February Fun

Don't you just love how I frequently take a whole month's events and lump them into one post.  I'm glad you like it because here's another one.  :)

With all the frozen yogurt places going up, there's no wonder we've found a favorite. It's close by, it's colorful (which is great to chase away the blahs that winter can bring) and has all kinds of fun seating options which I think my kids like the most about it.  Yogotogo . . . we love you!

 These 3 love the "high seats."

We loved the warm weather that set in mid-month.  The sun was so good for me and I loved watching my kids play outside.  There is something wonderful about watching your children use their imaginations and hearing the delightful shrieks of friends playing.  

Two years ago, JayDee built a barricade to cover the access the to the top level of our playset to keep the myriad of small children in the neighborhood from getting up there and then falling down.  As you can see from the picture below it's not a very safe place for little ones.  Well during our little indian summer, Isaac decided that he was big enough and told Dad it was time for the "white wood" (the barricade was not stained to match the rest of the playset) to come down.  He told us he needed to get up there so he could spy.  How can you say no to that logic? Isaac immediately scaled to the top and began spying.

Watch out neighbors.  You may just want to keep your blinds shut.

Also during our warm weather stint, we got word from Grandpa Gunnell that Newt and Lady (his dogs) had a new litter of puppies.  Puppies! Well nothing calls for a visit to the farm like puppies.  We loaded up and headed up to Idaho to meet the new ones.  7 in all. . .4 girls and 3 boys. Can you tell by looking at these pups what their mom and dad look like?

 

Another plus about visiting the farm is the trip down into the fields to feed the cows.  My kids get a good lesson about life every time they see cows.  There always seems to be a new calf or two every time we visit and this trip was no exception.  But the lesson they got this time was a bit different than most, 2 new calves had been born the day before we came and Grandpa was excited to show the kids, unfortunately when we found them they had died.  Sad.  And apparently it has always been JayDee's job (when he was young and now when he's around) to take care of the dead animals. So off he went, with Hannah and Isaac in tow, to the "bone yard."  I had no idea until then that Grandpa had any sort of thing but he does.  Isaac was quite effected by it and I think Hannah had some nightmares about it later.  When they came back Isaac couldn't stop telling me about the dead babies and the cow fossils down by the river. Like I said, life lessons learned on the farm.

Next was Valentine's Day!!  I really like this holiday.  I love a day all about loving.  We didn't do anything terribly special but I had fun doing little things for my love bugs.

 The Saturday before Valentine's Day I secretly slipped away to break into JayDee's office and give it a little makeover.  I love surprises and wished I could have been in JayDee's office when he came in on Monday (Valentine's).  

Here's the view coming through the door.

 Head on

 Inside

 Half the candy I had for decorating purposes got left in the hiding spot under the bed at home. I was in a hurry to sneak out and didn't make sure I had everything. Next time I'm going to double check my loot.  So picture this with a ton more candy. . . like a candy explosion!

The best part about this little gift is that JayDee hates this kind of thing.  He gets so embarrassed.  But JayDee works with great people and they think it's great so I don't feel bad.  He called me when he got in and asked me how he was supposed to get any work done with his office in this condition.  I told him he'd figure it out.  He also told me he felt very loved and embarrassed at the same time.  Yay me!  Last time I did this, about 5 years ago, he only felt embarrassed so we're making progress.

Valentine's morning I got up and made my kids pink heart pancakes.  This is monumental. . .my kids usually get the choice between cold cereal, eggo waffles or an occasional egg on school days, so pancakes made them feel special.

Yeah I could use a little practice.  

And I promise the batter was very pink.

This is what my kiddos found when they got home from school.

Cupcakes, conversation hearts, chocolate, heart cups and Caffeine Free Mountain Dew.

My kids think they love Mountain Dew because that is Aunt Jana's favorite drink so I indulged them. 

It was Valentine's Day after all.

