Taggart Treasures

January Happenings...

2011-04-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

OK, so I feel so behind in updating this blog. So I thought I would just take it month by month. January was a busy month in our family. Grandma Diederich's birthday was on January 3rd and that same day we received news that Grandma Thomas (her mom) had passed away. Mom was devastated, of course, at first but then felt it was almost an honor that she would always remeber her mother's life and death on her birthday. We still got together for a birthday dinner at Spaghetti Factory that evening to celebrate mom and our beloved grandma. A picture from the viewing, the night before the funeral. All the Boise cousins drove down that night.

What a wonderful Elect Lady Grandma Thomas was. We all learned so much from her and will miss her terribly, especially my own children who got to spend a lot of time with her those final days. I love that saying below and also the photo of her in her nurse's outfit. The funeral was such a celebration of her life. Mom and Aunt Rose gave a beautiful tribute to their mother called "The Worst Mother in the World". Of course it was tongue in cheek with the whole purpose of it being that their mom was the worst mom because she always made them make right choices and so forth. I need to get a copy of that talk and give to my own kids as a reminder that moms are supposed to be tough on them because they love them so much. Traci and I played a piano duet called "My Heavenly Father Loves Me". It was a complete miracle I got through the song without tears. I played at my Grandpa Diederich's funeral and could hardly see the music through all the tears.

Take a look at the baby picture on the left. Does that look like my Jensen or what? It is actually my mom's baby brother, Dickie, who passed away when he was only 18 months. Crazy how the genes get passed on. Love mom's hairdo in the family photo...

Addie turned 3 on January 11th and shared a birthday lunch with her best little friend, Paisley, at McDonald's. They also share the same birth day with Paisley being one year older exactly. Such cute girls!!!

Addie and cousin Callie at her birthday celebration at our house.

All dressed up in her Princess garb showing off her beautiful cake.

St. George in the winter...what a warm and sunny tradition. We went hiking on the Dixie rock with Grandpa and Grandma Taggart.

A sleepy princess after a long day..

Dress-ups....

2011-01-08T15:05:00.000-08:00

This was so funny watching Addie open up her dress-ups...she was completely thrilled and then cheesin' it for the camera:)

Merry & Bright!!!

2011-01-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Taggart Christmas party was held at St. George this year. We had a great time enjoying great food, putting on the nativity, playing games and opening presents. We sure did miss James and Tauni's family though...

Christmas Eve was at our house ...

We had fun playing "Minute to Win It" games on Christmas Eve. This is Logan trying to get a cookie from his forehead to his mouth without using his hands. I think Josh killed it on this one.

Grandpa and Grandma with all the grandkids...

Troy and Kristin's cute family...

Traci, Ellie and Ethan...

Logan playing the piano for his talent this year. He played Jingle Bells as his solo and Jolly Old St. Nicholas as a duet with mom. He did a great job, Tieler is a wonderful and patient piano teacher.

Logan and Caden enjoying the other talents in the Big Chair.

The grandkids with their nativity puppets.

A view from up above on Christmas morning. The kids scored, don't ya think?

Addie was thrilled with her new dress-up clothes. She loves to play dress up with her friend Paisley.

Logan was finally able to say he had his own DS after coveting his cousins all year long. He loves playing it and I hardly hear a word from him because he's so quiet playing it all the time.

Jensen loved his first Christmas and it was fun watching him open up presents and squeal with delight.

Addie got a big Belle doll and every morning she is surprised at how beautiful the doll is. She leaves it on her dresser and doesn't play much with it to keep it nice and beautiful:)

The Many Faces of JENSEN!!!

2010-12-29T14:52:00.001-08:00

Since I have been so behind in updating pictures of Jensen, here is a collage from birth to now:

Christmas Card Photos...

2010-12-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Here are some much needed professional photos of the kids. Everyone kept asking when we were getting Jensen's picture taken, so here they are at 7 months old. He is one active boy and sure does keep us busy. He is so close to crawling, at which point we will have to do something drastic with our stairs.

Turkey Time!!!

2010-12-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

So we had Diederich Thanksgiving at our home this year. Traci made a delicious turkey, she brined it the day before and it turned out so moist and yummy. Not so good for Mom's high blood pressure though.

As usual, we have too much food. One of my faults is over-planning food. Oh well, it was all so good and made for some good leftovers.

The gang before eating time...

Dining room all dressed up for the big day.

The kids got to enjoy their feast in the kitchen.

Grandma chilling with her grandkids that evening.

