New hair do's

Curly and mo here decided to go for some new styles today. What do u
think of the new do's?

Russ' qoute of the day.

It's only evading if their lights are on.

Sent from my iPhone

The Onion

Not as easy as I thought.... But this was an exercise in my art class
this week. I still feel like a novice compared to everyone else in the
class, but it's a lot of fun and definately relaxing.

Brenda's Babyshower

Brenda, one of my work friends, is having a baby! So I threw her a little work baby shower at her favorite restaurant--Olive Garden. A lot of the guys weren't so sure about coming (what' is it about phobias of baby showers?) but it was a co-ed party and I know all of them had a lot of fun.

Here is a picture of me with my little target basket that I "borrowed" for a few days so I could tote around the party gifts (which were little glass vases with pink roses in them--they were great! they served as table decorations and as the gifts!). Here is all of us in a group shot. Russ came too and he had a lot of fun! The next day one of the ladies I work with said "is it true all of those stories he was telling?" Then she said "If he was my husband, I would never let him get away with the things he does!" It was pretty funny.... he had told the rental car story and some other crazy stories... people loved it at the party!

Some more dinner shots--- they stuck us in our own little side-room.... it was great!

Hawaii... a little delayed...

So I’ve been meaning to post my Hawaii pictures FOREVER, but due to Russ downloading some movies at home and taking all the bandwidth and other events in our lives, I finally brought the pictures to work to post them from here.

We had an amazing time. We stayed in Kauai at the Marriott near the airport in February—which was great—because we had only stayed on the Princeville side of the island in the past. We had this awesome double suite right next to the ocean. We listened to the waves during our slumber each night. Outside of the wonderful food poising I got (never eat fish and chips in an airport), the week was absolutely amazing—filled with beaches, pool side reading, and exploring of the island… not to mention Lapperts Ice Cream.

Our big event of the week was going on Captain Andy’s Sail Cruise (who is the only company who offers cruises for pregnant women—which we found extremely odd). The sail around half of the island was such a blast… and we got to view so much of the high cliffs, private beaches and hidden waterfalls that you can only else see by helicopter, boat or hiking in. The captain even sailed us all the way to KeKe Beach, which is almost unheard of, but the waves were so great. We saw some whales, dolphins and sea turtles. We had a great time.

I hope you enjoy these delayed pictures.
tree huggers

the best ice cream ever!

russ and his shadow run... gotta love it.

Hawaii.....

reading on the beach

Sunset before dinner

Beach side babes

Russ and I enjoying the soft sand and salty waves!

Hawaii...

Here's Russ getting pummeled by a wave.... somehow he actually liked digging himself in like a turtle and doing this! :) If you zoom in you can see he wasn't expecting this one....

Tyler and Des on our sail around the island-- we went all the way to KeKe beach, which the previous tours Russ and I have been on, never got us that far. It was a beautiful day.

Us on the boat.

All of us outside the sail boat.... what a perfect day for it!

Hawaii Winding Down

The river near our hotel... it rained almost every day, but was it ever beautiful!

We thought this sign was pretty funny... and of course Russ had to have his "speed hump" picture to prove it. :)

The koi pond at the hotel. We watched them feed the koi-- which was quite spectular to see with a thousand koi fighting for food.

We had such a great time! We can't wait for the next vacation!!!

Dog's night out at the matinée

Baxter couldn't take his eyes off the tele with Beverly hills chihuaha
playing

Somebody made themselves right at home

Yeah! My new couches came today... and Russ took the cutest picture of
Baxter (who isn't going to get away with sitting on the couch anymore
unless we invite him up.) I can't wait to go home and see them later
tonight!!!

A good day....

So today was a good day.  The funeral started at 11 a.m., but the viewing and family gathering started at 9:30.  It was amazing to see all of the many people who revered and loved John.  The service was very touching and there was not a dry eye in the house when his daughter and two sons did a musical number and asked the congregation to join in during the last verse of How Great Thou Art.  There were stories that made us laugh, some that made us cry, and others that made us realize again just how lucky we were to have been part of this great mans life.  The service at the burial grounds was also very special as a two-man military salute with a trumpet and a flag. After the funeral events we all went to Red Robin where there was lots of laughter and love between the families.  It was an all-around great day of celebration for John's life and the happiness he brought everyone else's life.   

