September 30, 2012

September 30, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

I have had a few busy weeks.  I got to go to Utah and see some friends and family.  It was a very different trip than I am used to.  I was a little bored on the plane.  I really missed Brian and the kids while I was out there.  I decided that I much prefer going on vacation with my familyJ.  It was definitely fun to visit my friends though.  I saw Kassy and Joan (from Monticello) and my friend Jana (who used to live here in Wisconsin).  I don’t usually spend a lot of time with friends because we are so busy seeing family.  It was nice.  Kassy and Joan each have their own families and are cute little moms. 

The kids and Brian have been busy with soccer.  They are enjoying it.  It is fun to watch the games on Saturdays, but it does make for a busy day.  So far, the weather has been pretty good.  Last week, it was cold, but it was OK. 

Brian has a new calling to add to his list.  He is now the high priest 2^nd assistant.  He is also the ward organist, the cubscout master and a stake auditor, and he also plays piano in priesthood opening exercises.  I think he will be released from the cubscout master soon, but he will still be the ward organist/priesthood piano player. 

Yesterday, I loved the womens conference.  It seemed to be a good thing for me to hear.  I also have been thinking about my trial last year when I wasn’t feeling so hot for quite awhile.  Brian gave me a blessing awhile ago that said that would be a learning experience for me.  I was trying to see what I learned from it.  As I have been reading Mosiah and Alma the past couple of months, I have seen Alma the Elder, Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah, and the Lamanites all turning from “lives of sin” and becoming born again.  As I look back, I can’t think of any food I wouldn’t avoid if it made such a difference in my health.  I feel like I am alive again instead of just surviving.  The first few weeks were the hardest because I wasn’t sure it was going to make a difference, and I thought I might just be going hungry.  But as soon as I could see it was going to make a real difference and when I saw how sick it made me to eat gluten, it became very easy to change my diet.   I see that the Book of Mormon examples I was reading had that same experience with their “spiritual diet.”  I am wondering what I need to change in my own spiritual life to be reborn spiritually as I felt I was physically.  Or to stay on the path that my Heavenly Father wants me to be on.  I want to always feel spiritually alive.  Last night I thought about how I need to follow the advise to recognize the power of the atonement in my own life. 

We love you all, Love,

Brian, Martha, Matthew, Kara, Lindsay,  Seth, and Elise Taylor

Labor Day Hike

We went to Mauthe Lake and hiked around it. It was a great day for a hike.

We saw this cool tree that had fallen over. It had the coolest root system, so we took a picture of it.

Brian's mom and dad came with us. We had a great time. Matthew even caught a bullfrog.

September 2, 2012

2012, September 2

Dear Family and Friends,

The past two weeks, we enjoyed some time with Brian’s sisters and their husbands.  Last Wednesday, we went to the Brewers game.  They were playing the cubs.  We had a great time.  I thought our kids would get bored, but they loved it.  Matthew actually watched the game and understood what was going on.  Kara and Lindsay were sitting by me, and they asked me how the game worked.  At one point, Kara asked if anyone ever hit home runs.  Ryan Braun was just coming up to bat, and I said sometimes he does, and low and behold, he hit a home run that time. 

Claire, Steve, Ann, Johnny, Matthew, Brian and I went to 6 flags the next day.  We had a good time.  Mom Taylor stayed at her house with the other children.  My kids had a great time.  They love Grandma’s house.  It is fun to live so close to her. 

Friday, we went to Andre-Kohler state park.  It was the perfect day for the beach.  We buried all my kids in the sand.  We went swimming.  There were some really fun waves, and we had fun trying to ride them for a bit.  We picnicked, and had a wonderful day. 

Saturday, Brian and his family went to Chicago.  I stayed home with our kids.  They had a great time walking the magnificent mile and doing some sight-seeing.  Matthew was pretty disappointed at the end of the day that he didn’t go with them.  I think he would have enjoyed it, I think the other kids were just happy as clams here at home. 

Monday, we went on a tour of the Sprecher Brewery.  It was pretty fun.  So, it started out as solely a Brewery, but as they started having tours and families were coming through, they wanted to make it more family friendly, so they made some root beer.  Now that root beer (AMAZING, by the way) outsells all their other products combined, almost 3 to 1 (I think those are the stats).  At the end of the tour, we could have unlimited samples of their sodas.  They have about 15 flavors of soda.  I liked the cream soda and Orange Dream the best.  The kids liked the Blueberry soda.  It was fun.

Tuesday, we went to the zoo.  I like the zoo.  It is really weird to go places and not have a baby to have to hold and carry around.  In fact, Elise likes to walk a lot of the places we went.  I think I might always think of her as the baby, but she isn’t a baby any more at all.  Besides all the clothes that were a bit big at the beginning of the summer being a bit short and more fitted, she looks giant compared to Claire’s and Ann’s babies.  She sure is cute though. 

This Saturday, Brian and my kids, and some friends of ours spent the day at Andre-Kohler state park.  Matthew’s stomach was bothering him again, so I stayed home with him.  I think I am going to get him tested again for Celiacs.  It seems like this has been happening more and more to him recently.  I hope he doesn’t have it, but it would sure be nice for him to not have his stomache bothering him so often. 

So, I have been thinking about prayers being answered lately.  I am sometimes amazed at the ways that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.  I hope I am communicating faithfully and fervently enough with Heavenly Father to recognize the spirit and know how to best follow his plan for our family.  I think I am thinking about this as school starts and as my kids are growing up and life is occurring and moving on. 

We love you all.  Love,

Brian, Martha, Matthew, Kara, Lindsay, Seth, and Elise Taylor

Chicago with Brian's Family

Brian and his family spent Saturday all day driving around and seeing their old stomping grounds in Chicago. They did a few touristy things, shopped, and had a great time.  

 Ann, Jonny, and Lauren

 Claire

 Downtown Chicago

 Brad and Lauren

 The Sears Tower has a place you can stand and look down.  I don't think I could have done it.  But they have no fear:).  

Claire, Steve, Donna, Roy, Lauren (Millie in Stroller), Brad, Jonny, Ann, (Taylor in stroller). Downtown Chicago.

By the Way

I love the blogger app. It makes posting so easy and fast.

Fun with Family

We had a lot of fun with Brian's family. Thursday some of us went to 6 Flags. Friday we went to Andre-Kohler state park. It was so much fun. The water wasn't even too cold (well, for Lake Michigan). There were some fun waves to play in, as well. We even buried all my kids. Here are some pictures.

Brewers game

We went to a Brewers cubs game today. It was so fun. The kids really had a great time. I was worried they would get bored, but with family, the sausage race, other entertainment, and a couple of home runs, it was very fun.