The Hornsby Wedding

The Taylor Family all dressed up!

Me and the beautiful bride-I guess they can no longer call us the Byrd girls!

The beautiful bride waiting for the wedding to start!

Kyle aka the ring "bear" (that is what he called himself!)

Our fence--we actaully can reuse most of it--we were very blessed!

A house down the street that got quite a bit of damage

This is what all the streets looked like for awhile after Ike (this is my street)


Here is some of the damage our church received.

Hectic Lately!

Well, there is one word to describe our lives lately and it is -BUSY!! It seems like we have done nothing but travel. We evacuated for Hurricane Gustav and then Hurricane Ike and then had two wedding showers, a bachelorette party for my sister and then her wedding this past weekend. It was a blast and we all had a great time. Heidi looked beautiful and was so happy to finally being marring Kirk....it was a long time coming! You should have seen Kyle shaking his "donkadonk" on the dance floor, he was a little dancing machine and lasted until the end of the reception, which I could not believe! I just kept waiting for him to pass out. Now all our brothers and sister are married off so we don't have to do that again for a long time!

Our little town is still recovering from Hurricane Ike. Slowly the trees and debris are getting picked up and new roofs are getting put on. Although it still seems every other house has a blue roof. Still no dairy queen yet :( We really miss our ice cream. It has been raining the last two days--I wish it would give us a break for awhile so we could get our fence and storage building roof fixed. We are still waiting on insurance money at this time though.....

The Anahuac Panthers opened district play with a big "DUBYA" against Hardin and we play our rival "The EC Bucs" this friday at home. We have high hopes this season and I just pray our boys can stay confident and play their best.

George has started his masters program and I think he is juggling everything really well. He even made a 100 on his first paper! Although it is stressful for him to be doing FCA, Coaches Outreach, Coaching football, doing the master's program, trying to redo the fence and keep the yard mowed, and spend time with us...WHEW....I think he is doing great. I am so proud of him and can't wait for him to be an administrator--maybe then I can stay home and have some more babies!!!! WINK*WINK****

Life as we know it after Ike

Hello everybody! Just wanted to quickly let you know that we are all ok (thank GOD!) since hurricane Ike slammed into our county and surrounding areas on 09/12/2008. We evacuated to Austin and then took Kyle to my Mom in Brownwood so that we could go home and assess the damage and get back to work. Thankfully, unlike many others around us, our house if fine. Our fence was blown down and messed up, and we lost some shingles on our storage building. My mother in law and brother in law were not so lucky. They both had roof and water damage. We did not have water or sewer for awhile, but we got that back fast. We are still without electricity (like so many others) and are using a generator. We did loose everything in our fridge and freezer, but who can complain about that when others lost family members. Gas at first was hard to come by, but it has gotten better and all the anahuac gas stations are open now. The American Red Cross has set up a shelter at our legion hall and are providing hot meals twice a day and the national guard is providing ice, water, and MREs free of charge to anyone who needs it. I have never witnessed such a disaster and I am very proud of how our country comes together to help each other out. We have churches helping put tarps on people's roofs and everyone is helping out to clean up the town. I had to go back to work as soon as I could get Kyle situated. It has been so hard for us to be away from him for so long, but with no electricity or daycare we thought it was best that he stay with his grandparents. George has been helping around town and keeping ours (and his mom's) generators full of gas and ice chests full of ice. I would like to ask for you all to pray for the victims of this terrible disaster. About 5-30 miles from us (the towns of Bolivar peninsula, Crystal beach, oak island, and High Island) people lost their entire homes, their cattle, and even their lives. They are actually still searching for the lost and attempting rescue missions at this time. I took some pictures of various places in town so that you can see how hard we were actually hit...we got up to 110 mph winds!!! We realize how blessed we are even when we get sick of having no electricity and eating sandwiches and can food. Thanks for all your prayers and concern!

Meet the Panthers 2008

Every year they have what they call Meet the Panthers. It is like a kick-off

pep-rally where they introduce the coaches, football players, cheerleaders, etc.

Below are some pics from that. George is really excited because so far

the panthers are off to a strong season. We "won" our first two scrimmages and

then won our first game against Kinkaid last week 19-0. I added a link on the left

of our site if you want to check it out. It is the link to the Anahuac Athletics website.

George was given the job of creating/designing the athletics website and

I am so proud of him for doing such a great job.

He even posted some highlight videos from the game.

Take a lookif you are interested!

