True Reconciliation

God is so good!!! I read something today that I just had to blog about. Hebrews 10:17, 18 in the Message bible says "He concludes, I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them." Another translation says "He then says, And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is forgiveness of these things there is no longer any offering for sin."

I have known God's forgiveness for years but as I read this passage God opened my eyes to the fact that He says He will forgive AND FORGET our sins. We aren't just freshened up and given a ticket into heaven. We are given a clean slate as if we had never sinned. We are sharing in the purity of Christ. He has given us the blessing of being "white as snow". He was the FINAL sacrifice for our sin. There is no longer a need to offer sacrifices. All we need to do is ask for God's forgiveness and accept Jesus's sacrifice knowing that His death paid the price for our sin and we can come near to Him because of His death for us. We were once separated from God but now we are reconciled! How exciting during this time of year to reflect on all that God has done for us. I am very thankful not just for eternal life but because being in the presence of God and growing in the knowledge of Him brings a joy and a peace that nothing else in this world can offer. May God Bless you with a growing knowledge of who He is during the coming year.

Jocelyn's 13 month picture shots!

Things have been busy in the Taylor world this holiday/hunting season! Levi went deer hunting last week and got a 183" 5x6 point mule deer buck. He had seen this buck at his friend Brent's house during pheasant season and was hoping the monster deer would still be there when he went out for opening rifle season. Levi was very happy with his first mule deer and now we will have 2 deer to hang on our walls at home.

A few weeks ago when Jocelyn was just beginning to walk

Misc pictures

Riding the horse

Climbing the rungs pictures

Doug had to give her chocolate! She got a hole in the wrapper on the way home and was sucking chocolate out of the wrapper. She had a chocolate ring around her mouth. Guess who took her trick or treating!

Busy weekend

We went to Ok. City yesterday for the National USTRC team roping championship. Levi did well but in the 3rd of 4 rounds his teammate missed the steer. I got to see my highschool friend Amy, who lives in Oklahoma City. It was sooooo nice to see Amy. She is happily married and we had fun catching up with each other. Jocelyn loved seeing the horses and was quite active which is a challenge in a dirty stadium/arena area! She did very well overall. Traveling in the car was difficult at times but her children's CDs help a ton! :)

We got to go to our neighbor and former landlord's cabin in the hill and watch flaming pumpkins fly through the air last night. He does this annually and it was fun to meet his friends/be entertained by the contraption he has put together for the pumpkin throw.

This morning the time changed. I knew that but still ended up at church early! I knew our atomic clocks had changed time and forgot that the kitchen clock didn't reset itself. I hurried to get Jocee ready and got out the door. My car's clock was the same as the kitchen clock so I didn't notice my goof until I drove into the church's parking lot and realized there were very few cars there. I actually thought to myself, wow, this time change has messed up the first service today! After a second, I realized that no, I was early and everyone else was correct! Well, it was better than being late and missing the service!

Levi has started the hunting season. He has gotten a doe with his bow. He went pheasant hunting today out in Logan, KS. My season of being a hunting widow has begun :(

Climbing the rungs

We are figuring out how much work it is to be home owners! We are painting the North side of our house this weekend. Jocelyn of course was out "helping" us. She did pretty well. She didn't get in the paint too much. Tried to touch the lower part as I was painting but overall did well with that. When she was near her daddy is when it got interesting. She ate mud--yes the red dirt we have around here made her mouth turn that color for awhile. I have no idea how much she ate but she had quite the residue in her mouth. Later she was near the ladder dad was using and before he knew it she had climbed up to the second rung. She did this not once, not twice but three times. By the third time she was getting pretty good and almost made it up to the top (dad was supervising at that point). We had our camera phone out there but not the real camera so I can't load that picture up on here. It was quite the evening. We definitely have a climber!

