Saved by Grace.

I was playing with Sarah and Emily this afternoon, when I thought about how lucky they are. They came from Vietnam, an extremely poor Communist country. In fact, you can't even adopt from Vietnam anymore. They closed the country. They would have had no life, no future, and no hope if they were growing up there. I thought about how strange it would be if the orphanage workers could see them now, playing with tons of toys in a beautiful home with lots of love. It took us five years to get them, but it was worth it. I'm typing this on the laptop as Emily is looking over my shoulder and breathing in my ear and Sarah is trying to cut my leg off with a plastic knife that she got for Christmas. They are well worth it all. But it is similar to what our Savior did for us. We were here with no hope, stuck in our sins without rescue. But Jesus, leaving the comfort of heaven, came and made the ultimate sacrifice for us, so we could be saved. It wasn't easy, but we were worth it to him. How wonderful. I just gave Sarah and Emily a big kiss. I'm so glad they were saved from Vietnam, and I hope they find the ultimate salvation as well.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

This is my long-overdue Christmas post. Actually, it starts at Christy's birthday on December 21st, and goes to the day after Christmas. So it's rather long, but I couldn't leave anything out.This is Christy's birthday party. Her best friend Echo was spending the night, much to my dismay. She is very loud and disrespectful of my stuff and my personal space, so she kind of bugs me. Anyway, that's her holding Sarah to Christy's right, and I'm on the left with Emily, who's helping Christy blow out the candles.The girls were upset that they couldn't help unwrap the presents, but at least they could play with the wrapping paper.Mm, cake! Christy likes white cake, but my Dad and I will only eat chocolate, so she got a half white and half chocolate one. Now we go all the way to Christmas Eve, where we are all opening one present. It's tradition. This is Sarah holding Makayla's umbrella she had just opened. Makayla is my niece who had come with her family.Here I am with my new Super Mario Brothers Wii game. I had wanted it so badly, but Dad had said they were sold out when he went to get one, so I wasn't planning on this.Both girls got Dora puzzles, which they absolutely loved!We have to get two of everything or else they fight over it.Later in the evening it started snowing. We were so exited! We were going to have a white Christmas! After a couple of hours, Christy, Dad and I decided to go out and play in the snow at eight o'clock at night! It was so cool! There was already a couple of inches.Here's Christy and I eating snow. When it does snow, I love to snowball fight and eat snow!We ran up to the shed to shut the door which we had left open. Dad took one of his pictures, which means he holds it out in front of all three of us. This one turned out very well. I didn't have time to put in my contacts before we went outside, but the glasses did protect my eyes from the snow blowing around. The only problem was I couldn't see.Christmas morning, and we're ready to open presents! I just opened Spiderwick, which is a movie I love. Christy was talking to Mom and Sarah and Emily were fighting over who's present that was.Christy finally got her ball. She's wanted one for awhile. Now I don't even know where it is.Yes! A new Ds! The one I bought was lost or stolen a few months ago.This is Dad looking at all of the ponies we bought the girls. And there are a lot!Here's my extremely handsome Dad looking extremely handsome in his new hundred dollar coat.Now for the part everyone dreads... cleanup. My best friend's family just puts all of the presents in bags and reuses the bags every year. I think they're on to something.This is Sarah on her new three wheeled scooter. Emily got one just like it, but the picture wouldn't upload.After that, it was time to go play in the snow. We got about seven inches, I think.This is me standing in the snow. As you can see, it's very deep. LOLEmily was happy, even though her hat was a little large.Here we are, loading up into the sled for a ride down the hill of the barn. Sarah wouldn't come with because she was mad at us for not being able to make her a Frosty.

This is Sunday. The roads were too slippery to drive to church on, so we stayed at home. We went to the top of the driveway to sled on the road and we saw this truck that had gone into the ditch. Once, we heard someone coming, so Christy and I sprawled on the snow in the ditch so people would think we had been thrown from the truck. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a four-wheeler that got stuck on the ice before he reached us. Once he got going again, he turned around and went back home and didn't see us.

That's all of the pictures I have, I hope you liked them.

A Very Merry Christmas!

Merry CHRISTmas everybody! I can't believe Christmas Eve is already here. It seems that I spend this whole month looking forward to Christmas, but now that it's here, I want to go back a week or two and do all the Christmasy stuff I missed. We haven't watched even half of all our Christmas movies, we have only played a few CDs, and Mom hasn't worn hardly any of her Christmas shirts! Caught up in all of this preparation and stress, it's very easy to forget the reason for the season, Jesus Christ. This season is a wonderful time to witness to others. We all share the common bond of Christmas, just giving a person a Gospel tract and saying 'Merry Christmas' is much easier at this time of year than at any other. My Mom made lots of packages with some candy and a Gospel tract to give out. I am a friendly person, I talk to bell-ringers while Mom goes into Walmart. Every person has a different style. I hope you all have a very Merry CHRISTmas!

Awesome Tag!

