proof

walking from Alisha on Vimeo.

don't watch until you've read previous blog through "wed"...

dancing from Alisha on Vimeo.

wonderful week

wow, last week was wonderful.

last weekend: stake conference. on saturday jeff and i were able to attend the leadership meeting and the adult session, then on sunday we attended the general stake meeting. to my great surprise Elder Eyring attended to and spoke at all three!!
jeff had to leave the adult session early on sat b/c jill was being rowdy. after the closing prayer i quickly walked up to the podium and shook elder Eyring's hand (i was the first one!!). i then proceeded to ask him if he'd like to go golf with my husband on monday. he said that he "very much enjoys golfing. however, i have to report to President Packer monday morning". jeff was impressed that i was the first one up and that i actually asked him the question. i thought to myself "do you know me at all? of-course i would do that!"
well then on sunday, i was determined to speak with him again and have him meet jillian. after "amen" i quickly walked to podium, but he was already escorted out. i strode to the exit door. BLOCKED. an usher kindly told me i couldn't use "this" door. i found the closest door and ran into the foyer. he was inside the stake offices. i was determined. if i waited long enough, he'd have to come out. so i waited. i meandered in and out of the gym socialising, always with one eye on the stake door. all the chairs were up and the crowd was gone, still i waited. finally, no luck. with slumped shoulders i walked to my car. less than five cars left in the entire parking lot. i strapped jill in and drove to the exit. as i drove by i saw the elders in the foyer. of-course elder eyring would be meeting with them! now's my chance. i parked the car in handicap parking and ran back inside. as i was going in the elders were coming out. wrong again! i drove down the street toward home. as i pulled up to a red light i thought "i've got to try one more thing! if i don't i'll regret it. i really wanted jill to see him". i flipped a "U"ie and speed to the church. as i pulled up, no cars left in the parking lot, i noticed an outside access door from the stake offices. of-course!! i knew it had been there, but in my stalker-thought process i had forgotten. as i was finally and really driving home i was over come with the spirit. as the tears started to flow my testimony burned. did i want to speak with him b/c i wanted a good story? no i wanted to speak with him and shake his hand b/c of the knowledge and spirit that surrounds him. i am reminded of the women in the bible with the issue of blood. all she needed was to touch the saviors hem and she was healed. all i wanted was more of elder eyrings teaching and testimony. as young as jillian is i wanted her to feel what i was feeling. the conference was a success. i left with a stronger testimony and a greater resolve to become as He is.

Wed: finally! jill has started dancing. i took it a little personal when nora and carrie were movin' before jill. silly, but true.

Thrus: jill is 11 months! time to look for a new car seat. i can't wait to look back and see her cute face, instead of her cute back of head.




Friday: i now consider jill walking. she'll walk back and forth from jeff and i with encouragement. so fun to watch. of-course she still prefers to crawl.

Saturday: i know that i'm bit of a pessimist about arizona. okay, more than a bit. however, one thing arizona has going for it is the sports. Suns, Diamondbacks (in the running for the world series), Cardinals, Mercury (won the national championship this year), Coyotes. arizona also has great college athletics too. we've been to suns games and coyotes games. we really want to go to a cardinals game but they're mostly on sunday and they mostly lose. jeff and i really enjoy going to sporting events. on saturday we went to ASU vs. Oregon football. what a great game!! ASU looks pretty good, i think their record is 5-0. we had so much fun.




Sunday: my primary children were much more reverent this week than two weeks ago. they're getting ready for the sacrament program. we have a phenomenal chorister and pianist. every sunday as the children sing the spirit is invitied to the room. i love my calling. also, it is really official now. jill is walking. i set her down as i was conducting and she walked around the podium to the other counselor all by herself. i'm sure i'll have a video coming soon.

phew! what a wonderful week.

standing for something

just standing around from Alisha on Vimeo.

of wizards and vampires

i've crumbled to the peer pressure. i have began two series of novels at the same time. last week i finished the first book of harry potter and this week i finished twilight. i am #2 on the hold list for the 2nd harry potter and #192 for eclipse (i'm borrowing the second already). first of all, who would have thought that there would still be a waiting list for harry potter book 2? secondly, do you really think i'll be patient enough for 191 people to read eclipse before i want it? nope. (catilin, get to reading b/c know your mom gets it before me.) here's my critics on both, if you care:
i did enjoy harry pottery. having seen the movie first i really could visualize all the people and action. i was a fun read. i'm not particularly in love with it but i've heard the books get better and better.
i've also heard the same of the twilight books. my opinon: the first half of this book was annoying. i thought that bella was a self-loathing pitty party and edward was just creepy. as the book progressed i got more and more into it. the last half i couldn't put it down. i really enjoyed the suspense near the end. i'll admit it, i totally got into edward and his obsession with bella. i did hate the repetition of certain phrases though, such as: "promise you won't leave". ahhhhh!! if bella says this one more time i'll scream! anyway, i really enjoyed losing myself in the book. things i'd like to see in the next ones: more character development of charlie, less play on the clumsiness of bella, more with carlisle (i think i just like that name so i want to say it in my head more). after i finished twilight i was actually hoping for a movie to come out.

