The Bolton Family

Byron's Walking!

2011-08-02T07:00:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't blogged in FOREVER, but I wanted to let everyone know the newest exciting thing that Byron has discovered...WALKING! It's so fun to watch him do it. He goes pretty slow, but I'm sure once he gets the hang of things he's going to take off.

He walks a lot, but for some reason every time he sees the camera he wont so here are the onle videos that I have of him walking right now.

April - May

2011-06-02T22:57:00.015-05:00

Well, a lot has happened since the last time I blogged....which happens to be a little over 2 months now. Having Taylor home has been great, we stayed super busy, always going somewhere it seemed.
In mid-April my little sister Sydnie got married! I can not believe they are married! Our family is growing rapidly, either by someone having a baby or by someone getting married! We've gained 4 within the last 9 months! ;) I love my family so much and I am grateful for every single one of my family members.

Beginning of May I finished another semester of school! Only 3 semesters to go! By the way, Taylor has also been going back to school, taking online classes, he's been taking them since he got over to Afghanistan and is still going at it! I'm proud of him for going back to school to continue his education!

My sister Kelsie graduated from Marion C. Early High School on May 13th, and right afterwards, we left for Utah!

It was a long drive, Taylor's mom Kathy rode with us which was a HUGE help! THANK YOU KATHY! Her and Byron were "Back seat Buddies". Byron sure grew to love his ME MA.

We dropped Kathy off with Clark and Taylor's Grandparents and continued on to Grand Junction, Colorado to stay for the night.

The next day we went to The Arches, in Moab. What a BEAUTIFUL place! We loved it so much! We were only there for about 6 hours, but it is one of those places that you could spend DAYS at! We hope to go back someday!
It was one HOT day, we ALL got a little sun burnt. Poor Byron rubbed off all the sunscreen from around his eyes and ended up really burnt there and had two little blisters. I felt so horrible. Towards the end of our day adventure, we met up with Rachel, Scott, Ellie, Jett, Grant and Mitchell, to hike to one of the arches, Delicate Arch. It was beautiful! I never knew I was afraid of heights, until our hike to the arch! Oh boy...it sure was interesting! But I made it and we had a FANTASTIC day, and were glad we were able to meet up with our family there too!
We left the arches and were on our way to Shanell and Logan's house! I was SOO excited to see Shanell! Seriously, we grew up best friends, it's hard to be apart from any of my sisters, and even though I had just seen her a month before, I was so excited to see her again!

We stayed with them for 3 nights and had a blast.

While we were there, Shanell taught me how to cut up a mango! Thanks Shanell! HEHE AND she also taught me how to make the most DELICIOUS bread I have EVER had in my life! I'm so excited to make it myself here in Missouri! Now it is my job to teach Terriann and Mom! I'm not as good as a baker as Shanell, so we shall see how that goes!
We also got to spend some time with Janine and Justin while we were there. It was so good to see them. ALSO we were all able to go out to dinner with one of my college roommates, HANNAH! We were the best of friends when we were at BYU-Idaho! We don't talk that often, but when we do, it's like we have been best friends our whole life. Her and her Husband have a little boy 4 months younger than Byron and boy, he is LITTLE. I couldn't believe how little he was, I think he weighs less than half of what Byron weighs. It was good to see her and meet her husband and little boy!

When it was time for us to leave Shanell and I realized that we hadn't really taken any pictures, (which if you know me, is VERY surprising). So we took a few quick shots before Taylor and I were off to Roosevelt Utah to visit Taylor's Grandparents! Thank you Shanell and Logan for letting us stay with you! We LOVED being with you and being able to spend time with you!

Byron absolutely LOVED Aunt Shanell and Uncle Logan. He would just light up anytime they walked into the room! I loved it, and I'm pretty sure they did too!

The day we left, it SNOWED. I couldn't believe it. It snowed in Salt Lake, AND on our drive to Roosevelt! I'm glad it doesn't snow that late here in MOTaylor's Grandpa turned 90 this past March, and we went out to celebrate his 90th birthday! He is one amazing man! He can get around better than most 60 year olds! In fact...I RACED him to his house. I asked him if he wanted to race and he took off running to the door...Taylor held me back a couple seconds, but Grandpa sure can move!

We were able to go to the Vernal Temple while we were visiting his Grandparents. Taylor's brother Mitchell got his mission call and went through the Temple while we were all out in Utah together. What an amazing experience. Kathy and Clark had all of their children in the Temple together at the same time! It was awesome! I love going to the Temple!!!!

It was good to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Bolton. Byron sure had a good time. He took a mid morning and mid afternoon nap every day with his Great Grandpa Bolton!

Byron was able to make his own hand print like his dad did when he was little! He also got his FIRST hair cut from his Great Aunt Jeanne.

It was so good to be around so much family! But it was also nice to be home sleeping in our own beds!

Taylor started back to work last Wednesday. It has been good to get back on a schedule, but we already miss him being gone all day! Byron goes CRAZY when Taylor comes home from work, he gets so excited! I love to see his excitement each day!

Well I know I've been going on forever, I guess I better stop. Hopefully next time it wont be such a big gap before I blog again! We hope everyone is doing well, we love you all!

~The Boltons

We are one HAPPY family!

2011-03-28T20:22:00.007-05:00

Taylor FINALLY made it home. He got home on March 10th around 8 o'clock in the morning. It was possibly one of the BEST days EVER. It really feels good to have him home. It really makes things easier around the house and taking care of Byron. We can actually get things DONE around the house now.

Byron seeing Dad for the FIRST time in 6 months

Byron wasn't sure what to think...

Our Family together AGAIN!