1. say something random. I got new socks two days ago.
2. yell something random, out loud. I'M AFRAID OF LADYBUGS!!! ! That's sad, no one even noticed. I guess I do it all the time.
3. do you play an instrument? Yes, the piano for ten years.
4. what's your full name? Taylor Nicole -----------
5. what do you think of blogger? AWESOME!
6. what do you think of this tag? SUPER AWESOME!
7. what's your opinion on Christian rock bands? I have none.
8. if you answered yes on #3 have you ever messed up while playing in front of people? Are you kidding? YES!
9. what's something that you've always wanted to do but haven't? Parachute.
10. how many bloggers do you know in real life? Just one.
11. have you ever played bloody knuckles? No, but I am interested.
12. have you ever caught a sockeye Salmon? I have no idea.
13. have you ever played funky angel?I still have no idea.
14. tell us about your worst accident? Um, probably when my horse fell on me and got back up and started running with my foot still in the stirrup! Or, when my other horse bucked me off and I landed on my head and blacked out. Or, when I fell down the stairs and had to spend the night in the hospital with a concussion. The list is endless.
15. rant about what ever you've been holding in? I am hopelessly in love with Orlando Bloom!
16. do you like caroling? Never done it.
17 .where do you live? Arkansas!
18. do you like it where you live? Oh yeah!
19. what was your most recent adventure? We camped at the creek on the first day of hunting season and I shot a armadillo with our beebe gun thinking it was someone come to kill us. Then I almost broke my neck trying to skate down the hill on a metal tray like Legolas. I know, I'm crazy.
20. Luke or Venator? Han Solo! I know he's not an option, but he should be.
21 .do you like the Obama administration? If you have read my blog, you will notice the post dedicated to visiting Sarah Palin. Obama administration? I don't think so.
22. dance par-tee or music brawl? Well, I can't dance, and a music brawl sounds bad, so neither.
23 .what Number is this? Is this a trick question?
24. what is two + 2? Um, let's see, I think I have enough fingers to count on. Is it four?
25. Books or movies? Books, not even close.
27. what would you do to see wild horses? Not much. I'm not to fond of horses right now.
28. what is the best joke you can think of right now? Oh, you put me on the spot. I've gone blank. 29. do you have a secret blog? Yes. HAHAHAHAH!!!
30. do you know what a Granny beaded neck is? Nope.
31. PC or laptop? Laptop.
32. Click 5 or Switchfoot? Never listened to either.
33. how many siblings do you have? 5, including my adopted sisters.
34. do you have a favorite game? Video game? Yes, The Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess. For the Wii.
35. name the rockiest Christian band you know. I guess Switchfoot, though I've never listened to them
36. What does J.O.Y. stand for? Jump On You maybe? I have no idea.
37. Are you a member of J.O.Y? Not that I'm aware of.
38. have you ever fell a tree with a chainsaw? No, Dad doesn't trust me.
39. favorite song? Fireflies by Owl City.
40. insert funny/random picture here:

We have to peel these carrots in a minute for tomorrow's carrot juice.

Well, that was my favorite tag ever. Loved it! Hope you did too. I tag anyone who wants to do it.

A Busy Day.

It all started with a present. The present I bought and wrapped for my very best friend, Becky. I woke up on Thursday at about nine, since we had the day off. I lounged around for awhile, played the Wii, answered email, all that jazz. Mom decided to go shopping, so I got dressed and wrapped Becky's gift, the picture you see below. I wrapped this present exceptionally well, so I took a picture. This is the back of it.*giggles* The plan was, while we were shopping, we would drop it off in Becky's locker while she was in school. Oh, and it's a Nintendo Ds game.

This is the gift she left in her locker for me on Wednesday night. Our church has a school, and we use the school building for Awanas and Sunday School, so we leave notes and stuff for each other in her locker. I love this purse, in fact, I almost bought it the day before she gave it to me!

We were on our way! Christy was playing Tetris, and I was reading a biography of C.S. Lewis.

And I was eating candy too. You can see my adorable new purse on the seat next to me.

We were also watching a movie, we each have a little DVD player on the seat in front of us.

We were watching The Santa Clause 2. I love that movie, it's hilarious!

When we got to town, it was lunchtime, so we went to Shogun, one of my favorite restaurants.

In case you didn't know, you can watch them cook the food in front of you. And they do a little show while they are cooking. Like trying to fling shrimp*yuck* on your plate, but it most often ends up in your lap.

After that, we went to J.C.Penny, but we didn't find anything. Oh, but I did find this hilarious shirt that had a picture of a monkey on the front with glasses and braces, and it said, "Be nice to the nerd!" I wanted to get it so badly, but Mom wouldn't let me.

Oh, then we dropped by the school to sneak the present into Becky's locker! It would have worked perfectly, but her brother saw me, but he didn't tell.

Mom just had to go to Salvation Army, but I was really tired, so I stayed in the car and read while she browsed. I don't think she bought anything.

