Thank you!

I just wanted to thank everyone who sent good thoughts and prayers because it worked!!! Taylor got 2 job offers today. Too bad he can't accept them both because just one job still won't pay for everything, but at least it is something. He will start training on Jan. 12th.

We are still looking into the Air Force for several reasons, but before Taylor can enlist he has to lose about 25 pounds. If you have any quick weight loss tips and diets let us know.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas eve we spent the evening with a family we met in our ward. They have 4 children who Ashton had fun playing with. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and good company.

Christmas morning was exciting as usual. Probably more for me then anyone else in the house. Surprisingly it was not a white Christmas. I think Portland, OR stole all our snow. I hope they enjoyed a rare, but wonderful white Christmas. We had lots of presents to open and to name a few, Ashton got toys, books and a really cool snow suit. If we get our snow back I'll post pictures of him in that.

He's such a natural. We didn't even have to show him how to hold the bat.


Ashton wanted to read his new book. Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see?

Peyton got quite a few stuffed animals and cute girly clothes.

Sorry for the bad picture. It was hard to hold her, open presents and take pictures.

Taylor and I got games, clothes/shoes, new silverware, and a weather station.

Christmas afternoon we joined the Snell family dinner which is Taylor's aunt and uncle. A few more relatives were there as well. It was nice to visit with all of them. It had been summer or longer since we've seen them.


Both kids were tired and went to bed early that night. I have this weird thing to remove all of the Christmas decorations as soon as Christmas is over and so I did. I spent about 2 hours that night taking down the tree, garland and decorations. It felt so good to be done and have things back to normal.


The day after Christmas Marianne and Phil joined us. They drove straight through from Arizona and they had a surprise. Phil's daughter Becca gave them a puppy. Harry Potter, the dog, goes by Potter and is the mildest 9 month old puppy. Sure does make our 2 year old lab look like a spaze. Bella and Potter got along fabulously and are missing each other right now.





We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you the best for the new year!

Trials

We are currently going through a trial in our life that we weren't going to share with everyone. We told a few close friends and family members.

More and more of our friends and family are finding out through the grapevine and we know eventually it will reach everyone so before it does we thought it would be best for you to hear it from us.

A few months ago Taylor lost his job with the University of Phoenix. At first it was really hard to handle and stressful as you can imagine. Since then we've come to rely on the lord more and more and because of that we have become strengthened and blessed. The lord has blessed us through our family and friends and other resources. Things are still challenging and stressful, but thanks to the church, government programs and family and friends our trial has become lighter.

Jobs are becoming scarce with companies closing and more people needing them it has been harder to find a job. Taylor has gone on several interviews and still has interviews lined up. We are hoping something will come along and soon. Taylor is also thinking about joining the Air Force. Nothing is set in stone at this point, but we are looking into all our options.

Keep us in your prayers and thoughts and we will keep you posted.

Ashton's Christmas Picture

I took many photos of Ashton and only got one good one.

Here is Ashton's Christmas picture.

I thought this one was funny!

Peyton's Christmas Pictures

I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I hope these pictures will make up for it.

Prayers

I don't normally make comments about my friends and families blogs, but I feel like I should for this family. I am asking for all you who are willing to keep this family in your thoughts and prayers while they overcome this hard time. You can read all the details about their situation on their blog at http://markandashleyhuston.blogspot.com/

To fill you in briefly, Ashley started having complications in here pregnancy at about 21 weeks and delivered their son Miles Dillon Huston on Dec. 1st which was at 26 weeks gestation. Unfortunately, little Miles didn't pull through and past away about 50 hours later.

Please help me and others in praying for this family.

Snow!!

This morning when we got up there was several inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. After a few hours Taylor, Ashton, Bella and I went out in the backyard played in the snow. Just so your not worried Peyton was napping inside.

Thanksgiving

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. It was originally going to be the four of us, plus Taylor's mom and her husband, but then Annedria called saying they were going to drive to the Springs and spend it with us. Marianne and Phil came down Wednesday around noon and we started some of the baking and prepping. Annedria and Scott arrived around 2:30 in the morning. We put a mattress downstairs in the living room for them and had a fire going for them when they got here. We all got some rest and were up before 8 am. Annedria got to meet Peyton for the first time and of course Annedria fell in love with her. How could you not? We all took turns helping out in the kitchen. Taylor played in the wards turkey bowl that day too. It started snowing very lightly around 2 which was beautiful. It stopped after about 15 minutes. Around 3pm we all sat down to eat.

We had a deliciously moist turkey and fabulous stuffing and gravy. Mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes of course. Pistachio salad, a relish tray, real cranberry's (not from a can) and rolls.

Ashton had just woke up from his nap minutes before eating which explains his funky hair. Grandma showed him how to put olives on his fingers.

We had a lot of sweets for dessert. We had 2 cherry pies, a pumpkin pie from scratch (from a real pumpkin) minced pie, and blueberry cheesecake. We also had homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and homemade banana bread.

