The Taylor Family: August 2012

Thursday, August 23

Kids

Javan talks on the phone while Abbi reads, not sure why they both need to be on my bed to do these things though.

Friday, August 17

Leaving Vegas

With everything packed up we checked out of the hotel and returned our rental car. We took the shuttle to airport and got our boarding passes. We went through security then sought breakfast. There were a few miscellaneous places like usual and a Starbucks. I figured it wouldn't hurt to see if they had the tumbler though the other airport ones did not so I ducked in to take a look. Low and behold a whole shelf of

the tumblers were right there so Peter got to get his coffee and a souvenir too. I got a drink and muffin and we sat and ate before we went to our gate. Our plane was a little delayed due to mechanical issues that canceled another flight. We boarded as usual but the airline took a long time filling in empty seats with passengers from the canceled flight. Our layover was in Phoenix today so the flight was less then 50 minutes long once we finally got off the runway. We landed and I realized that it was 12 years ago to the day that Peter and I first arrived in Phoenix after we got married and moved there. That's

kind of crazy to think that 12 years ago we were in the same place physically but in a completely different place in our lives. We were childless and naive. The only possessions we had at all was our little blue Saturn and the few items we could cram in it and drive cross country with. Oh how far we have come. Our layover was only supposed to be a couple minutes but the plane was late and then we didn't have a pilot for our flight out. We grabbed some California Kitchen Pizza for lunch and since the airport had free wifi we called mom on FaceTime and talked to the children. I used my iPad to show them our plane once it was

there and let them see the mountains in the background and the planes coming and going. After a couple hours we finally boarded and took off. Peter and I are in the seats directly behind first class so we have a nice amount of leg room and a bit of privacy too. We did enjoy many things we did and saw on our little impromptu trip to Vegas but we are both excited to be back home and get back into our routines. It's only been four days but we both feel like it's been a lot longer.

Thursday, August 16

Las Vegas Trip: Visiting

After my appointment this morning which took us to the west side of Las Vegas Peter and I didn't really have anything else we wanted to see or do in town. It was still pretty early when we were through at the office so while we were eating breakfast I looked up the High School that was in the movie Pay It Forward.

It was just down the road from where we were so decided to head out to it just to see it in person. It was a nice school but we didn't spend anytime there. Just drove by and then on our way. We headed back toward the hotel but took the little streets and enjoyed seeing the neighborhoods and city life on the way. We had been checking out every Starbucks had seen to find a Las Vegas tumbler for Peter. He got a few in China and wanted to add to his supply with more from places we have been. Not a single Starbucks had one with the LV photo but only the plain ones you get anywhere. Every time we drove by

a Starbucks we would stop and run in but we had no luck whatsoever and we must have gone in at least 7 at this point. Peter wanted to drive down the strip so we found our way and started from the north end. The traffic wasn't near as bad at this time because most people were probably still sleeping when we were out. We made it back to our hotel and went to check out the pool. We walked around for a while but it was pretty hot and crowded so we decided we would hang out in our room. After a while we went down to hit the buffet for lunch. The food was pretty good and much better than a standard buffet

you'd find at home. It all seemed nice and fresh and there was a lot more variety from the standard fried everything that is usually on a buffet. The best food we found was the peeled shrimp as well as the steak. We ate until we were full and then topped off with dessert. I had been texting my friend Sharon (the mother of my first surro-babies, the triplets) who was in the area trying to get a plan together to see her. She had been having a busy day but invited us over to dinner later. With that plan set I got a hold of my Aunt Chris and we decided to meet at NYNY again where we could just chat and catch up. We found a table by the Starbucks (again no tumbler) and talked for about 2 hours. We talked about my cousins and my brothers