After Valentine's came the snow.  Knowing Utah as well as I do, I knew the nice weather would not last.  With the snow came the snowball fights.  JayDee can't contain himself.  The kids love it when they are caught unaware and are bombarded by flying snow.  Snowball fights have escalated around here, JayDee decided he needed to be able to throw more snow so out came the shovel.  Ethan and his friends loved it.  They'd scream and shriek and hide behind their sled shields but they didn't want it to stop.  Whenever JayDee came inside they would come in ask him to come back out and throw more snow.  Boys! :)

 

 

We closed out the month with a school project.   In 4th grade social studies they have been doing a unit on pioneers.  All the 4th graders had to do an at home pioneer project.  There was  a list of possible projects, one of which was bread making.  I immediately tried to talk Ethan into doing this one because it is a skill I want to master.  He wasn't sure and said he'd think about it.  Well glory be to procrastination! Thanks to his indecisiveness he ran out of time to do anything else, so bread making it was!  I was excited and nervous about this because my track record for making anything with yeast is awful.  I can never get yeast to work.  My brother actually coined a term for my ONE attempt at making rolls for Thanksgiving dinner, he called them Thanksgiving crackers.  (It's still talked about with fondness at every Thanksgiving dinner.) Yep, that about sums up my yeast skills.  Well I wasn't going to let it get the best of me. Together Ethan and I were going to make bread and it was going to be great!  (I firmly believe in positive affirmations.) 

Step 1:  Wheat

 Step 2: Grind the wheat

Step 3: 1 1/2 hours later. . .flour.  Yeah, not doing that again.

Step 4:  The infamous yeast.  Those positive affirmations worked. . .just look at those bubbles.

Step 5:  Greasing pans while the yeast "spounges."

  
Step 6: Mixing in the flour

Step 7: Kneading the dough

Step 8: Placing in the oven after dough rises.

  
Step 9:  Viola! Finished product

Success!!  It feels good to be a pioneer.  I'm just not sure I'll be able to move my arms tomorrow after all that wheat grinding.  No wonder pioneers were so tough.

What Does It Mean To You?

I'm a runner.  I kind of always have been.  Running has always been my exercise of choice.  When I was younger it was harder to motivate myself to run.  I remember in high school having to have a friend run with me so I'd actually get out and do it.  Now I run because I enjoy it. The problem now is that my body seems to not love it so much.  For quite a few years I battled hip trouble.  I fixed that with a little P90X, believe it or not.  Now my left knee is the culprit of much pain and anxiety.  I find myself asking "Why can't I just run?"  just lace up my shoes, pull on my fleece, crank up the tunes and just run. I love it! Breaking from a walk into a jog and finding the rhythm of the road is an exhilarating feeling.  Running isn't for everyone and  many people would say why don't you just stop if you find it so painful?  Well the answer to that is I can't.  Not now anyway.

Back in October, I signed up to run my 2nd marathon but it's not just that I've registered to run a marathon that keeps me on the road.  It's that I'm running it to cure cancer.  Obviously I can't cure cancer,  I'm no doctor or scientist, but I can run for the cause.  My sister and I are running for a cause that means something to us.  Cancer.  I know it's such a cliche to say that everyone knows someone who has or had cancer but it's true.  So cliche or not, your life has been touched by cancer.  

My life was first touched by cancer when I was really quite young. I can't remember exactly how old I was but it was around my jr. high years.  My Aunt Susan was diagnosed with cancer and fought for 5 years before she lost her fight.  I remember explicitly wondering why Heavenly Father had chosen her?  She was the best person I knew.  So loving and kind, she smiled all the time and never raised her voice to anyone.  Her family was her world. She shone with the light of Christ.  And as much as cancer tried to take that from her it couldn't. Of course it changed her physically and I watched it slowly consume her body but it never took her spirit.  I run for her.

2 years ago a lifelong friend was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Breast cancer? She was only 33 at the time.  That's way to young for breast cancer.  Cancer didn't care that she has 3 small children.  It didn't care that she was nursing her baby when it reared it's ugly head. The good news for Katie was that she caught it rather early and her fight, although terrible, turned out to be victorious.  I run for her.

This year, a 15 year old girl in my neighborhood, full of life and with the whole world ahead of her, captain of the Jr. High basketball team and comedian of her family lost her battle to bone cancer.  15 years old!  Her fight reached many.  Her spirit and her will inspired me and many others. I run for her.

There are so many others. Too many others.  You know some.  Your life has changed or been affected by a story, a life, a survivor or a fighter.  What does it mean to you?

The small aches and pains that plague my running are absolutely nothing in comparison to those who are fighting this disease.  That's why I've joined forces with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation to give people and families hope.  Because I've asked myself what if it were me? What if it were my child?  What if it were my sister/brother/mother/father? The Huntsman Foundation isn't just concerned with treating this disease but they are dedicated to the cause of finding a cure.  Jon Huntsman, Sr.'s goal is to eradicate cancer.  


