Breaking out the bassinette

 

 

 

…the bassinet given to my parents by my Dad’s parents in 1937 in celebration of my oldest brother’s birth.  It gets passed from family to family and generation to generation.  We keep a list of all the kids since then and have now added Arie’s name to it; number 31.

 

1	William Henry Taylor III	Son of William, Jr. and Margaret Elizabeth (Waldron) Taylor	September 3, 1937
2	Thomas Richard Taylor	Son of William, Jr. and Margaret Elizabeth (Waldron) Taylor	February 27, 1941
3	David Alan Taylor	Son of William, Jr. and Margaret Elizabeth (Waldron) Taylor	September 2, 1943
4	Stephen Paul Taylor	Son of William, Jr. and Margaret Elizabeth (Waldron) Taylor	December 19, 1945
5	William Henry Taylor IV	Son of William III and Diann Clar (Mitchell) Taylor	April 20, 1959
6	Jon Mitchell Taylor	Son of William III and Diann Clar (Mitchell)	April 3, 1961
7	Christie Lee Taylor	Daughter of Thomas and Marian Ruth (Ament) Taylor	September 19, 1966
8	Rebecca Lynn Taylor	Daughter of Stephen and Judith Lynn (Shockley) Taylor	June 13, 1969
9	Matthew Alexander Taylor	Son of Stephen and Judith Lynn (Shockley) Taylor	August 14, 1972
10	Michael David Taylor	Son of David and Paula Sue (Waldo) Taylor	December 11, 1972
11	Suzanne Alane Taylor	Daughter of Thomas and Kathryn Alane (Free) Taylor	September 12, 1974
12	Jacob Andrew Taylor	Son of David and Paula Sue (Waldo) Taylor	November 4, 1974
13	Elisa Margaret Taylor	Daughter of William III and Patricia Carol (Caesar) Taylor	September 21, 1981
14	Kyndal Justine Taylor	Daughter of Jon and Amy Beth (DeLay) Taylor	September 21, 1986
15	Jake Terrance Taylor	Son of Jon and Amy Beth (DeLay) Taylor	June 5, 1989
16	Cody Mitchell Taylor	Son of Jon and Amy Beth (DeLay) Taylor	July 26, 1991
17	Ivy Jackson Taylor	Daughter of William IV and Joan Sally (Jackson) Taylor	October 1, 1992
18	Taylor Marie Alexander	Daughter of Brian James and Rebecca Lynn (Taylor) Alexander (Taylor) Alexander	August 2, 1993
19	Kyle Bradley Aitken	Son of Kenneth James and Christie Lee (Taylor) Aitken	April 25, 1997
20	Anthony James Alexander	Son of Brian James and Rebecca Lynn (Taylor) Alexander	May 6, 1997
21	Cameron Christopher Aitken	Son of Kenneth James and Christie Lee (Taylor) Aitken	January 18, 1999
22	Jack Michael Taylor	Son of Michael and Katie Elizabeth (Ostrander) Taylor	August 24, 2000
23	Teigan Reanne Alexander	Daughter of Brian James and Rebecca Lynn (Taylor) Alexander	July 22, 2001
24	Allison Elizabeth Taylor	Daughter of Michael and Katie Elizabeth (Ostrander) Taylor	November 4, 2002
25	Alexander Paul Taylor	Son of Matthew and Kari Lynn (Taylor) Taylor	July 9, 2003
26	Conner Thomas Alexander	Son of Brian James and Rebecca Lynn (Taylor) Alexander	July 6, 2004
27	Aeryn Nahri Taylor	Daughter of Jacob Andrew and Yousun (Kim) Taylor	September 2, 2004
28	Natalie Bernice Taylor	Daughter of Michael and Katie Elizabeth (Ostrander) Taylor	July 27, 2005
29	Austin Lynn Taylor	Son of Matthew and Kari Lynn (Taylor) Taylor	March 26, 2007
30	Austin Jacob Taylor	Son of Jacob Andrew and Yousun (Kim) Taylor	September 12, 2008
31	Arie Paige Taylor	Son of Matthew and Lindsay Paige (Seim) Taylor	November 18, 2013

 

It still works just fine.

 

 

Thanksgiving

 

…at Matt and Lindsay’s house.

 

Even though we’re going to do Thanksgiving again up at Brian and Becky’s house on Saturday, we didn’t pace ourselves.

 

We ate it all.

 

Just like old times

 

Me and John B.

 

Some of us build motorcycles or watch birds.  Some of us build guitars and ukes.

 

 

 

Friends since 5^th (or was it 6^th) grade.

 

Alex update

 

A new season of gymnastics.  An upgrade to level 6.  There are a few more flips and moves than last year.  The first tournament of the year.  (It’s kind of a practice tournament.)

 

High Bar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKmPo3yywWA

 

Floor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3aormuRMMg

 

Pommel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgQBDNOoHR0

 

Rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc7gAW35reY

 

Vault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvPx8jarp68

 

Parallel Bars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPOGjjkle7U

 

 

Arie Paige

 

…and sometimes we just look like this…

 

 

She doesn’t get put down very often.

 

 

Sometimes...

