Welcome to the Family Baby Taylor!

A long awaited for announcement!

Baby Taylor is here!

This morning at 7:41 a.m. Taylor Lyn Bradshaw was born at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.  She weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Taylor's Official Stats

I got the "grandma " call to come sleep over with Zac about 10:30 p.m. as Mark and Katie headed in to the hospital.  This is my second "grandma sleepover" in less than a month--I should be getting good at it but I find it hard to sleep with all the excitement and anticipation of a new baby coming!

We got the call announcing Taylor's birth and later that afternoon Kevin and I got to take Zac in to the hospital  to introduce him to his new little sister!

Grandpa Robins gets to hold first!

 Kevin is always a bit reluctant to hold a new baby but once Taylor was placed in his arms he immediately began to give her the details about her Mom and how she needed to "pay it forward".  It was such a tender moment!

Grandma Robins gets a turn.

 Next it was my turn for a snuggle!  I love the way new babies smell--so sweet and soft.  I always forget how very tiny they truly are and what a miracle it is to see perfect little bodies.  One of the great joys in life.

Zac holds Taylor for the first time.

 Zac was very tender as he cradled his new baby "seester" for the first time.  He gently gave her a kiss and then....he was done...

Enough of this baby stuff!

 What a blessing it is to have the safe arrival of Taylor Lyn Bradshaw!  We are grateful mother and baby are doing well and look forward to watching her grow.

Welcome to the family--Taylor Lyn Bradshaw!

Surprise! Wrong Yearbook!

In January I purchased a Picaboo groupon.  I paid $30 for $100 worth of product--the catch, it expired February 28, 2012.  I thought a deadline would motivate me to start and complete a major project.  I chose to create a family yearbook for 2011.    I gathered the needed photos and created a book that I was very pleased with.  After multiple reviews looking for typos and other formatting errors, I finally used the groupon and placed the order!  I was soooo excited for it to come!

 On Saturday, February 18, 2012 I came home from running errands and there was the Picaboo box waiting on my doorstep!  I ripped open the box and saw the above packing slip.  I eagerly flipped over the book and imagine my surprise when I was greeted with the "86 Aerial Port Squadron" book!

I contacted Picaboo support and they were very apologetic and quick to send me the needed return materials so that an exchange could take place.  I am grateful that this book was not needed for a gift or by a specific date.  So now I wait yet again!  I am pleased that I was able to complete it in just over a month and am excited to see the actual product in a week or so.

I purchased some additional groupon deals to keep me moving forward with my memory book projects.  In fact I finished and sent for publication a book on the December 1, 2011 Davis County windstorm.  It should arrive early next week!  I am currently working on a book about our trip to Moab last spring.  I must admit that digital scrapbooking is easy and the lack of mess, set up, cleanup and ability to set it aside and get right back up to speed quickly is wonderful.  I have started doing a few pages each night while watching television with Kevin.  It is a great way to make the evenings productive.  My new challenge is I have so many projects I want to do, how do I decide which ones will actually get done!

Winterfest Surprise

Ashton and Shyann spent the day with us while Rick brought Tina and Alex home from the hospital and got them settled at home.  We took the kids home just before my mom brought dinner to their family at 5 p.m.  About 4:00 p.m. Kevin asked me if I wanted to try to catch the last show of the Young Ambassadors at Winterfest tonight.  I went online and purchased two tickets on the aisle!

Kevin wanted to surprise Brad and Shae with some candy.  We stopped and bought two packages of Cadbury mini-eggs--one bag for each of them.  I texted Brad at the end of act one to let him know we were there.  He was so excited and surprised!  His solos were amazing and brought tears to my eyes.

After the show we were making our way across the theater to meet up with Brad when we encountered Shae Hunsaker and her family.  She introduced us to her parents, sisters, and some other relatives.  Brad seemed so pleased that we would come to his final local show.  Since this is his final year as a Young Ambassador, each performance is a treasured opportunity.

Winterfest 2012

We bought tickets to see Brad and the Young Ambassadors perform at the LDS Conference Center Theater at Winterfest for my parents, and the girls and their spouses as part of their Christmas.  To go along with the tickets I invited everyone to come to dinner before the show.  Brad called on Wednesday and said he was in need of children to be in the show and asked if Shyann was coming.  He wanted her to be the "princess" in the first act.  I went online and got her a ticket.