and sisters and Jerry was very intrigued by Peter's job since he is into woodworking himself. When we knew we had to get going we said good bye and took a picture before leaving. Peter and I rushed back to our hotel and then waited in the long line for valet for what seemed like forever. Finally we had our car so we drove towards Sharon's house and stopped to pick up some fruit and a cheesecake. We got there a little late but I was just happy we made it. We had an amazing time talking and catching up. I hadn't seen them for two years and the kids were all so big and perfectly well behaved. I loved talking to them and getting a little bit of love them too. Dinner was great and filling. Afterward we played a couple rounds of Mexican Train and went through photo albums of when the babies were just born. It was the first time I had ever seen them as babies since I never got to see them in the hospital after they were born. There were many times I was ready

to cry during our whole visit but somehow I pulled through without a tear. I am just so amazed at God's glory and how much He loves me and blesses me continuously. I hated that we had to leave but our plane is departing in the morning and we have to be up early to check out and get the car back before getting to the airport. We took some pictures and got lots of hugs and promised it wouldn't be another two years before we see each other again.
* I have photos of me with the triplet's family but I didn't ask if I could post them so I will just keep them for myself for now. In the last photo you can see our hotel on the farthest right of the frame.

Wednesday, August 15

Las Vegas Trip: The Hoover Dam

appointment was at 8 this morning in henderson and it took a couple hours which wasn't too bad. We found a Panera down the street and stopped for breakfast afterward. It was nice to just sit and enjoy our meal together. We love our children but we do cherish the moments we get

to steal away together. After a quick stop at Walgreens for some spray on sun block we headed for our little trip to Hoover Dam. On Monday we had gotten a documentary of Hoover Dam from the library and watched it with the children so they could see where we were going and give us some information about it. the documentary was fascinating and we both learned a lot. Today we drove through Boulder City which we had learned all about Monday. We paid and parked in the garage at the Dam and then set off to explore and take pictures.

Peter and I were both amazed at the size of the Dam and just trying to comprehend how it was all put together 80 years ago. We walked across the Dam into Arizona and stopped many times to just take in the beauty of it all. Neither Peter nor I had ever thought we would ever come here. I don't know why, I guess we just assumed that we would never have a reason to be close enough to make it a trip. Las Vegas was the pretty close to the bottom of

our list of places we wanted to visit so the Hoover Dam didn't seem like it was going to happen. It actually reminded me a lot of seeing The Great Wall of China. Although, that was definitely something I really wanted to see I never thought I would make it there. Peter and I checked out everything we could without taking a tour of the Dam. We probably would have but I didn't bring my regular glasses with me and the tunnels and down under were too dark for

me to wear my sunglasses. We took many pictures and then stopped in the shop to buy a couple souvenirs. When we got back to the car we decided to drive across the dam and check out the other side from the high points. We had wanted to drive across the Hoover Dam Bridge but the road on the AZ side was closed it was quite a backtrack to come around it (maybe next time, hehe). We stopped in Henderson for some lunch at In and Out Burger. We had never been there either but when we lived in Phoenix it was all the rave though we didn't have one near by.

People would plan their weekends to take a trip into California and wait in line for an hour just to eat there. They seem more plentiful now so there was no wait for us and we enjoyed our burger and fries. It reminded us a lot of Five Guys only not quite as good but also not quite as expensive. When we finished we drove back to our hotel where we got cleaned up and I got a call from my Dad. He told me that my Aunt was in Las Vegas so I got her contact info and sent her a text. We arranged to meet up later in the evening as Peter and I already had plans for the night. When we found out that we had to go to Vegas we started talking and asking people about the Cirque Du Soliel shows out here. Everyone we spoke to said to either see Ka or O. After viewing some trailers Peter decided he wanted to see Ka so we bought our tickets online and have been looking forward to it ever since. We both brought some nice clothes that we had purchased in China and don't get to wear much. We got all cleaned up and dressed for our night out. Our hotel has a free tram that takes you to the Luxor and the
Excalibar Hotels so you don't have to walk as far. This was great for us as we didn't want to get all sweaty after getting all clean. Ka plays at the MGM Hotel which is just across from the Excalibar so hopped on the tram and then walked across one of the pedestrian walkways. At the box office we picked up our tickets and then made a quick stop at Walgreens before the show opened for seating. By the time we got back we were aloud in the theater so we found our seats and had a nice talk with an older couple who sat next to us. The show was absolutely amazing, as expected, and left us wanting it to last all night long. It's really amazing what those actors do and how creative the stage and the designs are. We stopped and bought a couple shirts from the gift shop and then asked about the live Lions that we had heard about. Unfortunately, we were told the MGM no longer had the live lions at the hotel. A little disappointed we walked to New York, New York Hotel to meet my Aunt Chris and Uncle Jerry. I had told them we wouldn't be staying long because we still hadn't eaten dinner and we had another appointment at 7 tomorrow.

