October 2013

Ever since I started a family, October seems to be one of the busiest times of year. This one was no exception. Amy and her boyfriend were able to come visit us for a night. George has family in Dallas and they were up there for a long weekend. I was excited to spend time with them but wished it was longer. Hopefully they'll be back soon so we can show them around our little town.

Jill and Camille started fall soccer. Jillian has moved up to a bigger age group and with it, a bigger field. Jill has been on the same team each season. We love these coaches and Jill really loves soccer.

Camille enjoys soccer too but it's more of a social thing for her right now. She says she doesn't want to play next season but if her friends are playing I'm sure she will.

Sarah, Caitlin, and Becky drove over from AZ to spend their fall break with us. It was great to get these sibs together again.  

Here's the Taylor grand boy's.

We all made a trip to San Antonio. We saw the River walk,

and the Alamo.

I let the girls skip a few days of school, but not all week. The cousins went to school lunch one day to see the girls.

We all went to a UT Volleyball game. We have gone to the games a lot this year and always have a great time there.

We also showed them a few of our family favorite spots, like Twin Lakes. We had a great week and tears were shed when it ended. I hate being away from family.

With the rest of the Taylor's living in AZ, we are so happy and lucky to have Stan in TX with us. Coco and him have a special bond.

Jill turned 7 this year. We had a fun party for her with many of her new church, and neighborhood friends. We did crafts, played red rover and bingo, had a pinata,

a donut cake (as requested),

and of-course did our traditional balloon launch.

Jillian is a very special girl. She has grown up to be an amazing big sister, great friend, and very kind spirit. She struggles with math in school and is a bit of a perfectionist. She has always been shy but is working on it and has improved greatly in this past year. She's very excited to meet her new little sibling and is always trying to make sure I feel okay. She is the perfect fit for our family as a #1 child. We love her so much.

On her actually birthday we had our neighbors (who are basically family at this point), the Rattray's, over for a small celebration. Can't wait to see what another year with this sweet girl brings.

One of Jeff's greatest friends, Brandon, was married at the end of the month. Jeff, Coco, and I flew over to UT for the wedding, while the girls stayed with the Rattray's for the weekend.

They got married in the SLC temple. It was so peaceful and beautiful. I will always have a very special spot in my heart for Brandon. We went through the temple for the first time together and Jeff was his escort. The next day Jeff and I were married. Brandon was part of the most important days of my life. He has also, always been a wonderful example and friend to Jeff. I love that man and am so happy for him and his new wife. Hopefully, I can get to know her and maybe not be the only girl going on buddy trips anymore.

Here's Jeff, Nate, and Brandon. My three favorite dudes.

With all the busyness of Oct, I wasn't too creative for the kids outfits for Halloween. They were both witches. We went up to our old neighborhood and trick-or-treated with friends. It was a long fun night.

Jeff was dressed as Duck Dynasty member, and Coco as Batman. I was lame and didn't get have a costume. Oh-well, maybe next year when I'm not pregnant.

September 2013

My 20 wk ultrasound went well.  I didn't find out the sex of the baby. With all the previous babies I have found out the sex. I just wanted a new experience. Jeff didn't agree with me.  I almost didn't let him come to the appt but he search my phone and found out when it was anyway, so I let him come.  The u/s tech knew I didn't want to know so when she needed to do the measurements etc on the lower half of the baby she made me look away. After she was done Jeff asked her the sex and she still wouldn't say. She said, "if the mother says no, I don't tell". I could sense that Jeff was losing a little bit of patience so I let her tell him. He has sworn not to tease, drop hints, or tell anyone the big secret. Hopefully, he can hold out. The baby looked healthy and had all the right parts in the right places and that's what really matters. The baby was throwing up signs for all the pictures. Here's an 'I Love You', Jeff thinks it's more of a Longhorn sign.  

The girls ask me to meet them at lunch everyday.  I've been able to go a few times. Jillian has really done better this year with being away from me. I'm sure it's because she sees her sister at lunch and frequently in the halls. Camille is thriving. She is so outgoing and loves everything about school.

Coco is super attached to me and loves to crawl all over me. It's getting a little harder to handle this big boy with my growing belly.

Jeff's dad's Uncle Jess died this month. It wasn't a surprise as he's been on the downhill for quite a few years. I've meet him twice and he is really a sincerely loving man. We made the trip up to Dallas for the service and met up with Sarah's family and the TT house who all drove over from AZ. We have sorely missed having our cousins around! 

The service was wonderful and I learned a lot about Uncle Jess. It made me ponder once again (done after Grandpa Pete's funeral) the legacy I'm leaving. I want to be remembered for my love and devotion to my family mostly. I want my friends to recall happy, funny times we've had and I really want to be remembered as a kind person.

I hit my 6 month mark at the end of the month. I've continued to workout 4-5 times a week and am feeling overall pretty good. My tailbone is the biggest problem. It hurts non-stop. I ice it frequently and on bad days have to take tylenol. I have found that it hurts whether or not I exercise so I figure it's better to do it than not. I feel about the same size as my other pregnancies but my weight is higher. Here's me and Jeff trying to be artistic with my belly shots.

August 2013

As the summer started to wind down Jeff needed to get some fishing done. We spent the day at a family favorite swimming spot, Krause Springs, then went to Lake Travis to fish. We caught a fish every time we cast. I was nervous with Coco around the open dock but the girls and Jeff had a great time.

The girls finished up their basketball season and ended up really enjoying it.

We made a trip to Sandy's ranch for a weekend to spend time with Jeff's old friend Josh. We all love to be out there on the land with all the animals.