We got globbered with snow this year, so the kids went sledding in our backyard. But didn't last too long since it was freezing cold out.

We've Moved!!!!!

2010-12-29T08:55:00.001-08:00

Yes, we finally did it!!!! After many years of debating back and forth whether we should move or not, we just took the risk and did it. We lived in our old house for 13 1/2 years and loved every minute of it. What a difficult thing to say good-bye to so many wonderful friends and neighbors. Seriously though, we are only 7 minutes away, but sometimes it feels much further than that. We now live in Traverse Mountain, which is just northeast of our old neighborhood. We still have Logan at Eaglecrest through the rest of the school year. We bought a Richmond American model home, so here are a few pics of the before we moved. Now, it looks much different and of course messier:)!!!!

A view of our backyard...

Our living room, we took out one of the couches and now have our piano in it. Great place for future home teaching...

A formal dining room...never thought I would need or have one of those, but actually it has been nice. We had Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Eve dinner in there for the adults only.

A top view of our family room...

Love my new kitchen....I seem to be always cooking in it now. Thanks to Traci who organized the whole kitchen for us on moving day.

Logan's Baseball themed room...

Master bedroom...

Basement family room...

Guest bedroom....you are all invited to come stay with us!!!

Halloween Monsters...

2010-12-29T07:58:00.000-08:00

Grandma Diederich's annual Halloween party!!!! We always love to see all the cousins dressed up for the holiday. The best was Tieler as a LonePeak Knight football player and Josh as a cheerleader - he makes such a cute girl:) Melissa joined us this year for the festivities as Cruella Devil.

The kids dressed up before we went to the church trunk-or-treat. Logan was Iron Man for part of the day and then decided to change back to last year's costume - a pirate. Addie was a pretty Little Mermaid and Jensen a scary green dragon.

Eaglecrest Elementary has a Halloween parade every year and here is Logan next to his good buddy Trevor the Clown.

Melissa and Logan trying on scary masks at the Halloween store...

OOOHhh, and this is the scariest of all...Barrack and Sarah!!!!

Jensen's Blessing

2010-10-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

Jensen Diederich Taggart was blessed on Sunday, July 25, 2010 by his dad, Jeffrey Lynn Taggart. It was a wonderful day filled with many friends and family. It was an extra special day because his cousin Brylli was baptized and confirmed that evening in Ogden. He is such a little man in his cute tie. We love Jensen so much and he really completes this crazy family:)

I don't know why I included this funny picture other than the fact that these 3 guys are always cracking everyone up. They love dressing up as nerds.

San Diego Wedding

2010-09-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and Star Taggart were married in the San Diego Temple on June 25th. That meant the whole Taggart clan got to migrate to sunny Southern California for a wedding of a lifetime. We chose to fly since we had a 1 month old baby. We weren't prepared for the cold temperatures, apparently they have this thing called "The June Gloom" where the weather drops the month of June. So at the beach we only dipped our toes in the ocean.

Logan and Jeff were part of the wedding party and got to spend the day driving around in a Hummer limo taking pictures at various spots before the reception.

The Taggart family in front of the San Diego Temple with scaffolding. The temple is under renovations; the photographer got some great pictures with the couple wearing yellow hard hats.

This is La Jolla Cove where the wedding party had many pictures taken. Logan was great sport putting up with all the smiles and photos. It didn't hurt that there were 3 cute flower girls just about his age riding in the limo also:)

Jeremy dipping Star. Her wedding dress was the most beautiful dress I've seen.

Peace out!

Addie posing in front of the wedding cake. Star's colors were hot pink, orange, yellow and light green.

OK, so it's been a long day...Addie!

Logan cutting a rug on the dance floor. The played all his favorite dance songs: "Tonight's gonna be a good night", "All the Single Ladies", etc. He later said that was the best day of his life; hopefully his own wedding day won't pale in comparison.

Jensen's Birth Announcement

2010-06-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

JENSEN'S FIRST PHOTO SHOOT...

2010-06-13T12:38:00.000-07:00

Jensen had his first photo shoot when he was 2 weeks old. Jeff's niece, Heather, took some great pictures of him. We only got a few with his eyes open, but they sure did turn out beautiful or handsome. We weren't really planning on taking any with the kids because Logan had pink eye at the time. But the one with Logan and Addie kissing him on the head was too precious to pass up. Good job, Jeff, you make a wonderful hand model.:)

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

2010-06-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

Jeff's 42nd Birthday was spent in style this year at La Caille restaurant. We've always wanted to go back there for dinner since we went for Jeff's work Christmas party 4 years ago. This place does not disappoint. What a wonderfully delicious meal consisting of shrimp cocktail, warm spinach salad, tenderloin for me and halibut for Jeff, with a dessert trio of creme brulee, chocolate molten cake and beignets. Yum Yum... Thanks Jeff for having a birthday and really treating me to a great night out. Love ya!!!!