Byron really didn't care much for Taylor the first few days. Byron SCREAMED when Taylor tried to get him out of bed the first morning. Guess he just wanted his Mommy :D. But, now that Taylor gets to spend a ton of time with him while I'm at school, Byron loves his Dad. Taylor was able to be home for Byron's 6 month appointment. Byron's definitely a CHUNK! At his 4th month appointment, he was still pretty proportional with his weight and height, but this time he's changed a little. He's now 95% in weight and 45%in height. Yep he's one BIG boy! We just want to EAT him up! We just LOVE his chubby little cheeks. Friday night we had a SURPRISE party for Taylor. And I'm proud to say that he was TRULY surprised! I was SO excited to be able to FINALLY surprise him. Thank you EVERYONE who came out to show your support for him and for US. It is SOO good to have him home! Michelle Guarra took some FAMILY pictures for us. They turned out SOO good! We LOVE them! Thank you SOO much Michelle for doing that for us! Taylor's been home for 2 1/2 weeks now and we LOVE having him home!

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-13T21:09:00.003-06:00

I took this picture and sent, well e-mailed it to Taylor for Valentines Day. Our boy is such a chunk and growing more and more everyday.

Just 3 weeks until Taylor is home! We are SOO excited to be together as a FAMILY! We can't wait!

Byron is 5 months

2011-02-08T18:27:00.006-06:00

I can't believe how fast the last 5 months have gown! Byron grows more and more everyday it is CRAZY! I love him so much. A couple days after his 4 month birthday Byron started rolling over.

Sunday he started sitting up on his own! He thinks he's pretty hot stuff now that he can sit up! hehe I love him so much. I love watching him grow and learn new things. I can't wait until his dad is home and can watch him too! I love him more and more each and everyday!

Here a a couple of pictures of our growing boy!

4 months...He's growing up WAY TOO FAST

2011-01-06T22:31:00.007-06:00

Well Byron went in for his 4 month appointment on Wednesday. The doctor said he is looking healthy and developing very well physically! He is one BIG boy. He is 18lbs 1oz in the 95% in weight. 26inches long and in the 85th percentile in height! I love him SO much.

Byron has started eating rice cereal. He still doesn't know what to think about the spoon! He gets frustrated because it takes me TOO long to put the spoon (with food) in his mouth! As you can tell by his weight, Byron LOVES his food. He also trys to grab the spoon from my hand..which leads to a disaster of a mess! BUT I love every minute of it! Being a mom is a wonderful experience. I wish EVERYDAY that Taylor could be home with us at this time, to experience being a new parent with me, to experience all the new things that Byron does...he will be home in 2 months though, and then will have plenty of one on one time with Byron while I'm at school on Tuesday's and Thursdays! We are getting VERY anxious for his arrival home!

COUSINS! Byron, Wes and Ty!

Terriann, Wes and Ty came and stayed with us for a week, the week after Christmas, the week of Shanell and Logan's wedding! It was SO fun to have them here! I love my sisters, it is so fun spending time with them, EVERYONE of them!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-18T17:19:00.006-06:00

Well I had good intentions this year. I ordered Christmas cards to send out to everyone, but they STILL have NOT arrived in the mail, (I assume they have been lost in the mail), so I have decided I will just post it on our blog instead. Taylor wrote up an update letter of our family. We hope this finds everyone doing well!

Merry Christmas

Well this has definitely been a very eventful year for the Boltons. On New Year's Eve Rachelle and I found out we were going to have a BABY!! This was both exciting and sad at the same time. We were so excited to have a child, but sad because we had just found out a few weeks prior that I would definitely be deploying to Afghanistan. We just moved into a brand new home, found out we were having a baby and found out I was being deployed. We knew it was going to be a busy year!

At the beginning of the year I started to prepare for my deployment to Afghanistan while Rachelle continued to go to school at Missouri State University. I was in Ft. Dix NJ for most of January and February. If any of you have been to NJ in February, you know it is really cold. I think that is the coldest I have ever been. While I was in NJ, Rachelle was preparing herself for the upcoming months without me around...and being PREGNANT! After my training in NJ i was able to come home for 2 weeks and spend some good quality time with our families.

In March I left again, this time for Ft. Bliss TX. I spent 45 days in TX training for my deployment to Afghanistan. This is where I found out I would be working Detainee Operations, working everyday with the individuals the US and Coalition forces capture on a daily basis. While I trained, Rachelle was really starting to feel some of the effects of pregnancy. She claims she loved being pregnant, but I'm sure it wasn't all roses. I was given another pass to come home before I left fro Afghanistan at the very end of April.

On April 22nd, Rachelle and I went to a doctor's appointment and found out that our baby was going to be a BOY!! This was an amazing day for both of us. We were both so excited to finally know what we were having. No Rachelle could finally start getting the baby room ready!

For the next few months, Rachelle had to go through the hardest part of her pregnancy without me around. Rachelle did very well though!! She has been very strong throughout this whole year. As I spent my days watching detainees, Rachelle grew BIGGER and BIGGER. She sent me pictures weekly, almost daily on how LARGE our baby boy was getting.

I was able to come home for 3 weeks starting at the end of August to see our baby boy join us here on this earth. On September 2nd, 2010 at 11:45a.m., Byron Clark Bolton was born. Rachelle went through several hours of tough labor, but our baby boy was just too big!!! Rachelle ended up having Byron via C-Section. Byron weighed 9 lbs when born!!! Byron has been nothing but a blessing for both of us since his birth. I was able to bless Byron at the Bolivar Ward, Bolivar MO on September 12th, 2010. I am so lucky I was able to stay an extra week to give him that blessing.

Now I am on my second half of this deployment. Time seems to not be moving as fast either!! Rachelle has been staying super busy taking care of Byron by herself. We are very blessed to have family so close to us though. We want to thank everyone for all their help and support with me gone throughout this year. Byron is getting bigger and bigger!! Rachelle claims he never stops eating. He is definitely a chunk. We love him though! Rachelle and I are both excited for my arrival back home in March 2011.

We wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thank you all for your support and love.

The Boltons

Hello from the deserts of Afghanistan

2010-12-09T02:59:00.005-06:00

Hey everybody. I know that Rachelle has been crazy busy with Byron and unable to update our blog, so I figured I would add a little something on here. If you haven't seen Byron lately, you are in for a big change. The boy is getting HUGE. I can't believe how much he has grown in the last few months. Rachelle is getting a workout just from holding the CHUNK. He just turned 3 months old on Dec. 2nd and is roughly 17 lbs. He is definitely a BIG buddle of joy ;)

Things around here are starting to slow down around base. I guess its getting to cold....no one likes to fight a war in the cold, haha. Sorry, bad joke....My roommate and I are trying to get into the holiday spirit as much as possible. Rachelle was amazing enough to send us some christmas lights so we could put them up in our room. They pretty much rock. It is definitely a "man's" room. As you can see, we dont' have much, an American Flag and Scent Blocker Hunting brand banner. We had to build our own shelves and table, but it is our mini home away from home.

I've only got 3 months left, so I'm looking foward to seeing everyone in a few months. Enjoy the holidays and do your best to remember the true meaning of christmas this year. Love you all and wish you all the best during this Holiday SEASON!

2 MONTHS...

2010-11-09T18:06:00.005-06:00

Byron before his Appointment

WOW, I can't believe our little boy is already 2 months old, he is GROWING way too fast, someone make him stop! Last Tuesday was his 2 month appointment...which means..SHOTS! YEAH...I was DREADING this appointment since the day he was born! HAHA, but surprisingly he did REALLY well! He cried when he got his shots, but as soon as the nurse gave him back to me he stopped crying, I put him in his carseat and he cried for another couple of seconds but then after that, he was fine. He fell asleep shortly after we started to drive, and he slept for 3 hours, I was surprised that he didn't want to eat or need any Tylanol right off the bat, but it was fine with me!

I took some pictures of him right before/during/and right after getting the shots. I know you may think I'm a cruel mom, but I wanted Taylor to be able to experience the "first shots" experience in some way. Don't worry, I wont make you look at those pictures.

Byron is a very big boy!
Weight : 13lbs 12oz 90%

Length : 24in 85%

He is still eating CONSTANTLY! He sleeps through most of the night now. Actually since Shanell has been home, I've been staying at my parents house quite a bit, he sleeps ALL NIGHT at my moms! But he still wakes up once a night at our house. He'll eventually get the sleeping all night thing down (I HOPE)...hopefully before my Semester starts in January! But we'll see.

Byron meeting Aunt Shanell

for the first time!!!

Taylor is doing well. This half of the deployment is a whole different experience for the both of us, being as we have a little boy now. But he is doing well. He still enjoys letters and packages ;).

15 more weeks and he will be home. We both can't wait!!!

First Horse Ride.

He was screaming before he got on,

once he got on, he stopped!

Byron Clark Bolton

2010-09-15T17:16:00.004-05:00

Byron Clark Bolton was born Thursday September 2, 2010 at 11:45a.m. It was a long HARD process but he finally made it here, via c-section. Here are the pictures of the first time Taylor and I were able to hold our son, and then a family picture of us that Aunt Ann took for us!

We are all doing good. Taylor was able to get an extra week home on leave which has definitely been beneficial. It has been so nice to have him home. I will update the blog a little more next time I get a chance. I just wanted to give everyone a little update on Byron and inform everyone that he did finally make it here!

40 weeks....

2010-08-26T15:08:00.002-05:00

Well today is my due date. August 26th....I went to the doctor today for my appointment and have shown NO progression at all. I'm not dilated or effaced or anything. The good thing about this is we now know that Taylor will definitely be home for the delivery (being as he will be home TOMORROW), but the bad thing is that Taylor wont get to spend as much time with the little guy while he is home for his 2 weeks.
I'm hoping that little Byron is just waiting patiently for his daddy to come home and once he realizes he is here he will just come on his own!
I just have to keep reminding myself that what is supposed to happen will happen and the Lord knows what is best for me, the baby and our family!
Me and Taylor are so excited to see each other tomorrow and are VERY anxious to meet our little boy, when he decides to come!

My Birthday Fun.....

2010-08-11T06:46:00.006-05:00

Well a few weeks ago was my birthday, July 26th. Rachelle was gracious enough to send a bunch of stuff to me for my bday. It was awesome. For any of you who have spent time away from family on your bday, you know it can be tough. Well Rachelle did an amazing job. She sent me all kinds of notes and candy and stuff to share with the guys.

Part of my bday box was candles in the shape of 25, and a bunch of Zebra Cakes. So me and a good friend, Wade, put the Zebra cakes together and used the candles. They all sang happy bday to me and then I blew them out. Well, just like any good friends...after I blew the candles out, they shoved the Zebra cakes in my FACE!!!! I think they got me almost as good as Rachelle did at our Wedding Reception, haha. It was pretty funny. I had Zebra cake in my nose, hair and eyes. But don't worry I FOUGHT BACK!!! It was really fun. Well after that, Wade wanted a "truce", so he came to give me a hug. But only to find out, he just wanted to hold me as everyone spanked me. So all in all it was a lot of fun.

Not much as been going on here, but I do get to come home soon. If you've been able to keep up, Rachelle is due in about 2 weeks. So hopefully I can get home in time for Byron to come. I love you all and hope to see you all very SOON!

36 weeks!!!