With the birth of Alex last night, we lost Tina and Rick for dinner but Rick brought Shyann over for dinner and took Ashton home for the night.  After dinner, Katie and Mark drove Shyann to the theater so she could do a quick run through.  We followed about 30 minutes later with my parents.

Shyann and Uncle Brad backstage before the show.

Shyann was all smiles as she played the "princess" role in the show.  Her eyes sparkled as Brad came on stage as a tree and smiled down at her.  She was glowing as they placed the glittering crown on her head at the end of the number.  It was such a special moment for her.

Shyann with Alexis Flake, her stage mom

A princess and her prince!

After a great show and a fun night with family, Shyann came home with us for a "sleepover" at grandma's.  It was a special evening with family.

First Photos

We were preparing to leave when a photographer came in to take the hospital photos of Alex.  We stayed to capture a few candid shots of the new family!

Mother and sons!

Father and new son.

What a treasured opportunity it was to get to capture these first precious photos of a beautiful baby boy!

Picture perfect!

Alex's First Bath

Shortly after we arrived at the hospital the nurse came in to get Alex for his first bath.  While Katie talked with Tina, Rick, Ashton and I headed to the nursery to watch the baby bath.  The nurse brought out a stool so that Ashton had a front row seat!

Keeping an eye on little brother!

Getting his first bath--boy is he mad!

Washing his little bit of hair.

Alex was not happy about having a bath but the three of us thoroughly enjoyed every minute!  We took lots of pictures to capture every moment!

Leaving my tiny footprint for posterity!

Alex's first scrapbook page!

Welcome to the family Baby Alex!

Meeting Little Alex

Shyann and Ashton woke up early and were so excited to see the photo of their new brother.  We had breakfast, read scriptures, and got Shyann off to school on the bus.  Ashton and I then met up with Katie and went to the hospital to introduce Ashton to his new brother, Alex.

Big brother meets little brother!

Sleeping in Aunt Katie's arms!

Getting acquainted with Grandma Robins

Alex Porter Everett Arrives!

After getting several warning phone calls to put me on standby during the evening Tina called at 10:00 p.m. to say she and Rick were heading to the hospital.  I gathered a few items and headed to their home to spend the night with Shyann and Ashton.  About 11:15 I received a text message from Rick indicating that Tina was indeed in labor and they would be spending the night at the hospital.  I changed into my pajamas and was just dozing off when I got a text message indicating that Alex Porter Everett had arrived at 11:56 p.m. on Thursday, February 9, 2012. That was quick!

Several text messages were exchanged to gather the vital information and first photo of this new little boy.  He weighed in at 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.  I then sent text messages to Kevin, Katie, and Brad announcing the news!  It was so fun to have the option of text messaging to share this news especially since it was the middle of the night!  You could spread the news but not disturb the sleep of loved ones!  Although the only one sleeping was Kevin!  Brad was still awake following his first night performing at the LDS conference center theater for Winterfest and Katie isn't sleeping well due to her pregnancy.  It was fun to share this moment as a family!

Roots Tech 2012

Spent three days at Roots Tech 2012!  It is a family history conference sponsored by FamilySearch which brings developers and users together to share ideas and learn from each other.  It was an exciting three days 

of educational classes, talking with vendors and trying out new products.

One company, Genealogycharts.com, printed a 9 generation pedigree chart for free in black and white, and for only $5.95 if you wanted it in color.  I printed a free one and a color one for both Kevin and myself.  They will not only help us determine where to focus our individual research but will also be a great visual aid for our next family history class.

My  generation pedigree chart.

Kevin joined me for dinner after work on Friday and we spent the evening at the family history library.  I introduced him to a new family history website, Fold3, that focuses on military records.  He discovered a wealth of information about his uncle, Charles Robins.  He was so excited to find details of his plane crash, injuries, and time as a prisoner of war during World War II. 

Photography Class for Beginners

This afternoon Tina and I took a beginning photography class from Gallery Photography in Bountiful.  We took our SLR cameras and experimented with the various manual settings.  Here are two of my photos.

Not bad for a rookie with a very fancy camera and very little training!  I am hoping that this is the beginning of a great photographic adventure!