Welcome home Baby Jensen...

2010-06-01T09:56:00.001-07:00

Our newest addition to the Taggart household...

Jensen Diederich Taggart - born May 17th at 1:10 p.m. - weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. His delivery was so fast - only two pushes. I guess that makes up for the 2 months of intense itching and pain Mom got to endure with her liver disease (cholestasis). He had a few problems with his lungs not drying out, so he got to spend all his hospital time in the Special Care unit at Timpanogos Hospital. He is doing so much better now.

Dr. Lamoreaux was on-call that day and delivered Jensen. He is such a wonderful, kind Doctor and of course it helps that he is friends with my brother Troy.

Some Mommy/baby bonding time before they whisked him off to Special Care for the next 4 days.

Daddy time with Jensen. He was hooked up to some many IV's and machines. His poor hands were both riddled with IV's so they then had to insert one into his head. That was so hard to see.

Big sister Addie holding him for the first time the day we took him home...

Big brother's turn...

Jensen meeting his brother and 4 sisters for the first time:)

Logan's 6th Birthday Bowling Bash!!!

2010-06-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Logan chose to go bowling for this birthday party this year. Lehi has a brand-new bowling alley in town called Jack-n-Jill's. He got to take 6 of his closest friends and cousins. They were ready to go play in the arcade after about 3 bowling frames, but we made them complete all 10.

I can't believe Logan is 6 already, he has grown by leaps and bounds this year. Still skinny as a rail, but has gotten quite a bit taller (his pants are almost floods - time for summer and shorts.) Happy Birthday Logan...we love you so much and are so proud of you!!!

Hop to IT!!!

2010-06-01T09:21:00.000-07:00

Logan and Addie enjoying the beaters from the chocolate cupcakes we made for Easter. Why does it have to get all over their faces???

We got to spend Easter/General Conference weekend up at Bear Lake. Luckily the Easter Bunny found them there. Here's Logan after capturing all the "Bunny poop" (jelly beans) and Addie with her new headband.

Our annual tradition of decorating Easter cookies at Grandma's house. The kids always love this, even the older ones...

Grandma helping Addie open up her eggs from the egg hunt and discovering all the loot. They each went home with around $20 in quarters, dimes and nickles. Pretty heavy bags to say the least.

All the Diederich cousins at the Easter egg hunt...

Spectacular Seattle...

2010-03-18T17:18:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally did what I've wanted to do for a long time: visit beautiful Seattle and at the same time meet my cousin Alison's new baby boy. And I did it all at 7 1/2 months pregnant. We had such a great time, Ali makes a wonderful and knowledgable tour guide. Her adorable kiddos were great to travel around with. We saw so many spectacular sights and had pretty decent weather also - not too much rain.

Pikes Public Market was quite a sight to behold - all the blooming flowers, fresh fruit and veggies, tons of fish and delicious food. The roofs were all lined with these beautiful yellow daisies.

We took a lake cruise of Lake Union and Lake Washington and were able to see Bill Gates sprawling house, the "Sleepless in Seattle" floating house and the house were Bachelor Jason supposedly lived.

We also got to see the Broadway production of Legally blonde - still great even on the back row...

Cute Victoria enjoying her Red Mango yogurt - she is one smart and darling little girl.

A view of the Snoqualmie Falls...

Alison with her two sweet kiddos - Timothy and Victoria. Love them to pieces!

On our last day, we all decided to buy matching rain boots - we were in Seattle, you know.

Vegas, BABY!!!!

2010-03-18T09:00:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I know I've been really behind in updating this blog. But we haven't had much happening around here until lately. This first picture was just a cute one I took of Addie and some of her friends in their princess costumes. So sweet!!!

We were able to go to Las Vegas with Jeff a few weeks ago. He had some work to do, so Grandma (or Ga Ga as Addie calls her) came with us to help out with the kids. We took the gondola canal ride at the Venetian hotel and Addie was mesmorized with our boat driver singing in Italian. She just kept starring at him.

Alot of the hotels down there were all decorated in Japanese artwork and such. These next pictures were taken at the Palazzo Hotel.

Logan loved seeing the Treasure Island Hotel with all of it's pirate themed decor. Notice the skull in the rocks to the left.