so you say it's my birthday

is that MJ? no wait, it's alisha.
my 25th birthday was on tuesday and it was awesome! sarah watched jill for us and we got to go hiking, swimming, cliff jumping, snorkling, picinicing and having fun like we were still young. i'd been dying to get out of the heat of the desert. fossil creek is a 2 hour drive and about 45min hike but sooooooo worth it. it's really secluded and the water was crystal clear. we finished the adventerous day off with dinner at texas roadhouse. i wish everyday could be my birthday!

painting frenzy/10 months

last week i went on a painting frenzy. i started with my doorknobs. they were that ugly gold/brass color (sorry for any of you that have those). i hated the way they looked. yup thats right, spray paint baby! it was pretty fun. i was reminded of doing homecoming floats in h.s. i wanted to just buy new knobs but they're pretty pricey. spray paint will do for now. next was the rooster. i bought a ceramic rooster and my mother-in-law helped me paint it. she has a few more creative genes than me so i was grateful for her help. she actually is commissioned to paint these for people. the rooster looks great in the nook.

finally was toenails. jill and i haven't had our toenails painted for 10 months. i don't even remember the last time i painted my toenails. i was before i was pregnant sometime. it's pretty fun to have color back on them.

today jill is 10 months old. she's been free standing for seconds at a time a few times a day now. she'll be walking before i'm ready. i love seeing her crawl around. i'm not yet ready for her to keeping growing up. i love this stage soooooo much i just want her to stay the way she is.

i'm anxious though to see her next few months. it seems like each month is more and more fun. i love this baby.

boys were right, burps are funny

burps and giggles from Alisha and Vimeo.

first ponytail

jill got her first ponytail today. i'm not so sure she likes it. before she's 10 months heres her 9 month stats from a few weeks ago: 17 lbs and 27 inches long. i've moved her into size three diapers. they're a little big but she'll grow into them.

okay, i'll do it

i have really been dragging my feet about food storage. i know i need to do it, but it overwhelms me to even think about. well, these past few months i feel as though it has been "the topic". then on the first sunday of august our stake presidency came out with a message that pushed me over the edge: we need to "expeditiously" prepare for a Level One Emergency by August 31st. level one emergency defined as: "a disruption of the family income, transportation, water, food, electricity and/or quarantine of flu or other contamination". here's the outline they gave of us to follow. week 1: have water for family for 15 days. week 2: store 6 extra cans of food for each family member and 15 days worth of food that they will actually eat. week 3: accumulate extra medications and general first aid items to care for family for 30 days. week 4: have 72 hour kit for each family member that you can take in vehicle. also we were instructed to fill up our gas tanks when it reaches the half way mark.

with all this hustle to have it done by aug 31st, i'm anxious to see what's going to happen sept. 1st. :)

really, i'm grateful for this guideline, a 15 day supply is much easier to start with than 1 yr and it gets me going at least.

6 generations

Joseph Smith Sr. sealed to Lucy Mack Smith begat Hyrum Smith sealed to Mary Fielding Smith begat Martha Ann Smith begat Mary Emily Harris begat Don Cecil Corbett (grave on right). ************************************************************

Thomas Clayton begat William Clayton begat Sarah Clayton.************************

Edward Partidge Sr. begat Edward Partidge Jr. sealed to Sarah L. Clayton begat Harriett P. Partidge.************************************************************************

William Atkins Gheen begat Amanda Trimble Gheen sealed to Heber C. Kimball begat Albert Heber Kimball sealed to Harriett P. Partidge begat Edward Partidge Kimball(grave on right ).*******************************************************************

John Young begat Brigham Young begat Phebe Louisa Young begat Hazel Young Beatie(grave on right).**********************************************************************

Edward Partidge Kimball sealed to Hazel Young Beatie begat Marion Young Kimball (grave on left).********************************************************************************

Don Cecil Corbett sealed to Marion Young Kimball begat Joanne Corbett begat Jeffrey C. Taylor begat Jeffrey D. Taylor begat Jillian Taylor. ***************************

Pretty cool heritage eh?

fun from the reunion

friday night: i didn't make it past this round of survivor. i don't know how to whistle, let alone with a mouth full of saltines.

friday night: direct descendants of don and marion who served a mission.
wed: we went to Jordanelle to play on boats and we got rained out!! i wasn't complaining though. it was so beautiful there and i really enjoyed the cooler weather and storms.

