Sand Dunes and awesome fun!

Shaun and Jada getting ready for a wild ride in the Rhino!!
This little girl drives fast!! HOLD ON!!
I was holding on for dear life! Jada drove better, and faster then I did! She was so much fun to ride with though.

Shaun and I had the opportunity to take a short weekend trip to the Sand Dunes and spend all day Saturday with friends. We had so much fun and it was nice to take a break and get out of town and away from work. We spent the day Saturday riding ATV's, and the Rhino(the thing I am sitting in). I'm definitely opening up more to my adventurous side and I find myself wanting to go camping more and I enjoy playing with big toys! I am still a little bit of a scaredy cat and I chickened out on riding a "big person" ATV and settled for the ATV built for a small child. Shaun, however enjoyed riding around on the ATV you see him sitting on, and started to get daring. It was cold, and it rained, but we enjoyed ourselves, being in good company, and eating good food!

Easter Baskets!

I love Easter! I love celebrating the true meaning of Easter, I love the candy, I love putting together baskets, I love that it means spring time, I love everything about it!!! This year I put together Easter baskets for Shaun and I, and I gave Shaun his early since we will be going camping and driving home on Sunday. I know we are adults now and married, but I grew up in a home with brothers and sister quite a bit younger then me and holidays are still a big thing, and a lot of fun in my family. I don't remember an Easter where my parents didn't have baskets, so if you think it is lame that we had Easter baskets, I am sorry but I say you only live once, and everyone needs a little candy! 

Draper Temple

This is a picture of the Draper Temple from the bus that we rode up in to visit the temple for the open house. This Temple is absolutely amazing, just like all the other temples that are put on this earth. I am so grateful to live in a valley where so many temples surround me. Shaun and I got to go through the open house together, with some family, and look at how beautiful the inside is. This is my third open house that I have had the opportunity to go to. I love temples and the blessing we receive when we go to the temple.

A Typical Day in the Hill Family house

I am pretty sure Shaun was not thrilled I was camera happy and wanting to take a picture of him! Hehe, Shaun and I like to trade off, sometimes I like to be silly and he puts on his serious face!

A Fabulous day at the ZOO!!!!

When Shaun and I took a short trip to California we had the opportunity to visit the L.A. Zoo with Shaun's dad, and his dad's good friend Sue. The zoo was so much fun, and brought back a lot of good memories of family trips, and field trips. The men had fun pretending their was a baby in the stroller we rented to hold our cooler, and purses (the girls purses) and would let it go down hills chasing it all the way down, and running the stroller in to walls. We had a few people thinking we were crazy and some even got up to save the runaway stroller. After awhile Sue and I just pretended we had no idea who they were. It was a fabulous day!!

The Joy of children in out lives!

Shaun and I decided to take a short trip down to California to visit family, before we loose all our free time. It was a great drive down to Cali, and I had the chance to spend lots of time with my baby sister, Katelyn, who will be turning 3 years old this year. My how time has gone by since the day she was born. I was a few weeks away from graduating high school when she was born and left for college a month after she was born. This was not easy for me at all because there is something about having a new sibling enter your family when you, are at an older age. There is a different kind of bond that is formed. I love her to death and she really bring sunshine to my day and I can not wait to have children and be a mommy, because Katelyn has given me a small glimpse into what it is like to be a mommy. I remember when she was brand new and came home, I asked if she could sleep in my room for the night while my mom caught up on sleep. I learned a lot in that one night. I am grateful for children in our lives and the simple lessons they teach to us. They are so innocent and knowledgeable. She has grown up so fast, and she has become a very intelligent little girl. It is amazing the things that come out of her mouth, and the things she does. Whenever I have been at my parents house since our visit here, she just follows me around. I love it! I am so happy she know who I am and that she wants to spend time with me. I took her down to Santa Clarita with me to meet my friend for lunch because she didn't want me to leave without her. It was fun to have a day out with Katelyn and I am grateful that my friend also wanted to see her and didnt mind her coming. It was a fabulous day and of course I spoiled her, and loved listening to the funny things she had to say.

NEW PHONE NUMBERS!!

Shaun and I got on a new cell phone plan and now have Utah numbers! I love new cell phones!
Shaun #: 801-310-4506
Alyssa's #: 801-310-4505

3am Grocery Shopping!!!

