10 minutes

We have been married for 2 years, although it feels like 10 minutes... under water! That's our joke. It really has been the most wonderful two years. We were reminiscing of the last few years and wanted to record a few memories...  

How we met/ Our first date

I served my mission in Spain with Taylor's cousin Michael Karren. Little did I know that he was a matchmaker. Before I left for home Michael mentioned he has a cousin that had recently got home from his mission in Mongolia. I kind of laughed about it and did not think anything of it. Michael also wrote home and told Taylor about me. I got home in November 2008 and a couple months later I had a facebook friend request from a Taylor Fenton. We chatted online every now and again, but neither of us thought much of it. Several months passed and around June we both happened to be online one evening and began chatting; mostly about a silly boy I was seeing. He gave me some good advice and told me I had been patient enough with him. After this conversation we began talking more regularly. My mission president, President Farnsworth and his wife, who happened to be from Utah were coming home in July and I had planned to attend their homecoming. Taylor planned a date for us while I was in town. I was staying in Provo and he was up in Salt Lake. I drove up and met him in Salt Lake and then he drove us up to Paradise, where we had our first date. We went to his parents home, visited, and took the 4 wheelers out for a picnic. We didn't get very far before a hot oil began dripping on my leg. We stopped, got off and as soon as we did there was a loud noise and the back wheel caught fire. We ran back to the last house we had passed and the lady called the fire department. Taylor called his parents, who arrived with a fire extinguisher and put the fire out before the fire truck, ambulance and police car all showed up to the scene. It was one hot first date! We ended up having a picnic in the backyard. Later that evening we stopped for dinner at Cafe Sabor and then went back to his parents home in Salt Lake and watched Win A Date With Tad Hamilton. On my way back down to Provo I called my friend Katie who I was staying with and I told her, "I'm going to marry Taylor Fenton." She just laughed. Taylor and I had been picking dandelions which were ginormous and making wished. I actually made a wish that I would marry this man that I had known for a whole 3 hours. The next morning we went together to the Oquirrah Mountain Temple Open House. When I went to pick him up he had a oreo with peanut butter on it for me. Any doubt that he was my man vanished at that moment. He had work in the afternoon and I had a homecoming BBQ to attend. He called me that night and said he was coming down to Provo and wanted to see me. That night we both agreed that we were crazy, but that it was love at first sight. 

How He Proposed

2 months later we were engaged. I was going to school in Arizona at NAU, but a couple weeks after our first date I drove back out to visit him. He came out to Flagstaff a few weeks after that and had got me a plane ticket to go visit him again Labor Day weekend. The week before coming to visit he was complaining about pain and thought he was getting a kidney stone. He had had several and was also diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease. I of course was worried. When he picked me up from the airport he had an ice pack on his lower back and was in a lot of pain. The next morning he woke me up early saying he had been up all night and needed to go to the hospital. He had a bag full of pain medication, but had forgot his water bottle. I stopped at 7-11 and quickly ran in and got him bottled water. I had to drive because he was hunched over in agony. He was directing me to the hospital and had me pull over because he thought he was going to throw up. He had me pull into this park. He got out and I sat in the car wondering what I should do.  He came back to the car and said he wanted to take some pain medicine and see if the pain subsided before going to the hospital. He asked me to come sit with him outside at the park. Before I knew it he was pulling a beautiful, sparkling ring out from one of the medicine bottles. He asked me if I would be his medicine and marry him. I was in such disbelief that I told him to shut up. We hugged and I eventually said yes and he put the ring on my finger. I then asked if we still needed to go to the hospital. I thought maybe he wanted to propose before going because he knew the evening would be spent at the hospital. He informed that it was all made up. He really has a history stones, but he was just fine. That night we went to dinner at The Roof. I am not easy to surprise. I almost always ruin surprises, but he sure can be sneaky... 