Here is my lovely mother leaving the store. Finally! I guess she did get something.Next was Walmart, where we had to get a present for my niece, Makayla. The clouds were really cool.My Dad then called my Mom and said that my grandma had some oranges*yuck* for us. Just get used to it now, I hate any kind of fruit or vegetable, though I am forced to eat them.As we were leaving her house, Christy suddenly remembered that Galon's(my nephew) school play was at 6:30! We had been about to go home, but now we had to wait around for an hour and a half until his play started!Christy and I were bored out of our skulls, so I took a lot of random pictures, which, out of consideration for you, I did not post. Except for this one. :)This was the beautiful sunset we were looking at as Mom was talking on the phone.This is Galon in his costume. He wouldn't smile, as usual. Difficult kid.

Oh, this is funny! Every night, Christy and I have to peel carrots for tomorrow's carrot juice. Well, we were really tired, and we weren't too happy about the job, but Dad offered to help. This is the result of his peeling! A mess! But we were having fun. Until Christy peeled her finger instead of the carrot and shaved off part of her fingernail. That was not fun.

Sorry!

I did take pictures of my trip to Silver Dollar City, but fate was against me. I took my Mom's old camera, which she assured me she knew how to transfer the pictures to the computer off of. I put it in my sister's camera case and hooked it on my belt loop. A safe place. Right. While I was buying a Christmas present for my mother, I opened the case to get my money and the camera fell out. When it hit the floor, the batteries popped out and once I had them back in, all the pictures I had taken prior to that were erased! So, since it was about time to leave, I took a few good pictures and left. Today, I finally got around to putting the pictures on my blog. But, I couldn't figure out how to transfer them. So I called Mom over and asked her, but she couldn't get it either! The point of this is, I can't post the pictures! I'm very sorry, but the elements were against me. Tonight is Awanas, but we are having a pizza party, so it's not a good night to take pictures. I'm taking the camera I know how to work next time! Merry CHRISTmas!

Caption Contest Update!

So far, my caption contest has been very disappointing. I have only had two or three entries. That's pretty pathetic since I have fifteen followers. Even if you think that you can't come up with very good captions, just try. You may surprise yourself! :) Please enter!!! You are crushing my Christmas spirit! It will be your fault if I turn into Scrooge!

Reindeer!

For those of you who have the correct Internet system, you will notice eight oddly colored reindeer leaping across my blog page. If you do not have the correct Internet system, you should know that there are eight oddly colored reindeer leaping across my blog page. These are my new page pets, the first one I made was so cute, I made him a few companions. Please click on the cookies lying around, if you do, the reindeer will eat them. We sincerely appreciate your generosity. Yesterday, I told you that I was going to take pictures of my Awana class. Well, I forgot. *sheepish grin* I'm sorry, but I will take pictures of it next week. And I am going to Silver Dollar City on Saturday with my best friend. Tomorrow, I'm spending the night at her house, and we have to leave at nine-thirty a.m. to pick up her sister's friends. Which means we will have to be in bed around 11 0'clock the night before!*stifled laughter* Anyway, I will take pictures of it! I know you've heard that before, but this time I'm serious! Merry CHRISTmas!

More Snow!

It snowed again! But this time, it snowed a lot more. It actually stayed on the ground a little bit. This is our pool, it's covered right now, but you can really see the snow on it. And you can see the snow falling, so no one can accuse me of sprinkling sugar on our pool.

Adventure is out there! This is a picture of me about to brave the 17 degree weather. I live in Arkansas, so I do not own a big coat besides the fancy white one I wear to church. So I am wearing my jacket, my dad's hat and gloves, and the snow boots I have been wearing since my old shoes were taken by Christy. It was freezing. Hmph, Oliver and Patchee don't seem to be enjoying this fine weather. Mr. and Mrs. Grouch.

My puppy and cat are out enjoying the snow; the cold doesn't really affect Sierra. The way she's staring at Crackerjack makes me think she's hungry.

The snow is already melted, I'm so sad! Oh well, I'm over it. Tonight is Awanas, I'm so excited! I'm presenting a devotion tonight for the whole Sparkie group, but I've done it before, so I'm not nervous. I am a little nervous because my eyes are sore and I can't wear my contacts, so I'm going to wear my glasses in public for the first time. I'm going to take pictures of Awanas tonight, so you can see what's going on. It should be interesting. And one more bit of news. This weekend, I'm going to Silver Dollar City with my best friend, and I will take pictures! Don't forget about the caption contest!

My First Caption Contest!

Okay, in celebration of my thirteen followers, I am having a caption contest! Some of the pictures are pretty small, I'm sorry, I don't know how to make them bigger. If you know how, please tell me! Anyway, I would like for all of my followers to enter. These are pictures from Home Alone, I will be hopefully doing a few more Christmas caption contests in the next couple of weeks, if I get a fair amount of entries. 1. 2.
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There, I hope those were good pictures. I will post the winner in a week. But you might have to remind me. :)