Crane Halloween Party

YESTERDAY:

i found a stray cat and decided to keep it.

The local bruja cast a spell on me...

the spell was called,

 "look-as-crazy-as-you-can-in-a-80's-fitness-costume-while-showing-as-much-

mouth-gum-as-possible"

apparently the spell worked.

at the annual crane halloween party

we found-out where jill's witch blood came from.

after eating soup and homemade bread we checked-out

some of the other crazy people.

great tradition.

Q & A with Jillian

Jillian Taylor (4 years, 1 day)
yesterday was jill birthday.
she is now 4.
i am loving this stage in her life.
so many questions.
more comprehension.
helpful and creative.
we celebrated with a day at the zoo.
halloween birthday party coming soon.

favorite color: red

favorite phrase: "mom, take a picture"

(as evidence by the follow):

(note: i do not prompt the poses, facial expressions, etc)

she is incredibly strong and coordinated.

(as shown by scaling the door frame)

favorite animal: red butterfly

favorite movie: James and the Giant Peach

best friend: mommy and sister

don't judge

about a year ago i took my first Zumba class.

my teacher was spunky, fun, and a great dancer.

her name is val.

i was soon a regular booty shaker in her classes.

about six months ago she approached me to take over her class as her family was planning on moving.

though i was flattered, i was working full-time and didn't have the time to devote to Latin-fitness dancing.

a new teacher was found and val stopped teaching.

come to find out she didn't move.

unfortunately she was diagnosed with cancer, thus delaying their move and affecting her entire world.

check  her out here:

http://cureval.com/

and here:

http://govaleriego.blogspot.com/

i am inspired by her.

music moves her and it  moves me.

i love dancing.

i love working-out.

Zumba is a fun blend of the two.

i really enjoy doing Zumba.

when i do Zumba i think of my first teacher, val.

as of yesterday, i am a certified Zumba instructor.

don't judge.

it's really fun.

 i feel a little shy about it but have decided to share...

leftovers

i don't cook much. therefore, we don't have many leftovers.

however, i do have a lot of leftover pictures from the summer.

enjoy this little feast of leftover pictures.

temple square 2010

fun with cousin olivia

i found camille under the car with my cat TJ
"i save PJ. she's stuck"-camille

jillian and nora at a tea party in logan ut

jill's favorite dog ever, lily.

28

i thought, since this is going to be the best year yet, i wanted to kick it off right.

recently, i've had a goal to experience new things especially pertaining to arizona.

so, jeff and i took some good friends out to a new-to-us mexican joint.

DELISH!

(friends)

after dinner we dared mill ave for a dueling piano bar.

this dude called me up to stage where jeff joined me and we boogied to the hokey-pokey. all of our requested got played and the musicians were great.

no birthday is complete without a birthday song by the little ones.

my heart is expanding

yesterday was my birthday.

i turned 28.

i awoke feeling incredible.

28 is going to be a good year.

in-fact, i decided that it's going to be my best year yet.

not sure why or how 28 is going to be different,

but i can just...feel it. in my bones.

right in the middle of my day yesterday,

on my birthday, i attended a funeral for these

two sweet twin girls:

Taylor and Emma are their names.

they shared a seven-chamber heart and stole the heart of

my community and all those who knew of them.

at the funeral i was inspired, saddened, up-lifted, filled with

hope, felt love, and my testimony was strengthened.

i was touch by words that were shared and the

beautiful musical talents shown.

two things though...

two things were imprinted on my heart.

(excuse me if i begin to ramble now)

1. the final speaker shared with us two familiar stories from the Bible: the first being of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. the second being the death of John the Baptist and subsequently the Sermon on the mount, finishing with the miracle of the fish and bread.

from the first story we read that once Jesus heard of Lazarus' death He wept. even Jesus, the perfect man. the same who had perfect faith and knowledge of the plan wept and felt the sorrow of a loss. the same who, once at Lazarus side, raised him from death, cried as we do. Powerful for me.

the second story began with Jesus learning of the death of his dear cousin John. here we read that Jesus desired to be alone and began to ascend a mountain for solitude. he was followed by multitudes of people that desired to be with him. Jesus' disciples began to turn them away, but Jesus allow the people to follow. He then taught them and blessed them, and healed the sick. all this done as he was mourning his loss. later, he preformed the miracle of the bread and fish. service and love in the midst of trial. Powerful.

2. the parents of the twins (who btw are pillars of light) shared a phrase to describe, in-part how they are feeling: "My heart is expanding". they spoke of the love they feel and how they feel as though the Spirit is making their hearts grow.

for me, this means that one can feel more intensely the love that the Savior has for us, and that we being to understand the plan more fully. in turn this allows us to love others with a more pure, sweet, and raw love like He loves us.

my testimony is stronger now than when i was 27.

my birthday wish this year is to have an ever expanding heart.

it's going to be a good year. 

my dad turned 60

all the sibs got together with most of the families to

surprise dad for a fun filled weekend.

on friday we had a wonderful dinner and fun with cousins.

(warning: you may get motion sickness)

summer utah 2010 from Alisha on Vimeo

on saturday we presented dad with a book of memories.

we then preceded to make more memories as we spent

the day at Deer Creek.

(yep, that's dad and mom on a jet ski)

we also rented a couple kayaks for our paddling pleasure.

the party was a success.

love you dad.

happy birthday.

(on a side note: i've always thought these two were twiners.

my thoughts are unchanged)

Taylor Cabin Retreat

there we all are (minus one. jared.)

Jeff's family planned a wonderful long weekend

vacation up at the cabin.

caitlin moved back into town just in time

to complete the fab five sibs.

and if you know me, i'll jump at any

opportunity to get into the mountains.

especially to the cabin with family.

my girls are incredibly lucky to have such great older

cousins to look up to and learn from.

the cousins went on a many hikes

mostly lead by the self-titled "nature-girl" sadee.

and really enjoyed eating otter pops.

our days were filled with crafts,

games with guns,

which, coincidentally i'm pretty good at shooting a

gun at three different targets after sprinting 20 ft

under a 15 sec limit. who woulda' thought?

here's proof:

one of my bulls-eyes'.

and the winners pose:

games with the wii,

birthday games for emma and sadee,

and of-course, a trip to fossil creek.

we can't go to fossil creek without cliff jumping.

even jill couldn't resist.

the evenings were the best though.

we all gathered together for a little goofing around.

and then ended the day singing camp songs and

learned more about our heritage from mom and dad taylor.

great memories made.