Kimball Fun

 Kimball and I both love to be in our big back yard. Some of the broccoli started flowering, so we had lots of honey bees and butterflies visiting us.  Kimball had fun looking at them through the magnifying glass he got from great-Grandma and Grandpa Starkey.

 In order to channel all his little boy energy and desire to punch and kick things, I started having Kimball do karate or boxing with me.  It's so cute to see him go crazy (without hurting anyone :)

 But boxing gloves make it a challenge to get a drink of water

 One day when I was slicing up veggies for Peter to grill, Kimball thought those zucchini would be more appropriately used as a race track.

Playing Outside

 Oh I loved San Antonio for those beautiful, warm winters. After Christmas the boys loved riding their new light-up scooters all around the cul-de-sac.  Joey got a new "big boy" bike for Christmas, but it was a little intimidating so he didn't like to ride it much. We gave Kimball Joey's old bike since he really needed to learn how to ride, but I felt guilty giving Kimball yet another hand-me down (he never gets anything new), so we got him a new scooter for Christmas. Well, Joey was sad because he wanted one too, so I told him he could use the money from his sweet Great-Grandparents to buy one, and he did.

Joey was so excited to show me his "cool trick." He could get some air on his scooter!

 There's our sweet KIKI. I really miss that dog. We gave her to our dear friends because life was so crazy. It is so hard to maintain and sell a house with a big huge dog, and then we were moving around all summer it would have been so difficult to find a way to take care of her. So, for the sake of our family, and my sanity, we gave her to a family who adores her and could take care of her. But oh how I miss her sometimes. I just think I'm a person who can't handle kids AND a dog at the same time.

 Back to the outside, the boys loved to run around with Peter when he got home from work. The boys would run to put on their "exercise" clothes (Kimball was especially adamant about having specific clothes on), and then run around and chase each other until I broke up the fun and made them come inside to eat dinner :)

 With lots of Patient help from Dad, Joey mastered the big boy bike and hasn't looked back.  He's growing up so fast.

 One night we walked into the boys room to tuck them in and discovered that Kimball had climbed up into Joey's bed. It was so sweet to see that they actually do love each other :) They may fight all day, but in their hearts there is a lot of love. Oh, what that does to a mothers heart :)

New Years adventure to the Ciccarello's house in Kerville, TX

 Our good friends, Joseph and Rhonda, moved from San Antonio to a small town called Center Pointe outside of Kerville. They had over 30 acres, so we went up and had a super fun day.  The boys loved the tree house and rope swing.

 We made yummy tin-foil dinners

 Joey found a small deer antler and was so happy

 We went for a hike around their property. Joseph brought along his machete and we all got to take a few wacks at the prickly-pear cactus

 Then it was shooting time. They boys LOVED getting to use a gun for the first time.  They had bee-bee guns in all sizes and colors.  Peter loved the pink one :)

 Then, Joseph (the pyromaniac) built a huge bonfire.  I think the flames got up to at least 30 feet. There were a few smaller fires (because they were clearing the land) so we went to the non danger zone and roasted some marshmallows.

Christmas Morning

 So, it's August and I'm just barely getting to blogging about Christmas, but it has been a whirlwind. Hopefully over the next few weeks (since the boys are now in school) I can catch up on everything and tell our story of how we ended up in Sahuarita, AZ.

I love, love, love seeing the beautiful tree surrounded with presents and stockings overflowing. It reminds me how we are blessed with far more than we need. It's a physical reminder of the spiritual abundance we have been blessed with from a very loving Father in Heaven and a dear Savior.

 WHat a great Christmas. I love to see the innocent joy on their faces. They got all the things they love--Hot Wheels, race cars with remotes, a bike, a scooter, pillow pets, Mouse Trap to play with Dad, and lots of other fun toys. They loved getting candy and Cheetos in their stockings (with a dentist for a Dad and a very health conscience mother those are rare treats :)

 After playing and scootering around the house, we had our traditional Taylor breakfast of scones with honey-butter, eggs and bacon.  YUM!

Then we took these two handsome boys to church.

Sweet Boys

Many times in the craziness of day to day living, I forget how incredibly sweet my boys are. I am so grateful for reminders of their goodness.

Yesterday one of the moms from Kimballs preschool came up to me and said, "Kimball is such a sweet-heart." (now this is the boy that I was worried would get explelled from preschool because there was a month where he was getting sent to "the principal's" office everyday for kicking, hitting and biting other kids. He was so sick of me giving him the "you need to be kind to your friends talk" everyday on the way to school. Well something finally clicked--maybe it was the donut bribe for being kind for 8 days in a row. Whatever it was, he is a very different boy)

So, back to the story. Hayla's mom said that on Monday her daughter came home from school and said, "Mom, Kimball is the nicest boy in the whole world!!! Today we were running and we crashed, and I fell and banged my chin. And Kimball stopped--he didn't just keep running. He stopped and picked me up and said sorry and asked if I was ok. And boys don't do that. Kimball is the nicest boy ever!"

It was so sweet! Another mom also told me how kind Kimball is to her baby girls. On the day of the Easter Egg hunt, Kimball came over and gave a precious, candy filled egg to each of the twins.

Ahh, it just makes my heart happy to hear that. That may not be the side I see all the time, but it was a good reminder to me to look for that side more often. To seek out that good and know I have been blessed with two amazing boys!

Christmas Eve

We continued the Taylor Tradition and had the boys earn money by doing jobs. They then got each other a present to exchange on Christmas Eve. We were lucky enough to have Batman with us that evening.

Our yummy Christmas Eve Feast with Sally, Joe, Caleb and Ella. I think Peter was telling Kimball to get his hands out of the desert in this picture.

Kimball was so excited to drink sprite--the sprite-cranberry juice cocktail

Our little attempt to do the Christmas Story of the birth of Jesus. It was fun. At least the kids heard the scriptures :)

Then, the highlight--eating those candy houses and train!