To my favorite brother in the whole wide world...

HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY!

YOU ROCK!

WE LOVE YOU!

LOVE, YOUR 'LIL' SIS, MAVERICK AND GRAHAM

TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OLD!!! (shy of one day)

Last night we went to Scott's favorite restaurant, Olive Garden, to celebrate his birthday with the neighbors! Like always, we had a fabulous time with everyone and had fun celebrating Scott's big "2-7"! The theme of the get-together was "27 something..." so everyone had to bring 27 of something for him. He ended up getting 27 Twizzlers (although there were a few more than that in the bag, eh-hmm...Brandon), 27 mini candies (although 26 because I helped myself), 27 pens (which he will probably lose in about a week), 27 mini-muffins (long story but Derek is never going to live this one down), 27 Dresses (the movie), and 27 razors (these would be from Joshua because he said that Scott is always using his!). And, even though we didn't really count, we think the waiter brought us 27 breadsticks and 27 Andes dinner mints! The Olive Garden staff sang to Scott and we all helped him enjoy his yummy chocolate cake (some more than others...again...eh-hmm...Brandon...)! Happy 27th Birthday Scott! (although the real day is tomorrow so his birthday celebration will continue....)

Baby Shower for girls (and boys)

Scott, Joshua, and I attended a baby shower for a girl, Jana, that Scott and Joshua knew from living at their condo. Jana's dog was all dolled up for the party (she is going to have a bit of a shock when she has to share attention with a baby!) and we all got to wear necklaces too (it was a princess themed party)! We got to smell dirty diapers (melted chocolate but WOW did it look like the real thing), ate some yummy food (Joshua just about took out the mom-to-be on the way to the food line), and watched Jana open up some great gifts (good gosh, what did parents do just 5-10 years ago?! It is amazing the new gizmos and gadgets that are out for babies now)!

The Sun found its way back to JAX!

Well, to our surprise, the SUN is out today!!! It is still quite humid out, and every time I walk outside my sunglasses get all foggy! We have had the blue sky and sun out for most of the day (it still managed to rain a bit) and it has been nice to finally be out of the house. I actually broke free yesterday and ran errands all afternoon and then babysat a couple of kiddos down the street. They showed me how to play bowling on their Wii...I was wondering what the hype has been about and I must say, it was kind of fun!

Childhood revisited...

We broke out the coloring books and Scott, Stephanie, Jessica, and I had quite a bit of fun coloring together on our . Joshua did not color in his Star Wars coloring book that I had bought him, but he did hold up my Strawberry Shortcake picture for me to show off. We made a dinner run, enjoyed a family style meal from the nearby Buca Di Beppo, and are now watching a game of football (thank God it is football season again!) Fay is slowly moving out of the area, however, we have heard that there may be a few more crazy weather patterns/tropical storms right behind her. Please pray the weather is good next Thursday morning when I fly out to PHX! It scares me to fly in bad weather...

Hurricane/Tropical Storm/Tornado Party!

So, Fay is still hanging around here in Jax. You cannot really tell by the pictures, but it has been raining VERY hard today and it has not really let up at all. We have been told by the news that a tornado was spotted so we have been placed under tornado warning. The pictures I took are not bad pictures, all of the blurry spots are the high winds and rain combined. However, thankfully we still have power! WOOHOO! So, due to the advisory that is not safe to go anywhere or even leave the house, we invited the neighbors over for a little party (not all adults or all 6 dogs are picutured here). We watched Dirty Dancing (as you can see Scottie was showing off some of his moves), we are planning on breaking out the coloring books (I mean I did buy them for the storm so we may as well use them), and have opened up a botte of wine (anytime is a good time for wine). Good times...

New Update...

We are now under a tornado warning....hurricane/tropical storm party at our house!

She's finally here!

Fay has finally made her way into Jax! Oddly enough, we are still the lucky ones who have power (Thank GOD!). We must have lost it at some point last night though because when I woke up everything was blinking. The worst of it is told to be here now...the winds and rain are very extreme and I was afraid that Grahamy would be blown away when I let him out this morning to go potty! I am waiting on a call to see if the YMCA is open today or not. Originally they said we would be re-opening today but a couple of days ago, we didn't know what was going to happen with the weather and when Fay would actually be arriving in our area. SO, I am not sure if I will have to get out in this mess or not. Several bridges in Jax have been closed so Joshua cannot get to work. Starbucks is STILL OPEN though! (People and their coffee I tell ya! haha! :) JU has been closed so Scott is home as well. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers! Stay tuned...

She's stalling...

So, for those of you who check my blog please know that as of now all of the boys (dogs and adults) and I are just fine! We actually still have power which has been a big blessing. Even though Fay is stalled about 60 miles away from us we have still been feeling some of her affects with very high winds and a lot of rain and flooding in the area. Most of Jacksonville has closed down and the gyms I usually work at on Thursdays were all shut down for the day so I was made to stay home! I certainly did NOT complain and have been busy working on my Frannie's business (by the way, the new site should be up by Labor Day!!! Woohoo! It is very exciting!)