Very very early Saturday morning, my aunt and I were still awake from watching movies, and we needed to go grocery shopping, and we were going to do it Saturday during the day, but she has a child and her husband was working on Saturday, so we decided that because we were up and the store we wanted to go was open, we would do our grocery shopping at 3 am. It proved to be a great time to go shopping because there is no one there...of course, cause most people are not completely out of their minds like us, but it is always nice to have a great adventure every now and again. After our grocery shopping we decided to go across the street to get Slurpees and had a grand old time with that, Slurpees are my favorite but rare treat because they tend to make me sick because they are pure sugar and I am not supposed to have a whole lot of sugar. So that concluded our wild and crazy night! Now I have food in my fridge and feezer, and I didn't have to fight Saturday crowds, yay!

Family Pictures at Thanksgiving Point

On Friday Shaun and were heading up to Draper to attend the Draper Temple open house with my aunt and uncle and their 6 year old son. When we got there it was around 4:30 and it was super busy! Well this six year old child does not sit very well and the wait was going to be an hour or more, so after talking to the very kind usher we decided to go back Monday during the day because the usher told us that there is a very minimal wait. This made me happy cause I do not like crowds, but I was also a little bummed because I hate delays in my plans. It worked out though because we were all dressed up so Shaun and I, and my aunts little family headed over the Thanksgiving Point to take pictures. It was an interesting little jaunt around Thanksgiving Point, but proved to be productive.

New hair cut!

On Friday I went and got my hair cut because I was sick of all my hair. I really wanted it to grow out long like it was before Shaun and I were married, but it requires so much. So Friday while getting ready for the day I was doing my hair and just got so fed up with how it was laying that I loudly proclaimed to my husband "I am getting my hair cut!!" Of course my ever so patient who is used to my sudden outburst of spontaneity said "okay." So he drove me to the hair salon and the cut it! Now like everyone who gets their hair cut, I am trying to adjust to the very different hair style. Its not the greatest picture, but it shows my hair is definitely gone.

No Good, Terrible, Very bad hair color!

Impatience gets you no where good! I was naturally blonde when I was younger, and as got older my hair got darker, it is such a weird phenomenon... well Shaun really likes my hair blonde, so I have slowly been going back to blonde by adding more and brighter highlights to my hair every time I get it done. Well my aunt does hair and so she was going to do more highlights for me, and touch up my roots, no big deal right? WRONG!! I decided it was just going to take to long to sit and get a full weave of blonde, so I told her to just to just bleach all my hair.... so she did. Well about two packets of bleach, and 30 minutes later we washed out the color to find my hair was ORANGE!!!! Okay so I am not going to lie it was a Sunday, but we still went to Sally's and got more bleach, because I had work the next day and I was NOT going to go to work with orange hair, it was not going to happen! OKay well most of you know, or you should know bleach kills your hair, big time, and bleaching twice in a row... well you can just kiss your luscious, beautiful, shiny hair good-bye.... or in my case, my scalp! Bleaching my hair two times in a row burned my scalp and gave my blisters that continued to ooze liquid into my hair for a week and left me with the brightest unnatural color of blonde hair I have ever seen, like I would walk into a bathroom and my hair was the first thing I saw, and you just can't help but stare and say DANG!!!! Yes I know, you all are thinking "yes Alyssa you dummy, not smart," but you don't even know till you have had orange hair! :( Well lucky for me the effects of too much bleach made me sick and left me with a terrible headache that night and the next day, so I didn't go to work. That gave my hair time to tone down. 

So yes we documented this hair color by taking a picture, and a few weeks later my wonderful husband agreed to die my hair back to brown...I don't think my blonde hair was the blonde he had in mind, hahaha. 

P.S. The picture was taken about a week and a half after it was done...so it got a LITTLE better, but not much

WE HAVE MOVED!!

Okay so by now most everyone know that we have moved into our own apartment... again. When Shaun and I first moved out to Utah we lived with my grandparents to save up a little bit of money while we were starting out in new jobs. Mid January we decided it was time to move into our own apartment so we moved to an apartment complex off of State Street in Orem, behind Macey's.

 It is really hard to be married and live on your own, then move in with family. I also like the feeling of my own home and being able to decorate and put pictures up and all that fun homey stuff. We are so grateful for wonderful family who do take care of us though, and my grandparents are awesome people!! 

We love visitors, and we love having people over for dinner, so it will be awesome to start doing that again. 

New Years Eve!

So I know this is about a month in a half late, I'm a slacker what can I say?