2010-07-29T11:14:00.003-05:00

Well here I am 36 weeks pregnant. It's hard for me to believe that sometime within the next 5 weeks, this baby is going to be here, in my arms rather than in my BELLY.
Both Taylor and I are SUPER EXCITED to meet this little guy! We are already SO IN LOVE with HIM it will be such an AMAZING experience to HOLD him, and KISS him.
I've been feeling really good. I try to keep up on my walking, that is about all I do. But I figure it is better than doing nothing! I've been so blessed to have such an easy pregnancy, with so few problems.
Taylor will be home the end of AUGUST...not sure if he will be here for the actually delivery of the baby or not, but if I haven't had the baby by the time Taylor gets here, I will be induced. So Taylor will have the majority of his time home to be with me and the baby. We can't wait for him to be home!
Taylor is doing well overseas, he said he will be adding a new post sometime shortly...so keep your eye out for it! HAHA

From the Mountains of Afghanistan

2010-07-09T10:29:00.006-05:00

Hey everybody. I decided to try and post something again. I'm still not very good at this Blog thing, but I'm getting there. Things are going really good right now. We stay busy working long days, which makes the days go by faster. I get to talk to Rachelle a lot so that helps as well. I get to come home soon and hopefully see my beautiful baby boy born. I'm getting really excited. Rachelle got him his first Yankees outfit, which is AWESOME!!!!! If you know me well at all, this will be the only uniform my son wears ;)

Also, for those of you who didn't know, my Uncle Keith (Rachelle's Uncle) is over here in the mountains at the same time I am. It is such a blessing to be able to have family over here in such a trying time in ones life. He has been a major blessing to me. Keith comes and picks me up every sunday for church. So we get to eat dinner together and go to church together once a week. I love Keith to death. He has been my Scout Master and Mentor since I was a kid. Well, I love you all and can't wait to see you soon.

28 WEEKS...Third Trimester!

2010-06-08T18:58:00.003-05:00

Well I am officially in my Third Trimester as of last Thursday, this post is a little late. I had my 28 week appointment yesterday. The doctor said that everything is looking good. The baby's heart beat sounds good! I have doubled my pregnancy weight gain in the last month! YEAH...the Nurse said as long as I don't do that every time I go to the doctor then I should be fine. (It was kind of frustrating though, I thought I was doing good...) I'm now on my 2 week appointments, which seems rather annoying if you ask me. The doctor doesn't really do anything when I go in, but if that is what I'm supposed to do, then I'll do it!

Fun Times in MAY

2010-06-01T20:41:00.008-05:00

May was full of all kinds of happenings! I don't have pictures of everything, but it was definitely a BUSY month. I finished my Spring semester of classes May 10th, then started back up again with a summer class (Kinesiology) on May 17th. I'm really not enjoying the class, but I wanted to get my last Science class out of the way before the baby comes. Let's just hope that I pass it this summer and wont have to take it again! ;) It is taught at an accelerated rate since it is a 16 week course crammed in to 5 weeks! It definitely is keeping me busy!

Taylor is doing well. He would love to hear from everyone back home. His address is on our blog if any of you get a crazy bone and decide you want to write him! He would absolutely LOVE to receive letters from anyone and everyone!

Lambert's with the BOLTON'S....They go to Lambert's for big occasions, such as a son graduating or a son coming home from his mission, in this case, BOTH! They thought it was crazy that I had only been there twice in my life! We had fun, it would have been nice to have Taylor home though!

Me, Rachel and Kathy

Rachel and Clark

Ellie, Uncle Mitch, Jett and Uncle Bubby (Grant)

Minute to Win It BBQ at the Eskelson's

The Eskelson's had a bunch of families from the Bolivar Ward over for a BBQ. The theme of the BBQ was based off of the TV Show Minute to Win it! It was a fun filled night!

One of the games. Jenna and Daniel are competing here. What they had to do was dip their noses in Vaseline, then dip their nose in a bowl of cotton balls, and try to carry a cotton ball from the bowl to the empty bowl that their teammates are holder for them. Then they had to get the cotton ball to fall off of their nose. NO HANDS were ALLOWED! It was very entertaining to watch!

Jenna trying to get a cotton ball to come off of her nose!

Kelsie and Wes

Everyone that was at the BBQ

Grant is HOME!!!

Mitch and Ellie with the signs...

Ellie couldn't wait until Uncle Bubby came through

the security doors...oops! Haha..the lady sitting there

tried to stop her...but she got to her Uncle Bubby before

she could! haha it was so cute!

Mom and Son Embracing!

Rachel and Grant

BROTHERS (too bad Taylor wasn't home too :(

Going to Pick up his luggage

Kathy, Grant and Clark

Going HOME!

Mitchell's Graduation

Kathy, Mitchell and Clark

Graduation Day

Mitch giving his speech, he did an Amazing job!

I know this is really blurry...Sorry...

Kelsie and Taylor's Choir Concert....

Ok so I just realized that I don't have hardly ANY pictures of my family....for the month of May! I have this one picture from Kelsie and Taylor's Choir Concert at the beginning of the Month! They did great!

Well that is all the pictures I have to share from the month of May. I hope everyone is doing well!

Belly Update....25 weeks 3 days

2010-05-16T20:53:00.003-05:00

Well I've definitely done some growing in the last couple of weeks/months so I figured I should put up a little belly update! Last time I went to the doctor the baby was doing good, my glucose levels were good but I was a little low in Iron so I'm now taking an iron supplement. But everything else semmed to be doing fine! Let's hope it stays that way! I have 102 days until my due date! Crazy! It seems like FOREVER away but at the same time, wow I just have over a hundred days until I'm due. CRAZY. Honestly Taylor and I are hoping I go over my due date, by about a week, (so Taylor will be home), I know I'm probably the ONLY pregnant woman that would ever wish to go over her due date, but I WANT Taylor here when our little boy comes!