Our first trip to the pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch in Dorrance with our Parents as Teachers group. It was sprinkling but still fun. Jocelyn liked getting in the hay and riding in the red wagon. She got her first pumpkin too! We had smores well, Jocelyn had the graham cracker with a tiny amount of marshmallow :)

Recent pictures part 2

Jocelyn in her dress from Aunt Ashley and Uncle Cole. Cute as a button!
When I was two my dad made me a kitchen set with a refrigerator, sink and stove. The sink has a real faucet and the stove has real burners and knobs to turn. I repainted the set and this is Jocelyn's first time playing with it. It didn't take her long to discover she could drop things in the sink and pull everything out of the fridge and sit in it :). She had a blast today playing with it and it brought back many happy memories for me too :).

Recent pictures part 1

first time in her tree swing
Daddy gave Jocelyn some flowers from our backyard. She loved them.
Jocelyn kissing her doll while it is still in the box :)

Jocelyn got a tree swing for her birthday and LOVES it!

More birthday pictures

Jocelyn and her great grandmas
"Hold me"
Trying to encourage the walking thing.

Height prediction for Jocelyn

Jocelyn was in the 75th percentile for weight and only the 50th percentile for height this time. Of course with Levi being 6'5" we have thought she would be tall so I asked our doctor. She said they usually average the mom and dad's height and so she thinks Jocelyn will be 5'10" or 5'11". That is good news as I wanted a tall daughter and Levi didn't want her so tall that she was taller than ALL the boys! Although no boys during the high school years would be fine with both of us! So we will see how that prediction turns out in about 12-13 years!

More birthday pictures

Jocelyn is ONE!!!

Today my baby girl turned one! It is hard to believe I have been a mom for a whole year! She has given us much joy and we had a great birthday party for her on Saturday. She started eating her cake with a fork and ended up using her hands and made a big mess of her face and hands as was expected! She is getting her first year molars and still trying to figure out the walking thing. She walks a few steps but hasn't gotten the whole balance thing figured out. She opened all of her gifts and was actually interested in the gifts and not just the tissue paper. I was impressed by that.

Today, on her birthday, she got to stay home with mom and then when dad got home she got to go on a horseback ride. While they did that I started painting a kitchen set that my dad made for me when I was two so Jocelyn can use it.

step in the right direction

Jocelyn took her first steps on Sunday night! Hooray! It was so much fun. I held her and pointed her in Daddy's direction first. She went back and forth between mom and dad. So much fun to see her grow up but sad too. The most she has taken is 5 steps but usually it is 2 or 3 before she falls one way and we have to catch her.

I am weaning her off of breast feeding. Tougher than I thought it would be. I am still feeding her once a day and am hoping to continue doing that for a while. We will see. That is the only snuggle time I get since she is getting more active.

I had parent teacher conferences this week and was gone for 2 evenings in a row. I missed Jocelyn so much and when I got home I had to have some snuggle time. Levi kept her up a little bit on Wednesday night. Thursday night she woke up crying and of course I broke the rules and went in and rocked her back to sleep. I am going to miss the cuddles when she gets bigger!

Jocelyn turns one on Monday! She is having her birthday party on Saturday. Hopefully Mommy can keep dry eyes through this turning one process.

I leave her for the first time tonight for a women's retreat. I leave at 5ish and get back tomorrow at 1ish. So not leaving for a huge chunk of time BUT it is overnight! Small steps....

Levi at the state fair

Levi got 3rd place roping at the state fair roping. He wasn't excited about his overall performance as he broke out several times which has a 5 second penalty. He won a fast time check and a 3rd place check which helps keep him going for a few more ropings! He will rope again the first Sunday in October in Bennington (one Jocelyn and I can actually go to) and then he will rope at Nationals at the end of October. Hoping for a big win at nationals!

Mice Infestation

UGH! We found out we have mice in our attic space. Levi has started running a trap line up there trying to catch them. I am not comfortable in my own home knowing there are living things other than the 3 of us here. Ewwwww!

We actually started a baiting system that my good friend Clarissa told us about. I am hoping and praying that will stop the mice from even entering into our wonderful cozy home!

Hopefully none of you have to deal with mice this fall....it is yucky! Thankfully I have my strong MAN to take care of the little critters. I can't handle the sight of them let alone touch them. Sometimes I wonder about country living......

9-29-08 The mice problem has been taken care of. Levi caught 4 mice. I am so glad that they are gone! The baiting system seems to be working No more mice in several weeks.