Our Christmas Card

Christmas 2011

Santa Spoiled Us

 I guess we have been good! Sage received a xylophone, 123 Favorite Kids Songs CD, a fun push toy, links, jammies, a dress, a storytime rhymes book that sings to her, a sippy cup, and Baby Sign Books.She was also spoiled with a piggy that sings when she puts the coins in, bath toys, a singing star stacker (everything sings), a shape sorter picnic basket and My Baby Can Read book/DVD/Flip card set. She also got a few really cute outfits sent to her from the Ruiz Family. From our families Taylor and I received the baby bullet for her which is going to be so useful in making her baby food. It came with the baby steamer, which is also a sterilizer , poaches eggs, and defrosts. It has a ton of storage containers as well. We are super excited about it. We have already made her a weeks worth of food- super easy, cheap and healthy. We also received the Magic Bullet which we are excited to try out. We got a Wii game and a 3 in 1 BYU puzzle. We also got the game Rummikub, Our families are way too generous. Taylor spoiled me with the Silhouette Cameo which I really wanted and was looking forward to for my birthday. If that wasn't enough he got me a book I have been wanting to read, the Andrea Bocelli Christmas CD, Zumba for the Wii, a mouse for my laptop and a sweet picture frame. Sage and I got him a blue ray player, the movie The Help (which he also got me), Scrabble Card Game, jammie bottoms and the Amazing documentary of BYU Basketball from last year with Jimmer. We got eachother the Wii Fit Plus with the Wii Balance Board. We really are so blessed with so much. There are so many things we take for granted. The fact that we have all of our temporal needs met and then some, we are so very blessed.

The True Spirit of Christmas

I think this has been my favorite Christmas. Not because of all the wonderful gifts, but because of all the time we have been able to spend as a family. We went to the Festival of Trees, went downtown to see the lights on Temple Square, decorated our home and have enjoyed the tree lights that have been on all day every day since the first of December, our home has smelled of sparkling pine and homemade cookie- we have made lots and lots of cookies, we have listened to lots of Christmas music (Michael Buble's Christmas Album has been our favorite this year),  watched several Christmas movies, drank lots of hot chocolate, Taylor and I went to the Christmas Devotional, had a fun FHE/ White Elephant Party with our neighbors, had a nice evening with Taylor's family where all the cousins got to play together, hear a story, get their Christmas jammies from Grandma and Grandpa. Although not perfect, we tried to read a scripture verse of Christ together every evening and we read a few Christmas books. It really has been the happiest time of the year! It has been nice to reflect on the birth and life of our Savior. 

How We Spent the Day

The morning of Christmas Eve Taylor's parents came over and we got to visit with them. We love them and are so grateful for them in our lives. They are so generous and are examples of Christ-like love. They are examples to us in so many ways. We enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them. Afterwards, the three of us packed up and headed to Paradise where we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with Grandma and Papa. We are so grateful that they live so close now. We love spending the holidays with them and being able to see them in between now. Grandma was a good sport and played games with us and Papa even watched the movie The Help with us. Christmas morning we woke up early. Taylor woke before everyone excited to start the day. I soon learned why he was so excited when he had me go on a scavenger hunt to find my gifts. Sage did pretty good opening her gifts. Of course she was more interested in the paper, but she did pretty good for a 9 month old.  Right before church Sage woke up from her nap supper fussy. She would not stop crying, which is not like her. She threw up all over her Christmas dress. She felt much better afterwards and we quickly changed her and went to church. The rest of the day we lounged in our jammies, ate good food and enjoyed our time together. 

  

This is my highchair from when I was a baby. It also winds down and turns into a rocking chair. Her and Scruffy became best buds this past trip. 

Mommy, Daddy and Camera

Our little bug is getting more and more difficult to photograph. She does not like to sit still anymore and is all over the place, which of course is to be expected. I would like to think that I will vividly remember all of these moments, all of her sweet expressions, and fun personality but when my memory fails me I will have pictures to remind me. I try and take a lot. I had a friend joke and say Sage probably thinks she has a mommy, a daddy and a camera. We are getting super excited to have her open her gifts. 

Getting Big

This evening we moved Sage's crib down to the next level. She gets on her knees and tries to pull herself up to a standing position. We also retired her potato sack jammies. She is getting so big so fast! We love our little bug.

Game Night

The Averyts came over again last night and we played speed scrabble, phase 10, drank hot chocolate and ate popcorn. We played until after midnight. We were all getting delirious. The 4 of us could not stop laughing. Such good times.

Unsuccessful.

We tried again. We took Sage down to Trolley Square to Santa. As you can see the second time was just as successful as the first time around, which was not at all.  Sage has a lot to learn about this jolly old man.