It is so cool that George gets to coach his nephew!
Here is the Taylor family in our football gear

Coach Taylor and Coach Woods and two little

panthers in training!

Some pics from the summer....

Here we are dancing at Greune Hall
Kyle and Dada just clowning around at the circus
Kyle and Meme are mesmerized by the elephants!
Kyle after the circus, I don't think he wanted to leave!
Kyle and preston at the Houston Zoo

George being silly at the buckhorn saloon (he just had to go to the horniest

place in Texas! hehe!)

A pic of us on the riverwalk

Me cheesin it for the camera in Gruene.

Kyle and his new puppy, Chance


Kyle with a cool hat on backwards

George and I celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary!

Kyle playing at Sea World

The Taylor Family at the Shamu show

Where has the summer gone?

Summer has gone by so fast! George starts two a days tomorrow, which marks the end of our summer. Kyle and I are excited about the upcoming football season, but we also know our time with "Dada" is about to be slim to none for awhile. We have had a great summer. Kyle has had several play dates with friends. He has been to Crystal Beach, to the Houston Zoo, and to the Circus. For our family vacation we took Kyle to Sea World and he loved it. Then, he stayed with his grandparents while George and I stayed at a bed and breakfast in Canyon Lake.It was also to celebrate our four year wedding anniversary! Yay us!!! Our room was beautiful and we even had our own private hot tub! George took me to some great restaurants and we went to Fredericksburg one day and did some shopping. We spent one evening in Gruene and even went dancing at Gruene Hall. Then, we did a wine tour and learned alot about wine and drank alot too. he!he! It was a blast and we hated to have to go back to work and reality again.
We had another tragedy happen prior to our vacation....our black lab,Toby, passed away. It was tragic and unexpected. It is a long story, but we found out he had some sort of fast acting, undetectable heart worms. It was really weird to not have any dogs at home, and Kyle was upset that he had no "CoCo" to play with. So, over vacation we adopted a puppy at the shelter. Then, George ended up also adopting a year old black lab that someone had dropped off at our Vet's office. So, now we have two dogs again and Kyle is happy about that. But, the puppy is really giving me trouble trying to train him. He just doesn't seem to understand and I got tired of having to clean up my carpet, so I had to put him outside.
We have many fun things coming up to look forward too. Our football team is picked to be second in district this year, so we have high expectations for our season. George was elected as the THSPA (Texas High School Powerlifting Association) region four director and will be in charge of conducting the regional powerlifting meet. We are so proud of him! Also, Heidi is getting married in October and we have two wedding showers and a bachelorette party to look forward too. Plus, my step-sister is having a baby boy and is due in September. Kyle is excited to be getting a new baby cousin that will be close to his age and my Dad is excited to be getting another grandson. We will be traveling to Buffalo this next weekend for her baby shower.
My job is going ok. I still end up having to do alot of paperwork at home and I hate that I have to do that and let it run into what should be my family time. I also hate having to be on call for weeks at a time and I know it is going to be really hard to do during football season. Especially since I don't have Debbie as back up because she has to work every Saturday. But, I have no other choice. No job is ever perfect I guess.
Kyle is saying new words daily. He never ceases to amaze us with what he comes up with. We had vacation bible school last week and Kyle really enjoyed it. He loved the crafts, music, and of course playing with the balls during recreation. He was really proud of the crafts he colored and was running around showing them off to anyone who would look. He weighed 28 lbs at his doctor visit this last week. He is still ALL BOY and keepsl his little knees scraped up and his head bruised. I have kinda learned to accept that or atleast I try not to shelter him so much. His sinus/allergy problems have still been giving him trouble and we have started him on a twice daily dose of allegra, which so far really seems to help him.
I guess that about catches you up on the goings on of our family for now. Hope you all had great summers too!!! Until the next post........

My handsome men!

This is a picture of George and Kyle at Jimmy and Natalie's Wedding.

Kyle made the cutest little ring bearer!!

New Pics

Here are some recent pictures of our little munchkin. He is ALL BOY let me tell ya. He wants to be outside all the time- can't ya tell from the farmer's tan he has got going on! If there is a ball anywhere around then he is throwing it. He still loves the water and playing all sports.

When it rains it pours...

