My pictures of you...

Here are a couple of new pictures to show what we have been up to lately:

Making Valentine's Day cookies with Grandma and Grandpa

Tay's curly hair

Tay's new obsession is building a "Pirate Cave" in the living room

Riding the turtle with Grandma and Grandpa at the San Diego Zoo

"Homey-G"... Taylor loves to wear my hats, shoes, and sunglasses all day long around the house!

And he loves umbrella's and to help hold them- that's perfect because we'll be using them a lot in Tacoma!

Watch out for Captain Taylor Porter!

Us with some cute bears...

Tay modeling his glasses while in line for Toy Story

On the bridge at D-land

Taylor all of a sudden has started to say a bunch of words. One of them is "wa-wa" (water) so now it's water 24/7. Everywhere we go, we look for water, and of course, pirate swords...

The Song of the South-Tales of Brer Rabbit

Taylor's new favorite video on you tube has become the "Tales of Brer Rabbit" from Walt Disney's "Song of the South." It's got the wonderful song "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah" in it. If you haven't seen it, it is great, a real classic. I remember watching it when I was little! Uncle Remus tells the story of Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox in hopes of teaching the lesson that you can't run away from trouble. It is actually what the ride Splash Mountain at Disneyland is based on. I love children's movies and books etc that teach valuable lessons like this, which is one of the reasons I like Dr. Seuss so much. Sometimes it's a lesson that adults need to be taught as well. I often wish I could run away from my troubles! Anyways, Taylor loves it- we usually watch it after his bath every night. Towards the end of his bath he always says "Hmm Hmm," which signals that he is ready to get out. Again, if you haven't seen Song of the South, "Hmm Hmm" is what the hummingbirds and bumblebees say to Uncle Remus when he is looking for the blue bird on his shoulder. Taylor also gets a kick out of Brer Bear when he gets the buttons and tail ripped off him. It's hard to explain, you'll just have to watch it.

The Getty Villa

So, we have been doing a lot of excursioning the last couple weekends. We figured we better see all the amazing and beautiful places in southern california before we leave. Even though I have lived here most of my life, there are so many places that I have never been to but have always wished to see. The Getty Villa is one of those spots. It is in Malibu, right next to the ocean. Take a look:

The Getty Villa is home to an extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. It is modeled after the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house in Herculaneum buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Here is the Peristyle located just outside of the museum.

One of the hallways in the Outer Peristyle. I loved the Corinthian columns that lined it.

The Romans painted the walls inside of their houses with decorative motifs to give an illusion of being outside with nature.
One of the two bronze sculptures at one end of the pool- it is a replica of the real piece of art found at the Villa dei Papiri.

The Inner Peristyle

The Marbury Hall Zeus. It was found on the grounds of the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, Italy in the late 1700's. Really wish I had this in my house!

Taylor fighting the Roman's with his favorite thing in the whole world right now, a sword.

Taylor and mom


The boys chillin' by the pool in the Outer Peristyle


Trying to get a family picture and again, failing to get a decent one. Oh well... hope you enjoyed the tour and hopefully got a little taste of the ancient Roman world.

Tacoma, Washington!!!

We FINALLY found out where we will be moving this summer! We are very excited to be moving to Tacoma, Washington this summer! It was one of our top choices and is close to some of my family and pretty close to Boise where Sonny's family is. We visited there in December 2007 when Sonny did an externship there. We stayed on the air force base and I remember two things about it: lots of rain and trees! I think the rain will take a little getting use to but it is also near the ocean which I am exstatic about. I know, I know, it's not like the beaches here but it's still the ocean! I know that we are really going to love it there! I think Sonny is a little disappointed though that he won't be able to tell his friends that he will be living in Hawaii...

A day off...

What did you do for Martin Luther King, Jr. day? We did this...


This is why I love California... any questions?


You can go to the beach all year around!


We enjoyed the beautiful day with friends and loved seeing the different kinds of entertainment Venice Beach had to offer...


Here is Taylor and his little friends Hallie dancing with the cool roller skaters. I had a halarious video of this but for some reason, it wouldn't upload.


The "Metal Man"




Trying to get Taylor to hold still for a second to take a picture was pretty much impossible...


He preferred to run free and crazy in the water and as you can tell, had a grand old time!


One of the many pieces of artwork around Venice... well, in my opinion, I wouldn't really call this art but whatever...it was still interesting to look at


And, lastly, here is Sonny standing in front of "Muscle Beach." We were looking around hoping to see Arnold but instead caught a glimpse of a really buff guy in a tight speedo... nice.

Our Pirate Dinner Adventure... Aaaargh

For an early birthday present, Sonny and I decided to treat Taylor to the Pirate Dinner Adventure in Buena Park. We found a good deal on the internet and just couldn't say no. We had been wanting to take Taylor to it for while and knew we should do it before he changed his mind and wasn't into pirates anymore. We invited my parents to come along too. Taylor really loves his grandma and grandpa. Altogether, it was a really fun night! It was a long show but full of some good entertainment. They had a pre-show where they gave us appetizers (better food than the dinner given later on). It was all you could eat appetizers including ravioli's, which Taylor loved, fruit, party weiners, salad, and other yummy stuff. After the appetizers they took us into the main theater where they served us dinner while we watched the show. The set and props were excellent and the show took place on a stage which was on a ship in the middle of the room. The show was a little disappointing... we were hoping to see a lot of swashbuckling action but instead were treated to a bunch of shirtless guys beat up each other. But they did include the audience by having us cheer on our group pirate and sing and play some games. It got better towards the end when they had some neat special affects with dry ice and lights. But I think Taylor had a fun time. He loves his pirates! Here are some pics:Taylor got really excited at this part when the blue pirate and the bad guy pulled out their swords and started fightingHere's us with the star's of the show, the blue pirate and the princessThe boys with the captain of the ship. Aaargh! Like Taylor's red shoes? Yep, Pirates of the Caribbean crocs.
Taylor even got his own sword that makes sounds and a pirate necklace. These are now his two new favorite toys

Animals and Swimming

Last Saturday, to celebrate the Boards being over, we visited the Wild Animal Park in Escondido. There was great weather to enjoy and no crowds to fight... don't worry Disneyland, I still love you most. Taylor's favorite area there is the petting zoo.

He just loves those domesticated deer! He can't get enough of them and loves to sit right down next to them, or on them.


Taylor and Sonny had fun with the Lorikeets. I was a little scared of them, weird huh? I think it's because they just fly around crazy, landing on peoples heads, etc. Last summer, Taylor got bit by one.
These guys were my favorite (the apes are usually my favorite but Taylor wouldn't stick around long enough to watch them). They really didn't do much for the 10 minutes I watched them but they are just so strong and majestic.


It was such a nice day that we decided to let Taylor splash in the water a bit. Sonny has a plan to make some of these things, I call them animal sprinklers, next summer...