Coco

I turned 31 this year and our sweet neighbors took the kids for the afternoon so Jeff and I could go out.  I got a massage and then we headed downtown.  We went to a burger joint called Hopdoddys.  The burger, fries, milkshake, and Cesar salad was to die for.  We then went to Allens Boot Shop and Jeff bought me my first pair of real boots.  They were shooting a film downtown too so we hung-out and watched that for awhile. It was really a great day.

The girls had back-to-school night at their new school Fern Bluff. Camille has Ms. Moloo for kinder and Jill has Mrs. Shepherd for first.

They were both rather excited for the first day of school. I was pretty lonely. The school is super strict and I wasn't allowed to walk them to class.  I hate that.

The night before school started the girls got a blessing from Jeff and I gave them a Best Friends necklace. They told me after school, on the first day, they saw each other in the hall and ran together to put their necklace together. I'm so glad they have each other.

We ended the month with the UT season opener. It was packed and blazing hot but so fun.

July 2013

The Fourth of July has long been one of my favorite holidays. I love the idea of celebrating our country, all the parades, all the summer-time foods, all the festivities, and of-course I love the fireworks. Even though, I grew up in a small town, we had some good parades. They always included firetrucks, police motorcycles weaving in and out in formation, horse clubs trotting in formation, Indian dancers, the HS band, and let's not forget all the candy. I've been trying to find a parade that somewhat compares for a few years. Last year we tried the Round Rock parade. It was okay at the the most. This year we tried the Georgetown parade.  

I thought Georgetown was promising. It's a small, Texas Country town, with a lot of ranches etc. We got all gussied up and packed a picnic. I even prepped the girls for all the fun we were about to have. I wanted to cry when I found out it was "kids-parade".  The children decorated their bikes etc and paraded them. No horses, no firetrucks, no candy.

At least they had a big party at the same location with vendors, petting zoo, train rides, food, pony rides, etc.  They kids had a fun time, but nothing was as fun as watching Camille ride the pony. They were letting the ponies go as fast as the child would let them. Camille rode that pony so fast and was laughing the whole time.

After a quick nap at home we headed to downtown Austin. They had the symphony playing live and a spectacular firework show. It was a great day.

At the end of July me and the kids went to Utah for two weeks. It was a great time. My dad rented out an amazing home to hold our Peterson reunion at. This place was unbelievable. It had an indoor basketball/racket ball court, indoor pool with slide and hot tub, gym, pool table, two living rooms, plenty of space and rooms for all of us, out-door tennis, large playhouse, swing set, the list goes on and on. There were several times that I didn't see my girls for hours. They would be off in the playhouse or playing hide and go seek with their cousins. It was really a perfect setting for us all to reunite, have plenty to do, and still have space if we needed it.  Here's a few pictures of the house.   

Each day of the reunion we had one or two activities planned and then a family dinner each night. One activity was potato racing. Fun was had by everyone in the double elimination tournament. Calvin won the whole thing.

Another activity that several participated in was a Raft and Run down the Provo River. They rafted several miles as a team and then ran a 5k. I was really excited for this but ended up backing out at the last minute. I just couldn't see myself leaving three kids and participating while pregnant. Part of me still wishes I had just done it. They said it was a blast despite how chilly it was so early in the morning. The team did very well, (I think they may have placed) even though they were the slowest rafters.

Me and kids got up early and attempted to go watch. We headed down our mountain and couldn't get out the little town Mapleton. All the roads were blocked for the 24th of July celebration and parade. Since I couldn't make it to the race I decided to watch the parade with the kids, no expectations this time. I pleasantly surprised. There were horses, and candy, and a lot of church wards had some cool floats.

That night we all perched out front on the lawn and waited for the firework show. Jeff had bought several that he was setting off and the kids had fun with pops and sparklers. Jeff bought one really large one that he saved for the end and right as he set it off the towns show started too AND the sprinklers. It was pure chaos for a few seconds. We all ended up laughing and wet.

One of the days we went to the lake. James rented a boat and tube and was taking the whole family out for rides all day. Mom even took a ride on the tube. Amy, us, and dad rented jet skis. The beach was a bummer because the water was so low but being on the lake was a blast. One of my favorite days!

Other fun activities included a Root Beer tasting by Scott and Britta, a few good tennis games with Amy and George, Olivia getting a trip to the ER and needing stitches. Grandma and Ray were able to come too. I really have a kinship with Grandma. I think Camille looks and acts like me, I like my mom, my mom like my grandma.

Here's the whole lot of us. I really love each of them and wish we could all be closer.

Jeff left back to work right at the end of the reunion but me and kids got to stay another week.  I made sure to take the kids to Temple Square.

These four were pretty inseparable.

My dad and Coco hit it off immediately and really loved each others company.

While my parents watched the kids I was able to escape for a two night 'Girls Trip' with two of my BFF'S.  We went hiking in the mountains, shopping at the mall, ate at some cool places, hung-out in downtown SLC, and just really enjoyed catching up. We also ran a 5k obstacle race, the Skirt in the Dirt. It was a blast. Our team name was Gerka's Revenge. Right when we got there we decided to be tough and not smile for any pictures. It was a girls only race and the great majority were all dressed in tutus etc. It was hilarious. We even won the 'Best Costume'.

I really miss having this girls as part of my daily life. They know where I came from and really support and love me unconditionally. Friendship like this doesn't come along everyday.

As the end of the trip came me I had a couple more things I had to squeeze in. I went to a session at Mt. Timp temple which ended up being a bust. They were debuting a new movie and with the Provo temple closed, it was packed! I ended up doing sealings. It was a nice time.

Later me and the kids with mom ran up to Bridal Vail and hiked to the falls. We had never been. I loved every minute of it.

The day before we came back to Texas we got to celebrate Dad's birthday. We went to Thanksgiving Point to the kids garden/splash pad and then went out to eat at Sizzler. It was a perfect July trip.