Rewind

2010-05-14T14:14:00.007-05:00

Ok, while Taylor was home for his 4 day pass, were were able to find out what were are having, which most of you already know, we are having a boy. But I wanted to update some pictures of the night we had everyone over to tell them. It was so much fun having everyone together!

To "reveal" to our families what we were having, we made cupcakes and placed quarters wrapped up in foil inside of them. Well some of them, we then frosted the cupcakes and put pink question marks on half and blue question marks the other half (the blue ones obviously had the quarters in them.) Connor was the first to find a quarter and he was very excited to tell us that he had a "Blue Question Mark Cupcake."

Taylor working ever so diligently placing

question marks on the cupcakes.

The finished project.
I'd say Taylor did a pretty nice job!

Hunter, Mom, Taylor and Kelsie looking at the

ultra sound pictures.

Also while we had everyone over that night, I took advantage of the the muscle that I had there! I had got this piano probably a month and a half ago (for FREE) and it had been sitting in my garage for 2 reasons. #1 It smelt like smoke and animal. #2 I couldn't move it! haha This is obviously a very OLD piano, and it wasn't easy to move! Luckily I have an AMAZING family!

Taylor not realizing I was taking a picture.

The rest of the guys working on getting the

piano against the wall.

My new "old" piano! It definitely needs tuned,

and a couple of keys fixed that stick really bad,

but other than that. It is AWESOME! I love being

able to sit down and play the piano when I want to.

Ellie, Taylor, Kelsie and Dad

Connor, Hunter and Mitchell

Uncle Tay Tay teasing Jett and Ellie.

I was trying to get a good picture of the

three of them, but they didn't want to sit

still long enough for me to!

SIBLINGS

Mitchell, Taylor and Rachel

"CHEESE" HAHA love this picture

Taylor and I

Taylor and Wes

Terriann, Todd and Wes weren't able

to make it the night we told everyone,

so Terriann brought Wes over the next day.

He was being really ornery but I was able

to get this picture before they left! So Cute,

I love it!

These next couple of pictures are at the airport, the official last time we were able to see Taylor before he left to go overseas. I love and miss him a lot! I've already made it through 3 weeks of him being away, approximately 16 more, depending on when he gets his leave time! But it will be around when the baby is due! I can't wait to see him and hug him again!

Taylor is doing well. We get to talk to each other most days, which is really nice. We love you all, hope you enjoy the pictures!

P.S. I put his address up, if anyone ever wants to send him anything, he would LOVE it!

Taylor and Clark

Taylor and Kathy

Taylor and I

Mitchell's Choir Concert

2010-05-06T14:57:00.004-05:00

Monday night May 3rd, I went to my brother in-law Mitchell's choir concert. He is a senior this year and this was his LAST spring concert. The choirs all sounded so good. The chamber choir seniors put together a song for their choir director and performed it for him that night! It along with all the other songs sung that night were all MARVELOUS!!

Here are a couple of pictures. I tried to upload the song that the Senior Chamber Choir Members sang for their choir director but it wouldn't upload...must have been to long!

It's a...

2010-04-23T13:23:00.006-05:00

BOY

Well Taylor was able to come home for 4 days! It was amazing having him home. I already miss him so much!! But while he was here we were able to find out the sex of our baby and that indeed we are having a BOY! We are so excited. The ultrasound was ultimately amazing. I didn't know that we were going to be able to see a 3D picture of him. It was so exciting. Right when she started d0ing our ultrasound, she goes "OH, I can already tell what it is...It is definitely a boy!" HAHA then she showed us what was on the screen and yep, he was pretty much saying "Hey look at me mom and dad I'm a BoY!!" haha so fun. I'm so glad Taylor was able to be here for this experience. I feel like he is already missing out on so much.

We hope everyone is doing well. We love you all!

Picture 1: His cute little feett. His favorite place to put them is unfortunately right on my bladder!! And yes that is where they were when we got our ultrasound.!!

Picture 2: The amazing 3D picture that we didn't know we were going to get to see. He is snuggled right up to my placenta, using it as a pillow!

Picture 3: Profile of our little baby Boy. He had his hand up by his face and both Taylor and I said,
You better not be sucking your thumb!" haha

Picture 4: A picture to show that yes indeed he is a BOY!!

Movie 1: A movie of our little baby boy opening and closing his mouth!

It was such an amazing expereince seeing all of this happen! We are so excited and can not wait to meet this litttle boy!!

20 Weeks...HALFWAY THERE!

2010-04-10T20:31:00.005-05:00

Well I'm officially halfway there!! Thursday I made the halfway mark, 20 weeks! So exciting! I get so excited thinking about meeting this little baby that has been growing inside of me. I have been able to feel the baby move inside of me since my 17 week mark and it is the most amazing feeling! I love to be able to feel our baby move inside me! Here recently I have been able to feel the baby kick on the outside which has been pretty fun too!
In a week and a half, on the 22nd, (my 22nd week mark) Taylor and I are going to be able to go in to find out what we are having. We are both so pumped for this opportunity, and so grateful Taylor is going to be home when we do find out what we are having. He is already missing out on so many other exciting happenings of being pregnant. (which makes me sad) But I'm so glad he is going to be here for that!
All of the females in our families say we are having a girl and all the guys say we are having a boy...what do you all think? Honestly Taylor and I don't really care, well I don't really care, I'm just hoping and praying for a healthy and strong baby!
We hope everyone is doing well. We love you all and appreciate your support!

While in TEXAS

2010-03-30T22:35:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone. Well as most of you know, I'm in West Texas. It is pretty dry and breazy. We've had a few dust storms, but nothing I haven't ever been through before.

