Welcome Summer!

Finally...I'm getting caught up on our blog after a long break! We are excited for summer to be here and are busy with t-ball, swimming lessons, going places, and playing hard. Here are some pictures from this past month.

Brooklyn is obsessed with animals. She had fun petting the goats at the Tautphaus Park Zoo, where we went for Logan's field trip.



Kids vs. Cats at Hogle Zoo. I think the kids are winning! We went with Grandma and Grandpa Stott, and the aunts and uncles while we were in Salt Lake a few weeks ago.













Congratulations Logan! He says good-bye to Mrs. Gale at his kindergarten graduation. It's hard to believe he's done with kindergarten and onto 1st grade soon!













Caden graduated from preschool, too. It has been fun watching him learn so many things this past year. Mrs. McKellar was a great teacher. He will have one more year of preschool before he starts kindergarten.

We Miss You, Big Guy!

As many of you know, my brother-in-law Jason passed away on February 25th. I have taken quite the break from blogging, and it would not be fitting to post anything, without first paying a tribute to him. Jason was Logan and Caden's favorite uncle. They always loved it when he came to visit. As you can see in these pictures, they talked him into leaving an important ball game that he was watching on TV with Brandon, to go downstairs and play with them in "the cave". I was cracking up as I watched "Big Guy", as the boys called him, cram into this little space and spend nearly an hour in there with them, playing Star Wars and super heroes. He was a great man with a big heart.

My sister is doing remarkably well. She spoke at the funeral, and shared with everyone the eternal perspective she has. She said, "Jason and I have known each other for thousands of years. When we were presented with the plan, we knew our time together on earth would be short, but that it would all be worth it." There was not a dry eye in the chapel. Brandon spoke, as well, and as he spoke I thought, "Wow! I am married to a general authority!" He did an amazing job, tying in gospel principles with memories of Jason. He and Jason were best of friends. His death has left a definite void in our lives, but we are so blessed with great memories and with the gospel knowledge that we will see him again.

Life continues on, and now with a greater appreciation for each day, for each interaction we have with loved ones, for prayer, for temples, for a loving Heavenly Father, His Son who makes resurrection possible, and for the Comforter who lifts our burdens. Thanks to all of you who have expressed your love and concern for us during this time. What would we do without you? We truly are blessed.

Merry Christmas!

We wanted to share some of the highlights of 2008 in the Taggart home with you...

Logan (5) started kindergarten and is amazing us by how quickly he learns. He loves playing with and picking on Caden and Brooklyn. He played on a t-ball and a soccer team this year, and is currently playing basketball. He also enjoys swimming and doing flips off of the diving board. He cried the other day because it was cold outside and asked when it would be summer again. He is a great big brother, always willing to help out. He and Caden love playing wrestle mania with Brandon when he comes home from work each day.

Caden (4) is enjoying preschool. He catches on quickly and has a big vocabulary. He is the comedian in our home, always quick to laugh and make us laugh. We try to compliment him by saying he is handsome or smart and he says, "No, I'm funny!" That is the ultimate compliment in his mind. He still loves his blankie and chocolate milk, and is always wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He taught himself how to ride a bike during the summer so he can keep up with Logan. He's had stitches twice this year, so we hope 2009 treats him better!

Brooklyn (almost 2) is little Miss Independent. She loves to dress herself. Sometimes I try to help her when her shirt is stuck on her head or is inside-out and she says, "No, I do it!" I've learned to step back and let her express herself in her own way. She's quite the talker. She tells us exactly what she wants and gets a lot of satisfaction in being understood. She loves babies and dolls and playing in the kitchen. She gets into everything! Once, I sent the kids downstairs so I could mop the floor, only to come downstairs and find Brooklyn on the carpet, with navy blue paint all over herself and the carpet! After days of cleaning, we miraculously got the carpet back to normal. Talk about a counterproductive day!

Christmas is so much fun with these little guys in our home. They have an enthusiasm for life that is contagious. This has been a challenging year for us with the real estate market being slower than usual. It's been a good learning experience in many ways, as our faith and our abilities have been put to the test. Through it all, we've been reminded that as long as we have our family and the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have everything we need and we can truly be happy.

We are grateful for wonderful family and friends. We appreciate your love and support. We hope you have a wonderful holiday season and wish you the best in 2009!

