said that the dogs were for free. We knew our dad would be really mad if we brought home a new dog. My mom said, "I will be divorced by 6 pm" We decided to take the girl and we named her Lily. She just seemed like a really calm, relaxed dog so that is why her name is Lily. As we drove off, we knew we just couldn't keep the dog so my mom remembered that Kira, Sydnie's friend's dog, Brandy had died 4 months ago. So my mom said, "Sydnie, let's give Kira this dog for her birthday" (her birthday was last Sunday) We called my dad and I said that we were bring home a puppy. He was speechless for about a minute. Then I told him the whole situation and what was going on. We brought her to all of the stores we had to go to. We went to the grocery store and they kicked us out. We went home, bathed her and then went to the YW conference. We came home, put a cute pink collar on the pup, and went over to Kira's house just across the way. We put a bag of dog food in a birthday bag and gave it to her. She didn't know what it was for. Sydnie walked in with the puppy and Kira started to cry. It was truly the best birthday present ever! 

UVCC Garage Sale

On Saturday March 24, 2012, it was the Garage sale for our choir so we can save money for tour. Sydnie my mom and I woke up at 5:30 am and went to the Veteran's Memorial building in Spanish Fork to set up for this event. We had hundreds of articles of clothing. We arranged them so everybody could see them. Around 7 am Sydnie and I went to choir until 8:30. When it was over we counted our money and we made roughly about $100.00. It was kind of a waste of time yet it is good to get rid of things, and don't worry............ we took all of the extra things to DI. ~Lauren