A few hours after dinner Marianne, Annedria, and I went to the theater and we watched Twilight. The beginning for me was a little awkward, but then I got into. Overall I really liked it. I could go on about what i thought, but not now. Ask me and I'll tell you. Taylor and Scott went and watched Quantum of Solace, the James Bond movie which he thought was alright. When Marianne, Annedria and I got out of the movies it was snowing again, but this time it covered the ground and continued to snow most the night. The next day almost all the snow was gone by the afternoon. While we were all at the movies Phil babysat for us. Thank you Phil! That night and the next day we played Mexican Trains and had a blast. Marianne and Phil went home that day. Annedria and Scott stayed one more night with us. We all continued to play Mexican trains some more. Saturday morning Annedria and Scott went to Marianne and Phil's home and stayed there for their last night in Colorado. They left early this morning to go back home.

Thank you Annedria and Scott for coming all this way. We had a great time.

TAG Answer

The truth was #1!

TAG: 2 lies and a truth!

I was tagged by Lacey to post 2 lies and a truth and you get to guess which one is the truth or figure out the lies :)

1. I use to work for Country Inn and Suites which for those of you who live in AZ, it is located off the US 60 and Power road. Anyway, I was told this bigwig was coming in. Now that you know the location your probably thinking what kind of bigwig would come out to East Mesa. At the time I had no idea. The person even used an alias which made it even more difficult. I just knew when the person said this name (the alias name) they were important. Moving on, I was also working the morning shift so I was just checking people out, not in so I wasn't expecting this VIP. It was a Sunday afternoon and I was bored and just killing time when the VIP came in. I didn't recognize him. I just stuck to my routine and asked to see his ID after he gave me his credit card. He gave me the strangest look. Side note, do you remember those credit card commercials who had celebrities trying to buy something with their credit card and the store worker was like how do I know this is you? It was kind of like one of those moments. So after the long stare I repeated myself asking to see his I.D. After all, I didn't know who he was. I started typing in his information starting with his name. I typed in Gene Hackman! I felt soooo stupid! Of course I've seen him in movies, but it just didn't register in my brain. I was expecting a CEO or a 4 star general, not a movie star!

2. I was at school sitting by myself, but still near a bunch of people. One of them was this totally hot guy. Too hot to like me of course. Anyway, I was sitting at a bench and he looks over at me. Quick look away I thought. After a moment I look back and he's still looking so I think do I have something on my face? I feel around nope nothing that I can tell. Maybe he is looking past me. So I push my bag off the back of the bench and take a look around. Nope no one looking this way. I look back at him and he is walking towards me. I was too nervous to hear what he had to say so I quickly packed up and ran off.

3. I took a chemistry class in high school and in that class 2 people sat at a table. You know so close that you are elbow to elbow. It was Thursday evening and I was suppose to find time to study except I really wanted to go to the mall with my friend. Study or buy clothes? I totally decided to buy clothes. I figured when I got back I could study, but when I got back I got on the phone and that lasted hours. Needless to say I didn't study. So the next day in class I was totally stumped on the test. However, my lab partner, the person sitting right next to me was super smart and I did exactly what you are thinking. I glanced over at her answers and copied them down. It paid off because because I passed the test. Guilt yes, but a passing grade.

Now it's up to you to guess which one is the truth or which ones are the lies???

I tag Annedria, Amber, Katie and Stacey!

I thought it would be interesting to compare Ashton and Peyton at the same age.

Here is Peyton at 3 months, 2 weeks

Here is a picture of Ashton at 3 months 1 week

Even though they were only a few ounces off at birth, Ashton turned into a big boy within the the first month after birth and still is. If I remember right, Ashton was in the 90th and 95th percentiles at 3 months and Peyton is right around the 50th percentiles.

If your curious, Ashton at birth was 7 lbs, 11 oz, 21 in.

Peyton at birth was 7 lbs, 6 oz, 19 in.

Here are some recent pictures of Peyton

In memory of Royce and Borg

For all the animal lovers out there I'm sure you would all agree how special your pet is to you. How they warm your heart and make you laugh. You love your pet as a child. They are very much apart of your family. When I moved to Arizona my family had 2 very small puppies. Royce and Borg. I grew up with them. They were like my brothers I guess you could say. Royce (Hoy-ce) was born in 1996 and was suppose to be a Rott-Mastiff mix. He looked more like a Rott-Shepard mix. He was very protective and lovable. Borg was also born in 1996 and he was the biggest Rottweiler on the block. Maybe even in the state. He was always happy and loved to chase a ball. We nicknamed him the happy meal. Royce passed away one week before Taylor and I got married on September 8th, 2005. Borg just recently passed away on October 31st, 2008. Both dogs passed away due to complications with cancer. I've put together a short photo slide show of the boys.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Nothing much

Nothing much going on with us. It's been getting pretty cold here so we are just trying to stay warm and we spend a lot of time in front of the fire.

Here is a pic of Peyton standing... with help of course!

Trick or Treat & Trunk or Treat

This is what Peyton did - she slept!

Ashton was suppose to be a Giraffe, but the costume was too tight. Luckily we came across this bumble costume.

There were lots of bumble bees at the Trunk or Treat, but of course Ashton was the cutest one.

(ha ha)

I see you..

We're not to sure what Peyton is. Either a bunny or a bear. We do know she is cute!

I love to post pics of my kids!

Here is Peyton in her new Harley onesie and Harley socks. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan.

I'd love to say this isn't our backyard, but it is. Ashton is playing in the dead weeds.

I showed Ashton how to blow on these flowers

Here he is trying to blow on it

Last weekend it was cold so we bundled her up. Isn't she cute?