The training is pretty good here. Better than what I got last time. I was in a hardened barracks building, but they just moved us out in a new camp for 20 days. Now I live in a tent with 12 other guys. But still better than what I lived in over in Iraq.

I miss everyone and hope everyone is doing well. I send my love!!!

The last couple of weeks before he left...THE DREADED DAY!

2010-03-20T11:49:00.004-05:00

Well the day came, as much as we didn't want it to, it did. But we did get a little more time together than expected. Originally his flight was supposed to fly out at 9:00 Sunday morning, but the day before they changed the flight to 6:00 Sunday night. Taylor and I got to go to church in Bolivar then we drove up to Joplin. He had to be there at 2:00. Formation was at 2:30 and then we had to wait until 4:30 which is when the buses left.
There was a little parade thing, that was led by Joplin Police, County, and the Patriot Guard, we drove through Joplin then we followed the buses to the old Joplin Airport. Everyone was stopped on the side of the road, some people got out of their cars to salute them on.
They flight didn't end up leaving until 7:00 that night.
It was a very emotional day! But I know Taylor is doing what he is supposed to be doing. I love him so much. He has been gone now for 6 nights. It has been extremely hard, but we keep reminding ourselves that it will only make is stronger as a couple!

Last picture before reporting at the unit.

Formation

Roll Call...
(sorry Taylor I don't know
the technical term for it.)

Everyone standing around waiting to get on the buses.

Last picture together before he left....:(

Getting on the bus...

The parade of cars/emotional families...

Patriot Guard

The soldiers getting on the plane.

Taylor on the stairs...

Taylor's last "I LOVE YOU"

before getting on the plane

Last couple weeks before he left...Going Away Ceremony

2010-03-20T10:36:00.005-05:00

Saturday March 13th, was Taylor's going away ceremony in Joplin. It was held in one of MSSU's gyms. His Parents, and friend Kyle Buntain came.

The Group

Captain sharing his thoughts

The Patriot Guard presenting the

414th MP company with a

Patriot Guard Riders Flag.

Taylor and Kyle

Mom, Taylor and Dad

Mom, Rachelle, Taylor and Dad

Tayor and I

The Day before he left....

The last couple weeks before he left...BRANSON

2010-03-20T09:32:00.005-05:00

The Bolivar Police Department gave us a gift certificate to go down to Branson and stay

in the Bradford Inn for one night. It is a nice place to stay at.

You definitely get the "at home" feel. We loved it.

The room may have been a little out-dated but it was

very relaxing. We had a jacuzzi in our room which was nice as well!

In the morning we got to go downstairs and breakfast was made for us.

We got to pick what we wanted and how we wanted them i.e. our eggs...etc.

The man was very nice to us!

If you are ever looking for somewhere to stay in Branson,

the Bradford Inn is a great relaxing place to stay!

While we were in branson we started driving down the strip looking to see what all there was and then we drove by this War Museum...I could tell Taylor really wanted to go, so I told him to stop. We were in there for a couple of hours. They have some pretty neat things in there. Taylor was LOVING it. After we left the Museum we stopped at Andy's for some Ice Cream then headed back to the Room and just relaxed the rest of the evening.

Here is a Military Police Armband from WWI, in case you couldn't read what it said. Taylor thought that was pretty neat. For those of you who don't know, Taylor is an MP himself.

Taylor in front of a Pearl Harbor Memorial, symbolizing the men running in.

This is so TRUE. Don't have anything else to add.

The next day we started the day off by taking some old time photos. They turned out really cute!
I had never done that before and it was fun. I love how they turned out too!
After the pictures, we went shopping. Yes imagine that. I'm really not a shopper.
I usually don't like shopping. I think I was just enjoying having Taylor all to myself being able to walk and talk, and spend time together. I loved it.

After shopping we went to the show SIX. They are very entertaining.
We were probably the youngest couple in the crowd but we both had a blatst.
Taylor was recognized, and recieved a standing ovation for his Military Service.
It was pretty impressive, and an awesome experience for him.
It was good to see how supportive so many people are for those that serve.

Here is Taylor with one of THE SIX, Jack.
The group consists of 6 brothers who does everything Acappella. IT was amazing!
There are actually 10 kids in their family,
all boys. Only 6 perform though.

Last couple weeks before he left...SIBLINGS

2010-03-20T09:15:00.003-05:00

Who would have known my husband was such a dork...haha. Rachel said she wanted a picture with him before he left and this is what she got! Great pic Taylor! Rachel and Mitch look good!

Mitch and Taylor. It's crazy to think that when Taylor gets home from this depoloyment Mitch will be getting ready, (if he hasn't already), to leave and report to the MTC for his mission! CRAZY! Grant obviously isn't in any of these pictures. He gets back from his Mission May 25th! We are so excited for him to be home!

Yes so they did take a pregnant picture...Mitch definately has me beat! Taylor and I might...MIGHT be at the same stage! HAHA Now that might be a little different in a couple of months!

Taylor's last couple of weeks before he left...Bonfire

2010-03-19T22:08:00.004-05:00

BONFIRE

The night we came home from Oklahoma we had a "Going Away" bonfire at my parents house. We had a lot of fun...we had PLENTY of HOT DOGS, (Thanks to Taylor hehe), and lots of FUN! It was fun to all be together!

Ellie and Taylor

Rachel and Taylor

Me and My LOVE

Jett and Uncle Tay Tay

Taylor and Dad

Weird Sisters

Todd trying to keep his face from burning off!

