New Update at Last.

Back in the Saddle Again
Hopefully we are going to be able to sort out the two blogs now. Joseph is doing Update on Joseph and we are doing this one. Unfortunately we were denied access for a while when Joseph took over his blog. But now we are in and able to post. So here goes a couple of updates:

Bathroom Re-do Redeux
The refurbishing of the master bath at the Taggart home has been completed. You are not nearly so delighted to hear that as we are! It is beautiful. Between Elizabeth's hard work (note the tile work in the previous post), Gloria's decorating craft and friends and neighbor's plumbing skills it is a masterpiece.

Celebrations
July is an eventful month for the Taggart family. July 16th is Gloria's birthday and July 27th is our anniversary. We have been married for 38 years. Time flies when you are having fun! We've enjoyed attending the weddings of friend's the past month, (note Draper Temple photo above left) it really doesn't seem that long ago we were in the Logan temple together with all our family.

In July the Shaffer Family had their annual reunion. It is a wonderful event every year, such a good way to stay in touch. The George Washington Taggart Family Reunion is held every other year and was held in Salt Lake this time. With so many decedents it is a treat to see key family members each time.

Summer Activities
Elizabeth has been very busy this summer as the Beehive adviser in the YW organization. She helped with the ward youth conference in Bear Lake. They had Joseph come up and speak. He did a really great job. During questions and answers after his talk the bishop asked him what he was planning occupationally with his law degree. One of the really bright Beehives suggested: "You could be a professional motivational speaker".

One of the summer's highlights was last week when Tim and Gloria got to tend the grand-kids while Elizabeth was at Girls Camp all week (Photo on right). We took them to Thanksgiving Point to see the dinosaurs twice. For Tim the highlight was reading to them. Having Gavin discover "The Monster at the End of the Book" was a generational delight. At what can be more fun than a race to see how fast Grandpa can read a Dr. Seuss book?

Joseph enjoyed having Gavin on his lap riding around the house, yard and neighborhood for hours. Gloria is the world's most awesome Grandmother and the kids enjoyed every minute with her.

We live in a great neighborhood. The grand-kids enjoyed playing with the kids-next-door and the family enjoyed having neighborhood friends over for diner.

Nephew's Baptism
Our great nephew, Darchon Taggart was baptized, confirmed and ordained to the priesthood a couple of weeks ago. He moved to North Salt Lake and has been attending Wood's Cross High for the last year. There were 150 that attended his baptism including nearly the whole football team. He is a great young man, a brilliant student and an outstanding athlete. We are very proud of him.

Independence!

A Day for Independence
The 4th of July in the United States is Independence Day, Commemorating the U.S.'s birthday. I can't help but think of how independence has so many meanings. It has always been our goal as parents to have our children able to be independent. Able to rely on their own abilities and decisions to successfully conquer the challenges of life. I am proud of our son's independence as he radiates success in his actions and decisions. There may be issues of dependence on others physically, but he is truly one of the most independent minded people I know.

Bathroom Make-over
Our daughter Elizabeth is also independent minded. She spent the past week here at our place doing a bathroom make-over. She did a new tile floor and discovering the sub-flooring was a disaster replaced it with two layers of new wood and then a concrete board underlayment for the tile. She borrowed a tile saw and cut the tiles, mixed the grout and did the whole job on her own. (Gloria and I mostly watched in wonder). She takes pride in her work and learns as she goes. Whadda-girl!

Independent Grand-kids
It is a delight to have Grand-kids who like their terrific parents are learning to make right decisions and love to help. It was so fun to watch Joseph work and play with them all week and watch how much they love to help out. It is wonderful to see how much they love to read scriptures each night as a family and love family prayer.

Freedom Comes From Obedience
One of the crowning principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that true freedom comes from obedience. It is ironic that to be truly independent of the World you have to learn to be truly dependent on God. True obedience brings the complete capacity to choose joy, happiness, and spiritual liberty. One of the greatest joys of life is seeing those you love independently choose to do good, to give service without thought of reward and to bless the lives of others because they can. THAT is true happiness and true independence!

A New Family Blog

Welcome to the New Taggart Family Blog

For the last 4 1/2 years Tim has been editing the family blog at http://www.josephtaggart.blogspot.com/

Joseph has declared his independence and will be managing his own blog now. The family blog will continue here.

Billy Johnson, One of the Pioneers of the Church in Africa
Tim met Billy Johnson last week when he filmed his testimony and experience for a video history of the Africa West Area. What a thrill it was for Tim to meet this great man!

"Joseph W. B. Johnson was converted after prayerfully reading the Book of Mormon in 1964. He relates that following his conversion “one early morning, while about to prepare for my daily work, I saw the heavens open and angels with trumpets singing songs of praise unto God. I heard my name mentioned thrice: ‘Johnson, Johnson, Johnson. If you will take up my work as I will command you, I will bless you and bless your land.’

Trembling and in tears, I replied, ‘Lord, with thy help, I will do whatever you will command me.’ From that day onward, I was constrained by the Spirit to go from street to street to deliver the message that we had read from the Book of Mormon.”

When the missionaries arrived fourteen years later, there were already many unbaptized congregations that Brother Johnson had organized, identifying themselves with the Church. Some of these early converts later rejected official membership in the Church, but many accepted it. A foundation had been established upon which later missionary work would build with increasing success." See a great article on him here: Steadfast African Pioneer

Summer Celebration
Joseph had friends over last this week for a barbecue to celebrate the beginning of Summer. It's great to finally have some warm weather and be able to enjoy the outdoors. Joseph's schedule continues to be highly charged all summer with school, internships, research and helping out at the Utah Health & Human Rights Project. He is enjoying everything thoroughly.

Lambert Family Reunion
Saturday was the first Alma and Mollie Lambert Family Reunion in many years. Tim's mother's family is a wonderful group and everyone enjoyed a great time together. It was fun to see everyone and get reacquainted. Gloria and Tim enjoyed visiting with Keith Barlow, one of their EBM missionaries who married Tim's cousin Fred Lambert's daughter Chantelle. How awesome is it to be connected to such great people in so many ways. Tim got took a family photo of them(on right).

West Valley YSA Summit

Last week Tim had the opportunity to speak at the YSA Summit for the West Valley area. There were over 1200 attendees. His topic was: The Solution to All Your Problems: Using the Atonement in Everyday Life. It was a great opportunity. Here is a link to their site: YSA Summit

Dinosaur Adventure
One of the highlights this week was the adventure to the Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park. What a blast for the grand-kids. They loved the giant life-sized dinosaurs in the beautiful outdoor setting. Grandpa had fun taking photos as usual.