Leah's First Tooth!

On the last day of her 9th month, Leah cut her first tooth!

Leah also had her checkup yesterday.

Weight: 16lbs 2 oz. That puts her in the 5th percentile.

Height: 27 inches -- Which put her in the 25th percentile.

Head: I don't remember, but she was in the 15th percentile.

We have a little tyke, but she is healthy and happy!

If 3 Men Do the Dishes and Anna Isn't Around to Take a Picture, Do They Still Get Credit?

Tonight we were shish kabob arteests. Teriyaki above and BBQ below... YUM!
After some male bonding at the grill...
Ryan, Nick, and Kyle (fr, L-R) DID THE DISHES!!

I was so pleasantly surprised, I had to take a picture for proof!

To quote Emily,

"There's nothing sexier than a man who does the dishes." MAJOR KUDOS to Ryan, Kyle and Nick,

Who did the dishes without being prompted by a wife!

Mini Stay At Home Vacation

On the 15th, Spencer and Tricia and their kids, and Kris and Lonnie all converged in Albuquerque for a family visit. We had a BLAST!Leah and Tag. They are a little less than a month apart.
Monica, Dakota, and Sailor. Monica L-O-V-E-D playing with her cousins. When they left, she looked up at me and said, "But Mom! Who am I going to play with now?"
Tricia's awesome huge bubble.

On Thursday, we had Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Dellon over for dinner. Grandpa brought his fiddle and guitar and we had fun listening to Grandpa and Lonnie jam out. Monica and Sailor especially loved dancing to their tunes!

Just a short video.

The next morning we went to the Aquarium. Here's all the cousins!

Friday night we went to Sadie's for some g-ooood Mexican food!

I love it when my nieces and nephews warm up to me! Saturday before everyone left, Dakota asked me if she could sit by me.

She sure knew how to make this aunty feel loved!

Right before she left, Dakota wrote Monica this note on the back of our receipt. The sweetest part of this was when she looked up at me and asked me how to spell Monica's name. She had a little tear in the corner of her eye. Then when she was done, she read it to me. It read:

"Dear Monica

I am going to miss you.

I like to play with you.

Love Dakota."

No, I didn't cry. I got close though. (<---this close--->)

I got really choked up and had a hard time swallowing my Frontier fresh squeezed orange juice!

And to top it off, Dakota invited ME to her birthday party.

Yeah, I'm sure she meant everyone else too.

But she said "YOU", not "YOU ALL".

So there.

Easter Pictures

Since we had to hurry so fast to get ready for church after hunting (inside) for the Easter eggs, I didn't get any cute, matching and ready for church Easter pictures.

I know.

I'm lame.

But these are my favorites from before the getting ready for church frenzy. Monica checking our her Easter basket. Leah was ready to join in the fun. I love it when she greets me with a smile! Leah was all about the real eggs.
And here's one from the day before when we went to the mall. The photographer wouldn't let you take your own picture unless you bought one from her. The cheapest package was $24! We were just going to have Monica talk to the Bunny, but at the last minute decided to splurge. I asked the photographer to take Monica's picture 3 times. I wasn't going to buy one for $24 if it wasn't any good!

I don't think she liked me much.

Why wasn't Leah in the picture, you ask?

She was sloffing.

That's Germanglish for 'sleeping'.

And BTW, my $150 camera took this waaaaay better picture than the photog's fancy-schmancy one.

So EGGciting!

Just a few fun pictures of our Easter Egg fun. Amanda invited us over for an egg hunt and we had a lot of fun!

After the egg hunt, I promised Monica we could color eggs if she took a good nap. It's amazing how easily bribed she is!

Here we are coloring the eggs. Notice how BLUE is the color closest to Monica. Kodak moment! This was the best shot we got of Leah. She kept wanting to dive into the dye. Monica wanted to wear an apron too, but all I had was this little half apron. So when she was double checking that there weren't anymore boiled eggs in the fridge, Ryan caught this little gem of a pic! Our eggs. Notice how most of the eggs are blue? I think Monica only did one or two eggs that weren't!

Price Matching

Yesterday I went to Walmart Market to try my hand at price matching. I was a little uncertain what the rules were, so I talked to the customer service manager before I began. I laid out my ads and pointed to the ones I wanted to use to make sure I would get the deal, and also so I wouldn't fill up my basket with "deals" and later be rejected.

I learned a few things.

1. Go in the morning when the cashier and managers still have a sense of humor.

2. You have to read the fine print. Smith's was having a case lot sale. When I've shopped there in the past, even if I didn't buy a whole case, I still got the individual price per item. But Walmart can only honor the price if you buy 24. LUCKILY- they had compassion on my plight as I stared at my 12 and 10 of each item trying to decide if I wanted them bad enough to pay the regular WM price or go put them back. The cashier convinced the manager to let them match it since it was my first time as long as I read the fine print in times to come. My past experiences of Walmart not being so kind slipped out the window!

3. Look nice and smile -- a lot! This just comes from previous experiences. I've been treated better by the same people who were pretty rude when I looked grubby. SIDENOTE: same thing with babies. It seems like people can tolerate a cute looking crying baby more than they do a baby with a horrible runny nose, matted hair and stained clothes. I'm just saying. It worked on all my 15-20 hour flights when I traveled with Monica.

So did it work?

You bet it did!

Unfortunately, Walmart does not tell you how much you saved when you pricematch like other stores do. BUT- I have a theory, and it works 90% of the time. Usually, when I shop for groceries, I take the number of items I am buying and multiply by 2 and that's how much I expect to pay. I'm never off by more than $5-$10. So, since I didn't buy anything I don't normally buy, using my system I should have paid around $180.

I paid $97!

Savings? I think so!

Good News

I think it is fitting that my 100th post be about something that is really special. Ever since I was a senior in high school and challenged for the first time to take a question to be answered to General Conference, I have tried to consistently find something I sincerely needed an answer to. When I did it sincerely, I always got an answer.

But never like this.

This General Conference was the most powerful conference I have had the opportunity to witness. One of the songs Granny always had Emily and me sing has these words,

How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him,

Who brings good news, good news.

Proclaiming peace, announcing news of happiness.

My God reigns. My God reigns! My God reigns! My God reigns!

Elder Holland's talk about the Savior, His lonely journey towards the cross, and His triumph over death hit me like a ton of bricks. I have never been so overwhelmed by the Spirit. NEVER! I wept and I could not stop crying, I was so filled with Heavenly Father's love. I hope I never forget this experience. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. That He suffered, and He died for us. He walked that lonely road so that we would never have to. He overcame physical death and HE LIVES!

Then came the words from President Monson that sealed the Spirit's witness on my heart, "The future is as bright as your faith." Sure, I could think short-term with that. Failing economies, war-torn nations, natural disasters - come what may, if my faith is bright, I need not fear these uncertainties. But I think I'll think long-term. If my faith is bright now, and I act on that faith now and for all my days, then my eternal future will be with my Savior and my Heavenly Father, surrounded by my family members past, present and future.

I have always known that God lived and that He loved me. But during the Sunday talks, ALL DAY, but most especially Elder Holland's and President Monson's right after, I have felt like singing at the top of my shaky lungs with tears streaming down my cheeks,

"My God reigns! My God reigns! My God reigns! My God reigns!"

Natalie Anne Taylor

My older sister, Christina had her fourth baby yesterday! Congratulations Tina and Lewis and kiddos!!

Natalie Anne Taylor
7lbs 9oz, 19 3/4 inches

Born April 2, 2009 at 2:23pm

Welcome to the family Sweet Pea Natalie!

We can't wait to meet you in June!!!