MID MARCH APM ACTIVITIES 2015

 We are just enjoying so much seeing our great RMs frequently!

We had been trying to get to one of Nicole Okeson Elkins concerts ever since we got home and FINALLY made it up to ABRAVENAL HALL in SLC for the BYU PHILHARMONIC in which Nicole played piccolo!  She was AMAZING and it was just delightful to see her in her element!  She is in a grad program at BYU with her music.  Congrats Nicole!  You are super talented!

Also great was to see her husband Ellis and to be with fellow RM Amber Harding who came up as well for the concert!

Not much makes us happier than celebrating an eternal companionship and that is what we got to do Friday night with KYLE BRADFIELD who married his sweetheart Tiffany late February and did the reception this weekend.

They are pretty darn adorable and so happy to be married!

This is our new district in Branch 23 at the MTC!
Elder Thompson, Madsen Sisters Rammell, Zambito, Gailey and LeBaron with us at the Provo Temple on Sunday.

Then, when we came back to the MTC, look who I met in the New Sisters Meeting!!!

Sister Parks, yes, Sister to our very own Hilary Parks!
I was so excited to see her and give her a hug!  She will serve in Fortaleza East Brazil when her visa arrives.

We have tried to make our home available for celebrations with our RMs.

This past Saturday we hosted a bridal shower for SAM STANLEY.

 We had chocolate fountain and lots of dippers!


And lots of friends from within and outside the mission.

Paige McAllister put together the most fun activity where she filmed Andrew (the fiance) asking him questions about favorites or characteristics such and then asking Sam the same questions.

She had to put a piece of gum in her mouth each time she was wrong...lets say her mouth got pretty full!

 Here is Paige...and party crasher Jake Parry who is friends with pretty much all the hermanas.

Not a bad idea...he got the food and to see everyone in one place including us!  Nice!

We did have to have him cover his face so he would not see the pretty lacey, racey things though!

 A group pic with Jake...

...and with me.

And lastly,  President T out shopping for pinatas with me for the APM REUNION!


WE LOVE YOU!!!
Have a great week!

REXBURG REUNION March 2015

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT!  
Left to right: Michael Neild and fiancé Jessica, Dale Bolinger, Mackenzie (Levi Walpole's fiancé) Nick Egan, Levi, Ben Fagersten, Fred Rushton, Beks (Ben's friend), Joseph Burgoyne, Douglas Hicks, Sam Blackburn, Josh Neubert, Parker Geren and President Taylor

 We just returned from one of the best weekends we have spent!  President Taylor had the idea to give me for Christmas some outings to different parts of Utah or the country, to meet with our great RETURNED MISSIONARIES!

This weekend was REXBURG!  And what a blast we had up there!  We thank Douglas Hicks for arranging the room for us to meet!  It was perfect!!
And, in the first place, it was not cold!  It was about 60 each day and only some wind the second day!  Not bad at all!

We did not realize the great showing of RMs we have in that area!  One of our RMs told us that there is a list on campus of each mission and the number of RMs they have at the school.
ARIZONA PHONEIX RANKS #2 on that list in highest number of RMs attending school!  Way to go, APM!!!  We are working hard to get as much education as we can!

It was a the best to not only see the RMs ourselves, but to see them seeing each other!
Front: Jessica with Michael Nield, Karina with Dustin Martinson, Sam Blackburn, Scott Bartlett, Ben Fagersten, Brittany and Tony Pollmeier, Patsy Sheets.
Middle row: Kailee Hicks, Jon and Liesl (Hawkins) Guymon, Desirrae Barnett, Nick Egan, Daniel Beeston, Chase Hochstein, skip over to Courtney and Nama Kamissoko and Matt Sheets.
back row: Douglas Hicks, Shaun Hampton, Jake Wade, Joseph Burgoyne, Mackenzie with Levi Walpole, Ben and McKenzie Burden, Nick Stevens and friend (sorry, I cannot remember her name!) and standing, Dale Bolinger.  Whew!  great crowd!!

 We took photos about each 1/2 hour to hour...so you may see the same person in each of the 3 large photos that night, or, look for new ones or different ones in each photo!  And some did not make it for the large group photos either (Qwinton Brothers and fiance for example :)

Honestly, in planning this trip it was thought of more as going up to the temple, and we did not realize the need for a mini reunion up in Idaho, but we quickly recognized that this may need to happen again with the sheer numbers of RMs in the area.  We got maybe half to this social.

So good to see some of our newer returned missionaries who just got home this winter!
Us with Jason Barrus
(OK Drew, I see the photobombing carrot fangs!)

Front:  SDesirrae Barnett, Me and President T, Daniel Beeston, Ben Fagersten, Jason Barrus.  Middle: Aubrey Fluckiger, Liesl and Jon Guymon, Nick Egan, Courtney and Nama Kamissoko, Jonathan Lovstedt, Todd Severe and Fred Rushton.  Back: Karina with Dustin Martinson, Shaun Hampton, Dale Bolinger, Chase Hochstein, Drew Parks.  What a fun group of people...best in the world!

It was really a fun evening visiting!
THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO CAME!  And spread the word for April reunion and ride sharing...and for those who really cannot make it to Provo, we will try to come back up maybe in the fall!  Lets get more of those who missed this one!

