Anytime we get together it is a GOOD time.

Ok, so these pictures should have probably been after the next post, but I am not going back now and fix them. This is the same picnic in Enoch, behind Mom and Dad's house. This is the Taylor clan all chowing chicken, except Bobby, who's not much of a meat fan. Sorry Bobby.
Carrie on top of play equipment. Problem was getting back down. Tristan, sorry, I think you just missed that ball.
Chris on the other side of the catch game with Tristan.
Now we have discovered a new kind of Play equipment. This one is more for big Kids.

I'm not sure how Carrie got up here, but once again the problem was getting down!

I now understand why Bobby's back was hurting.
Now we are going to all stand on our heads.

I think they have finally all worn out. Bet they slept good. Except for the sore muscles. Carrie's stomach muscles hurt from laughing so much.
The perfect end to a beautiful day.
The Cementary on the way home. We miss you Mom.

Christiansen Family Picnic in Enoch

Picnics with the Christiansens more often than not included KFC. So here we are again. The park is behind Mom and Dad's house in Enoch. A lot has changed, but not the feelings when we are all together. Thank you to everyone. I loved having us all there together.
Just a few pictures of the good times.

Aunt Irene came down with Doris and Tom. I am so glad that they made it.

New picture of Mom

Hey I found this picture of Mom while Cindy and I were going through her things yesterday. I have never seen it before and I love it. I thought you might all like to see it also.

TOGETHER AGAIN! We'll miss you Mom.

My Mom: Always laughed at my attempt at humor. Even when she was in the hospital the week before she left us. I know she didn't know what I was talking about, but she still chuckled
My Mom: Even though she hated driving, especially in the "Big City", she still drove up to Primary Childrens every day from Aunt Irene"s. I was having my "nose job", and was scared. But Mom was always there.
My Mom: Stayed with us for a week each time a child was born. Stayed for 2 weeks when the twins were born. I still cried when she left.
My Mom: Always got up with us and fixed breakfast before we left for anything. Usually sending a lunch along too.
My Mom: Was always there when we needed her. Even when she did finally go to work. She worked in the lunchroom at the High School. I saw her every day. And she always knew if I ate lunch in the lunchroom or took off to the Top Spot.
My Mom: Taught us the meaning of hard work. She throughly believed if you are going to do a job, do your best.
Thanks Mom, I hope I have taught some of these things to my kids too.

So I have spent the last 24 hours looking at pictures. I thought everyone might like to see what I found.
Mom, the WASP pilot.

This was taken at Cindy's last year.
Mom and Dad's 50th Anniversary Party.



Dad's Birthday party, we had three cakes in all. All with candles. Lucky we didn't burn down the church.

Mom and Dad in Vegas!

The newest addition to the Living Room

This one's just for Chris

Aaron Rodgers threw a 1-yard touchdown pass in his first NFL start and the Green Bay Packers began life without Brett Favre by beating the Minnesota Vikings 24-19.

Can't wait for the 20th Chris!

Weekend in Monticello

Hey we went to Monticello and Blanding last week to keep Mom company while she was in the hospital. The closest hospital to Blanding is in Monticello. Mark and Debbie were in California for Jeremy and Carly's wedding. Hey, by the way if you see this Carly, congratulations, and welcome to the family. Mom is doing just about the same. Saddest part was the day that she was the most "with it", was the day she really wanted out of the hospital. It was hard continually telling her that I couldn't take her home. Then she just kind of faded out again. It is so hard to see her that way. It makes me so thank-ful for both Debbie and Mark. They are special people.

These are pictures that I took on the way down and back. They turned out pretty good, considering I was in a moving car when I took them. And if you have ever traveled with Bob you know that the car was NOT moving slowly.
These wind machines are in the mouth of Spanish Fork canyon. There are about 18 of them, and they are huge! The only comparison I could find is look for the trailer at the bottom of this picture. It looks like it is minature, it's not.

The rest of these are just different sandstone formations. Some are just as I saw them. Others are enlarged a bit.

I couldn't believe that I actually caught this arch. I knew it was coming, but it was still tricky trying to snap the picture at the right time as we flew by.
Cindy and I have both decided that someday we are going to check out the cave at the bottom of this formation. I have no idea what it is, or if you could really go inside a ways. Anyone Know?
Ok, so while I was taking pictures I had to get some flowers for a flower wall in the living room. I had no idea that the green fly was on this flower til I enlarged it for the picture. Strange but for a fly it is kind of pretty. Sick huh?
And seeing as how I love sunflowers I couldn't resist taking a few of them. There is this whole field of them as you are going to the hospital in Monticello.
Well there you have it. I considered taking a Picture of Mom, but I would rather that you kids remember as how you remember her now.

Pictures of the new Living Room

So after 30 years we have finally changed the living room. It is not finished just yet. We still need new drapes for the front window, and the pictures for the walls. Carrie and I are working on flower pictures for the sofa wall. We saw some at one of the home show homes. And as much as we both love to take pictures of flowers we are trying to do our own. Hope it works.
We needed to purchase new furniture when we moved the old down stairs. This has been a lot of fun. We are still going to put a bookcase on one side of the fireplace. Bob wants a Grandfather Clock on the other side. But we just priced them, and we may need to rethink that.
I have loved the look of textured carpet since it really got popular a few years ago. The hard part was trying to find something that would not be too busy with the hardwood flooring.
We (I say we, it should be Bob) ended up putting in the hardwood flooring. Bob still wanted carpet in the living room, so we put the hardwood in the entry way and down the hall. I am glad that we did it that way now. It makes the living room a lot more inviting.
This will once again be the family picture wall. I haven't decided whether I want to use the old mixed wood frames, or buy new ones that will all be the same.

and last but not least, the hardwood down the hall. I think this was the beginning of all of this. I was so tired of that old carpet in the hall. So I said I wanted to put hardwood there. I am really glad that I did, I love it!

James Taylor Concert

Hey, last night was a lot of FUN!. Kim won tickets to see James Taylor from an radio station. Bob and I got to go with them. Limo and all. They had the limo pick them up at home and brought the boys over to our house for Carrie and Denver to watch. Then we got in and off we went to the concert.

The view from inside the limo. It was kind of fun knowing people were trying to look inside to see who was in there.
The concert itself was really fun, lots of people, some of them crazy, but it was great.
It's hard for me to imagine how OLD James Taylor really is. He sounds just like he always has. And his songs are still great songs.
I wish I had some pictures of him jumping around. He really amazed me. It was a great night and I just have to say, Thanks Kim.