I have to say that I think I have seen my fair share of extreme weather from snow storms in the Midwests, to sand storms in AZ, and now my first tropical storm here in FL! I am very glad that Jax is taking precautions with the weather and encouraging everyone to stay in their homes. Even though we have been lucky thus far and have not experienced the brunt of the storm (yet) we are just keeping busy and riding it out at this point. We are prepared, however, in case it does hit us right on but this has really turned into quite the unpredictable storm! (It makes sense this storm is named after a girl...she is certainly moody and you just never know when, if, and where she is going to turn! haha!)


So, for now, to all of our friends and family who have called, texted, or emailed with concern, all is well! I will definitely keep everyone posted and we shall see what the next 24 hours holds!

She's a'coming round...

Dog food...$16.00

Bread...$4.00

Water...$5.00

Coloring Books...$3.00

Having a forced day off of work...Priceless

Take Cover?

Well, things are still up in the air about Fay. It looks like she is taking her sweet time coming into Jacksonville. However, she is still planning on showing up at some point; more than likely she will be in town on Wednesday evening into Thursday. Schools have already closed the next two days for sure and Joshua and Scott made a hurricane preparation trip up to the store tonight for dog food, water, and non-perishable foods while I was at work. We have already decided that if her visit is horrible, we will be having a big slumber party and continuous game day/night with our neighbors and all of our dogs; 7 adults and 6 dogs...now that is a good hurricane party! haha! I feel bad for Joshua though, tonight he said, "I dont know what I am going to do being stuck in the house with two Tayloes who are bored!" Yep, that is going to be hard, I may have to pick up some coloring books tomorrow at the store. Besides games, that is the only other thing I can think of that doesn't require electricity!


Oh, and for all of my KC friends, I deserve any jokes and comments...as much as I would call from AZ and rub it in about having the best weather in the world...I am sure you are now having better weather in the Midwest and would love to rub it in my face! Don't worry...I will be a good sport and take it! And, for my AZ friends...I miss having rain only twice a year. Enjoy the sunshine and I can't wait to see you all in a week and a half!!!

Fay on her way?

So, the big talk around here has been that the tropical storm Fay may be hitting Jacksonville soon! This will be my first tropical storm experience!!! We shall see what happens....stay tuned....

Watching History...

It is very cool to know that we watched history being made last night! We went over to our neighbors house last night to watch some preseason football (I am thinking I am living in another state with a not-so-winning football team) and some of the Olympics and we were lucky enough to catch Michael Phelps getting 8 for 8 last night. How incredible!!! Do you think he is going to be able to get all of that gold back over into the States?! So, this evening, to honor the 2008 Olympics and Michael's 8 wins, we ordered Chinese. And it was fabulous (not as good as having 8 gold medals, but it was pretty dog-gone tasty).

Eternal Information...

Since I was unable to get to Celebration Church this weekend here in Jax, I decided to go online to watch a LifeChurch.tv experience (the church I attended in AZ). I was VERY excited to see Brian Bruss leading worship again! Anyway, Pastor Craig is doing a great series called "You're Dead, Now What?" and is talking about Heaven and Hell. Unfortunately, I was not shocked to hear the stats that 74% of people believe in Heaven, and only 4 out of 10 people believe in Hell. However, I was very saddened by this information. Both places do exist and it takes more than just saying "I believe there is a God" to make it through those pearly gates. Living by faith is a daily choice and also a daily struggle but I believe with all my heart it will be well worth it. If you have ever questioned about what happens after we pass from this earth, you should check this series out. http://www.lifechurch.tv/. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-NOT by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

Ice Cream Trip!

Last night Joshua, Scott, and I took all of the boys for a walk. As we were out we ran into Brandon and Stephanie who were also taking their dog, Potter, on a walk. (Mind you, none of us have kids yet, but we all have dogs! One night we had 6 dogs at the house, because we all had to have our 'kids' with us! It was very fun!) Anyway, Scott and I were in the mood for some ice cream so we twisted (not very hard) everyone else's arms to go along with us! I decided to take my boys with us since they both love ice cream treats, and the ice cream place we went to gives out special doggie ice cream sundaes! In the past Mave ate ice cream within seconds and Grahamy savored his treat. However, for some reason it was the other way around last night! Maverick licked on his ice cream and savored his sundae while Graham had his done in seconds! It was fun to have them along with us and fun to hang out with our wonderful neighbors on a Wednesday night!

I love yard work sooo MULCH....

