Our Cute Little Liah

If I had to say who Liah reminded me the most of when it came to her other siblings I would have to say both. She loves to be funny like Isaac and when she wants something she will put up a fight til she gets it like Gabriel. Both traits could be good in the long run. Here are a couple of pictures of Liah being silly and also sitting in the kitchen floor eating her banana after she yelled, "NAN-NA!" for the longest time while reaching for the counter where the bananas where sitting.

Valentine's 5K Run

So where have I been? Well, I have no REAL big excuse really. Just busy with school, tests, soccer, and being a mom, friend, and wife. The blog got pushed to the back of the list of things I needed to do.

So...in an effort to catch up...here are some pictures from the 5k run Isaac, Gabriel, and I did on Valentine's Day. Most of the time I was running while pushing Gabriel in the double jogging stroller listening to him say, "Run faster mom we gotta catch Isaac." Isaac surprisingly ran a large chunk of the trail. It was fun to just be with the boys and get some exercise while I was at it. My sister Amber was there as well which is always nice because I don't get to see her much. She brought her nephew Nolan with her.

Christmas...the before party...

For those who don't know my mom is 1 of 17 children. Yeah, I know what your thinking! HOLY COW!! Yes my grandmother gave birth to 17 children...one...at...a...time! All single births and none adopted! Each Christmas we use to go to my grandmothers tiny little house that my mom grew up in and have lunch and swap gifts. Believe me, it was crowded but we loved it!! Well, since my grandma passed away a few years ago we have continued to hold a family get-together. Once at my aunt Dorothy's house, etc. This year we went to their ward building...shhh...not sure if that's allowed...and had our family Christmas. The only excuse I have for you is "HOW else are you going to fit so many people under one roof?!" Seriously, none of us has a house that big!

So we first had dinner which was plentiful with so many people bringing things...ahem...I say that sarcastically because I stopped at the store and grabbed a bag of rolls. YES, I'm one of those people who has completely NO idea how to make ANYTHING! And quite frankly most of the time I just say that my mom brought enough to count her food as something I brought. I know, lame but true! :) Isaac had to check out which 2 things---out of the WHOLE 30 something things there---he would actually eat!

Here are just 6 of the 10 girls getting everthing set up.

In order left to right: Dorothy, my mom Brenda, Joy, Doris hiding in the background, Mable, Sue

After dinner one of my aunts, Dorothy, hosted a game of dirty santa which Adam insist "...just doesn't sound right!" and I tend to agree. He suggested calling it white elephant like they do in other places...anywho!

When it was Adam's turn he had to sing a song!! hahahaha

Liah decided she had to get in on the fun and found herself one of the present and was excited to find what was inside. While the boys where busy in the gym hola hooping among other things...I'm sure!

Then after the game as she always does, my aunt Dorothy had a slide show prepared which is always fun to look at as it brings back memories...good and sad. I say sad because my grandmother has been missed so dearly since she passed away along with my grandpa. Here are a few pictures that she shared of our family.

Grandma

Grandpa

And yes, my mom as a little girl! They called her "Janie".

Look closely as yes I am wearing a dress AND smiling at the same time!

Gabriel in his signature pose! LOL!

Isaac caught off guard

And here are some random pictures that were taken that day. Enjoy!

Help Stop Suicide

Back in October, I wrote a post about my dad. I wrote about the day he died, my feelings surrounding his death, and then I wrote about how I try to deal with life now as he has passed and I am forced to move on yet not forget.

