Taylor's Baptism

Eight is such a big birthday. Taylor has looked forward to being baptized for such a long time. It is a huge milestone in his life. Lately his favorite family home evening lessons were about being baptized and being able to practice with Jared getting “dunked”.

We met at the church with lots of the family. Tiffany was in charge of the program and TJ talked. They both did a good job. TJ really is a very good speaker. Jared baptized Taylor and then confirmed him.
I am really proud of Taylor. He really is a good kid. Congratulations Tay!

Taylor's B-day Party

I let the kids have a Friend Birthday Party when they turn 5 and 8. We decided to wait a month to have Taylors and do an outside water party. Taylor made up an obstacle course. We filled water balloons, made a giant target, Grandma Sherry bought the kids some really cool water guns, and we made cupcakes.

Taylor and his friends had a really good wet time. They were good to let Abby and Dallin join in the fun. Taylor has some good friends. This was a great party idea--a little bit of water and the kids pretty much entertained themselves.

Taylor

Taylor turned 8 on May 5th. I really can't believe that my baby is this tall smart blond boy. He has grown up so much this last year. He still loves to tease and pester Abby and Dallin but also wants to hang out with the grown ups.

After waiting so long for a baby. Taylor was an answer to many many prayers. I think all those prayers must have infused into his spirit somehow because he has such a strong spiritual side to him. We choose stories every night and Taylor almost always chooses the Book of Mormon. We have read the kids version probably ten times. He prays with such faith. I sometimes wish I had his faith. I hope that he can hold onto this.

Taylor is very smart. He excels in school and loves to read. Of the three years he has been in school he has only missed 1 day. He makes friends easily and is confident in himself. He is also very good about seeing the positive side of things. This year in school for every hour they read at home they were able to put their name in a drawing for a bike. Taylor read so much. The last month of the contest he spent all of his spare time reading-literally like 3 hours a night. I really hoped that he would win the drawing just because he worked so hard but instead he won a book in the drawing. That night in his prayer he mentioned how thankful he was that he could win a book.

We love you, Taylor. You are a blessing to our family. It is privilege to be your parents. Happy Birthday.

Science Fair

Taylor really wanted to be in the Science Fair this year. We did a bit of research on the Internet and with Jared's help came up with a project. For three weeks we had over a dozen cups filled with different kinds of liquids and pieces of metal submerged in each cup sitting on the counter of the kitchen. Taylor was very deligent in checking his findings. I was nervous that rancid Coke or Vinegar would spill all over but he was careful. I had him take notes every few days and then I helped him type them up. It was a good learning experience for him.

Taylor put a lot of effort into this and in the end it paid off. He won first place for his age division. He was so excited. He even got his name in the newspaper.

Toothless Wonder

Yes, that would be Taylor. He is now missing 3 of his front teeth. He was so excited to be toothless. He wouldn't let anyone touch it even though he could rotate it 180 degrees. It was Monday night, already past bedtime. I was reading the kids stories and he wouldn't leave the tooth alone. I slyly mentioned the possibility of swallowing his tooth in the middle of the night. I was thereafter destined to pull the tooth. (GROSS) Jared was begging to do it but no it had to be Mom.

The tooth pulling wasn't that bad. I didn't even have to yank. The problem was the Tooth Fairy. The morbid Tooth Fairy has secretly been giving me Taylor's baby teeth to keep and preserve. Really I know some things just need to go in the garbage can but how do you honestly throw out the first baby tooth lost.

Anyway, Taylor wanted to take his tooth to show and tell. (Gross) When asked about the Tooth Fairy taking the tooth, he mentioned the other teeth already hidden in the secret compartment in my jewelry box. So much for hiding things from kids!

After that he was nervous that the Tooth Fairy would take his tooth. He even prayed about it. He was up all night checking on his tooth. At 5:45 the next morning he came running to our room. The tooth was still there with a gold dollar. (The poor Tooth Fairy is going to be broke.)

So he got to take the tooth to show and tell.

Tuesday night he lost another tooth. You'll never guess what he took to show and tell today. I think I will find something else to collect.