Well, so much has happened to our family in the last couple months that I thought I would catch everyone up. I started my new job and I really like it, except I have so much work that it overflows into family time alot, which I do not like. But, when has anyone ever found the perfect job? Jimmy and Natalie got married and it was beautiful! Kyle made the cutest little ring bearer I have ever seen. He was able to make it down the stairs (with his cousin Morgan's help) without falling and then went and sat with his Mommy after he got to the end. He was so adorable in his little tux! I will try to get pics posted soon.
Then, on April 25 George's Dad passed away suddenly in the middle of the night at home. We tried to do CPR on him, but he was just gone. It was a shock to all of us because he had been doing so well. He even umpired baseball games two nights that week prior to his passing. It has been very hard to deal with. We miss him so much and it still sometimes seems like a dream. We are just doing the only thing we can and taking it one day at a time. Our family could definately use any prayers we can get if you wouldn't mind sending up some for us. Then, that same week George's Dad's oldest brother passed away. Next, my little Chihuahua that I have had for fourteen years-Valerie-got really sick with congestive heart failure that same week. We put her on medications for about two weeks, but she continued to get worse and was so swollen and miserable, so we had to put her to sleep last weekend. We have experienced so much loss recently and are just so sad. We miss George and Valerie daily and are just hoping our hearts will someday be able to heal from it all.
George made a big decision this past week also. He applied for a scholarship through the school and found out on Friday that he got it. He will be starting in September to get his Master's and principal certificate from Lamar University online. It will last 18 months and I am sure it will be difficult for us all-especially with it starting during football season and me having this busy job and having to be on call for weeks at a time and trying to be like a "single" parent through it all. But, it will be worth it in the end.
Kyle has been sick this past week. I took off work today and took him to the Pediatrician and they thought he had strept throat, but the culture came back negative so they decided he has some kind of virus. He is getting so big and is so smart (not that I am biased or anything). His hair is so blonde now too! He has this beautiful tan, olive skin tone and then bleach blonde hair. Who would have ever imagined I would have a bleach blonde kid! He talks all the time too! His favorite thing to say right now "Whats that?" and "Where is it?" The most awesome thing in the world too now, is that he tells us he loves us too now! We will say "I love you Kyle" and he will say "love ya!" In fact, he has even initiated it and told us before we tell him sometimes. It just means so much and is so sweet. For Mother's day Kyle got me a new digital camera and as soon as I can figure out the software I will post a bunch of new pics. Until the next post......God Bless you and yours...

A New Beginning....

Guess what?! I interviewed with Signature Health Services (a home health company out of Baytown) on Tuesday the 26th and that same day, a few hours later, I received an offer that I couldn't refuse! I got a pay raise, a sign on bonus, and many other great perks. Plus, most of all, it is an established business with a knowledgeable CEO and Administrator that can teach me the business and there is room for advancement. I really enjoy the home health side of nursing and am looking forward to learning more. I turned in my two weeks notice that day with the company I am with now, so I will end my current job on March 11th and start the new one on March 12th! Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers. I feel they have been answered!
-Heather Taylor, RN, COS-C

Recent pics of our litte man

Could he be a little coach in training?

Playing with his Valentine present from Nanny and Papa

Our champion Zebra rider!

He's trying to be cool like his Daddy with his hat on backwards.

He figured that whistle out quick!

Updates again!

Well, I guess it is time for an update. We have been really busy lately and with Kyle walking, or should I say running now, it is hard to find the time to actually get to the computer. When he naps it is my time to rush around the house and do all the laundry, dishes, cleaning up, etc...but other than that I am following him around constantly and trying to watch his every move so he doesn't hurt himself. Since he has become a toddler he seems to be really accident prone. He gets an "accident report" from school almost everyday. But, he is such a little joy and so much fun! He jabbers all the time! George and I feel like we live with a chatterbox and we only wish we knew what he was saying. He does say alot that we can understand though. Lets see- he says--
bye-bye, Momma, Daddy, CoCo (what he calls Toby), football, ball, touch down, Nonna, Apa, Meme, Papaw, Boo, and MUAH (he says this everytime he either gives a kiss or blows a kiss! It is really cute), and one of his favorites is Uh-Oh even when he did something on purpose. He also repeats things we say sometimes and even answers our questions with a yeah occasionally. He can point to his nose if I ask him where it is and can even do it if I ask him in spanish. I have been trying to teach him all the spanish that I know.
George is doing great. Powerlifting is almost over, he just has the regional and state meets left. Track started this week and George was really excited that our boys won the meet this week (apparently that haven't won much in the recent past). George has lost a total of 65 lbs on his diet program and the Doctor told him this week that he is pretty much done with the program and now just has to continue doing what he is doing to keep it off. I am so proud of him! He is eating better and runs 2 miles every night.
I am doing ok too. I am hoping to start the diet program that George did in the near future to try and shed some weight also. I had a great Valentine's day! My boys spoiled me rotten. George gave me a sweet card, my favorite candies, a gift card to tan for a year, and took me out for a romantic weekend. Kyle (with his daddy's help) had a dozen roses delivered to me at work and I had lunch with him at his school. My professional life is still in a bit of a turmoil though. I am not liking the business I work for (for many reasons) and so I have begun searching for a new job. I actually have an interview this Tuesday (Feb. 26th) with a different home health company in this area. We will see how it goes. Lately I just haven't felt real happy with my "work life" and have been considering even getting out of nursing....but, I really don't want to go back to school and losing my income would be impossible at this time.....so, I will just keep praying something better will come along.
We have so much coming up the next couple months! George has powerlifting and track meets and George's brother Jimmy is getting married in April and I am hosting a babyshower for one of my bestfriend in March....so, probably won't be posting again with updates for awhile. I will post some new pics soon~