On a side note, my family that was in the accident are doing okay. As I understand my Aunt Sarah was still dizzy from the accident and the doctors are having her family keep a special eye out for her and my cousin Chandler had to go back to the hospital today for  an MRI on his foot that he might have broken (they couldn't tell because they found a cyst in his foot that they also needed to check out).  My Uncle Chris flew down for the wedding today. He witnessed the accident happen and he again said how lucky everyone was to be alive.  

Thank you again for all of your prayers!  From the comment posts, text messages, calls and emails, I am so glad to have all of you in my life during these past two hard weeks.  Thanks again!

CyberDog

I had baxter implanted with Cyberwire he can now run at 32MPH, jump 18 feet vertical and eats sharks for breakfast. BAXTER THE SUPER PUP

IMG_0223.JPG

 

More prayers please!

So my Aunt Sarah (my Uncle Darren has been here for the last week
helping my grandma) her children and my Uncle Chris and Aunt Gina who
all live around Provo Utah left this morning to come down for the
funeral.

They were caravaning down to California in their two SUV's. I guess
it's been snowing pretty bad up there and in Scipio Utah Sarah (who
had her two kids Chandler and Tristian and my other cousin Jackson in
her car) hit black ice and rolled her car.

Can you believe it? No one is in critical condition. It looks like
Chandler broke his leg and everyone else was just cut up real bad. Buy
they're alive and okay. The car is totaled. And my Aunt Gina who
watched it happened from the other car said she can't believe they
walked away alive from it. They're still in the hospital as this
happened only hours ago, so were waiting for updates.

Im in shock! Nothing bad has happened in my family for a while and now
it seems like its all hitting at once. Please keep Sarah, Chandler,
Jaskson, and Tristan in your prayers.

New family Christmas card

We love you grandpa!

Thank you for your prayers. Today at 7:05pm, John passed away in the San Clemente Hospital.  He was not in pain.  

He was a great man, and to me an amazing grandfather.  He will be missed by his 12 children (6 Eadys, 6 Matlocks), his 49 grandchildren and his many great grandchildren.  

I had the opportunity to visit with him a couple of weeks ago and spend three hours with just him and my grandma as we discussed what was happening in our lives.  Little did we all know at the time what the near future was brining.  I feel blessed to have been able to spend a little time with him each day since we learned of his condition.  I am so grateful to have had him and his love in my life.  

We'll miss you grandpa!!!!!!!!!

My bridesmaid dress

 To take my mind off of things, I went online and bought my bridesmaid dress for Carly and Scott's wedding this June.  I'm really excited for the wedding.  

Thank you all for your prayers for John--all of our family came today and said their goodbyes, we'll see how the next few days go. 

Please keep John & Jean Matlock in your prayers...

So how do I start?   I've tried to start this blog entry three of four times but I'm at a loss for words.  Today started out fine and dandy... a couple of good deals at some garage sales, picked up the Twilight DVD at Target, and met Narine at Burke Williams for a well-deserved massage and Rip Tide for some yummy sushi, and then headed over to return some of the clothes I had bought at Layne Bryant (and the nemesis lady returned the items for me--ughhh) and a vase that broke to Crate & Barrel, when my mom called and asked me if I was sitting down.  No conversation ever goes well if it's starts with the "are you sitting down?" question.  I was then told that the doctors said that my grandpa John was going to leave us within the next seven days.  

