Merry Christmas from Kent and Shelley

Hello Family and Friends!  Here is an update with our family.  Sarah, Nathan and the kids are back in the States.  Nathan is stationed at Fort Riley in Manhattan, Kansas.  They have been there since August.  Makayle is 10, Paige 7, Carter 5, Tanner 17 months, and baby # 5 will be here in April.  A Boy!  They are doing well, keeping busy with church, school, and all kinds of various activities.  Glad to be back.  It's nice to have them close.  Brooke, Teancum and the boys moved to Tucson, Arizona, in May.  Hyrum is 4, Parley 2, and our newest grandchild, Porter Woodward Clark, ( who was born in January) is 11 months.  Teancum graduated from  Utah Valley University in May, with a degree in Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice.  They are also doing well, busy with church callings and family.  As for Kent and Shelley, we are still in Mapleton, Utah.  Will have been here 6 years in February.  We still love it.  Kent keeps himself busy with fly fishing, more fly fishing, and fly fishing when he can.  He is working at Wal-Mart now.  Retired from Walgreens after 40 years.  Thank heavens for fly fishing!  Shelley keeps her self busy with sewing, and making quilts, her passion.  Thank heavens for quilt stores and sewing machines.  You can find her most days, (ok everyday) in her sewing room.  And yes, our church callings are busy too.  We have been blessed with two beautiful daughters who are busy wives and mothers.  Also two handsome sons-in-law who are hard workers and good providers for their family.  And can't forget our grandchildren, Makayle, Paige, Carter, Tanner, Hyrum, Parley and Porter, who are the cutest and sweetest ever.  We love our family very much, and for the gospel and temple covenants that makes our family eternal. Our year has been busy, but we are looking forward to a new year and everything it will bring.  We wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year.         



 

From Shelley in Germany

This is a pharmacy in Rothenburg. 

The street here with the kids looks really interesting.  Stones instead of cement or asphalt.

Take me out to the ball game.

Last night Brooke, Teancum, and Hyrum and I enjoyed a ball game in Orem. It was a great night and after the game there were some great fireworks for Pioneer Day.

While Shelley is in Germany

 

While Shelley has been in Germany - I have just been watching the garden grow.  The first pictures in one of our 4 varieties of tomatoes, then a cantaloupe, and the last is potatoes.  Fun being able to actually grow vegetables rather that just plants in Tucson. 

Can You Tell These Are My Girls?

Shelley was searching through a box of old papers and found these pictures along with a few others.

Finally Made It!

One of the best fly fishing rivers in the western US is the Green River. We floated the river on our pontoon boats. It is 7 miles from the Flaming Gorge Dam east to Little Hole and it has lots of fish, the water is cold and crystal clear. You have to go through 3 sets of rapids, the last called Mother in Law rapids, don't know why.   Went with a neighbor and his sons and fished this past Saturday.

Capt Nathan Thompson

We are very proud of Nathan and Sarah for their service to our country, as Nathan deploys to Iraq and Sarah remains at home (in Germany) we will fly the American Flag until he returns.  Many of us have family that has served our Nation or have themselves given honorable service in defending our freedom.  Shelley's father Reed served in Korea, and I have a great uncle who served in WWI.  My father's great grandfather Sgt. Major William Mooneyham served in the Union army in the 81st Ill. Infantry in the Revolutionary War.  May we support all our soldiers that serve around the globe and keep Nathan and Sarah in our prayers.

Spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's

Can you believe it?  This is our first time for a grandchild to spend the night. Brooke and Teancum went to Salt Lake to see some friends that came in for Conference.  So Hyrum spent the night.  You forget what it is like taking care of children.  He did great.  I took him to the grocery store with me while Kent went to Priesthood meeting.  I started to put him in the cart when he saw those huge carts that look like a car.  (hate and despise those)  I told him no, and he started to cry with big crocodile tears, so I gave in!  Never again. (right)  So here he is enjoying breakfast.

Stake Musical!

