2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving w/ Langs!!

We had our 2nd annual pumpkin carving extravaganza with the Lang's this past weekend, and it was so much fun! We ate WAY too much; had a blast with the kids, and carved some pretty cool pumpkins!!



Turner carved the skull and crossbones; Darren and I carved the kitty; and Angela carved the funny face with Cayden. Things got really serious when Turner broke out the heavy artillery to put the finishing touches on his work of art! Hilarious!!



We are already looking forward to next year's pumpkin carving event; too bad Peyton won't be with us yet; hopefully she'll be able to join in on the fun for the 4th annual!!!!! Thanks, Turner and Angela, for such a great time!

Cora Betts Royal Ball

Pictures: First is of Ashley watching Columbine Blue while they performed; Second is Ashley standing next to some of the princesses; Ashley and I dancing; Sydney "posing" for her picture; last picture Sydney on the left, Elly dancing with her dad, Steve in the background, and Cayden and his friend. Cayden was so cute - he was really dancing! So much fun!!

I took Ashley, one of our goddaughters, to the 1st Annual Cora Betts Royal Ball. We had such a great time, and it was for a worthy cause. Cora and her brother, Michael, were taken in a tragic accident this past January. This benefit was held in Cora's honor, with all proceeds going to benefit Judi's house, which is a non-profit that helps children deal with the loss of a loved one, usually a parent or sibling.

Ashley and I had so much fun. It was such a special thing that she and I got to do together. She wasn't feeling her best, but she did so good. After we got in the car and were on our way home, she wanted to come back to our house and play hide and seek with Darren. Shawna met us at the house, and we played hide and seek with Ashley and Brooke for an hour or so. I was not the best at playing that game - when it was my turn to count, I took too long to find them because Shawna and I couldn't stop "gabbing."

We also saw Turner and Angela; Steve and Elly; and several other people I've met through Turner and Angela. I think the event was a success, and I look forward to attending in the future!

China - Wait Increases Again!!

The latest newsletter through our adoption agency was posted today, and it looks like wait times from LID (Log-In-Date) to match have increased to 31-32 months, which puts at a match date somewhere around October or November of 2009 with anticipated travel in November or December of 2009. It just seems to keep increasing little by little. We know she'll be worth the wait, but every time we hear of wait times increasing it does get a little harder. We started the process nearly 2 years ago (it will be 2 years at the end of this month), and while the time has flown by, the wait ahead seems like forever, especially when we truly don't know when the wait will finally end and we will have our baby in our arms.

We remain positive though - as you know, Darren and I are planners and have plenty we can keep ourselves busy with in the meantime. Thank you all for your prayers!

Love, Karen & Darren

Wine Festival #5 for Karen and Clair

Clair and I attended our fifth Wine Festival in Palisade, near Grand Junction, last weekend. We had another great time, tasted some really good wines and toured the vineyards for the first time - The wine country is really beautiful, and the people who own them are very involved and are proud of their wines - as they should be. Colorado has some really great wine!

Soccer Game Day!!

Yesterday, while Darren worked, I attended soccer games in support of two of my favorite kids - Ashley, Harry and Shawna's little girl; and Cayden, Turner and Angela's little boy. It was a beautiful day; perfect weather to watch the kids run up and down the soccer fields.

First, I attended Ashley's game. It was her very first soccer game ever. They were all so cute, but they weren't quite sure what to do at first. They played an older team and got their butts kicked, but the beauty in all of it is that they didn't have a clue how badly they lost. They did better by the end of the game and had a lot of fun.

After Ashley's game, I went to Cayden's first soccer game of the year. He is getting so big and played like a much different kid than the Cayden who played soccer last year! I was so proud of him. A bit strange for soccer was the fact that there was a lot of tackling in his game. It was really cute, and they also had a lot of fun.

Check out the "Soccer Game Day" slideshow on the sidebar for some pictures. If you click on it, you can go to a bigger browser window so that you can see the pictures better.

China Update

Chinese Characters for Prayer

Current wait times have increased a bit. The estimated length of time from LID (Log-In-Date) to Match Date is approximately 30 months - up one month from the estimates in July's newsletter from our adoption agency.

Our LID was March 22, 2007, so we are now looking at a potential match next September (2009) with travel sometime in October (2009). If dates go according to this timeline, our little girl has been conceived, so please pray that she's doing well! Please don't forget to pray for her bilogical mother as well; she may or may not know whether she will be giving her up for adoption, but either way, it will be difficult for her. Oh - and don't forget to help us pray for twins! We'd love for Peyton to have a sister to share her journey with!

Love, Karen & Darren

Taylor Family Names for Christmas 2008

(This is Deanna's Christmas Tree from 2007 - pretty, huh?!!)

Dad called me today to ask what happened to our list of names that I was supposed to "draw up" so that we could exchange names this year. Sue likes to start her shopping early and has already started buying for all of the grandkids. I guess dad had to tell her to put the breaks on in buying for adults until the official list came out. My kind of girl! Always trying to plan ahead...
Anyhow, as promised, here it is!

Dad has Ricky
Sue has Kristi
Mom has Katrina
Larry has Darren
Karen has Karla
Darren has Dad
Kristi has Karen
Stuart has Larry
Karla has Sue
Ricky has Stuart
Katrina has Mom

Have fun shopping! I hope you get the opportunity to find the perfect gift for the person whose name you've drawn (even if it was a virtual drawing!!)!

Love you all! Love, Karen