Logan and me playing the drums with the Blue Man Group...

The kids loved seeing all the different colored M & M's, but at $12.99 a pound, we didn't get much.

We found this cute cupcake shop at our hotel, the Monte Carlo, and of course had to stop and get some since Addie had on her cupcake shirt and I love a good cupcake - YUM!

Logan lovin' his lil' sis as we got ready to board the tram from the Monte Carlo to the Bellagio.

In the Bellagio garden atrium, decked out with red Japanese lanterns.

A gold and silver horse in the lobby of the Bellagio, my personal favorite hotel in Vegas.

Princess Addie turns 2!!!

2010-01-14T19:00:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Addison is already 2. She is one big girl, a 2 year old going on 16. She had a blast going to Build-a-Bear for her birthday and making a ballerina bear, she named her "Bella".

Some pictures of her at her birthay party...

Showing off her new Minnie Mouse shirt...

Trying on her new swimsuit and swim cover-up. Both Aunt Traci and Kristin gave her the same swim suit without even knowing it...

The gang singing for her at her party...I even made a Barbie birthday cake, quite an accomplishment for me.

Here's Addie after the party singing "Happy Birthday to YOU". She didn't quite finish the song though because the Pringles won out!!!

Merry Christmas 2009!

2010-01-14T18:33:00.001-08:00

Here's a brief happenings of the Taggart household for the month of December....

We took the kiddos to the Festival of the Trees, they loved it especially the giant bubble thing that Logan got to blow his way through. That was the highlight!

Logan with her favorite Santa's helper...Bishop Belnap!!!

Our annual trip up to Good Things Utah for Tami's birthday. Yep, that's Kevin Nealon...gotta love Saturday Night Live (that is, the good 'ol days in the '90s.) He was the guest co-host that day. Still can't figure out why my head is tilted so far...whatever!!!

Helping Logan's Kindergarten class with their milk-carton gingerbread houses. Don't tell anyone, but the cute girl in the pigtails is his little CRUSH!!!

The Taggart grandkids at James' house for the Taggart Christmas party...they are all growing up so fast.

This is Addie's favorite place to be...in her room being Mommy to all her dolls. What a girl!

The kids with Great Grandma Thomas, they love going to visit her at the Ranches in Sandy!

The Diederich grandkids on Christmas Eve at Troy and Kristin's home. Tieler was in charge of the craft this year...making these darling sock snowmen!

Aunt Traci made these beautiful pink tu-tus for the little girls....

Caden, Carson, and Logan with their Tommy-20 guns. Yep, there were yellow bullets all over the house that night, but very excited boys to go with it.

Logan showing some love to his cousins.

Christmas morning at the Taggart house....

The kiddos with their matching ski hats on...

Addie loved her Princess dress-up clothes and had to try them all on that morning before opening up anymore presents...

SAY CHEESE!!!

2009-12-22T15:41:00.000-08:00

During our stay in St. George, we had Jeff's niece Heather take some picture of the kids. She took us to a very unique place with some great old houses and this awesome broken down green truck. We didn't even have to prompt the kids to kiss each other, they just love doing it.:)

Posing with their cousin McKenna...

Addie with cousin Hailey or Hae hae as she calls her...so cute!!!

Sunny Thanksgiving in St George!

2009-12-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

This year we spent the week of Thanksgiving in beautiful warm St. George. We had a great time catching up with cousins, playing games, shooting off rockets, eating good food, and chasing kids around. There were around 75 people in attendance at the Bloomington Hills Stake Center. Thanks to Joan and Mark who did so much to make it a nice day for all.

I just had to include this picture of Addie and Luke. She is the Belnap's nephew and do they ever love each other. She is constantly trying to kiss him...so funny!

Uncle Dave and Aunt Carol brought this fun blow-up jumpy thing. The set it up in the cultural hall and the kids had a blast. Logan was in pure heaven playing with all the McDonald boy cousins, unfortunately on the Taggart side the girls dominate. It kept the kids out of our hair while the adults were preparing dinner. Cousin Jamie was always there to play with Addie.

Addie with cousin Hailey, she calls her Hay-Hay...

Logan thinking he is the King of the Roost with Gabe, Jenna and Hannah.

Some of the kids making fun necklaces at the craft table.

Jeff was in charge of the rocket blasting. Luckily Uncle Brent brought the generator. All the boys made their rockets and had a blast shooting them off. Jeff, James and Keith had to hide behind a tarp to keep from getting drenched with water each time a rocket shot off.

