Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving celebration yesterday. All of the local kids and grandkids were here and we had some great food and fun. Check out the videos - the karaoke was especially "interesting," as I am sure you will confirm.

Trip to Arizona

Mom and I decided to visit Jenna and David and the girls and especially to celebrate Natalie's first birthday. So we packed up and left home on Tuesday 10/27. We drove as far as the Hurricane house and stayed there Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday we took off for Surprise, traveling through Colorado City, Fredonia, Jacob Lake, Flagstaff, and then to Surprise. The trip took a little over 6 hours. We had a great time in Arizona. I played 18 holes of golf at Great Eagle on Thursday with another threesome of "old gentlemen" and then on Friday David stayed home from work and we put in 18 holes at the Arizona Traditions course. We ate out at some great restaurants (Culver's, Ajo Al's, and BJs). We celebrated Natalie's birthday and I must say she really demolished the cake Jenna made for her - it was everywhere! We went to the ward "trunk or treat" at the church parking lot and Mom and I passed out candy while Cyrena and Natalie made the rounds. Natalie was dressed as a cupcake and Cyrena as the candle for the cupcake. I received several calls for contracts during our stay. One from AMD, with a promise of work starting mid-November. Also for a contract at Microsoft. In fact, we drove straight home on Tuesday so I could fly down and visit their facility in Palo Alto for an interview. That was a loooooooonnnnnng day (4:45 AM till midnight - down and back the same day). Have not heard back anything yet.

Fall Leaves in Apline

I took about 15 minutes snap some pictures in our yard. I was really amazed by the variety and color of leaves and foliage. Some leaves are totally green and fresh-looking, while others are vivid yellow, red, orange, and purple. Fall is always a wonderful time for color. Winter, not so much, unless you llike a lot of white. Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

A Few Days in Hurricane

Mom and I went down to the Hurricane home for a few days (Oct 14-17), and were joined there by Debbie, Lynn, and Jacob over UEA. Mom and I drove down on Wed and the Christensens joined us on Thursday. Lynn and I played 18 holes of golf at Sky Mountain golf course near our home. Jocob went with us and was thrilled to drive the golf cart. We thought maybe he would last 9 holes, but as long as he was driving, he was very content! Lynn and I had a great time on this beautiful golf course.

Thursday night we ate at ChuckARama and Jacob must've consumed 3,000 calories. That boy can eat! Friday we drove through Zions park and saw the IMax movie "Wild Ocean" at the park theater. That night we hit Jack in the Box where we enjoyed some tacos and burgers. Debbie ate?? about a dozen tacos - never making their way to her stomach - but he tast buds had a good treat anyway. We call them "spittacos." Saturday we lazed around, packed up, and went to - you guessed it - ChuckARama for lunch. Arrive home around 6 PM Saturday night.

Alpine Loop

We took off at 3 PM today and drove the Alpine Loop, ending up in Heber where we had burgers and fries and a very fine blackberry shake at Grannys (Jenna, remember?). The pics speak for themselves. Worth clicking on and seeing full size.

Golf in Midway

Last Friday I played the Wasatch Lake course in Midway. I picked up Curt at 6 AM and we got there around 7 AM. Our tee time was 7:36. His friend, Reed, from California was visiting, so we played as a threesome. The best part was the scenery (see the pics). I shot a 47 on the front 9 and lucked out with a 38 on the back. It was a great day!!

Trip to New York

Mom and I traveled out to New York, flying out on Friday, September 11th. We arrived in Islip around 5:30 PM and Jeff picked us up at MacArthur airport in Islip, Long Island. We were hungry, so we stopped at Tony's Pizzeria and ordered up some delicious chicken parmigiana sandwiches with marinera sauce and cheese. They were huge and very satisfying. We got a great welcome from the kids and Juliane and had a look at our digs in the newly completed attic. This will be the future home of Michael and Joseph and is really spacious and nice (and isolated). Saturday morning we woke up early and headed out to a soccer game (the ASAP team, starring Christian). It was raining quite a bit, but the game proceeded as usual, and all of were soaked by the time the game was over. We came home and got cleaned up and headed over to the church to set up for the baptism (getting chairs ready and preparing tables of food for afterwards). We had the service in the chapel. I was asked to give the talk on baptism and mom gave the closing prayer after the baptism. Daniel and the Bishop's daughter were baptized. It was great. Doug Jackson and I were witnesses to the baptism.

Afterwards everyone had treats and then we cleaned up and went home. Juliane and Jeff fixed a great dinner of barbequed chicken, asparagus, and potatoes. Along with lemonade and orange soda. It was very delicious.

That night, realtives came over and we visited until late. The next day, Sunday, we had church at 9:30 AM and blessed William Jeffrey Taylor. Juliane bought a new white outfit for him because the one used for the other children was too small.

Then after church, all of the relatives came over to the house and we had Subway sandwiches and potato salad and a great chocolate dessert. Then we visited most of the afternoon and evening and played "speed scrabble."