I have been thinking for the last few years about how to remember him in a positive way. Shortly after my dad's death, the president of the company he worked for, Tennsco, donated $30,000 to a community fund here where we live in my dad's name. As I thought about that and have participated in many races that are in memory of people who have died for various reasons i.e. cancer, fatal accidents, etc, I am now prepared to make my mark in the name of my dad. I recently came across an organization known as SAVE-Suicide Awareness Voices of Education.The SAVE mission is to prevent suicide through public awareness and education, reduce stigma, and serve as a resource for those touched by suicide. I have opened a webpage for my dad where he will have a SAVE Named Memorial. This is the reason for the little widget at the side of my blog titled "Help Stop Suicide". The following is a quick summary of what the memorial is about:

"A SAVE Named Memorial is a memorial established to honor and/or remember someone who has lost his or her life through suicide or who the donor wishes to remember or honor for other reasons. A minimum (total gifts combined) gift of $50 establishes a SAVE Named Memorial and the name will be displayed on SAVE's website. When the memorial reaches $1000 (donations total), the name of the person is placed on the Memorial Wall located at SAVE's headquarters in Minnesota. A light adorns each name and can be lit for special occasion."

SAVE provides resources centered on suicide prevention and coping with loss due to suicide. Educational brochures for adults and youth are available for community prevention programs, schools, health care professionals, businesses and for individuals concerned with suicide prevention. SAVE also has speakers who travel the country to raise awareness of suicide and resources on how to try and prevent it. These valuable tools provide an excellent opportunity to build community awareness as well as help those in need.

Aside from the website, I am hoping by March to put together a 5k race where 100% of the entry fees will go straight to the SAVE organization in memory of my dad.

Why you might ask have I all of a sudden decided to do all of this? My answer is both selfish and unselfish at the same time. Selfishly, I am having a difficult time STILL with his death. I want to remember my dad in a positive way and raising money for a non-profit organization that helps survivors of suicide and also raises awareness of it's reality in life helps me to do exactly that: continue to heal. The unselfish part is this: it is my HOPE to raise money in my dad's name to help educate more people about depression and preventing suicide. It is my heartfelt wish that no other family has to experience the pain of losing a loved one to suicide.

The website memorial is: www.firstgiving.com/homertaylor

The organizations website is: www.save.org

Please do not feel obligated to give. I only want to raise awareness myself and thus the website was born.

Lastly, I want to say thanks to those of you who have given your love and support to me and my family over the last 5 years. It means a lot that you care so much about our well-being.

...Liah Liah EVERYWHERE!!

Liah has finally decided it is time to learn to walk and MAN is she EVERYWHERE!! She started out trying a few steps as we bribed her with her favorite blanket. Now she walks from one piece of furniture to the next!

Just as she is learning to walk, she is deciding as well to venture to the stairs and somehow climb them without anyone seeing here. Most of the time the gate is up to block her from getting to the stairs. But sometimes we just FORGET!

Once we noticed she was missing because we didn't hear her making any noise. We started calling her name and sure enough she had climbed the stairs and we found her in the boys room playing with their toys.

Isaac's Last Soccer Game...yeah...a little late but oh well :)

So basically Isaac's last soccer game was...oh...about a month ago! Better late than never right?
He did really well the whole season and his season ended with the "SUPERGOALS" at the top...as in #1. I don't think that mattered at ALL to him but his mom, yeah ME, is all about being number 1. I'm only a little bit competitive..haha! This was his first year to play as I mentioned in an earlier blog and he learned so much. His coach was so patient and amazing when it came to making it fun and not a task! They gave out medals to each kid and pretended to have a small awards ceremony. It was fun and the kids loved it!! I'm not sure Isaac will ever stop asking, "Mom, do I have soccer today?"

The Corn Patch

Gabriel's elementary class went on their first field trip to The CoRn PaTch *wink* which was put together just for Halloween and has some fun things the kids can do for fun. They had a hay ride, a ride in a barrel of corn, the corn maze, and a playground that included the "corn cob pipe" which was a huge pipe that was made into a slide.

I pulled Isaac out of pre-school b/c I thought he would have tons of fun...which he did! I put Liah in the Kelty and off we went. Gabriel loved riding the bus as I won't let him ride the bus and insist on taking him to school every morning.

There are also 2 pictures of Halloween night. Isaac and Gabriel were clone troopers and Liah was a bee. TOO cute!