BYU Graduate!

Jeff has GRADUATED!!! I am so proud of my amazing husband and all of his hard work and dedication! He is so smart and such an amazing student! It was quite a task to convince Jeff to go to graduation (he thinks that since he is going onto Grad. School, going to graduation for his bachelors would be silly.) My mom has been trying to convince him to walk for months now, but it wasn't until Annette (my mother in-law) got wind of Jeff's stubbornness and confronted him, that he finally gave in... a little. :) Jeff wouldn't go to commencement and walk, but he finally agreed to go to the general graduation and listen to Pres. Oaks speak. It was a wonderful ceremony and only went for a little over an hour. (Which we loved!)  I can't believe Jeff is not only going onto Graduate School for another 4-5 years of schooling, but is also excited about it! Haha I love what a nerd he is! :)  While we cannot wait for this next chapter in our lives, we will miss all of our family and friends here! But lets not dwell on that. Below are some pictures of the big day. :)

My camera broke, but here is a picture of the packed stadium and Pres. Oaks on the screen. 

My brilliant and handsome graduate. :) 

Jeff and his parents. The two people who raised Jeff to work hard and value education like he does! They are such incredible people and I am so grateful to be a part of their family!  

Jeff and his brother Stephen. His other brothers, David and Alex, couldn't make it, but it was great to have Stephen there. :) 

The family! (minus two brothers)

I love him so much and am so proud of him! This next chapter in our life is going to so much fun, but I am so grateful for all the time and memories we have already had! BYU will forever be a part of our lives and we will always be fans. GO COUGARS!!!

My New Nephew!

You all knew it was coming and it is finally here! Today I am dedicating my blog to my first and favorite little nephew, Nick! His full name is Nicholas (Sorry if I spelt that the wrong way sis) Olani Taylor and he is the most adorable and sweet tempered baby! I am absolutely in love with him and so happy for Abbie and TC! I know everyone says all babies are cute, but this little guy really is the cutest of the cute! :D Below are some pictures of the little guy. (My camera is full of them!)

 This was a couple weeks ago. Isn't he so sweet! 

 LOVE his chubby cheeks!!! I guess both Abbie and TC were big babies and it looks like little Nick is following in his footsteps. ;) But really, whats cutter than a chubby baby? :) 

 Chillin on Gramzie's lap wondering why everyone keeps speaking to him in funny voices. 

 I love it when he falls asleep with his mouth open! So adorable! 

So that's a new auntie gushing about how adorable her little nephew is! I'm so sad we will be moving to Austin this fall and will miss out on a lot of his growing stages, but I am so happy to have the time I have with him before then! More pictures will definitely be following. :) 

2012 so far...

Wow what a crazy year 2012 has already been! Being the insane woman I am, I decided to take 23 credits this semester and it is turning out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be! Why would I do such a crazy thing you may ask? Well you see Jeff and I will be heading out of state this Fall for Jeff's graduate school. (He's still deciding between Austin, Texas and Santa Barbara, California.) Since an associates degree transfers so much better than a bunch of credits, I decided to take on the task of getting my associates by April. While I am not regretting the decision to do this, it has definitely limited my free time and thus my blogging time as well. However, it is Spring Break now (HALLELUJAH!), so I decided to catch you all up on whats been going on in the life of the Beans! :)

 We had to give away our adorable kitty Cheeto to our good friends Brittney and Dallin Gardner. We were so sad to part with him, but had to move to a new apartment that wouldn't allow us to keep him. However, we still get to see him whenever we visit the Gardners, which is a silver lining.

Walker received a sever blow to his abdomen during a basketball game. He was rushed to the hospital and found out that his small intestine had a huge hole in it and acid was leaking all over his organs. (The doctors actually took pictures of all this during surgery, but I thought them a little too graphic for the public eye...) It was scary for a while there,but after two surgeries and ten days of living at the hospital, Walker was finally able to come home and after almost two months of recovery, he is back on the courts playing the sport he loves so much! :) 

We got a xbox 360 and kinect! Its so much fun having friends away and playing fruit ninja, the rythm and dance games on it! Above is Chanel and Tyler slicing it up on fruit ninja. :) 

 Jeff and I playing my favorite kinect game, Dance Central 2. :) 

I learned how to repel! For Christmas I got some repelling and canyoning gear, so we went out in the hills with my Dad, Isaac and my Dad's friend Jared to learn how all of the gear worked. Jeff had already been several times, but really enjoyed learning how to set up the gear so that we could go out canyoning on our own. :) So much fun! 

And for the grande finally!.... WE'RE AN AUNT AND UNCLE!!!! Abbie gave birth to her darling baby boy on March 3rd and we are all so happy to have this new addition to the family! His name is Nicholas Olani Taylor and is (as my mom would say) "simply perfect!" :) 

Such an adorable angel! He is making all of our family and friends baby hungry for one of their own! And how could such a darling boy not?