It was a casual night of just talking!  Oh, and eating all the great snacks we all brought to share!



President Taylor with Drew Parks

 We enjoyed individual time visiting with each one and meeting new friends of our RM's!


Us with Karina and Dustin

Us with Dale Bolinger

Us with Shaun Hampton

Dale was sporting an official Peoria Tee short for the occasion, way to go Dale!

We had the mission flag for all to see...and in hindsight, we would have brought the quilt if we realized how many would have liked to see that as well.  Next time!

Desirrae and Aubrey check out the flag...lots of memories in those names!!


The next morning we met at the Rexburg temple for a session with some of our group:
Front: Nama and Courtney Kamissoko, Todd Severe, Pres T and I, Brent Empey Sam Blackburn, Michael Meredith, Desirrae Barnett.  Back: Tyler Johnson, Chase Hochstein, Joseph Weeks, Drew Parks, Jonathan Lovstedt, Jason Barrus and Dustin Martinsen.

 THERE IS NOTHING AS SWEET AS BEING IN THE TEMPLE WITH PEOPLE YOU LOVE!

This is the desire of our hearts for the years to come...to be with you in sacred places (which could be our home or your home or a temple or wherever we can be found doing good!)

And we want to continue meeting people who are important to you in your lives!
Today we met Joseph Weeks Aunt and Grandma!  They did the temple session with us and that was sweet!

After the temple, we met up at Pizza Pie Cafe and through a miracle, got a private room that we squeezed 20 people into!

Cody Silcock, Drew Parks, Jonathan Lovstedt, Nick Egan, Chase Hochstein, Qwinton Brothers and Kassidy.

Levi Barker, Joseph Weeks, Dustin Martinsen and his aunt (really cute almost his age) Brent Empey, Desirrae Barnett, Amarie and Hector Jimenez(Graves), Tyler Johnson, Todd Severe and me and Felicia (Levi's fiance)

I APOLOGIZE FOR SPELLING NAMES WRONG!!! :)


Katie Alvarez showed up at the end to say hello and it was fun for her and Amarie to see each other again!

We are blessed to live so close to many of you...we have seen some of you in Provo, and we hope to see more of you as we travel!

I do not know if some people understand the bond that forms when you serve a mission and have the responsibility of you AMAZING young people to guide.  It is something so special and eternal in nature!  So just know HOW MUCH WE LOVE YOU!  TIL WE MEET AGAIN!  With love, The Taylors

EARLY MARCH 2015 ACTIVITIES

 We love those last minute visits from mission kids...
These three were headed on a ROAD TRIP TO AZ!!  Picked up Emily Walker after leaving a car at our house.
(Sam Stanley, Kadee Esplin and Lise Bennett)

 We sent them on their way with a bag of snacks...



...and BUBBLE WRAP to keep them awake!!

We had a few visitors that weekend as well!


Jeff Griffin brought Brooke to meet us.  We had the best time getting to know her!

And Heather Hale was in town and we got to meet up!  We were so excited to see her after the completion of her mission!  She is also doing great!

Then we got to meet another new addition to the mission family...Douglas Hicks brought Kailee to meet us!  They live up in Rexburg and were passing through.
Thanks for taking time to visit us!

Here are our latest MTC kids!

Elders Hagen, Honey, Rossi and Wixom, us, Sisters Anderson, C Burton, Jenkins, K Lewis, S Lewis and A Burton (Yes, that was two Lewis and two Burtons)

Elders White (going to Tempe) Martin, Strong, Olsen, us, Sisters Sedgwick & Poirier(also going to Tempe), Green and Howard.

Us with the entire zone.  3/1/15

I also met a dear friend of my daughter from New Jersey.  This is Sister Tremmel from her ward in Marlboro NJ!  We enjoyed meeting up with her a couple times while she was in the MTC headed to Washington.

Speaking of meeting up...I also found Hannah Haught from our ward in Peoria AZ.  I told her I would look for her, but she found me!!

Nice to be able to send a quick text to her Mom with a photo of her daughter in the MTC!!!

 This weekend we also got to attend the sealing of Elora Watson to Cameron Gunn.

This was interesting...he had not seen her in her wedding dress till her Dad brought her outside the temple while he was waiting!

I think he liked it!

 There is nothing more special than being in the temple with people you know and love.  This is the blessing of serving a mission!

 It was super sunny where our photo helper was standing, so not the best photo, but it was great to be with them!

















And, we got a photo of our own Jenny Greenwood, trained by Sister Watson in AZ!  So fun to be involved with mission friends!!!

Sunday the 8th was another APM Dinner Group!

We had a couple who could not make it last minute, but still a crowd for our kitchen!

 We enjoy visiting for a while after dinner too!

 I was testing the timer for this shot (Broke the big camera big time this week so I was using my little one)

Here we are:  Pres T and I, Jesus Castro, Lindsey Brewer, Alex Cordero, Crystal Turner, Josh and Jennica Thurgood, Lance Cabral, Conner Albrecht and Kurtis Nokes.
THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT VISIT!!!!
Sign up at reunion for your spot at the table!!