New Years Eve was another very exciting night where the ENTIRE Taylor side of the family was crammed into one house. We played Karaoke Revolution, the kids ran back and forth through the house, all the grandkids (yes even the 20 and 22 year old) wore matching PJ'S, and we lit fireworks! It was a very overstimulating, yet fun night.

My aunt Brittany and I got awesome New Years Shirts from Old Navy for way cheap! Aren't we just the cutest things you ever did see! hahaha

 Outside lighting fireworks..In the cold...with no coat..hmm
                           OH YES! We are rocking those PJ'S!!!
Aww...so cute we match

       So yes, there you have it folks, all the grandchildren in matching PJs...umm Shaun and I didn't have our bottoms on yet...oh darn!

ICE SKATING!!!

Alyssa's family came up the day after Christmas to be here in Utah for my Grandparents Anniversary party and while they were here we had tons of fun filled days and had lots of adventures! One in which was Ice Skating at Seven Peaks. This is was fun, yet very interesting event, and when I say interesting I mean Alyssa can not skate to save her life. Her 5 year old cousin was doing ten times better then she was. Sad, I know, but the day at the skating rink still proved to be very entertaining. 

          My Uncle and his girls (the star skaters)

     Katelyn and Me before we are off to the rink
                  All four Neeley girls taking off on the ice! (Saryn is behind me in the background)
                                 Shaun and me before we brave the chaos of the Skating Rink

The Roof

So I was told by multiple people that they were very disappointed by our blog because I have failed to update it in a while. I really do try I promise. Now I have lots of time so I will have to add that into my daily routine. Sometimes we just don't have very interesting things to tell everyone about, haha. 

So in December Shaun and I were able to visit Temple Square and eat at the The Roof Restaurant, which is an amazing restaurant located at the top of the Joseph Smith Building where you can see the Salt Lake Temple Straight ahead. We went there with my grandparents for their anniversary along with all my aunts and uncles, and my parents. It was beautiful and amazing, and it was nice to be surrounded by people we love celebrating the anniversary of a temple marriage while being able to look out at the temple.

Our First Snowman

Christmas

On Christmas we were thrilled to have a white Christmas and to play in the snow. We opened presents, ate breakfast with the whole family, then Shaun and I built our first snowman together and had fun throwing snowballs at each other, and Shaun had fun tackling me.

Kareokee Night

For the past couple of nights my aunt and her husband and Shaun and I have stayed up late into the night singing out hearts out. We split teams girls against boys and we certainly met our matches! The boys gave the girls a run for our money and proved to be "great" Karaoke singers...notice "great." It was quite an experience. Lets just say my grandfather told us that we better keep our day jobs.

New Job, New Fun, New Start

Shaun and I have enjoyed the out come of our recent migration to Utah immensly. We have definitly felt the hand of the Lord in our lives these past few weeks. I was blessed with a job only a week and a half after we moved here working in the State Licensing Department for APX Alarms. Shaun has wiggled his way into Comcasts radar with the help of family, and will hopefully be starting work for them in January when their new training starts. We have been blessed with great connections to great jobs which makes moving here all that much easier.

This Christmas season as quickly made its approach and it is a wonderful time to reflect on what we have been given and what we can give to others. I can't help but think about so many families out there that are struggling and I am so grateful that even as a young couple we are able to have such wonderful things.

As we take a look at 2008 and all the memories that made this year so great, and all the difficult times that made this year so hard to get through some times we can't help but feel like things happen for a reason and fall into the right place, at the right time. We have learned that our time is not even in the same dimension as the Lords time, and we must put all our faith in God, sometimes meaning we will have to put everything we know or we think we know to the challenge.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

This year for Christmas Shaun and I had the chance to go shopping for a Christmas tree with my grandfather. This is something I have never done, having grown up with an artificial tree. It was so fun to go out all bundled up and look for the perfect tree. We then went and bought Christmas decorations, and I got to decorate the tree! Since last year Shaun and I had just gotten married and got home from our honeymoon two days for Christmas, and then we moved here to my grandparents right before Christmas we have never had the chance to decorate our own home for Christmas, however my grandma was happy and willing to turn the decorating over to me! As you can see I excitedly accepted that task.

Puppies are in the house!

My aunts dog, Bella, had puppies about 5 weeks ago and they are the cutest little pups ever. I am very fond of the girl puppy we call Lola. She is going to my brothers and sisters back in California. Bella and her puppies are here at my grandmas house while my aunt and uncle are out of town. Watching them has become a group effort and has been a lot of fun. They are so fun to watch as they wrestle around and play tug o' war with each other. Lola is so cute and she certainly can defend herself against her 2 brothers.