Jeff helping out Bryson...

Some of the younger kids watching the festivities in the parking lot. Notice they don't even have on jackets, oh the joys of St. George.

Uncle Jeremy and his cute new girlfriend, Star. They won the rocket competition with thier sleek rocket design.

Addie holding Brooke with the help of Grandma Taggart.

The end of a very long Thanksgiving day with Jan, Gary and Gabe.

Jaylynn, Tauni, Jeremy and Star.....

HALLOWEEN FUN!!!

2009-10-12T13:40:00.001-07:00

We sure do love Fall around the Taggart household. Halloween was especially fun this year watching Addie experience this strange new holiday from a toddler's perspective. She was a sweet Snow White and Logan was a mean, old pirate.

Here's Addie trying on Melissa's funny wig...

All the Diederich cousin dressed up for Grandma's annual Halloween party (minus Carson, he was sick that night). Even new little cousin Brodie was in on the fun...

Thanksgiving Point's Scarecrow Festival and Cornbelly's...

Logan could have spent hours launching his rocket high up into the sky. He loved this and didn't want to leave. Now Jeff just needs to figure out how to make one for our house.

Cute brother and sister!

Addie's turn down the big slide....

and now Logan's turn....

Resting on a cow on a chilly Saturday afternoon...

Now Dad and Addie are ridin' the cow...

Go-cart racing!

German "Diederich" Tradition

2009-08-06T13:19:00.002-07:00

In Germany, there's a first-day-of-school tradition called a "Schultute" or School Cone. Everyone in my family calls it a "Sugar Tuta" since it is filled with candy and sweets. The cone is a giant cardboard cone filled with back-to-school supplies, candies, and other small goodies. This gift, much like an academic Christmas stocking, makes the first day of school extra special. The tradition dates back to the early 1800's in Germany and our family still celebrates it today, only now for those entering Kindergarten.

Logan was eagerly anticipating this special day with Grandma Diederich. His cousin Callie is also starting Kindergarten this year, so they got to go to Kiddie Kandids and have thier portraits taken in the traditional German costumes, the liederhosens and durndel dress. Here is a picture of a typical German school class receiving their school cones. I wish I could have posted the picture of me with my sugar tuta when I was 5 years old. It is now in the basement of our Bear Lake condo. Such great memories.....

Newport Beach/Balboa Island

2009-08-06T13:19:00.001-07:00

On the last day of our vacation, we decided to spend it at the beach again. We started out at Laguna Beach, but didn't last very long after we were completely wiped out by a huge wave. Everything soaked!!!! The lifeguard came by and told us that this particular stretch of beach would be completely gone in about an hour so we took off. We then went back to Newport and took the ferry to Balboa. We had a great time playing in the surf and the kids collected many shells and sand dollars.

Here we are saying good-bye to our wonderful hotel, the Embassy Suites Anaheim Garden Grove. Addie loved the roaring lion in the lobby and Logan had a blast with the turtles and koi fish.

L.A. and Santa Monica

2009-08-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

We sure crammed a lot in to our Sunday. We wanted to fit in eveything since we figured the traffic might be a bit less. We were wrong, the traffic never lets up apparently in LA. We spent a ton of time in the rental car, and the kids actually did pretty well, that is without a TV in the car. We started out at the La Brea Tar Pits, which is a natural history museum with dinosaur bones and real tar still spitting up from the ground right in the middle of LA.

We then headed over to see the LA Temple. It has been since I was a little girl that I saw this temple. I was in awe over how huge the building was. I'm so used to seeing these smaller temples they are building now. It is closed for renovation now. The location is ideal for many people to see this beautiful edifice as they drive by.

We then ended the day in Santa Monica and the pier. I've seen this place many times on TV and in movies. But it is much more stunning in person. For a Sunday, the place was packed, I guess that's when the locals come visit.

California Surf...

2009-08-05T11:33:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a wonderful vacation to Southern California. The Sprouse family met up with us and we headed to the beautiful Newport Beach. We had great weather and the waves were the biggest they've been in 20 years, so we heard. The U.S. Open surfing competition was being held that same weekend, so you can imagine how crowded the beaches were. Of course we had to stop at our favorite burger joint everytime we visit Cali. In-n-Out Burger, we love you!!!!

Logan had a blast running away from the waves. He's such a great swimmer, but in the ocean he only got his toes wet. Go figure!!!!

Addie with Aunt Lori. They were such lifesavers and helped out with the kids so much. So glad they came with us.

Just love this bright, clear picture of Logan with the colorful umbrellas in the background. Thanks Jeremy for taking such great photos.