We talked for a good 15 minutes though and decided we would try and meet up again tomorrow afternoon. Peter and I had planned on hitting a buffet (we're told they are awesome in Vegas) but when we got back to our hotel the buffet had just closed. Oh well, looks like room service again. I told Peter we should ask someone to take our picture before we went back up since we were dressed so nice in our Chinese clothes. Peter, at random, stopped a couple headed the opposite direction were were more than happy to assist us. The wife took a photo and then another and another because she wanted different backgrounds. They were very sweet and we thanked them when we were through. The

man asked where we were from and we told him Orlando. He asked if we had ever been to the Foundation Room. We hadn't heard of it before so we told him so and he said, "I will take you." His wife pulled out two Membership cards and handed them to Peter and I. We followed them to a private elevator roped off with three men in suits guarding it. The man told one of the employees to let us up and the employee took us through the ropes after checking our ID's. The couple went on their way and we got into the elevator which took us to the 43rd floor where we stepped into a very plush and contemporary bar and club. The employee told us normally they charge $30 per person and you have to have a membership to get in but he would comp us and let us through because of the cards the woman had given us (which he took). We walked through the club which was not crowded at all out to the balcony. Here we took in "the best view of the Las Vegas Strip" which was absolutely breathtaking. You could see for miles and miles and strip was all lit up and glowing. We had someone take our picture and took a couple for them too.

We just stood there and looked at everything we could for long time. Unfortunately I knew we had to be up pretty early so we decided we needed to head out and back to our room. The experience was amazing though and we felt very blessed to have been given that opportunity. Peter definitely chose the right couple to stop and take our picture. :)

Tuesday, August 14

Las Vegas Trip: The Strip

Peter and I found out last Thursday that we had to be in Las Vegas for appointments this week. Thankfully the children hadn't started school yet and I was able to get the time of work without any issues.

The children stayed at home with my mom and Peter and I packed up our things and left early this morning to catch our flight out of Orlando. We had to stop by the ticket counter on the way to security because our friends who booked the flight for us put down my nickname instead of my

legal name but we had a wonderful customer service employee who went out of her way to help us. Security was simple and not too much of a wait. When we arrived on the other side of all the lines we stopped and got some breakfast and ate in the main lobby before proceeding to our gate. We had a short layover in Charlotte, NC and made a couple phone calls. Our plane was slightly delayed there but we still arrived in Las Vegas as scheduled. My first

appointment isn't until tomorrow morning so we had the whole rest of the day to explore the city. We arrived around 1pm and picked up our rental car and then checked into our hotel. We are staying at the Mandalay Bay Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. We really didn't know what to expect, there are so many hotels here and they range anywhere from $30 a night to hundreds of dollars.