friday night: more team survivor. green team rules!

tues night: this hat game was my favorite by far!! it's similar to musical chairs but way better!! jeff, sarah and i were in the top three. sarah won!

top three of survivor. jeff won!


tues day: we went to provo cemetery for a devotional. it was perfect weather and and absolutely beautiful tribute to don and marion corbett. i really enjoyed getting to know the family i married into to.

corbett reunion

here's my sweet family on temple square. on tues. we watched a little bit of the pioneer parade. jill and i go tto meet L. Tom Perry. he was sitting in front of the beehinve house so i walked right up to him and started conversation. he just gooed (as much as an apostle would) over jill. i wanted jeff to take a picture of us but he said "that's pauperazi" (as if that's a verb :)
SLC will never get old to me. i love it everytime i visit. this time was especially fun for me to have jeff and jill. jill loved to play in the grass and try to eat it. we ate lunch at the lion house and toured the old tabernacle and the new conference center. i really feel like i could've spent more time in SLC than i had.

here's jill with her cousin Chloe Wright. jill can't wait until she can play!

road trip

jeff and jeanette after sweatin it up the moutian

on our way up to park city for jeff's family reunion we stopped in zions national park saturday and mom and dad pete's home sunday. on saturday we had all be awake since 4ish with little to no sleep so we decided to make the most of our road trip (queen creek to park city = 12 hours) and hike in zions :) we hiked to the three emerald pools. it was a pretty vigorous hike at times. i really enjoyed the air and the trees and the views. jill even made it all the way to the top.
jill is normally a really good traveler. this has been a hard vacation so far though. jill had a stomach bug for 7 days! it just ended yesterday. hopefully the rest of the vacation will be more enjoyable for her...
prom pose at the pool
this is a view from the hike to the third emerald pool. awesome huh?

9 month photo shoot

yes, nine months old today. time seems to speed up as i get older. jill still has light hair and blue/grey eyes. when i was pregnant with her we use to joke, "i wonder what she'll look like" (b/c jeff and look similar, for sure, she'll have dark eyes and dark hair).
lately jills been pulling herself up and then letting go for 1-3 secs. she loves when jeff and i crawl around with her and she'll chase us from room to room. then when we turn around to chase her, she just keeps coming to get us. i guess she likes us as much as we like her. she really is the joy in my life.

walking practice

practice from Alisha and Vimeo.




walking from Alisha and Vimeo.

high five

high five from Alisha and Vimeo.

jills been giving me high fives and clapping now for a few days. of-course (we've talked about this before) when the camera's out or i try and show jeff she won't perform. finally, i got it.

let freedom ring

jillian has a new found freedom...standing up. she's been doing this for about a week, but now she knows it provides new fun. today, as jill was "napping" i heard a few giggles. i ever so slowly and quietly opened the door to her room. i was greeted with this picture, i had to run and get the camera. on the fourth jillian learned the freedom of screams, i mean speech. we went to a bbq where three two year olds were just loud as can be. jill quickly learned that she too can scream. now her choice form of communication is a high pitched squeal/scream and of-course bababa. she's so proud of herself too, always smiling after she makes the new noises. this age is so fun! i can't wait to see what's next...

week long of fun

on friday i got to go to Utah for Grandma and Grandpa Pete's 70th anniversary reunion. can you imagine that? 70 years married!! it's amazing. grandpa speaks so fondly of grandma and grandma looks to grandpa for direction. i relish in the time i get to spend with them. it was great to reconnect with all my aunts, uncles and cousins. we've all grown so much. i also got to connect with a peterson crowd that still live in az. we've made plans to get together and i hope we follow through.

this is the gary peterson family that was able make it to utah. i'll post the picture of the extended family when i get it...there was a ton of us there.

on sunday we got to go to Lake Powell with jeff's mission buddies. it was a blast. jill like to drive the boat with Brian Myers (it was his house boat). the place we camped with absolutely majestic. we were right up next to a cliff. each day we got to go wake boarding, surfing, snorkeling and cliff jumping. it was a great trip!

jeff got to fish and he caught a bunch of stripped bass. he also speared a few carp. the last day jill was so exhausted!!

if you look close you'll see me in the blue swimsuit. this huge rock/cliff was as if it were sliced with a knife. once we climbed the littler rocks, the big one just opened up. it was phenomenal!! we were walking in between this two perfectly parallel cliffs rising up to the sky. the temp. was at least 10 degrees cooler inside the rock. you could touch either side at the same time. it was unbelievable! what a great week.

yo valerie and sarah p.

did you know that our good ol' toy had the potential to be a RAD new toy. jill loves to crawl through when i'm on the other side. one complaint though, when jill sits in the middle her head rubs the top. i wish it arched a little higher. still fun though.