We Be Planting

I just couldn’t wait to plant trees in our wide open patch of land.  If I had my way, it would be a forest out there.  I love everything about huge shade trees – the way they look so wild and how the sun and moonlight sparkle on the leaves and cast shadows on the ground.  I have envisioned our yard looking like the one I grew up with in New York.  We started early and transplanted a Cottonwood, three pomegranate shrubs, and four little Royal Empress trees.  I’m not sure that they will all survive the transplant shock, but we are hoping!

I never imagined that we would enjoy working in the dirt quite as much as we do.  I think there’s a little country in all of us.

First Ski Trip

Gabe and Bella had their first skiing adventure with Daddy, Uncle Ryan, their boy cousins, and Papa.  They had the time of their lives and can’t wait to go back!

  

We Go To Show Low

We spent a grand post-Christmas weekend up north with altogether 19 of our Taylor family members.  Jake’s parents rented the cabin of our dreams to accommodate us all in Show Low.  The time we spent there and the memories that were made are something that we will remember forever, even if we do return year after year.  I know that there’s nothing quite like the first time, and there were many of those moments on this trip.

For the first time in forever, we all slept under one roof… and got to eat together at the same dining table. 

For the first time, the boy cousins all got to bunk together, separate from the moms and dads.

This was the first time I ever saw a massive stone and copper chiminea in the middle of the living room or a dining room ceiling made entirely of glass.

For the first time, the girls also bunked together in their own room.

First time sleeping indoors under the stars (okay, I didn’t get to, but my lucky girls did).

First “real” steps.  Now, he’s a pro.

First sledding trip with cousins.

Isn’t this the cutest use of a mitten you’ve ever seen?

 

We really hated to see this weekend come to an end.  But we really ate the marrow out of the time we had.