February Fun

Life here is very different for the kiddos. They were all very excited at the prospects of snow as we were coming here. To tell the truth though, Shreveport had more snow than we did in the month of February. None the less here are Emma, Jane and Benjamin sporting their new "snow" boots which have turned out to be fairly good for mud as well. Who would have guessed? It is colder here though and the girls are trying to get used to the idea of wearing leggings and pants instead of just dresses and skirts all the time.

Philip has decided that he likes the cows. It was like talking to Bambi the first time I took him out. First he shouted at the calves "Here Cows!!!" while holding out a rock for them to eat apparently. Then he started calling everything a cow. The cat in this picture didn't mind to much that Philip kept calling it a cow, but he too was not fond of the idea of eating a rock. To make the experience even more comical it seemed every calf in every corral RAN away from Philip. The poor guy. He just wanted to be friendly, but his volume does take a little to get used to. He is not discouraged, though. I here, "Look mommy! Cows!" everywhere we go now, but out here there are really cows everywhere and so most of the time he is right.

This little guy was just three days old when we went out to meet him. Philip really liked him.

This month I have to give kudos to Uncle Cliff. He said, "You buy it and I will build it" and so we bought. . .

and he built a wonderful swing-set/play-yard. Many many hours went into it and many hours have already come out of it.

Jane loves the swing, well they all do really.

And everyone loves the slide. Especially when Uncle Cliff goes down with you. This will be well loved for years after we leave. What an awesome effort from Uncle Cliff, Uncle Kenny, and even Jacob who found nuts and bolts and held boards, ect. Thanks Cliff for helping Jacob feel of worth.

Matthew is learning to smile this month. I can't believe he is at that stage already!

Uncle Cliff actually helped us get all settled. He was here for over two weeks and got everything situated from play yards outside to electronics and ceiling fans inside. All of the kids were sad when he left.

Grandma has a piano and everyone loves to hear her play. She has an, "everyone can play if you use just your fingers" rule. I love this rule! I love that they all want to play.

More smiles from our little Matthew. Grandma is good at getting smiles.

Here is the little bit of snow we did get this month. As you can see there is not much, but what a commotion it made. The kids played and played and it was melted and gone by noon, but it was a great morning!

Benjamin and Emma have become more connected than ever. They dance and play and I am glad they have each other.

It seems Jane wants to have that same connection with Matthew. She just loves to talk to him. She will actually push me away from him so that she can have HER chance to love and kiss him.

To think of her as a big sister is strange. She is still my "baby girl," and at least she still loves to snuggle! But she really is so good and soft with Matthew I feel she must remember him from before.

January Juggle

January came rolling in for all of us. Nato went back to work and we all spent a lot of time preparing for our journey to Idaho.

It seemed that Nato was not going to have as much time to help us at home as we thought, but after the wonderful amount of time we all had in December we could not complain about his duties calling him away.

Matthew got bigger and bigger this month. He seems to want to be long and tall like the rest of the clan.

As we struggled to say farewell to all of our friends we found ourselves bonding closer and closer as a family.

Everyone was excited for Jacob's first pinewood derby.

The food was, well, fast!

Jacob's pack in Louisiana.

Jacob receiving his latest gold and silver arrow points.

The races! Jacob's is the second from the left.

He got fourth overall in the Wolf Den!

Only a few days later we began the packing.

And the cleaning,

Soon it was time to go. . .

Our trip was very good. We had two days of airline travel instead of the planned one. But since it was a maintanence issue we were given a hotel room for the night in Dallas. The next morning we flew to Seattle and then on to Boise. The kids did great on the planes.

While in Seattle we had a FIVE HOUR LAYOVER. This sounds bad, but the kids had so much fun in this play area that it was really not bad at all.

They would run and play and then rest.

And then play again! It was really a great little place to hang out.

After we got in on Saturday we met lots of family waiting for us at Grandma Irving's house. We talked and talked and somehow the next morning we pulled ourselves out of bed and got to church. Nato blessed Matthew with the assistance of many wonderful family members.

These are the only few pictures we have of the proof of him being blessed. With all the travel and lack of sleep I (Robin) simply forgot to take pictures with everyone.

After our crazy weekend we tried to sit back and enjoy the last few moments of our month and our time all together.

Matthew is growing so long so fast, I will just have to work hard to keep photos of him updated for everyone.

Jane and Nato: Working on their debut!

2010 Wind Up

December was full of all kinds of treats and treasures, and each one of them brought our family closer together.

This year we were in charge of the "Taylor Family Challenge" and the kids wanted to have this be one of the challenges, to dress up like Santa. Of course they all kept adding to there own challenge until we had the entire staff at the North Pole.

About mid month Matthew Ammon joined our family and we can't seem to remember what it was like without him in our lives.

There is just something about new babies that makes everyone happy and helpful and closer together. Maybe it is just the lack of space that draws us closer, but I think the spirit helps too.

Nato loves new babies because it gives him an excuse to cuddle and nap on the couch.

As the month flew on we found ourselves enjoying the wonders of the season.

It's a wonder we got any shot with all the nativity participants this year.

Matthew started to show signs of jaundice and we began helping him more than ever.

Philip got into the spirit of helping and tried to take over the responsibility of Jane's nutrition.

We were able to get Matthew back on track with out a bili-light! Yea!

Emma turned 6! What a day of. . .

Presents,

Cake,

and Fun!!!!

That brings us to Christmas eve. We had our friends the Dellenbach's over for dinner. While the kids were playing, Philip fell off a chair (or something) and bit right through his lip. Nato and Luke (a.k.a. Daddy Dellenbach) rushed him to the ER to get stitches while Robin and Stephenie tried to convince the children that Christmas was not ruined and Philip would be home in time to enjoy his presents. Here is Philip sporting his patched up lip and his wonderful new trains.

Not only was Christmas safe, it was so nice to be all together this year.

I think it is safe to say that many wishes came true!

No one seemed disappointed with Santa's efforts.

There was many hours ahead of enjoyment for all!

It really was a fun day!

The best part of the month was having Nato around so much. He received two weeks paternity leave and a good chunk for Christmas. How grateful we are for this blessing.

This month Jane's walking abilities soared. Here is just a taste.

When we brought Matthew home Philip thought we were saying this is your Math, or

Math - You. So he would call him Math - Me, because in his mind Matthew is his. He talked this way for about two months after we brought Matthew home.