Aliens in the house!!!

Shaun and I watched Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D! It was so awesome to watch, except we looked kind of silly in our 3D glasses. My grandma walked in the room and just started laughing at us, and said we looked like Aliens....that we did!

I scream for...hot chocolate???

We went to Gateway Mall to get ice cream and hot chocolate for a refreshment. Little bit contradictory with cold and hot, hehehe. We had a lot of fun there also!

Christmas Lights at Temple Square

Shaun and I had the chance to go to Temple Square with my grandparents on December 1st to look at the Christmas Lights. It was amazing! It has been so long since I have been to Temple Square to look at lights, and it was Shaun's first time seeing the Christmas lights at Temple Square.

Thanksgiving Decorations

I was so bummed that I had to take down all of our Fall and Thanksgiving decorations early because we were moving, so I put them to use as the centerpieces for the tables at our Thanksgiving dinner. They were a hit, which made me very happy!

Happy Turkey Day!

Shaun and I had the wonderful opportunity to spend Thanksgiving at my grandparents house with them, my great grandparents, and all my aunts and uncles, and cousins.

Fresh Start

Shaun and I recently made our move from our apartment in Newhall, California all the way to Orem, Utah. It is a big change away from both of our families. We are excited to be here in Utah and looking forward to all the new adventures heading our way. We have been fortunate enough to have such great grandparents that are letting us live with them while we transist into our own apartment. I am orgininally from Utah so I feel like I here at my home away from home. My moms side of the family are all out here and I am so happy to be near all my aunts and uncles and my cousins. Shaun is adjusting to "Mormonville," and being so far away from his family.
This move was sudden and threw us through quite a loop. At the end of the day we just thank the Lord for giving us all we have been so blessed with and for guiding us along what seems to have been a very trecherous path.

Quick Little Update

Well everyone keeps asking for an update...
Shaun and I are doing well here in sunny California.
I am still going to school and teaching preschool. I love my job and come home feeling very rewarded. I love working with small children and I love watching them grow and explore new things. My Early Childhood Education major has been more of a blessing then work. I have learned so much, and I feel so prepared to be a mother.
Shaun is working at Six Flags Magic Mountain. He really enjoys working there and being in the center of the theme park he grew up going to. After a lot of thought and consideration Shaun has decided that the California Highway Patrol is not where he should be right now, and is exploring other options that are out there.
We have kept busy these past few months just working and going to school. We had the opportunity to go to Fright Fest at Magic Mountain, together. That was definitely a wonderful break and a great opportunity for a date night.
A few weeks ago I had the chance to go to Lombardi Ranch with my family. Lombardi Ranch is a huge pumpkin patch here in Santa Clarita that my family goes to almost every year. Unfortunately Shaun was working but we are planning our own trip Monday night for Family Night!

Shaun and I together before going on Space Mountain


Shaun was a little afraid of the horse

Just getting to Disneyland

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Shaun and I had the chance to go to Disneyland on July 18th which is also my birthday. I really wanted to go to Disneyland and Shaun told me it was too expensive, while little did I know he was planning on surprising me by taking me there. He woke me up in the morning at 6:30....on my day off of work mind you.....and told me we were going to Disneyland. I was very excited and waking up early was totally worth it. We had a blast and went on so many of the rides. It was nice being there together and being able to take the day off to relax and enjoy ourselves. Disneyland had the greatest Fantasmic show and firework show, they were both aweomse!!! It was a great brithday present, but what was even better was that Shaun and I got to spend my actualy birthday together for the first time in 3 years!

Our Journey through June and July

Alright, Alright, so it has been a long time since we have updated our blog and so so much has happened!
Shaun took the CHP (california highway patrol) written test June 28th and we finally heard back July 10th that HE PASSED!! Tomorrow Saturday the 12th he travels to San Luis Obispo, CA to take the physical assesment portion. We are very excited and very happy that things are moving along a bit more now.
I was also recently hired by a Childrens Learning Center (not Kinder Care, different place) to be an assistant teacher in the 1 year old classroom starting August 11th, and at my previous job, Walmart, I was promoted to Customer Service. I am also taking classes in the Early Childhood Education field at the local college here in Santa Clarita.
We feel very blessed and look forward to all these new things coming our way.