Girls Night Out

During our trip, we had a girls night out with my mom and all of my sisters but one (who was planning on coming from out of state, but last minute had sick kids and had to postpone the trip. We missed you, Sis!). We went to Ikea, had dinner, and shopped.

This little tennis ball looking dessert turned out to be quite tasty!

Here are some more pictures of my girlies!
Look how tall she is! We knew this day would happen. Only 5 1/2 years ago Chris and I were married on her 8th birthday! She's getting so grown up!

And while I'm on the topic of the some of my favorite ladies, can I just say how lucky I am to have the Taylor women in my life! I couldn't have hand picked better in-laws!

Front Runner

My dad wanted to take all the grandkids on a train ride on FrontRunner. Sam and I (and other family members) rode FrontRunner the first day it was running back in 2008, but this was the first time for Chris. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

We rode from Bountiful to Ogden, and then had some of our nieces and nephews join us in Layton and ended up in Bountiful again. If I counted right, we started with 8 adults and 5 kids, and then picked up 1 more adult and 8 more kids.

Frites and Waffles

A huge thanks to my cute sisters for sharing some of their pictures from our Utah trip. We took our camera, and didn't get many pictures. Oops! The next few posts will be about our trip to Utah we took in March. (And just so you know, we had a ton of fun with the Taylor side too, but no one got any pictures other than our family pictures).

We went to a little frite shop that's owned by a guy from Belgium for some authentic Belgian fries and waffles. Yum!
Chris and my brother-in-law Paul both served in the Belgium, Brussels mission, so they really enjoyed this. My mission (Switzerland, Geneva mission) included a tiny corner of Belgium. My companion and I took a train there one afternoon on a preparation day when I was serving in Luxembourg just to say that I had been there.

Here's my proof! See the flag?

Anyway, we got lots of tasty frites and wafflesAnd for those of you who know Belgium, you'll recognize this, Manneken Pis (I like the little University of Utah hat that was put on him! Go Utes!):

Family Pictures

During our short trip to Utah, we took family pictures with the Taylors. The last time we took family pictures with them, I was just a couple weeks pregnant with Sam--over four years ago. There have been a few changes in the family since then, so it was time for an updated picture.

It was super cold and windy outside, plus Sam was tired, so I'm really impressed our photographer was able to get a couple good shots. Thanks Amanda!

Another Hike--Barlow Pass

Here are more pictures to prove how beautiful Washington is--another effort in my campaign to get everyone to move up here!

Valentine's Day/Chinese New Years

February 14th this year we celebrated two holidays. We decorated Sam's bed with hearts while he slept, and he was so excited to see his valentines! It was so cute!

We had heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast.
That evening we had a Valentine's Day/Chinese New Years party at our friend Lisa's house.

This is July and her husband Dave

This is Glen (who sold us his Great Harvest), and our friend Tanya

This is me and Glen's wife Julee. They are amazing people!

At the end of the evening, the kids put together a Chinese dragon parade. Sam is under there somewhere. We had two dragons so everyone could fit.Fun was had by all! Happy Valentine's Day and Chinese New Years!

Hiking with Troy

Here are some pictures of a hike Troy took Chris and Sam on in January. We had a nice warm month last month--I think I heard somewhere that it was the warmest January on record in 80 years. Anyway, they hiked around Fort Ebey on Whidbey Island. Enjoy the pictures!