Research takes time and money.  The Huntsman Cancer Foundation has teams of doctors and scientists giving their time to the cure but as you know all things medical cost money.  My sister and I are making our own team (Team Taggart) to help out.  We are running the Ogden Marathon on May 21st and by that time we have set a goal to raise at least $1000 for cancer research.  Cancer takes and takes and takes.  We want to give.  We want to give hope to those fighting and to those who inevitably will fight this disease in the future.  Will you help too?


To join the fight and make a donation or at least look at our team page go to:
http://hcf.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=444239&lis=1&kntae444239=9A8D0193F348488FB9352631F96BB5FF&supId=309010630
I know this is a crazy long web address! They really should make these easier to remember. :)

Donations of any amount make a difference!  I told Shanna when we started this that it wasn't the miles that scare me it's the fund raising.   I'm no salesman.  I'm awful at fund raising but Shanna assured me that people care.  Prove her right!  :)  

And if you've got a few extra minutes to spare after reading this exceptionally long post and making a tax deductible donation, take a look at this video made by one of the people training with us and the rest of the Huntsman Hometown Heroes.  By the way, a lot of the people you'll see running in this video and training with us are cancer survivors themselves.  They amaze me every week!
P.S. I'm in yellow (most of the time) and Shanna is always beside me. :)

http://animoto.com/play/1R40J0M85n0tX2mCIc4HDQ

I'll ask just one more time, what does cancer mean to you?

Outta Here!

Ahhhh....he's gone! Chase is now officially a missionary.  He is probably on the road right now headed to the MTC in Provo and I am sitting here blogging about it because I can't be there too. :( To be truthful, I really do like the direction the church is going with all the missionary changes but it was a little weird leaving my parents' house last night knowing that would be the last time I saw Chase for 2 years.  It just felt like I was going home after any normal family gathering and everyone would be there the next time we got together.  Like I said, weird. 

The last two days have been really great though.  To truly go out in Taggart style we've spent the last 2 nights enjoying the greatness that is Taggart. Monday was party night.  Chase just wanted a night at home, so we lived it up with lots of good food and showing our dancing prowess while playing Just Dance 2 and Michael Jackson: The Experience.  Really if anyone out there knows my family you understand our passion for all things Michael.  No one could beat Katie, but no one expected to, and out of all the boys present Chase is the only one who even attempted it.  Way to step up to the challenge Chase!  We played a few more family friendly games and then called it a night.

Tuesday, we met again but this time for of a spiritual experience rather than a party.   As many people know, the church doesn't do the whole big family meeting thing at the MTC like they used to. Actually now it's often referred to as the "drop and drive."  One car is allowed in the gates of the MTC, car stops, missionary gets out, bags are passed to missionary and car drives away.  No pictures, very few hugs and definitely no time for hysterical mothers.  So because of these changes, we had to say our good-byes last night when Chase's bishop and stake president came to his house to set him apart as a missionary.  I was really happy that we could all be there. I don't remember if I was present at either Matt or Katie's setting apart and it was an experience that I was grateful that my children could have.  Most kids don't get that experience before it is happening to them.  Before we left our house, I explained to my kids what was going to happen and the importance of this step in Chase's readiness to serve and told them that just because we were going to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house didn't mean they could be irreverent.  I told them that today Grandma and Grandpa's house was like a church.  They took my counsel to heart because all of them, excluding one certain 3 year old, sat reverently and respectfully during the whole, very long, setting apart.  I doubt it effected any of them profoundly but I hope that Ethan was touched. . . it's only 9 years until this same experience will be happening to him.  And I say "only 9 years" because it feels like his first 10 have flown by. We spent the rest of the evening together and as we settled back into "normal" activities it was fun to see Chase stay in his suit, not fix the TV that wasn't working and write down his new address and email for everyone to have so we could be prepared to write.

I'm excited that we have another missionary in the family.  It's been a long time and I look forward to these years and the example that Chase will be to my family, especially to my little people.  Chase has inspired me to better myself and work harder at being the person/mother/wife that my Heavenly Father wants me to be.  Thank you Chase.  Now go get 'em Bubba!