The Boyz

The Taylor Boyz are hanging in there. Jack still loves school and passes off two to three sight word lists each week. He loves visiting the "treasure box" and brings home all kinds of plastic "treasures." Dallin loves preschool and is a great helper when at home. He is such a good babysitter and has helped me so many times when the babies are fussy. Cam likes tasting all kinds of food -- constantly. He also enjoys sitting on his brother Carson and getting into mischief.

Cameron also loves watching Baby Einstein movies. Fortunately, so do his brothers. Here they are having a movie party . . .

(Jack and Dallin thought they were so cool holding the babies -- they demanded that I take a picture.)

6 Months & Sitting Up!

Carson is one happy boy. He loves people and will do anything just to look you in the eyes. He has a huge, open-mouth smile and a funny little laugh. He loves taking baths with Cameron and is getting pretty good at eating big boy food.

Major Taylor!

Today I officially pinned on the rank of major. They had another ceremony and Brandon (roommate & Army dermatologist) administered the oath of office and pinned on my rank. It was cool to have him do that. He has become a really good friend. We work out every day and talk constantly about family, football, politics, religion etc. He has kept my sanity here. He just found out that he gets to go home before Christmas. I’m really excited for him but I have to admit it will be tough seeing him go. After the ceremony they had a pot luck at the break room with Popeye’s chicken and cake and ice cream. The ER crew are so good to me. I won’t miss Afghanistan but I will miss all of them.

Two Months Down!

We celebrated our two-month anniversary apart on Nov. 5. Jason was so sweet and sent me flowers! The time is finally moving along and we are getting so anxious for the holidays and Jason's homecoming.

I need to send out a BIG thank-you to so many people. Our family and friends have done so much to help us these past two and a 1/2 months. We have loved having the Grandmas and Grandpas and appreciate the time, energy, love and surprises for the boys. My neighbors have been wonderful -- helping me clean pool filters, washing my car, coming Sunday mornings to help me get to church, watching the boys so I can go to YW, and calling from the store to see if I ever need anything (Thanks, Jen!!!) My sanity has been saved thanks to my cousin Tally. She and her husband Taylor moved here last spring and are so much fun. Tally always seems to know when I need help the most, and will spell me for a few hours so I can take a breather. Last but not least, I need to thank Marie Callender for making a mean frozen dinner!

So much for my "Oscar speech," but I truly am feeling grateful and very blessed! Less than two months to go!

The Mustache

Knowing how much I love Magnum P.I., Jason decided to grow a mustache. Actually, the New Zealanders are sponsoring the contest so all of the ER guys jumped on board. Jason says, "It looks pretty ridiculous but this is also a pretty ridiculous place so it’s a perfect match!" The boys thought Dad looked cool but kind of funny. I guess you do what you can do to make the time go by!



Jason sounds good, but says after the two-month mark you really start getting tired of the place. Here's some of his latest journal:

Another week has gone by. It seems to be going by fast enough. I have been busy with lots of different projects. I bought an external hard drive and have downloaded a ton of music onto it from our morale drive. That will come in handy on the ride home. I was also called as the elder’s quorum instructor so I have been preparing my lessons in my spare time. I have read more novels that I ever have in my life. I’m currently reading a book called “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini. It tells a story about Afghanistan through the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. It tells about the brutality of the Afghan regimes and the way women are treated here. It makes me so mad at the men here. Many women are still wearing Burka’s and the men refuse to allow them to receive medical care from a male doctor. I don’t feel so bad when we get these enemy combatants in all shot up. It sounds terrible but I feel they are getting what they deserve and I wish we could refuse medical care to them just as they do to their own women. However, I can’t do this so we take care of them despite. When they come in I have to put mental blinders on and just do my job. If I think too much about it I just get mad and would be in danger of letting my emotions affect my decision making.

The dust off pad is in between my dorm and the hospital. Everyday you can hear the helicopters take off and land bringing in patients. It’s kind of like the TV show MASH in that respect. If you hear a bunch of helicopters you had better get over to the ED to help out. The past few weeks the fighting has slowed, probably due to the colder weather. Sundays are generally busy. I think it’s due to the fact that Friday is their holy day and they get all riled up and then fight on Saturday and Sunday. I haven’t worked a Sunday where I have seen less than five traumas.

Church was good again today. After sacrament meeting we all went outside and took a picture in front of the chapel. They have been asked to send a picture to church headquarters. Maybe it will end up in the church news. Next week I have to speak in sacrament and teach my lesson. I’m kind of glad to have some more projects.

This Is Halloween!

After what seems like a million Halloween activities this month, we finally celebrated the actual day of Halloween. Here I am with my "super" kids: Jack as Spiderman, Dallin as the Red Power Ranger, Cameron as Batman (obviously the Adam West version!), and Carson as Super-Baby.