It all started about a month ago when he broke his leg (he is a very active 80-something year old...you wouldn't think he was 80 if you met him).  After a few tests they found he had tumors throughout his body that were making all of his bones so weak that they were breaking.  They put him in skilled-nursing for a week or so, then sent him home.  Then a few weeks later he broke his arm.  This time they did more tests and found he had stage four cancer, but they were positive and were going to treat him with chemo.  They started his chemo right away (last saturday) and they told him that side effects would occur within the next 3-5 days. But nothing happened. He was feeling good.  Then, yesterday he was feeling really tired and started to hallucinate a little, they went to change him and found that he was extensively bleeding.  They rushed him to the ICU at San Clemente hospital.  That night after my grandma had left to go home and sleep, he made a decision to tell the doctors and nurses that he was done trying. He knew it was his time.  He didn't want the blood transfusion (which would help increase his white blood cells), or any antibiotics--he knew he didn't have the strength and that his body was dying.My grandma came this morning to find that he had made his decision.  Luckily my Uncle Dave had come down again to help her out when he heard, and eventually my mom (who went up to Santa Barbara for my brother-in-laws birthday)  found out.

Since just my Uncle was able to help, my mom said if I had the time to go down there to be with my grandma, I should go.  I couldn't shop anymore after this news, so I headed to the hospital.  When I walked in, my grandma was with a woman from her ward sitting on a couch.  She stood up and hugged me so hard and started crying really hard.  I thought I was a strong one, but to see my grandma cry for the first time in my life  and to realize the extent of what was happening was too much for me and I started to bawl.  We stood there and cried for a while.  She asked me if I wanted to see him and we went to his room, where he had been moved out of ICU and into Saddleback Hospice.  

When I walked in my grandma said, hey look who's here, it's Debbie!  He was fully coherent, and said Hi Debbie, How are you? I told him I wish I wasn't seeing him in these circumstances and he said he was so relived to have made the decision.  My grandma went on about how he was going to be going to such a better place and how wonderful Heaven is and somehow we were talking about who he was going to see when he was up there. Somehow I was asked who I would want him to say hi to for me... and I asked him to say hello to my future children, and to let them know that I was excited to meet them someday.  He then said they were lucky to have me as a mom.  I was so touched and so saddened by the whole situation.

The rest of the day is somewhat a blur as I sat with my grandma and uncle for 7 hours as his other family members came in and out to see him.  I was close to my grandpa John.  He is an amazing man and I am so sad that we are going to lose him.  He was my grandma's everything.  This will be the second husband that she has had to lose (my first grandpa died of a heart attack at 54).  It seems unfair that she has to go through this as well.  I can tell that she feels helpless.  She is one of the most strong women that I know. She's always working hard and fighting.  She never gives up.  And to have to honor his wishes is going to be one of the hardest things she'll ever have to go through.  

My mom arrived around 9:15 tonight at the hospital with Amanda.  I took them in to see grandpa.  He was in and out of sleep because the nurses gave him some medication to help him sleep.  But he was awake enough when we came in.  He kept muttering to my mom "tell your mother I'm sorry."  It was one of the most heart wrenching things I ever felt.  

This whole day has been an emotional blur.  I don't think he's going to make it to seven days.  It's funny because I am so sad that he is going to be leaving us, but yet so happy about where he's going... and then I'm so sad that my grandma has to go through this.  

John is an amazing, caring, loving, fun, intelligent, successful man whom I have always looked up to.  He's had a wonderful life full of family, faith, and devotion. He says he's not in pain and that he's relieved to be going home.   

I hope these next few days he has left go well for him.  Please keep him and my family in your prayers. I know we're going to need it this week.  

The garage sale junkies week 4

So today I was on my own for the sales. Russ is at his red-line attack
race for the weekend. Unfortunately I didn't find any books! But I
did find some really cool baskets both metal and weaved. One is huge
and I am going to spray paint it a really dark brown and use it as a
blanket basket. I also found some really cool costumes. Russ and I
decided a few weeks back that we wanted to start a costume box for our
future kids and us--- that way we can make hillarious movies and have
fun FHE nights and stuff like I did when I was a kid. So I found a
hippie costume, a fat sumo costume and a couple of wigs (notice Fro
Mama below). So it's a good start! And I think the deal of the morning
was these plates. I got all 8 for $1. They are these adorable little
fish plates. Which will be so fun on or dinning table for sushi or
dish night!!!