Monday we went with Juliane and the kids to the Bronx zoo - we walked around and saw lots of neat animals and had lunch there (complete with vanilla/chocolate twist soft serve ice cream in a cup for Grace and Christian). Came home, took a nap and then had a nice dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and fresh vegetables.

Then we went to a park and I hit balls to Michael and Joseph at the ball field. Daniel brought his skateboard and there were swings for the kids to play on.

We came back home and had a family home eveing where I told the childhood portion of my life story and then we had strawberies and whipped cream for dessert.

We have to get up early tomorrow - our plane leaves at 10:50 AM for the trip home.

Handsome Daniel

William Jeffrey Taylor

Grace, the Costume Queen

Christian and Grace at the Bronx Zoo

Ya Think Christian Likes Ice Cream?

How About Grace? This is not ice cream on her arm - only marking pen artwork from earlier in the day.

Grace's Muscles

Mick Life History

Obviously, this is a work in progress ...

Mick Taylor Life History

Championship Game

Mom and I went up to Sandy this week for Seth's baseball playoff games. His team is the "Highland Heat" and Scott is one of the coaches. They were competing for the Utah state championship for the Cal Ripkin league for 11-yr olds with 70-foot bases. The last game was Thursday, July 8th at Alta Canyon Sports Center. They won!! Every boy and coach received a huge trophy. In a couple of weeks, they travel to Fallon, Nev. for further competition. We are so proud of Seth! See the video clip for one of the key plays of the game executed by Seth when he was pitching.

General Conference

Debbie offered us tickets to go to General Conferernce this morning, so we decided to all go together. We tried a big experiment - taking the TRAX light rail for a round trip to Temple Square so we would not have to fight traffic and look forever for parking. It worked out great! We left from near the Sandy Civic center (10000 South) and the trip took about 35 minutes each way. No waiting either direction. Conference was great, especially Elder Holland's remarks and the marvelous stories told by President Monson. What a privilege to go with Debbie, Elise, and Jacob. Lynn is back in NY so we missed him this time, but thanks for getting tickets!!
Walking to the TRAX light rail The Temple I really didn't know we were going to the Church of the Devil. Shoulda read the warning sign. Happy Conference goers


What a building

Trip to Arizona

We had a great trip to Arizona to see Jenna and David, Cyrena, and Natalie. We took advantage of the generous gift of tickets from our kids to see Les Miserables at the Phoenix Theater. What a great presentation of a wondersul story in an intimate setting. It was very well done and so enjoyable - thanks, kids!! Highlights included a trip through Zion's on the way, dinner at Ajo Al's, Trader Joe's, Smart and Final, hitting a bucket of balls at Great Eagle golf course driving range, dinner at BJ's before Les Mis, and a great hike and campfire at White Tanks park near Surprise. The photos tell the story.

Vacation Home

We bought a vacation home in Hurricane Utah. We had been thinking about doing this for a while, wanting a "get away" place to escape to during the long cold winter months here in Alpine. It's about a four-hour drive, but the temperature difference is a good 20 to 30 degrees warmer in the winter, so golfing and other outdoor activities are options even in January. Plus it is close to Zions, there are two reservoirs for fishing and boating nearby, and lots of ATV trails and did I mention golf courses? Plus St. George is a mere 10 miles away and Jenna and David are about 6 1/2 hours away. We are in the process of furnishing it and we are going to need to do some landscaping and other projects - never a dull moment. We are hopeful it will be a great place to get away to for many years. Below are pictures of the house and Quail Creek reservoir.

Trip to Hurricane and Cedar City

Had a great Christmas with Jenna, David, Cyrena, Natalie, Rick and Lynette traveling to our home. Had a great Christmas eve program with the candy bar sled races, music, and various presentations. Curt's family came and shared the evening with us. Andy and Carrie came with them. Lynn, Debbie, Elise, Jacob, Chad, ShayLynn, Ty, and Isabelle spent the night. Fun times!

Christmas afternoon, we went to eat at Mi Ranchito and saw Valkrie - a pretty good movie with Tom Cruise.

We left Tuesday 12/30 and drove to Hurricane, UT. (stopping at the Red Barn in Santaquin on the way to pick up some great Fuji apples). Our friends, the Gardners, have a winter home right next to the Sky Mountain golf course. So of course John and I played 18 holes of golf on Wed and Thurs and Dee Dee and Jacque (say Jackie) shopped and played. We had some great food at Olive Garden and at a sports bar in Hurricane and went to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" - strange and interesting, and LOOOOONG!! We also watched some DVDs at their home - I Robot and The Spitfire Grill.

Friday morning we headed up to Janet and Allen's cabin 20 miles west of Cedar City. Janet joined us later that evening - Allen couldn't make it. We had a "24" marathon (season 6 of the TV series). Watched the whole thing and basically vegged until Sunday around 6 PM when we headed back home.