For Christmas this year, Matthew and I had the chance to get gifts for the Taylor Clan. We began to think early on about what we could get that the whole family could enjoy together. The very same week we were thinking of gift ideas, we received an email from Cole that stated he was participating in an online fundraiser. Matthew and I browsed through all the items and for the most part, there weren’t any great family gifts, but near the end of our search we found a fun Pizza Cookbook. This book had several ideas for different types of pizzas, including kid and adult friendly recipes; the last page even had a fun dessert pizza. We thought that this gift would not only be a great gift that the Taylor clan could use over and over, but would also give us the opportunity to spend time with them if we brought ingredients as part of the gift.
So we called up Liz and let her in on the idea, so that we could schedule a dinner date and on the 17th of December we enjoyed an evening with the Taylor’s.
Over the last few years Matthew and I have frequently had the opportunity to spend time with the Taylor’s and occasionally we have brought our camera with us and captured some fun moments with them. So another idea we had for them was a picture book of some of those moments. 
Many of them included time we have spent camping and hiking and going to the zoo, and other moments included holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Even with both of these gifts, I felt like there was something else Matthew and I could do to truly serve Liz and Zac. They have been so great to Matthew and I over the last few years and I wanted to do something for them that could help them in even a small portion of the way that they have helped us. 
Liz has always been willing to listen and talk with me about my struggles and new things that I am learning, and she and Zac have been great examples as parents. So, I thought that a fun thing to do would be to create a coupon for free babysitting, so that they could spend an evening out together without the kids. Here is a picture of the coupon we gave them:
When we arrived at the Taylor’s we all gathered around and opened each of the gifts. 
Once the pizza and ingredients had been opened, we all headed into the kitchen and began to make the pizzas. Liz and I had arranged earlier to make a stuffed crust pepperoni pizza for the kids and a chicken ranch pizza for the adults. Cole and Spencer were both pretty excited about helping to make the pizzas, James was excited to eat some of the string cheese and take bunch of real pictures with our camera and of course Maddy was excited to eat slices of pepperoni and look cute in her apron. The pizzas took longer to cook then we expected, but we all agreed that it was worth the wait.
After finishing dinner, we had more pizza fun by making a yummy dessert pizza; the crust was a sugar cookie, the sauce was chocolate and the toppings consisted of M&Ms, mini marshmallows and nuts. We really enjoy our time with the Taylors. We love and look up to Liz and Zac, they are not only great parents, but they live the gospel with all their hearts and they show genuine interest in our lives and the lives of all they associate with.
The following is a sampling of James' photography:
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