As you can see 2012 is turning out to an eventful and exciting year! We are so blessed with so many loved ones around us and couldn't be happier! :) So there is your catch up and I promise to try and be better about my blogging. :) HAPPY SPRING BREAK!!!!

Christmas Spirit

Okay so there hasn't been any snow (you can't call the little dusting we received the other day snow, as it disappeared before 10am), but I have really been feeling the Christmas spirit! I love how everyone is inspired to perform acts of service this time of year. It would be wonderful if this was a year around thing, but I truly see the blessing in having a yearly reminder of what life is about and the importance of giving to others. Jeff and I were really excited when we were blessed with the chance to anonymously help a couple in our ward. I really needed this experience as I was so overwhelmed with trying to get Jeff the "perfect" presents and make our first Christmas together, a memorable one. Receiving the chance to give our Christmas to someone in need, helped me to see what this season is about, and what makes a memorable holiday. I can't remember the majority of presents I've received in my life, but I know that Jeff and I will remember this service for the rest of our lives. Santa Clause is wonderful and truly brings happiness and joy into our homes this time of year, but lets remember what it is we are celebrating, it isn't a jolly man with a snow white beard and bag full of presents. But a little baby boy, surrounded by hay and bringing the greatest gift of all to mankind. I found the picture below on Pinterest and feel in love with it!

Jeff and I also got the chance to decorate a gingerbread house with the family! It was SO much fun and I think the end product turned out very nice! :)

 The front, decorate by Jeff and I. 

 The left side, done by myself. 

 Back side done by David and Alex. 

 Right side done by Jeff and David. 

The finished product! We put a DC on top and wore our DC shirts for a Divine Comedy photo contest. Just in case you were wondering. :) 

I hope you all have a VERY merry Christmas full of lots of yummy treats, baked goodies, family, friends and memorable experiences! 

Pumpkin Season!!!

It's finally here! The season of pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin carving! Until around three years ago I did not like pumpkin (still had the notion that it was a nasty veggie mom tried to get us to eat) but ever since I re-discovered it, I have been in love! Needless to say there has been a lot of baking going on in the Bean home. :) Last night however was not devoted to baking pumpkin cookies, but in carving pumpkins with our new friends Deanna, Bryce, Anika, and Derek! We had such a great time with them and produced some pretty good looking pumpkins. :) Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me while we were carving the pumpkins, but below are a few pictures of the ones Jeff and I carved.

Jeff stole my idea of carving a pumpkin behind bars, but I forgave him as he did a way better job than I could have! Mine tend to break or become something unrecognizable. Haha

Yes those are tooth picks holding it together. Haha my brilliant idea taken all I could think of was carving BOO! with some bats, and I even ruined that. :P 

Our amazing pumpkins!

I love Jeff's! He made it look so cool! 

I love the fall and cannot wait for Halloween! While I'm not a fan of the cold, it's worth it to see all the beautiful colors that come out at this time of the year! Jeff and I will definitely be going for rides and walks in the canyon a lot before all the leaves fall. :)

"A Grandfather is someone with silver in their hair and gold in their heart."

Last year my Grandpa was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and has been fighting it like a bull ever sense. However, his body could only take so much and yesterday he passed away. Grandpa was the most stubborn, yet loving man I know. He lasted far longer than the doctors said he would and I am very grateful for the extra time we were blessed with him. He got to do some really fun things before his passing. Which included riding in a race car at Miller Motorsports Park. I will miss him so very much, as will many people who knew and loved him. He was the biggest tease and could always make me laugh, no matter how down I was. I am so grateful for the time I was blessed with him. Due to heart and kidney problems, some doctors thought he would have died over a decade ago. But he sure showed them! :) I cannot wait to see him again, young, no pollo, no kidney and heart failure and no cancer. But still the same stubborn cowboy full of love and jokes to share.

 Grandpa out our wedding. There was a little while we didn't know if he'd be there. But he said he would, and I am SO grateful that he was!

I could never be around Grandpa without him making me laugh. :)

Grandpa getting ready to go riding in a race car for the first time. This was on his "bucket list" and all his children pitched in to make this possible for him before he lost his chance.

Before they chose their cars, Grandpa told the people in charge that he wanted the fastest one. Nothing could go to fast for Grandpa, he lived for the thrill!

He always brought so much laughter and character to our family functions. I will miss his kisses and hugs, but look forward to seeing him again some day! I love you Grandpa!!!

College Once More

Yes I am back at UVU and loving it! It feels so good to be learning again and I simply adore all my professors here! They have helped me love every subject (yes even math, though still less than the others. ;) ) My spanish profesora is enchanting with her lovely accent, humorous outlook of Americans and the way she is always quoting Gloria from my favorite TV show, Modern Family! Yeah she is awesome! I would love to become fluent in this beautiful language and plan on keeping my classes going until I really understand it and can carry on a conversation. :) Geology is also interesting and Mrs. Lamas is very good at engaging you and making the material less complex. Overall school is awesome and i'm loving being back! Even if it is nerdy to say that. ;)