Haven't posted for a while, so we will bring you up to speed.  Last November, I was asked to help with a musical that our stake was putting on.  When they told me what I would be doing, costuming and make-up, I wan't to throw up!  I asked when this would take place, March is what I was told.  I thought I would be sewing until kingdom come.  Fortunately, one of the woman helping had the majority of the costumes in her stash.  (She has a masters in costuming and theater.)  What a relief!  But there was something that we had to make, and that was a puppet.  So guess who took on the job of making this? Me.  Never made a puppet, so I had to just go for it because I had to have it done in about a month. So there he is, his name is "Sebastian."  In the scene he had been thrown out of a window.  Hence the sling.  The young woman holding him is Megan Graves her name in the play is "Gwendolyn".  It would take too long to tell you what the play was about, because it was long.  That was the only complaint.  2 1/2 hours long!  It was a lot of work.  We started with rehearsals in January and performed on March 12th and 13th.  Had a good time, was a lot of work, but mainly cut into my Saturdays.

Interesting Week

Not a lot going on, Shelley has been at her quilt retreat all week. But on Tuesday night at about 9pm we had a knock on the door.  It is not like Shelley to answer the door at that hour, but a Utah County Sheriff in a cap was there.  He told us there was a SWAT activity in our neighborhood. Actually the next street over and they would be setting up the command center right in front of our house.  We went out to move her Tahoe and there were cars every where with officers 'suiting up' with vests, army type gear, and M4 rifles.  Even police dogs.  Well everything turned out OK without an incident, but they didn't leave until a little after midnight.  Neighbors calling us and texting to see what we knew since they where all over our house.  Shelley told one caller it was because I wouldn't let her have a Diet Coke.

Parley helping Grandma sew!

Parley learning to sew!  In the second picture he is studying how to use a ruler.







OK, what can I get into in this room?

Christmas with Hyrum and Parley

We kept Hyrum and Parley while Brooke and Teancum went to the movies on Christmas.  We had a lot of fun with the boys, they both have their personalities and we enjoyed playing with them.  And the best part of being grandparents, we then sent them home with Mom and Dad.

We were also able to see Sarah, Nathan, Makyale, Paige, and Carter with Skype and spend some time with them on Christmas day.  Technology is so great!!!!

We found these hats for them, cool, huh?

Parley

Here are some new pictures of Parley, one from tonight at dinner. The others are from the past week.  We got him a new jacket and he is so funny when Brooke puts it on him, he won't move.  It is hard to believe he is almost one!

New Family Photo

Our Grandkids - A Thanksgiving Day Blessing

While in AZ we had an opportunity to get this picture of all our grandkids.  It is so fun having these little ones around and to watch them develop their personalities.  We love them so much and are so blessed to not only have these kids but our daughters and their husbands in our family.

Here is our Paige!  She is showing us that she lost her first tooth!  I hear that the tooth fairy is giving out dollar bills now.  What a cutie pie.

Here is our little Parley.  He looks just like his mom, Brooke.  Yes that is his own hair!  Not a wig.  He is 9 months old, probably will start walking soon.

Best Cousins

These two little rugrats had alot of fun together.  You could say they are best buds.  Carter, on the right, is Sarah and Nathan's youngest.  He turned 3 on Nov 2.  Hyrum, on the left is Brooke and Teancum's oldest.  He will be 3 Jan 23.  They were fun to watch play and chase each other.

Makayle's Baptism

Here is our Makayle bean.  This picture was taken after her baptism.  Can't believe she is 8 years old!  She was baptized in Sahuarita Az, by her dad, Nathan.  Grandma and Grandpa Taylor were teary eyed before it even started.  Her baptism happened at the end of their visit to the US.  It wasn't as hard to say goodbye this time, as it was at first.

We missed the fall colors again!

We took a short drive today to the back side of Mt. Timpanogos and the Sundance resort.  It was pretty and cold.  We have had a couple of storms and many of the trees have lost their color.
This is the back of Mt. Timpanogos and the glacier.  There are a lot of cabins in the area as well as Robert Redford's home.