A few of his Favorite things...

Kyle loves walking/running, taking baths, and eating spaghetti with his hands!

Houston Ballet

For one of my Christmas presents George took me to the Houston Ballet to see The Nutcracker. It was so nice! He took me to a ritzy restaurant to eat prior to the Ballet and then afterwards we went to a Jazz club. We had a great time and it was fun to get all dressed up!

Christmas 2007

We had a great Christmas Season! Our Christmas' started on Dec.22nd and didn't end until Jan. 2nd! This was because we attended Christmas with all of our families and drove all over the place! It was fast and furious, but fun. The best part was getting to have our "first" Christmas as a family (just the three of us). Kyle was too little to really have it seem like Christmas last year. George and I had a great time playing the role of "Santa" and we stayed up until 1:00 am putting stuff together and playing. Before putting Kyle to bed George read us The Night Before Christmas and then we were going to read the story of Jesus' birth in the Bible all together, but Kyle passed out before the end of the first book. So, just George and I read it together. It is so awesome to have our own little family and be able to make our own traditions. It was/is a dream come true for us. I hope one day Kyle will think of our family and all our little "traditions" we had even when he is all grown up with his own family. I know I still think aobut it every year.

Kyle's First Birthday

We celebrated Kyle's first birthday on December 15th and we had a fun party! Of course whats a party though without a little drama......right? It was a construction themed party. The cakes and cupcakes were beautiful (ok, cute, whatever you say for a boy's party) and we had lots of family and friends show up. I was holding Kyles cake near his highchair and everyone one was singing happy birthday and then.... to make a long story short Kyle's hand got near the flame of the candle (because I had turned my head when someone called my name) and everyone (ok most of the older people) screamed "OH MY GOSH" which in turn scared Kyle and he began to cry. Then he proceded to throw a fit and wouldn't touch his cake, and then I had to go into another room because I started crying because I felt like I had just showcased to the world how horrible of a Mother I was by letting my child get burned. WHEW! Anyways, when we reviewed the video tape at home we saw that his hand was no where near the candle and he didn't have a mark on his hand anywhere. But, we later discovered that Kyle doesn't like cake anyway. We tried it again at home later when it was just the three of us and he just didn't seem to like the taste of icing or cake. SO.....we didn't have any cute pictures of him with cake all over the place, but it turned out ok. I learned my lesson though, I don't really think big parties are the way to go, atleast until he is older.

The Holidays are here!

Things at the Taylor household have been going great. Kyle hasn't been sick (knock on wood) since his surgery. He started a new "school" this week and so far is doing really well there. He is just a little socialite, must get it from his Daddy. We had a great Thanksgiving. We got to see all sides of the family and it was nice. George is still doing great on his diet and has now lost 49 lbs in the 8 weeks he has been on the program! We are so proud of him. I am enjoying my new job, but quickly found out that all jobs have stress, just different kinds.....anyway, thats another story in itself! We worked at our Church Christmas Bazaar this weekend and had a good time. Kyle got to meet Santa for the first time and he seemed to really not know what to think about him. He never cried, but he kept making a funny face and holding his arms out to us to come pick him up. We also took a pic with a longhorn! I know, I know, how could we do that? Well you will just have to look closely at the picture to see...hehe! George and I are busy this week! We are playing in a softball tournament on Saturday benefitting the Toys for Tots Foundation and then one Sunday it will be Kyle's first birthday party!! Yay! We are so excited!

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