Taylor's last couple weeks before he left...OKLAHOMA

2010-03-19T21:08:00.012-05:00

OKLAHOMA

So first things first. While he was home we wanted to go to the temple and since the St. Louis Temple was closed, we went on a little trip to Oklahoma and went to the Oklahoma Temple.It was a rather nice experience, that is only the second temple that I have been to, to do a session. It was a good experience. But let me start from the beginning... Friday March 5th Taylor and I started our drive to Oklahoma, only about a 4 and 1/2 hour drive, not too bad right?! Well we had been driving for a couple of hours when we decide that we will stop and go to the bathroom and get something to eat. So we stopped at the McDonald's that arches over I-44. Well when we come back to the car Taylor feels in his pockets, and looks at me with this Oh Crap look and says "Where are the keys?" I said I don't know, did you leave them in the bathroom? We get out to the car and sure enough they are dangling from the ignition.

Get a hanger from the gas station.
Worked with that for a while.
Call locksmith.
Too Far away, call someone else...GREAT!
Nice truck driver...crow bar.
Crow bar + Hanger + Gas Station Worker + Lovely Husband + and 45min to hour later and cold food.
Back on the ROAD!!

The hotel we stayed in was brand new, had just opened the Thursday before, so we were the first ones to sleep in our room! That was nice, sometimes with Hotels you never know...but it was NICE! I enjoyed it! Went to the 5:30 session, LOVED IT! (Always do! :)

Oklahoma Temple, we didn't get a picture in front of it before it got dark outside so this is the best we have. The next day we went to the Oklahoma City Zoo. We had a great time. It was really nice outside and the animals were all up and moving around. While we were there we saw some Turkeys, so Taylor started doing his Turkey calls that he has been working on. I hadn't heard him do them before and he is actually pretty good at it! I was impressed! But it obviously sounded like a real turkey call because the TOM...right? the male turkey, I'm pretty sure that is what it is called, but he fluffed up and started showing off his feathers, SO FUNNY! I was definitely entertained by that. Then the HEN got mad at Taylor! Oh boy, GOOD TIMES! We were there for a couple of hours...when we got out to our car however....we realized that the lights were left on!! HAHA yeah our luck with cars that trip was ridiculous! So we finally got a Oklahoma City Deputy who works for Security around the Zoo to come jump us! Taylor and I in front of the Kids play place...it was blocked off so we couldn't play in it, SAD DAY!

THE TURKEY

SO CLOSE....Sorry BABE...not quite there!

Taylor and I being TIGERS, while walking through the bamboo!

4 Months!

2010-03-12T08:58:00.002-06:00

Well I know it has been a while since either of us have updated our blog. We have both been super busy. Taylor with the Army and all the training and me with my school. Taylor has been home for the last 2 weeks which has been nice but he flies out on Sunday, which I'm not looking forward to.

We have been very busy spending as much time with each other as we can while he is here, I will try to update our blog with everything we have been doing for the last month and a half...but for know here is a picture of me 4 months along. I'm growing! Taylor and I have already set up the crib and the changing table that we got from Marie Smith. I wanted to get it all set up before Taylor left! But now it makes me really anxious for the baby to be here! I know I'm only 4 months along and I already can't wait....

We hope everyone is doing good. We love you!

Surprise!!!

2010-01-22T16:55:00.002-06:00

Well for those of you who do not know....We're PreGNanT!!! We were able to go to the doctor the other day and were surprised when they said that we would be having an ultra sound and would be abnle to hear the babies heart beat! It was so exciting! We are 9 1/2 weeks along, and due at the end of August. (It is going to be a long summer, I'm sure!)

Taylor leaves in April for Afghanistan but should be able to come home for two weeks when the baby is born. Let's just hope that I have the baby during the two weeks he is home! We are both super excited to be parents! Here is the picture of our ultrasound! Whether or not you can see it very well, I'm not sure, but we just wanted to share!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-01-03T16:07:00.009-06:00

This is Taylor!! I finally figured this thing out. I plan on using this as part of my communication to everyone while I'm in Afghanistan too.

Anyway, Rachelle and I had a very good Christmas this year. Spent a lot of time with family. Rachelle got to decorate our tree this year, with ornaments she got last year. We even bought a new Star for the top of our tree. Its awfully nice having a warm and cozey house to be in. Rachelle also made a really cool stocking holder at Caroll's. We don't have a mantel or anything to hang our stockings on, so she made this. She does an amazing job.

We also went to my Army Christmas Dinner. It was a lot of fun. Rachelle finally got to see and meet a lot of my Army buddies. I haven't figured out if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet. It definetly opened her eyes a little.

A lot has happened...

2009-12-19T20:33:00.007-06:00

In the last couple of months a lot has happened, and I haven't really posted anything about our life besides us moving into our new house, which by the way is WonDerFul! Now that I am done with school for the semester I decided that I should update our blog a little...

October
During October Taylor and I were getting excited thinking about moving into our house the next month. After finding this nasty spider on my backpack that I had carried from one room to the other, I really couldn't wait until we moved. I think if an entomologist lived out there for a couple months he would be able to find some new species! There were so many weird insects in that house...

We also went bowling one night in October. For my individual and dual sports class this past semester. One of the sections we were taught was bowling and we were required to go bowling and record our score...so we made it into a Date Night for us! It was a lot of fun!

November

Veterans Day: Veterans day was definitely an eventful day. We started off the morning by going into the Willard Middle School's Assembly. Before the assembly started we were fed doughnuts and orange juice and time to visit with other veterans.

Afterwards we went to the Marion C. Early High School's veterans day assembly, where Taylor spoke to the Junior High and High School students. I unfortunately did not get any pictures during his speech, however he did a great job. I enjoyed listening to the stories that he shared. Many teachers, students and Veterans came up to both him and me afterwards to let us know of their appreciation for Taylor and what he does. It was nice to hear that from others.

We then went back to Willard for the High School Veteran's Day Assembly, honestly I felt like it was more of a recruitment assembly than anything else. They also had a slide show of all the veterans that were there, it was nice.

