&t The Taylor Family: April 2013

Saturday, April 27

House Warming Party

Peter and I are more or less settled into our home. There will always be something to get done here or there but we got rid of the last box of stuff a while ago and I have slowly started decorating the walls and making our space more home-y. It still seems surreal to us that this is our house. Even when I drive home from work in the afternoons I have a hard time really grasping that this is where we live. It almost seems like a long term vacation rental. All our stuff is there and we use each bit of space (except the formal dining room, for we do not have a table) but it just hasn't seem to really hit us yet. People have been asking when they could come see it or if we had pictures so we decided a housewarming party was in order so everyone could see for themselves. I made a bunch of yummy food with the help of the first few ladies who arrived and then we all just socialized and enjoyed the fellowship. We had a great time and knowing the party was coming up prompted Peter and I to finish up a few things that we had been putting off on our list of ToDo things on the house. God has truly blessed us, not only with a beautiful new home but also, with many wonderful friends who genuinely care and love us. Our old house has been cleaned and prepped. We got a new dishwasher and a refrigerator and fixed up a couple things here and there. We didn't even post it for rent yet because we wanted to make sure it was ready before we showed it but God provided and we a new family moved in today. They signed a two year lease and are paying a little more than what the mortgage is. We will put that extra bit in savings for things needed to maintain the house when needed.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 5:00 PM   0 comments

Thursday, April 25

Take your Child to Work Day

Last year Peter and I were in China and I missed the Take your Child to Work Day. Abbi was disappointed because she knew it was her turn to come with me. Bresa had come the year before and had a great time and Abbi was really looking forward to it. When the time came around I signed up Abbi but didn't tell her right away. When I finally did she was very excited it was her turn. I woke her up super early so we could get to my job at my normal time, 0545 hours. We got in and I showed her how I emptied the lockers and put all the evidence into the system and signed off on everything. Once my normal morning stuff was done we took a trip to Panera for some breakfast. She was excited that she got to pick whatever she wanted to eat and drink and she was really surprised that no one else was in the restaurant. I told her not too many people are up and moving while it is still dark out in the morning. I had some of my normal work stuff to get done and I showed her parts I thought she would be interested in. She wanted to know about the lab so I grabbed a couple unneeded CD's and had Jake make some good fingerprints on them and then I showed Abbi how to dust for prints and lift them off to put on a latent card. She had a great time with that and enjoyed showing them off later in the day. City Hall had set up a lunch for the kids that came to work so we headed over that way and got some pizza and subs and a couple little prizes. After lunch our PD gave a motorcycle seminar about their bikes and how they use them. Then they drove them around a bit to show off their skills and let the kids each sit on them. The fire department showed up right afterward and the all the kids had a ball going through each part of the big ladder truck. It's funny how many times my children have seen and been in the fire trucks yet they still get a kick out of it. It was getting later in the day and just about time to go home but we had one more errand to run. Out at the mall is the place that embroiders all of our shirts and hats so we stopped by so the supply tech could pick something up. While we were there Abbi got treated to some ice cream. Now it was time to go home. We collected our stuff from the station and headed out. Abbi said she had a great time and learned a lot. Maybe next year I will take both of the girls (Javan is too young).

posted by We are the Taylors @ 4:00 PM   0 comments

Thursday, April 18

I love these kids

These little children bring me so much joy. They also drive me completely insane at times but every now and then I catch moments like this and remember how sweet they really are. I hope they always stay close.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 3:50 PM   0 comments

Friday, April 12

Adding to the school

This little baby boy is expected July 24th!

posted by We are the Taylors @ 9:48 AM   0 comments

Sunday, April 7

More Change

Peter and I have been in our current Life Group for about 14 months. We love everyone in it but as coaches over Life Groups we were called to help start a new group in Sanford. We had been working on a couple to step up and be leaders in that area and we found another couple to host the meetings at their house. Since the leaders were new to this type of work Peter and I said we would come along and “salt” them. The idea is pretty exciting but it is also bittersweet as we now had to meet with our current leaders (who happen to be the church’s lead pastor and his wife) to let them know we were leaving their group. We had a nice breakfast with them and we were all excited about the new life group because it was expanding our church’s area and hopefully we will be able to spread the word of truth to the new area. However, we knew that our next task of telling our current Life Group would be a bit harder because not everyone is caught up in the vision of the church and is resistant to change. It just so happened that our next meeting was going to be a social time to celebrate the completion of Easter and all the work that went into the previous 40 days. At this meeting we all gathered around and Peter explained why we were leaving that that this would be our last meeting with them. It went well but there were some tears but also some really good prayers and I know we are doing the right thing by moving on to a new group. The pictures are of the children and Peter playing. Peter was trying to explain physics to the kids on how weights and distances make a difference in finding a balance. Not sure he got through to them but they all had fun nonetheless.

posted by We are the Taylors @ 7:17 PM   0 comments