 

…we just have a fly-away hair day.

 

 

I know!

 

Ted is such a fine babysitter now; he could help at Matt and Lindsay’s house!  He can help babysit Arie Paige!

Alex is doing a fine job, but Ted is right there to help from here on out!

 

When he’s not helping, he can wait in the nursery for his next turn.  (Although I’m not sure Arie Paige has spent any time in the nursery yet…

 

 

Nice nursery though…

 

What's wrong with this picture???

 

 

Cold yesterday.  It was 70 degrees colder than the weather at Sandpipers.

 

Six degrees for a low.  The bus is great.  We closed all the drapes, set the furnaces on 65, and slept plenty warm.  The weather got all the way up to 30 degrees today.

 

Winter wears on

 

 

 

 

In search of eyeballs

 

We can’t find them.

 

Maybe the groomer can help.

Yup!

 

It was wild weather

 

I was going to write about it.  High winds were forecast.  Hurricane force winds.  That happens here.  We put down the TV antenna and the satellite dish.  We pulled in both slides on the windward side of the bus.  We took down the bird feeders.  We slept all night and didn’t hear any wind at all.  Got up the next morning to perfect calm.  Guess it missed us.  Put the bird feeders back up.  Pushed the slides back out.  Put the antennas back up.  The wind hit about 20 minutes later.

 

But then labor started.  We went off on new adventures, so I didn’t even report on the windstorm.  Now, we see weather in the forecast.  Two days out we’re seeing snow.  Three day out, we’re seeing a low of 13 degrees.  Brrr.  I’ll be sure to write about that.

 

 

Meanwhile, Ted is mellowing.  He’s turned into a top-notch baby sitter!

 

 

The contractions started in the wee hours.

 

…of Saturday night/Sunday morning.  Judy and I went on with our day.  Matt and Lindsay went to the hospital.  By evening, we were at Becky and Brian’s having pizza watching the big Sunday night Broncos/Chief’s game.

 

The Hospital admitted Lindsay and put her in a Labor/Birthing room.  When Matt called and said it was time, Becky and Brian babysat Annie and Henry for us while Judy and I packed up and made the 1 hour trip south to Matt’s house.  We listened to the game on Sirius XM.  At Matt’s house, we relieved Lindsay’s dad Steve of kid-sitting (and Golden Retriever sitting) duties and he and Judy headed off for the hospital.  (Lindsay’s mom Lori and Lindsay’s sister Kelly were already there.) I stayed at Matt’s with the kids and dogs (and the Bronco game).  Steve and Judy listened to it in the car on their way to the hospital.  When they got there, they found everyone in the labor/birthing room with the television tuned to the game.  Go Broncos!  (…and Lindsay).

 

It was a long night for everyone, but at 6:45 Monday morning we all welcomed Arie Paige into the world.  (I was there by speakerphone on Judy’s Android.)  I put the dogs away, packed up the kids, and took them to the hospital to join in the celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nursery Nurse was so good with the kids.  They got to take turns holding baby Arie and help give her her first bath.

 

All is well.  Everyone is resting.  Judy and I are back in Longmont.

 

Boulder County Fairgrounds

 

Not quite the same as a state park, not so scenic,

…but still it works well for us.

 

We’re right in the middle of a small town with bike trails that (normally) connect us to 50 or 100 miles of bicycle trails all over the region.  Unfortunately, all the bicycle trails near or crossing rivers got washed out in the recent flood.

 

 

Nothing connects to anything anymore.  Mostly, trails are blocked off.

 

There is a lot to see here, but we’ll have to see it all a little bit at a time, this time.

 

I'm worried about Sunday's Broncos game

 

They’re playing the undefeated Chiefs on Sunday, and Peyton’s knee and ankle hurt.  I’m worried the Chiefs will be mean to him.

 

The next three games are pretty much the season for the Broncos.  It will be great if they win, but if they lose to the Chiefs they’ll be two games back in their division.  Then they go play New England the next week, and the Chiefs again the week after.  At the end of these three weeks, the Broncos could be in total control or they could be totally screwed.

 

We’ve moved north to Longmont by Becky for a few days.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0

 

 

 

The weather has been fantastic this trip

 

Beautiful warm calm days.  T-shirt weather.  The temperature drops like a rock at night and the furnace runs practically nonstop.  The next day dawns bright and cold and warms right back up again.

It’s invigorating.

 

Magpies galore.

 

…and a pair of Cackling Geese in with all the Canada Geese.

 

 

My concession to winter

 

 

I’ve switched from cotton socks to wool socks.

 

Ted’s getting out of control.

 

Now he’s into the Corona…

 

 

Chatfield State Park

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0&ll=37.822802,-101.601562&spn=24.803283,53.569336

 

A couple more shots of Lathrop.

 

Have to show the mountains…

 

But now we’re at Chatfield.  Dinner with Matt, Lindsay, Alex, and Austin (and Zoey and Gus).  It’s good to be here.

 

Lathrop State Park

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=205131835882428706345.0004eac8c9eefa867949b&msa=0&ll=34.885931,-102.480469&spn=12.907668,26.784668