Fro mama

First night of botanical watercolor class

So tonight was my first night of botanical watercolor class. I've been
really excited about it all week. I got there and was totally
overwhelmed. This was an intermediate class and everyone was an expert
painter!!! They were all doing these amazing roses and daffodiles and
I was way intimidated.

So after failing a couple of times on daffodiles, I decided to draw
instead. I saw a photo of this picture online and decided to make my
own rendition. I think it turned out pretty good. Luckily our
professor let's us create whatever were in the mood to do.

Im really nervous about next week. Im really going to have to step it
up a notch or two. And get my color blending together so I can at
least play with the big kids next time.

So it finally caught up to you...

So Russ has been on a roll this week... Poor guy.

First his car with the clutch, then last night I come home and find
this on his desk--a letter from Budget Car Rental charging him $150
for the damage he incurred while rally car racing his rental in Utah
at the Provo airport. I've got to say it's about time that it's
caught up with him. I didn't even know that rental cars were abused
until I met him. And let's just say he's probably neared several
rental cars in the past to a quicker car death. Anyway, I don't know
what was worse for him, the letter, or me freaking out about it.

And then tonight I come home to find that he's completly altered his
car while I was at art class. The one thing I told him I hate most
about rice-rockets are the carbon fiber hoods because I think they
look ghetto. (I know all of you men out there cringe when I say this,
but seriously... It looks like you got in a car accident and didn't
have enough money to replace the same color hood on your car.) So just
imagine coming home and finding this--the whole middle part of his
car-- carbon fiber (which I guess I have to add in his defense, was
free through sponsorship)-- with no warning that it would be
happening. (I'm sure he'll be posting pictures soon for those of you
who want to see it.) Again, poor Russ. At least I can say life is
always full of suprises in our Taylor family. :)

I wont say "I told you so," but I guess I just did.

Okay it's almost been two weeks since Russ' car died. Yes, from his
racing stunts. Today we finally go to pick it up. Sharing a car wasn't
as bad as I thpught it was going to be, but I know Russ is excited to
have it back.

It's cancelled!

It's official. I got my card in the mail, called in and cancelled the
whole thing! Suprisingly the customer service lady was extremely nice
and took my whole complaint down (again, since I also sent a letter to
customer service) and was very apologetic. She said that it will go
through corporate, then regional, and then directly to the store. So I
feel somewhat satisfied. Casey ended up writting this amazing letter
too. I think we've both felt like we were able to make a statement!

Mini problems!

So I go out to my car to leave for work this morning and guess what...
My car won't start! It has been acting a little funny lately, but we
thought it was okay, but that wasn't the case this morning! So Russ
diagnosed it as either the battery or alternator. So we decided to try
the battery first. We walked to Kragen Auto Store around the corner
next to Target and got a new battery. Then we walked it back in a
roller suitcase. Russ just spent the last 1/2 hour installing it and
it worked! Yeah! So now I'm off to work. Russ is my car hero once again!

Spiritual High

So I am on a spiritual high this week. We had some great lessons at church on Sunday. Then I went visit teaching on Tuesday and had a blast (I’m partners with Michelle Dunkley and we visit Ali Ailport and Allysa Felt ,both high school seniors). On Wednesday night we had a Relief Society dinner (where Sister Kneght, my old beehive advisor growing up gave a talk…and on the side she asked me how my life was and if I had found the man of my dreams—and I got to say “YES I DID…EVEN BETTER THAN MY DREAMS!”). And last night Bishop Graff and Brother Fitzgerald came over for an hour to see how we are doing and to give us callings (can you guess what we’re going to do? I guess we’re not officially supposed to say until Sunday when we’re sustained, but I’m excited… mine is easy to guess… Russ’ will be a little harder).

I’ve just felt this awesome energy this week and I think it’s all from the spirit I’ve felt from the good lessons, from doing service, and from feeling like I really belong to this ward. I really feel blessed for the gospel in my life and for the spirit of peace and goodwill it gives to me.