Jeff really enjoyed himself out there body boarding with all the local teenagers. He sometimes forgets that he's now a 41 year old. Oh well, he had a great time.

Logan decided he wanted to be buried in the sand. And along came Addie and thought it would be so funny to throw some dirt in his face. He sat so still with that sand all over his face.

STEWART FALLS

2009-07-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Taggart cousins went on a 4 mile hike up to Stewart Falls near Sundance. Jeff said Logan did great and didn't even complain about the distance.

A SUPRISING STOPOVER

2009-07-12T14:57:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful surpise! Our dear friends from Nashville had a stopover in Salt Lake on their way to Denver. We got to meet up with them and grab a quick bite to eat. Ethan and Greta have grown up so much, Logan misses them like crazy and had a blast catching up. The other not-so-pleasant surprise was the speeding ticket I got at the airport with my expired license...double bonus and double the fine...oops!!!! I guess I'll learn the hard way. But it was all worth it just to be able to see the Hansens for a few minutes.

A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD...

2009-07-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

Logan was in the Lehi City Jr. Musical this summer called "A Year With Frog and Toad". He had such a fun and positive experience learning all the songs and dances. Addie loved following Logan around the house singing the songs and doing all the actions. She just had to get a picture on the stage with Logan... Logan was a Snail in the Snail chorus. In the play there is a song about eating cookies, so the director gave all the kids a cookie on closing night.

Here he is posing with Frog, Toad, Zach the snail and Elise the turtle.

The whole cast and crew with their director, Miss. Tyfani. Lots of kids (ages 4-7) to direct. Frog..Toad..Mice..Moles..Snails..Turtles..Lizards..Birds...Squirrels!!!!

Logan pretending he was sleeping...

Logan with his best buddy girlfriend Elise (he reminds me...a girl who is a friend)

"I"m the snail with the mail, I'll deliver without fail...Pardon the cloud of dust...I'm speeding with an envelope as fast as any antelope...forward and onward I thrust.....whew!!!!"

Ok, so those lyrics have been sung around the Taggart househould for the past few weeks. Logan just said how much he misses being in the play. This was a big part of his summer.

Strawberry Pinnacles

2009-07-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a great Saturday with the Sprouse family at the beautiful Strawberry Pinnacles. The kids loved playing around in the stream and Logan even got to float down the stream on his cousin's lap - thanks Jamie!!! Jeff got pretty bruised and beat up going down the bigger river on his flat tube. What a fun place for a family reunion - would love to go back and spend more time next year!!!

SPRING UPDATE!!!

2009-06-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's a full bag of marshmallows on the floor! This girl of mine definitely keeps me busy. I can't believe the things she gets in to while I'm in the shower. Poor Logan can't even keep up with her. We've even had to start doing a few time-out sessions, she seems too young for all of this. What will life be like 10 years from now as she starts the teenage years???

We had our Spring Piano Recital. All of my students did a fabulous job. I am always surprised by how much they have progressed from the last year. I'm down to only 8 students now, but they are a great bunch of kids.

Logan had his Preschool Graduation in May. Mrs. Daniels worked miracles with Logan over the past 2 years. She is so warm and loving with the children. He really will miss it, but is so anxious to be starting Kindergarten.

We took another trip to St. George last weekend. I have always loved the St. George Temple and how white and beautiful it is. We even saw a new film on the Mormon Batallion in the Visitors Center.

Hiking at the red rocks overlooking the city. Logan has really learned to love hiking and has gotten pretty daring lately. He even jumps off the waterfall at the pool in the condo. Another big triumph, learning how to ride a bike without training wheels. We took his bike down to St. George to practice a bit and he did great. I guess is helps that it is pretty flat at the condo, and here at our house there are too many hills.

We saw Annie at the Tuacahn Theater opening night. It was a great show and not too hot yet. Logan fell in love with the girl that played Molly, oh my...

My 2 binky baby. This is going to be one hard habit to break. Help ME!!!

This video cracks me up. Addie just loves Logan and loves it when he tickles her belly.

LOGAN IS 5 .... EVERYONE!!!!

2009-04-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe Logan is 5 already. He's been waiting for this day for a while, actually since all of his friends turned 5. He is always trying to play catch up with them, but never will since they are all older than he is.:)
His pirate birthday party was a smash. I only wish I would have given the kids their pirate swords when they were leaving. You can only imagine all the sword fights we had. They loved the treasure hunt all over the house, yes inside, since the weather didn't cooperate with us this year. Little Addie had a great time trying to keep up with all the big kids. We had a pirate pinata in the garage with tons of candy. All of Logan's friends and cousins were here for the festivities: Caden, Carson, Callie, Zach, Alec, Brooke, Elise, and Seth. The only one missing was his dear friend from Nashville, Ethan.

