John's 2nd Birthday

We had our traditional BBQ feast in honor of John-John's birthday. Our Fellowship friends came to celebrate with us. It was extra special because Nana and Pop Pop were also here. John ate up the attention. The weather was absolutely beautiful so it was fun to open up the house and spill out into the front and back yards. Happy Birthday sweet John!

It was precious watching John try to blow out the candle.

LOVING Matt's brisket!

Aunt Emily with the oldest Taylor cousins

Mia and Pops stopped by for a short time

These are Matt's best friends - Ryan Schooler and Rob Truss. What a blessing to have them live near us.

Matt Dugan and baby Julia

John, Grayson, Luke and Bentley. This was right before John flipped out of the playscape. Boo!

Visit from Nana and Pop Pop Risinger

Bob and Ruth visited us from Pittsburgh! They came to meet their youngest grandchild and come to John's 2nd birthday party. We had such a fun time while they were here but I know we wore them out. It's busy around here!

 I hope they come visit us again very soon. I got the greatest joy watching them interact with the kids - along with my parents, they are special people that love my children almost as much as I do.

Matt greeted his parents with his new mustache as a joke since his older brothers have always sported one. His parents thought it was funny. Check out John's face in this photo and that is about how I felt about it. :-)

Nana instantly bonded with Matthew - he seemed to think she was pretty great, too!

John showed Pop Pop every tool he had

The daily routine continued on even when special guests were visiting!

The kids loved having Nana and Pop Pop read to them every night

Alivia taking her little brother for a ride

Will showing off his amazing driving skills on his new 4x4

More bonding with Matthew - so sweet!

Riding the Zephyr train on a beautiful spring day in Zilker Park

Reverend Risinger

My cousin Leigh Taylor is marrying Michael Bornitz in Santa Fe over Cinco de Mayo weekend. The best part about the weekend will be watching my wonderful hubby perform the wedding ceremony. That's right, he is now Reverend Risinger after getting his online degree from the internet.

We have actually taken the role seriously and have participated in some meaningful premarital counseling sessions with Leigh and Michael. Since they live in Fort Worth, much of it has been on iChat, but they were able to come to Austin for a visit and a nice dinner out to Boticelli's.

Here are we at my mom's house for Sunday brunch. I can't wait for the wedding weekend!

I'm 10 weeks old!

Sweet Matthew has so much to say but can't seem to get it out just yet. :-)

Life Lessons

This is why you should not give gum to your almost 2 year old. Notice the gum in his mouth and on the car seat.

Grandpa Day

This time they brought back some turtle shells. Will continues to love this special time with Grandpa.

Happy Easter 2012

I decided that since most of the kids' birthdays are right around Christmas we would use Easter as another opportunity to give them fun toys instead of candy. And hopefully remember the TRUE reason for the season - Christ has Risen! Will got an electric 4x4 to replace the one that never worked at Christmas and Alivia got a Razor scooter. John got a tool box with real tools in it and I have been frantically trying to hide the screwdrivers that are incredibly sharp ever since. ** Note to self: when the package says 8+, it is best to not give it to your 2 year old.**

We skipped church because 2 out of the 4 kids were sick with coughs and runny noses which was disappointing to Matt and me. But we headed to Mimi and Grandpa's for a spectacular Easter brunch complete with great food and an Easter egg hunt for all of the kids that were there: my kids, Avery, Paige, and Aubrey and Henry Baumhover. My parents have the most perfect yard for an Easter egg hunt and it was so fun to watch them collect the eggs. Paige and John got lost in the excitement of eating the candy along the way. . .