Better Late than Never

I'm a little behind the times in getting these pictures posted. These guys absolutely loved Halloween this year...the candy, costumes, parties, everything!We borrowed this pink poodle costume from Brooklyn's cousin. I'm glad we didn't buy a costume because Brooklyn wore it for maybe a total of 5 minutes. She only wanted to trick-or-treat in her t-shirt and flip flops. Crazy girl!

Our cool clone trooper really got into the holiday. I got to help out with a party in Logan's classroom, and here he is in a parade through the school. It was all about the candy for him.

Our poor middle child...I realized when we got home from trick-or-treating and the kids had changed that I never got a picture of Caden in his costume. I begged him to put it back on for a picture, and this is as good as it gets. Funny pirate!

Stitches...Round 2

As we were getting ready to leave Grandma and Grandpa Taggart's house the other night, the kids got a little crazy and were running around with their cousins. I was about to say, "Settle down" and "Let's go!" when they ran into the living room and one of the cousins accidentally pushed Caden into a table that was holding a ceramic rose. One of the petals jabbed into Caden's cheek, leaving a pretty deep wound. We knew he'd need stitches so we left the other kids with Aunt Julie. We had to stop at home for a minute and decided to stop by our neighbor's house, who is a PA, to ask his opinion. He agreed that we'd need stitches and went above and beyond by offering to go with us to his clinic and do the stitches himself. It was late, so the only place that would have been open was the ER. It sure put Caden at ease to know that his friends' dad would be taking care of him, instead of a stranger. Thank you Matt! This was Caden's second time having stitches (pushed by brother the first time, just 6 months ago). He was petrified the first time, but he was so calm and brave this time. The best part of this experience happened when we got home. Logan had been crying and was so worried about Caden. He and the cousins drew cute pictures for Caden. Logan hugged Caden and told him how much he loved him. It was so sweet to see this tender side of our normally tough boys. They do love each other after all!

Happy Birthday Caden!

Caden turned 4 on Friday. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up! We had a busy weekend and Caden loved every minute of it. His friends, Rylan and Ethan, also have birthdays on the same day, so we had a big Halloween Party for them and some of their friends. Grandma and Grandpa Stott and Aunt Kim and Uncle Jason came up from Utah for the weekend, and spoiled the kids, of course. We also had the rest of the family over on Saturday for another birthday celebration. Caden asked me, "When I turn 4 can I still have my funny blankie?" I thought it was cute that as much as he wants to grow up, there's still a bit of a little boy in there that likes his blankie and chocolate milk.

Caden loves everything Star Wars! He was very excited about his light saber and other toys.
My attempt at making a pirate cake almost failed at the last minute. I held the cake together as we sang so it wouldn't fall apart!
We love our little pirate. He is so fun-loving and tender-hearted. His favorite things are animals, bugs, digging in the dirt, Star Wars, pirates, super heroes, and sports. He is quick to laugh or make us laugh and loves to wrestle with his brother and Daddy.

The Things They Say...

Today Caden came to me and said, "I'm hungry. Can I have a grand crapper?" I laughed to myself as I found him a graham cracker. I hope you're not offended by the "strong" language, but I thought that was too cute not to share. I don't think I'll ever think of graham crackers without smiling again.

More Milestones

Caden loves preschool! It's nice for him to have something to do while big brother is in kindergarten. He's making some new friends and he loves his teacher. Every day he's excited to tell us about everything he's done.
There are 6 boys and just 1 girl in Caden's class!
He's growing up so fast! Last week Caden reached another milestone...he rode his bike without training wheels! Ever since Logan learned at the beginning of summer, Caden has been begging to take off his training wheels. I finally told him I'd work with him a few weeks ago. He sat on Logan's old bike and I steadied the bike as he rode. After 15 minutes he decided to go back to his bike with training wheels because it was too hard. I figured that was the end of that. Wrong! Over the next several days he would sit on Logan's bike and push himself along. One day without notice he just took off! I couldn't believe our 3-year old was riding to the end of the street so quickly, and that he had taught himself. Way to go Caden!

Caden is Traveling to Salt Lake in a Submarine!

Everyday he takes all of the pillows off our bed and makes a submarine. He gets Sasha and makes her be his traveling mate. Today we were in the Great Salt Lake, headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was amazing how many sharks and octopi we saw there! I had no idea!