The day after Veterans Day we went to Bolivar to attend an Assembly that was put on by the Bolivar Intermediate school. Taylor got a call on Veterans day from a cute little girl that when we taught in our CTR 7 Sunday School class. Taylor said it was the cutest thing, he wanted to cry when she was asking him if he could come. She called him 3 times, the first time to ask him if he could come, the second time she called to tell him that he could bring his wife, and the third to let him know that they would be singing for the veterans....it was so funny. We went and they had a whole program full of songs and speaking parts they performed for the Veterans. It was very entertaining.

Well We have had many other activities that have happened...I will upload those pictures and activities on the next post...

Terriann's New Blog Giveaway!

2009-12-15T13:53:00.002-06:00

Terriann is haveing a giveaway...go to her new blog, www.terriannhart.blogspot.com to find out more details. If you win the giveaway, you have one of 4 different bags to chose from, which I may mention EveRy SinGLe one of them is SuPer CuTe!

Our Brand New House!

2009-11-25T08:19:00.008-06:00

We have been living in our house for a week now. I just haven't gotten around to posting anything, but I am now on Thanksgiving break!!! I love having a break from school.
We closed last Wednesday, November 18th. We were so excited for the house to finally be OURS! We love it! The first night we were in the house we didn't any furniture so we decided to "camp out" in the living. We set up our tent and watched a movie, we were going to have s'mores but I was about to fall asleep...imagine that.
Our house still isn't put together, we have boxes everywhere and our dryer has the wrong electrical hook up, so we can't get our laundry room put together, which has been driving me nuts!
Here are some pictures of the house right after we closed. When we get it all put together then I will post some of those pictures...but they might be a while. ;)

This is our living room...

Kitchen...
Here is our tent set up in our living room. It was a fun first night in our NEW house!

Ok so I had more pictures on here...but I was typing and they were deleted...how annoying. So rather than putting them back on and trying to place them where I want them, while getting frustrated in the meantime, I'm just not going to post them!

Taylor's Deer

2009-10-26T13:00:00.001-05:00

SURPRISE…
Taylor’s DEER…ok so last fall Taylor shot a deer and a couple of weeks ago he took it to someone to get it mounted. Well it had been a couple of weeks and the guy who did it for him hadn’t called him back so he was getting a little anxious. He called the house last week while Taylor was at work so I took the opportunity to SURPRISE him with his deer when he got home. I went and picked it up and hung it up in our house, (I just took a picture off the wall and then put the deer in its place, don’t worry it isn’t staying!) He had no idea it was even done yet. By the time he came home it was dark. He walked into the dining room and it scared him at first, (he probably wouldn’t admit to that) and then he was extremely excited! I love being able to surprise people, especially when that person is my HUSBAND!

Not exciting...

2009-10-26T12:38:00.002-05:00

Not Exciting News...but still news
It is official Taylor is getting deployed to Afghanistan. I was hoping that it wasn't going to happen, but it is, it's real. He starts his training in January of 2010, and will be home in February of 2011. We aren't excited about being apart during that time, but we have been really good at coming up with blessings that will come out of this experience. We will only be in our new house for a couple of months before he leaves, sad I know. But we are looking for the blessings, which some days seems really hard to do.

What a week!

2009-10-15T19:54:00.003-05:00

Well as we were getting ready to leave from Dave and Jenna's, Rachelle noticed the back tire to our car was flat. It had been slowly getting lower, but we would just air it up and be done with it. Rachelle thought it would be funny to take a picture of me changing the tire as her and Jenna watched! haha I got it taken care of and now Rachelle has a funny tire on her car. HA!

We have cabinets!

2009-10-14T14:23:00.004-05:00

Well we went by to look at the house yesterday and we have out bathroom vanities, our pantry, laundry room cabinets, and our kitchen cabinets and countertops!!! It is really starting to look like a house now. We also have our wood floor in the kitchen and tile in the laundry room and bathrooms! It is really starting to come together. We still have to wait for it to stop raining and for it to be dry enough for them to put up the siding. We don't have carpet yet either but it will be coming soon! We are getting SOO EXCITED!! They still say our closing date is November 20th but they say if all goes as planned we could be in sooner than that!

The top picture is an updated picture of the out side of our house. The second picture is of Taylor and I in our kitchen with our new cabinets!!! The last picture is a picture of our bedroom walls. We have one wall that Peacock color and the other three are a tan color!

House Update!

2009-09-25T12:21:00.002-05:00

Well I don't have any pictures with me to post right now, but I wanted to give a little update on our house. We have dry wall!!! HAHA I know crazy to be so excited about something like this but, Taylor and I get so excited with every little thing that gets done on our house. They should start putting siding up on our house sometime soon and our driveway should also be getting poured sometime within the next week! (The house is right outside the city limits of Bolivar for those of you who were wondering.) Our closing date is set for November 20, we can't wait! If anyone wants to help us move that would be great! HAHA I'm just kidding.
As for Taylor and I. We are both doing good. Taylor is still loving his job with the BPD. He is definitely in the right career! I am still going to school at MSU, I have two and a half years of school left and I can not wait until I am done!!
Well this wasn't much of an update but I figured I needed to add something new! I'm not too good at this whole blogger thing yet!

We have a blog...FINALLY!

2009-09-14T15:07:00.004-05:00

Yay!! We have a blog! I just got it started while I was at my in-laws today! But I guess I should be working on my seminary lesson for tomorrow morning! I will update info and pictures sometime later this week. I just wanted to at least get one started.
But I am going to post one picture on here right now of our house! Taylor and I are buying a house, it is being built right now and should be done mid-November. We are so excited and can't wait for it to be done! They finished putting the shingles on last Friday, so here is the most recent picture!