The Mandalay was a very nice and classy hotel and we are very happy with our accommodations here. We got situated in our room and figured out where things were in our hotel and then went to find some lunch. Flying from FL to NV we went back three hours so we didn't want to eat too much because we wanted to be able to eat dinner before it was really late. We found a little pizza joint in our hotel and split a meatball sandwich and some fries. The food was really good and just enough to hold us over until later. After that we decided to hit the strip and see what all the fuss of Vegas is all about. We went to each hotel and explored the casinos and exhibits. We went through many of the stores and malls along the strip but didn't spend much time in any one place. Some of the hotels were really run down and trashy. We weren't impressed with much of the strip and were pretty much over it all after an hour or so but we kept going hoping that Vegas would be able to redeem itself. We enjoyed the Caesar Palace Hotel

because it reminded us a lot of when we went to Italy. It wasn't very authentic looking but it was still nicely done in most places. We also enjoyed the Bellagio Hotel and looked around at the flower gardens and enjoyed the blown glass displays. It was extremely hot outside and as the day progressed it got more and more crowded. We liked stopping in all the hotels just

to get cooled down and in some air conditioning. There are many areas that have the hotels connected to each other without having to go outside at all but then there are also many pedestrian bridges that allowed us to walk over the streets and not cross in traffic. It seemed like we walked forever so we took a break and got some water at a Starbucks and let our feet rest a bit. Peter and I are not into gambling or drinking so most of Vegas did not appeal to us in the least though we did each spend

$1 on the penny slots. After our short rest we got up and walked on some more. There were a couple things I wanted to make sure we saw and our goal was to get the whole strip down today so we wouldn't have to come back another day. Can't you tell we really want to be here? As it was approaching 8:00 we got to the Mirage Hotel and waited outside just a few minutes until the volcano erupted. We watched the show and made sure to record a bit of it for Abigail so she could watch it later. After the volcano calmed down and became peaceful again

we headed back towards the Bellagio to see if we could catch the fountain show. You always see it on tv and movies and lots of people had recommended it so we stopped and waited and after a few minutes the fountain started up. I have to say that I was really impressed with the show and how amazing and beautiful it was. The music and the movement of the water went very well together and I was very glad that despite our extreme tiredness and aching feet we stopped to watch it. With the fountain show checked off our list we were free to head back to the hotel where we had decided

we would take a nice shower and have dinner via room service. On the way back to the hotel we were bombarded with people trying to hand us their business cards for disgusting shows or services that we have absolutely no interest in but we did like we had learned in China with all their beggars and solicitors, we didn't make eye contact and just walked on with our hands down. Back at the room we relaxed and rubbed our feet. We have to be up early tomorrow so we really didn't want to be up late tonight.

Sunday, August 12

Happy12th Anniversary to Us!!

God has truly blessed Peter and I. We have an incredible marriage and a beautiful family. 12 years ago I married my bestest friend and I don't know how it works but everyday I am more in love with him then I was the day before.

My favorite thing to do is just spend time with him wether we are out and about or just relaxing at home. We have had some hard days with the good but as we grow together we learn how to manage certain stresses and help each other out instead of work against each other. Happy Anniversary to the love of my life, I am very excited to see what more our future together holds.

Saturday, August 4

Happy 60th Birthday Mom!!

Today is my mom's 60th Birthday. She hasn't been well recently so we wanted to make sure he day was fun and memorable. My brothers and sister and I have already gotten together and booked a cruise for my mom. My oldest brother and his family are going, as well as my sister and her family. Peter and I are also taking the children but the cruise isn't until November when my oldest brother will be home from his deployment. We still had to celebrate today though so my sister, Janell, invited us over for

some bbq and pool fun. Peter and I picked up my mom and my little brother's girlfriend on the way but when we got to Janell's she was on her way to Centra Care with stomach pains. Peter started the hot dogs and the girls and I started baking a cake. Janell came home but only for a moment to get Wyatt to take her to the hospital for

some more tests. After lunch we got all the kids in the pool and played for a while, one by one the children decided they were done and eventually we were all drying off. Mom didn't swim but played with baby Wyatt and the children as they came in. My little brother got off work so he decided to come by and see mom too. Janell texted from the hospital and told us she had appendicitis and would need and appendectomy later that night. Brian took his girlfriend home and then Peter and I headed home and left mom with

Charlotte and baby Wyatt. Mom had a good time (but wouldn't pose for pictures) and we were happy we could share the day with her but sad Janell missed the fun. Happy Birthday Mom, you are very loved and appreciated by us all!!