every four years

i LOVE the summer olympics! i especially enjoy track & field, gymnastics, and swimming. the trials have begun and my DVR is set (wasn't Shawn Johnson's vault amazing?). as my excitement mounts i've decided to force my dreams on jill. i can't wait...8*8*08



race from Alisha on Vimeo.

at least i don't have to worry about a false start at the 2024 (?) summer olympics.

on the topic of summer: if your not swimming your inside. it is SIZZLING HOT here! we've had lots of inside time to practice for the spelling bee...


spelling bee from Alisha on Vimeo.

or maybe pre-singing idol...

idol from Alisha on Vimeo.

harvest at a month

this year goal: have something to harvest from veggie garden.
next year goal: have normal looking harvest from veggie garden...


(i remember growing up and picking the carrots and eating them with dirt on them. i loved that jill and i ate dirty carrots together.)

last week cam hit one month. here's some sweet faces. rose bud lips.
oh my.
cam is SO smiley. i love it b/c jill wasn't very smiley as a babe. ( i promise that camille has eyes. i just can't seem to get a picture with them open.)

new (not-so-new) car

with the second taylor babe on the way jeff and i got anxious to up-grade cars. jeff had been driving the ol' black escort. awww, the escort... i love this car. it was my first big purchase. it got me through all of college and our newly-wed years. the best part about the escort was that it was a stick shift! i always feel like i'm a race car driver when i'm behind the wheel as my torso sways back and forth with every shift change.
then there's the mits. the most uncomfortable car known to man! i did feel cute driving it, but over-all it was a pretty ho-hum car.
anyway, both cars are small, and not very safe to drive in on these crazy arizona roads.
the day that cam was born we got this:



sweet huh? it is a 2005 nissan pathfinder, V6, fully loaded, leather interior, sunroof, third row seating, tow-package, 4-wheel drive, xm radio, after stock tires and off-road package. two best-of-alls': (1) we got it at an auction for a killer price and (2) it has awesome a/c with back seat upper air (this is a must in the arizona heat). even with gas prices we love the car and feel much more safe being up higher. oh, we feel like we look cool driving it too.
p.s. now we have an itching to get really out-doorsy and sporty with boating, kayaking, biking etc. we've always had this itch, but now we have something to tow the toys with...

so you say it's your birthday

jeff 's 28th birthday was last thursday. i gathered his family and we all meet at Logan's Roadhouse for dinner. jeff worked at this restaurant in his home town after his mission and loves the food. as we were waiting for our food the waiter came out and said that the fryer just broke, thus we'd have to change some of our order. we did so with a little distress (i really wanted my french fries), only to have him come back and tell us that ours was the last order that was made before it broke; we got our originally ordered food after all. over the next 30 mins. the place became more and more smoky. come to find out not only was the fryer broke but they were having problems with the ventilation system and had to shut down the restaurant. it was only 6:30 at night. as we were leaving our waiter was using her inhaler due to the amount of smoke! to top it off we still had to pay for the food and jeff was disappointed in his steak. my was yummy though. weird night.
after dinner we went over to the outdoor mall to chill and let the kiddos run around.

cam wore her white cake with confetti outfit for daddy's birthday.
despite my last post jillian is still a happy girl most of the time. jeanette caught some great faces.

jillian loves any playtime with her cousins...even when they make her show her pot belly :)

photos by Hayley

my dear friend hayley made the 1.5 hr drive to my house for a play date and to meet cam. she brought her sweet camera and we had a fun little photo shoot with the girls. jill and ava went swimming and we all got a taste of jills "new attitude" (note the pictures below). yes, that's right, jill has quit the 'tude lately. she is unbelievably good with camille, always kissing and loving on her. despite her sweetness with little sister, jill is a bit defiant with me and she screams a lot louder lately. at times i get frustrated and feel like telling her that she needs to act like a big girl, then i promptly remember that she's only 19 months old. now i have two sweet babes at home.