My little Logan worries about everything. Yesterday we had a huge wind storm here in Lehi and he was so worried it would turn in to a tornado. We tried to assure him that Utah rarely if ever has tornados, but in his mind it was a possibility. So as we were driving to dinner last night, the car was being blown all over the road due to the wind. He asked who was making the wind blow and we said it "Mother Nature". We had a tender moment as he said a few prayers asking Heavenly Father to make the earth stop the wind. It was like a light came on in his head that he could pray anytime and anywhere. What a wonderful teaching moment and one I will never forget. Thanks Logan for the constant reminder of prayer and for being such a sweet and concerned boy. We love you so much!!!!!

A DAY OF DOCTORS...

2009-04-27T17:45:00.001-07:00

After 4 ear infections this winter and many, many sleepless nights (both for Addie and her parents), we decided to have tubes put in her ears. It was probably one of the hardest things I've done yet as a mother. A rather scary looking male nurse took my crying baby out of my arms and into the operating room. Luckily it was a rather short surgery, and afterwards she was hysterically crying. The only thing that calmed her down was the Alvin and the Chipmunks CD we had playing in the car. We are still hoping for a quiet night of sleeping, but have yet to achieve it. The Doctor assures us it will happen, but maybe not too soon.

That same afternoon, Logan had his Kindergarten check-up. He was such a trooper and didn't even flinch when they gave him 4 shots. I can't believe he is starting Kindergarten this Fall. He seems ready for it, I just hope I am:)
Her best friend, Minnie Mouse, was a calming and helpful influence for her. She just wanted to be held while we were in the waiting room. I'm sure she could tell that something big was about to go down.

Some pictures of "My Kids in the Hood"!

"WICKED" FUN!!!

2009-04-16T15:21:00.001-07:00

Well, one of my dreams came true last night. I got to finally see Wicked, the Broadway musical. I was one of the lucky few who even got tickets, thanks to my parents who are season ticket holders at the Capitol Theater. The story was so creative and there was even a great message at the end. The actress who played Elphaba was the standby, so I was a bit disappointed at first. But did she ever blow it out of the house and did a fantastic job. By the time they sang the song, "For Good", the tears just came flowing. What a beautiful song and musical. I will remember this day forever and hope to have the chance to see it again and this time take Jeff and the kids with me.

Too Much Fun....

2009-04-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

I just loved this email forward and wanted to share it. Hope it makes you smile too!
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4816051/12849087

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

2009-04-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fun-filled weekend with all of our favorite family Easter traditions. Saturday we colored eggs with our friends and neighbors. Zach and Paisley spent the day with us (Kim and family went to see "Wicked").

Here's the loot the Easter Bunny left behind. Addie loved eating the "bunny poop" that trailed from their bedrooms to their baskets. She was on a sugar high for the whole day. Logan had a blast flying his Spiderman kite at Grandma and Granpa's house.

Here's Addie with blue jelly bean juice running down her mouth...

Logan and Addie showing off thier new Sunday digs. I can only imagine Logan asking in a few years why he had to match with his little sister and wear an orange sweater vest.

Ok, so since I'm the self-proclaimed "Cupcake Queen" in my family, I thought I should purchase a cupcake stand to make it real. So here it is with all the Easter treats on display. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Diederich for the great egg hunt, the bunny was quite generous this year!

FUN IN ST. GEORGE...

2009-03-07T09:01:00.000-08:00

Jeff had some work in St. George this week, so we decided to tag along with him. I mean, who could turn down a trip to enjoy some sunny, warm weather. Of course, we had to visit Logan's favorite place...Snow Canyon. For a 4 year old boy, this is the ideal location to hike, explore, and play in the sand. Addie got in to the action as well. She is turning into a little tomboy (Jeff just loves that).

Up... Up....
... and away!!!! She was squealing with delight the whole time.

We got Addie a new swimsuit...My little fashion maven had to put it on with her sunglasses and crocs. They went out for a swim and discovered the outdoor pool wasn't heated yet. So had to resort to the hot tub for a quick dip.

We took a little day trip to Kanab to see some of Jeff's clients. There were a lot of country western things to see and many movie lots there.

