Spaghetti Dinner and Cake auction

Now that Adam is 12 and is able to attend Scout Camp this summer, he was able to participate in the annual fundraiser. It's a spaghetti dinner and cake auction. All the boys were required to help with all stages of the dinner, and bring a decorated cake that could be auctioned. They have both silent and live auction. This was Adam's first time really decorating a cake and he found it a lot harder than it looks. But his checkerboard cake turned out well enough.


Kyle made a spaghetti and meatballs cake (chocolate donut holes and strawberry jam). Both of the boy's cakes were chosen to be in the live auction which made it more fun for them. Our family enjoys going to this activity every year (well, for the past 3 years) because the spaghetti is great, but it's really fun to see all the creative cakes that the youth make. Some of the more memorable ones this year include an Angry Birds cake, a Slug Circus cake, a Book of Mormon cake and one called Kitty Litter (it did indeed look like a tray of kitty litter that hadn't been cleaned out yet). You never know what you'll see when the boys are in charge! :)

Easter Weekend

Saturday afternoon we had our annual Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard. Some of the girls helped prepare the eggs, while Hannah did all the hiding of them. She had some easy to find eggs for the little ones and much better hidden eggs for the big kids.

Samantha on the lookout for eggs

Katelyn wasn't sure what was supposed to be happening. But it didn't take long to see everyone was looking for brightly colored objects

When she discovered there was candy inside and got a taste of it, she really liked the activity!

Laurel showing her basket of eggs

Jamie and Mackenzie enjoyed the fun

Though not pictured, Adam and our friend Kyle, who has been staying with us, joined in the hunt and were especially stumped in looking for a golden egg that Hannah had hidden especially well. It turned out that Jamie found it in the end.

Another Easter treat the children enjoyed was a gift from Grandma Taylor. All the girls, even Katelyn, received new spring aprons. The girls love them! The boys just got candy, but they didn't mind.

Laurel, Jamie, Katelyn, Hannah, Samantha, Mackenzie

The girls helping with corn husk shucking in preparation for Easter dinner the next day

Easter day was very special. We had our usual church services, with the choir singing two songs, and our ward children's choir singing two songs. Adam, Mackenzie and Jamie sing in the children's choir. Hearing the sweet songs of those children was especially sweet and helped bring the spirit to the meeting.

We had a peaceful afternoon and yummy dinner together in the evening. We are so grateful for the weekly Sabbath day, in which to rest from our regular activities and feast on the spirit. We love that it's spring time and the earth seems to be coming alive after the winter. The reminders of the Savior's resurrection during Easter add to that blessed feeling of new life and hope. We are so grateful to remember the many gifts that Jesus has given us!

Adam's ordination to the Priesthood

The day after Adam's birthday was when he was ordained to be a Deacon. The whole family was with him and Derek did the ordination and said a beautiful prayer for him. The grandfather's also helped. When we got home from church, Grandma and Grandpa Taylor had some special 12 year old gifts for him. Adam seemed very happy to make this new step in his life. We sure enjoy watching our children grow and achieving new milestones.

Adam showing one of the pictures he received

Grandpa Taylor, Adam, Derek, Grandpa O'Dwyer

Adam's 12th Birthday

Adam's birthday was on a Saturday, which turned out to be a very busy Saturday. The grandparents were in town and Cathy and the mom's went to a Stake Women's Conference for a few hours, while Derek and some kids and a grandpa went to help some friends with their move. Before all that though, we had a special birthday breakfast that Adam requested--egg sandwiches and orange juice. It was very good.

The afternoon was Jamie's baptism. Following that we went to eat at Aqui CalMex restaurant for dinner, and then came home to have a birthday celebration with Adam. We enjoyed some cake and ice cream and he enjoyed getting to open some presents.

Adam, the birthday boy

Adam also was getting a friend's birthday party this year, but he opted for a smaller group of friends and going to a fun place to spend a few hours. We weren't able to go on his exact birthday, but a few days later we went to The Jungle Island in San Jose and Adam enjoyed playing with three of his favorite friends. They all enjoyed an extensive jungle gym, video games, laser tag, bumper cars and pizza.

the fun place

the friends--Benjamin Boston, Jacob Stratford, Adam, Kainoa Miller

Happy Birthday Adam! We're so glad to have you in our family!

Jamie's baptism

We had a wonderful weekend with both sets of grandparents visiting to be a part of Jamie's baptism. Grandma Taylor gave a talk about baptism, and Grandpa O'Dwyer gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. Both shared their testimonies and the spirit was felt so strongly. Jamie seemed to be touched quite a bit by their words. Derek baptized and confirmed Jamie. Adam said an opening prayer, Grandma O'Dwyer gave the closing prayer and Hannah played the piano for all the songs we sang. Both grandpa's were witnesses to the baptism and participated in the confirmation. We felt blessed to have the support of many ward members and friends who came for the service.

Jamie and Derek

Our family--Derek, Adam, Mackenzie, Katelyn, Cathy, Hannah
Jamie, Samantha, Laurel

Derek and Jamie with the grandparents--the Taylor's on the left, O'Dwyers on the right

Jamie in a pretty white dress that Grandma Taylor had given to Hannah when she was baptized. Then Mackenzie wore it two years ago, and now Jamie. Hopefully it will last through all the girls

Jamie's 8th Birthday

Jamie got to have a friend's birthday party this year. She was so excited to help plan and prepare everything for it. She had to decide whether to make it just a girl's party or include her guy friend's as well. She wanted to include them all, so even though she chose decorations that were pink and lime green and had butterflies, we included things the boys would appreciate.

Jamie, 8 years old

Our dining room all ready for the party to begin. When the friends came, they got to work on some crafts. Butterfly charm bracelets for the girls, bug jars for the boys. Hannah and Mackenzie were big helpers during the party.

Then almost an hour of game after game. Above they are playing Musical Dress Up. Bags of dress up clothes are passed around while music is playing, then when it stops, the people holding the bags have to grab something out and put it on. Then the music continues. They had a lot of fun with this one.

After a while everyone went outside and played Statues.

After game time we had lunch--hot dogs and fruit and veggies. Before we got to cake and ice cream, Jamie wanted to open presents (below)

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday. The cake above was only part of it. All the children got to enjoy cake baked into ice cream cones and then ice cream added to the top. (that was something I remembered from my own childhood and Jamie was willing to try it)

The very last thing was a treasure hunt, with the prize being gift bags for all the guests. The party was a success. Jamie had a good time playing with her friends and it was a beautiful day too. Happy Birthday Jamie! We sure love you and are glad to have you in our family.

General Conference Weekend

We enjoyed another great weekend of General Conference. The children had fun working on their activity packets and we heard many great messages from our church leaders. The music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was excellent as usual.

In between sessions we kept quite busy with chores and extra projects around the house. It's so nice to get things taken care of, and we probably needed much more time than we had available.

For the priesthood session, Adam went with Derek for the first time. He will be 12 in a couple of weeks and was ready to begin this new tradition with his dad. Afterwards, they went to eat at Red Robin with some friends who also attended the meeting.


While the boys were gone, Hannah and Mackenzie went to see another play, My Fair Lady. Some other friends of ours were in this one. The little girls stayed home and played with some friends who came over and I just washed dishes, and read a book while laying down since I had hurt my back earlier in the day after working on some yard projects.

Sunday the kids were a bit more hyper through the meetings (could it be from the fun, sugary cold cereals we had at breakfast?), but we made it through and enjoyed listening to the prophet. For dinner we spent time with our friends, the VanDams, who'll be moving out of the area in a few months. It's been a good weekend.