This past weekend we had a family yard day. I ended up not being around for the bulk of the work since I had to go teach a class that morning, but once I got home, I helped the boys with some mulching. It was about 200 degrees outside and ya gotta love the smell of mulch! haha! However, I cannot complain since I did not work as long as Scott and Joshua did but I couldn't resist taking a picture of how dirty I got after only about 45 minutes of mulching! I do not have a farmer's tan here...I am just speckled with mulch!

Home Sweet Beach

I saw this sign on the wall at breakfast today that said, "Home, Sweet, Beach". Now I have admitted to all that it has taken me quite awhile to get used to FL living. I have really been missing AZ, the mountains, and all of my friends out West. However, this morning was a good day to be in FL. Scott and I headed to the beach with a couple of bikes and rode up and down Jacksonville Beach. It was beautiful out, there was a little breeze, and we even saw dolphins! It was very cool. We then met up with Josh for breakfast at my favorite Jax Beach dive...Beach Hut. There is usually always a line out the door to get in to find a table. I always made it a point to go to Beach Hut when I was in town visiting but now that I have lived here for 5 months, this was my first time to go! I was so excited and it was fabulous!

Summer Games

Well, the Summer Olympics have started and all of the neighbors got together to watch the Opening Ceremonies last night. Holy Cow, China knows how to throw a party! WOW! I was in awe of what they put together and what they created for the Opening Ceremonies. It was quite impressive (and VERY long). I also felt a little stupid when the list of countries started to scroll...I have to admit I didn't know where half of those countries were in the world! (Scott of course, had been to half of the countries they listed). Oh, a little fun fact for y'all, the first Olympics were held in Athens, the second was held in Paris, and the third was held in none other than St. Louis, MO.

Go Team USA!

The Good Ol' Days...

What do you do when the cable and internet go out for a few hours? Well, if you are Scott...you get SOOO incredibly bored that you actually end up folding laundry. I couldn't help but document this history in the making...

Are you serious??

Ok, so check this out. You might not be able to tell in the picture but my brother is holding a big, wrapped up METAL wine rack. He had bought it thinking that it would fit in our luggage coming home from KC but unfortunately, we guestimated the size of our bags wrong and it did not fit. So, he thought he would wrap it up and TRY taking it on the plane with him. We weren't sure if they were going to allow it. He put it through the security machine and the guy took it out and came up to him with it. Scott thought for sure that the guy was going to say that it would not be allowed on the plane and that he was just out of luck. However, instead of telling Scott that it was a forbidden object to be carried on to the plane due to the fact that you could definitely use a large piece of metal as an instant weapon he stated, "Here you go, I don't want to scratch it" and handed it right back to Scott. Mind you, since 9/11 I have had THREE TWEEZERS taken away from me going through security because they could be "weapons". But, nonetheless, he got it home with no problem and I am still out three tweezers. Un-freakin'-believable.

Another baseball game!

We ended up turning our Midwest trip into a baseball weekend getaway! We went to the Royals game on Monday night with Bill, Rachel, and Jeremy while we were in town, and saw a pretty exciting game! There were no fights on this day (Sunday there were a few punches thrown on the field) but ironically there seemed to be just as many Red Sox fans in the stands as there were Royals fans! Thankfully the Royals held onto a win (barely), however, the weather was not as nice as it had been in STL on Saturday evening. KC actually had some weather-breaking records on this day and we opted to pick the one day to sit out in the miserable midwest heat and humidity. Now, some of you might be thinking, "Steph, you lived in AZ! The temps can get up to 120 and you are complaining of heat?!" Why, yes, yes I am. AZ has DRY HEAT, and the weather in KC was a very far cry from dry!!! We were all sticking to our seats and sitting in sweat puddles by the end of the first inning. All in all though it was a very fun game and it was a fun time hanging out together! Oh, and the last picture...Kaufman is undergoing some revisions and there are some luxury commodes set up in the right field section of the stadium. Well, I just couldnt resist having Scott stand by the company name...Scottie's Potties. I am going to go out on a limb here but I am going to say that it is probably a "crappy" business to be in...

The Cutest Little Royal Fan EVER!!!

On Sunday we headed up to KC to meet up with Jeremy and his family and then Scott and I stayed at my best friends Rachel's house. Rachel's son, Hudson (my nephew) showed off his new KC Royal jersey. Is he not the cutest little Royal fan ever??!!!

STL traditions...

Two of our STL family traditions...IMO'S pizza and Cardinals games! Scott and I flew into STL on Saturday and had Imo's for lunch (I am actually NOT an Imo's fan but my brother was salivating as soon as we got off the plane and mom said the word 'Imo's'). We then headed down to the Cardinals game that evening with mom and Peter. It was actually my very first time inside the new Cardinals stadium and even though I was very sad to see the old Busch Stadium gone, the new stadium really is beautiful. Unfortunately, the Cards did not put on a beautiful show, however, as the Phillies beat them. Oh well. It was a gorgeous out and it was a perfect night for a baseball game!