MY CRAZY LITTLE GIRL

2009-02-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

Addie is such a character. She is already showing so much spunk and independence. She rarely lets me put her to sleep, it is always Jeff who puts her down at night. Well she has another ear infection so I've been trying to give her more and longer naps. Yesterday I tried several times to get her to sleep to no avail, so I went about my activities. After a while, I noticed she went over and sat on the rug in the kitchen and then Logan said to look at Addie and sure enough she had fallen asleep sitting up propped up next to the cabinets. I took a picture of her and had a little laugh. She is always falling asleep in her high chair and in the car. Poor girl is so exhausted.

Logan shared one of his Oreos with Addie. This is what I found after I got out of the shower.

Logan and his cousin Caden lovin' little Addison...

RELIVING THE HOLIDAYS!!!

2009-01-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of the Fall and Winter holidays. It's been so fun enjoying the holidays with Logan and Addie. Seeing things through children's eyes can be so refreshing and new.

We have a Halloween party every year with the cousins and this year it was at our house. It seems like most years it snows, so this year it was nice to have it clear and not so cold. We did get a bit of rain that night, but still had a good time at trunk-or-treating.

This year for Thaksgiving, we headed up to Boise, Idaho to see our Halladay cousins. There were 22 grandchildren up there so lots of noise and activities going on. They had a blast riding Scot's horses, going swimming, seeing movies, and just playing with each other. We look forward to Thanksgiving with them in 2 years.

Logan's preschool Christmas program was so cute. It happened to fall on the worst snow storm we had this year. Mrs. Daniels combined both 4 year old classes, so there were 28 children in all. I can't believe how much he has learned this year and continues to amaze me with what he comes home with.

Grandma Diederich prepared a nativity hand puppet show. The kids loved it and it really brought in the true meaning of Christmas that night. Thanks Mom for all your hard work.

We spent the week between Christmas and New Years in St. George. So on New Year's Day we hiked Snow Canyon. It felt so good to be outside in the warm sunshine and made it that much harder to go back home to the cold and snow.

CALIFORNIA MEMORIES!!!

2009-01-24T08:38:00.001-08:00

For our family vacation this year, we went to Southern California. We spent a week in Oceanside in a beach house, literally the home was right on the beach. The kids loved waking up early in the morning and running out to body surf in the ocean. The only down part was that the water was so cold (not Bear Lake freezing....), but they didn't seem to mind and spent hours upon hours out there. We made so many wonderful memories and the cousins had so much fun together. Here are a few pictures (OK, a lot of them...sorry) of our time in California...

This was taken the day we flew home. Logan wanted to walk on the beach one last time. The whole flight home, he kept asking when we could come back to the beach. Hopefully soon was all we could say.

We met up with Uncle Jeremy at Disneyland. He was such a hit with all the grandkids. Sorry, Jeremy, if they beat up on you too much.

The grandkids loved hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa all day. The beach house made it so perfect to spend time together.

It was my great idea (or not so great idea for some) to wear matching colors at Disneyland so we could find each other easily. Since we were there around Halloween time, orange seemed like a perfect color. You could definitely see us all coming from a mile away. When Jeremy saw us he couldn't stop laughing and said only people from Utah would do this....OK, we are proud to be from Utah.

We had a few days at the beach to build sandcastles and just enjoy the sun and surf. Uncle Troy even let Logan put sand on his head. OK, now Logan, who is your favorite uncle???

We got to go to the new Newport Beach Temple. It is so beautiful and such a unique coral color.

Here is our little family at Legoland in Carlsbad. The kids loved seeing all the cities made out of thousands and thousands of Legos.

Addie loved eating the sand for some reason she couldn't get enough. This literally made Grandpa sick to his stomach. Luckily Addie didn't get too sick from eating who knows what in that sand.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for making such wonderful memories for the family to remember. Where will our next adventure take us???

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, ADDIE!!!

2009-01-20T20:31:00.000-08:00

Addie is a T.V. star. Good Things Utah showed this picture of Addison in her Halloween costume for her 1 year old Birthday!!!

Santa Claus visited our home on Christmas Eve...thanks to Bishop Belnap for being one of his helpers...

Showing off her new Birthday Sunday dress.

Have your cake and eat it too, big girl!!! "Our Buggie" is now 1. This past year has really flown by. Addison is one delightful baby and loved by all who meet her. We had a big birthday bash with family and friends. She started walking just in time for the celebration and is now in to everything, even the stairs. She is famous for her huge grins and giggles. Here's hoping the coming year is as easy and delightful as her first year. We love you, Addie Boo-Boo!!!