Detour

Mom and I are still working on the pictures from Grandpa Steve. In the meantime, I posted some pics over on flickr-check those out to tide you over.

We got an early Christmas gift and birthday gift for Mom-a camcorder from Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bob. Mom and Dad have taken over 80 videos in the last week and a half, so needless to say, they're some sorting out to do there as well. Mom did manage to edit one down for me to post on here. This is me opening my first Christmas present of the season. Daddy picked it out for me after Mommy voiced her opinion that a well-rounded girl needs more than dolls. Enjoy...

And seriously, I hope to be back soon with more news of my trip to Austin.

Tay

Pre-Christmas Hullabaloo

I know I know I know. I'm a slacker. Grandpa Steve was all over my case while we were in Austin, but I'm here now to get caught up.

This post will catch you up on my business BEFORE I went to Austin, Texas. Mom is still helping me sort out the approximately 7468 picture Grandpa Steve took while we were there, so that post will be coming in the (hopefully) near future.

Because of our upcoming travels, Mom, Dad and I had "our" Christmas celebration on Friday, December 19th. Dad made a special dinner for the special occasion-crab legs! I thought there were pretty good, but I only ate a little-that's some rich food! I really liked the garlic bread we had to go with dinner-so much so that I ended up with butter all over in my hair. Mom was a little less than impressed with that. After we ate, we got to open presents. I got some great stuff, like a dump truck, doll bed, tractor with a pig and cow, and a really awesome pink club chair that's little, just like me. (I actually got the chair the next morning because my parents, well sometimes they get a bit forgetful, and they forgot they hid the chair behind the guest bed. Mom found it the next morning. Better late than never I guess.)

On that Saturday we went to meet up with the Rice family. We met at The Depot in downtown Minneapolis for some skating. It wasn't a long-lasting activity and The Depot definitely made good money off the six of us, but we had fun. Emily's parents and my parents are hoping that by next winter we'll both be a little more stable on our skates so we can make it more than a 12 minute activity.

Here's a picture of me and my dad with Emily and her dad, Mark.

After skating, we went out to lunch at Sawatdee, a Thai restaurant. I ate chicken and broccoli fried rice and a cream cheese puff. Yummy! Emily and I explored the restaurant some and checked out the cool statues.

The next day was spent packing for the trip to Austin. I'll be back with my memoirs of that trip.

Peace out!

Taylor

What Winter Really Is

So my cousin Sibley recently posted this picture on her Smug Mug site. It was titled "Winter". Perhaps a better title would have been "Winter in TEXAS". What she's wearing there-that nylon jacket with a thin layer of fleece lining-that's nothin!

Why, when I was her age, I had to dress like this for a parade that happened in the middle of March in Nebraska:

I even had to dress like that to go to a hockey game that was INDOORS in Minnesota!

And don't even get me started on the cold we're dealing with already this year. Just look at what my poor Grandma Trish had to do to stay warm at a parade last weekend:

Sibley-I've got a lot to teach you about the world. The good news is that I'll be to your house in 11 days to get started on our lessons. I'll bring my spring jacket. Lova ya kiddo!

Respectfully Submitted,

Taylor

Holiday Happiness is All Around!

Lots of news people. Let's get right to it...

It's finally the official Christmas season and we've got the sippy cups, decoration and fashion to prove it.

Grandma Trish gave me this sippy last Christmas and I get to use it to drink milk sometimes now. Mom put something in it called Hot Chocolate the other day. Ish. I'll take my milk straight up and cold, and my chocolate in candy form, thank you very much.



Here I am helping out with some of the decorating. The bosses (Mom and Dad) didn't let me do much but I got to help with some of the less fragile business.

Mom bought me a new coat. I tried it on over my onesie but felt something was missing. That's when I added the shoes to complete the ensemble.

Dad bought me my very own brand spanking new Bauer hockey skates!!! I loved them the first time I tried them on. Didn't love them the second time. And the third time I came across them, I wanted to try them on again to see if I loved them, but Mom and I were home alone and Mom was making tacos so she said I had to wait for Dad to help me a different time. She says he's in charge of skates.

I was supposed to try my news shiny skates out for the first time at Daddy's company holiday party, but the ice wasn't think enough for us. Bummer!

Last Friday night was a monumental night. I went to Kid's Hair for my very first haircut! I was such a good girl-I sat very still and didn't make a peep and I really loved the bubbles.

When I was done, I got a sticker and a sucker. And check out the super cute hair dooder! I kept it in all through dinner that night and didn't take it out until I was in Mommy's car. But I'm getting better every day-today I wore a ponytail to daycare and kept it in all day long.

Grandma Trish and Aunt Steph were here over the weekend. On Saturday night, we went to the Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis. Great aunt Kris, Great uncle Kevin and my cousin Haley joined us. It was really cold outside but I had a super fun time anyways.

On Sunday I got my pretty clothes on and went with Mom and Dad to Dad's work party. Do you like my super cute outfit that Mom and Dad put together? (Dad picked out the leggings-snowflakes and candy canes-he's so fashion forward!)

I got to play in the snow with my friend Olivia. We haven't played together since this summer when I wrote this post. We had fun playing in the snow.

This party was GREAT! My PsuedoGrandma Linda (that's one of Daddy's bosses) and her elves did a bangup job with the planning! There was a balloon maker, a face painter, and the big man himself (aka Santa Claus) even stopped by to bring toys to all the Tall Sales kids.

My photographer, in a mad rush to keep her job, had more pictures this week than I knew what to do with. So check out our flickr site for more pictures. Daddy also posted his pictures from Notre Dame-be sure to check those out!

Peace, love and happiness to you all!

Ann Taylor (my newest alias, courtesy of Dad's boss Jeff)