G&S Lifestyle

Have you ever wondered if you were going to make it through another week?

That used to be a common thought for me.  

I admit I am a “workaholic”. (Now currently with FOUR boys, that’s right – FOUR BOYS!)  

I don’t stop working either at work or home until my head hits the pillow, and even then my dreams are littered with to-dos! I love my life, even though I could hardly make it through the days not that long ago. After years of constantly building on more and more work, I honestly didn’t know what my limits were. I let myself believe that I could continue on this track forever. It took me about 18 years of increasing stress to almost break.

It all started about 20 years ago when my husband Rhett had this “brilliant idea” to quit a good paying, comfortable job with benefits to start his own cabinet company.  I wasn’t comfortable at first, but I didn’t want to stop him from pursuing his dreams.

Within a couple of years I was pregnant with our first baby, and I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to be a mommy.  I worked full time until my doctor put me on mandatory bed rest due to complications with my pregnancy. Honestly it was the most relaxing time of my life and I felt so spoiled. My parents took care of my every need while Rhett was at work and my brother Paul drove me to my doctors appointments three days a week. 

Then the day came that our beautiful Rhett Taylor was born. It was the best day of my life. Looking into the eyes of this tiny baby boy melted my heart and I felt a kind of love that I had never felt before. (More on that later)

It just so happened that I was on maternity leave when Rhett was opening his first store. I was able to help him during that time until my maternity leave was over. I must have spoiled him because every day after I went back to work he begged and begged me to quit my job, but I thought that was an even crazier idea!  The two of us with no income and a new baby??!  Needless to say, he finally talked me into it. And so, with tears in my eyes, I let my superiors know that I was submitting my notice of resignation.

A month later, there I was working in the showroom with my newborn baby, Rhett Taylor.  I loved getting to spend time with my little family, but Rhett was starting to get really busy. Clients were calling all the time and he couldn’t keep up. I knew he needed my help, so I asked him to show me how to read architectural plans and how to work with the software.

I knew I needed to learn and needed to learn fast! I spent that weekend studying and taught myself the design program. I was able to design my first set of plans for a beautiful kitchen and we sold it the next week! I was so excited! I never in a million years thought I could design the cabinetry or that I would actually love it!!  Rhett never designed a job after that! I took over sales and design and he was able to focus on deliveries, installation, and other important aspects of the business.

Even though I liked designing, this new business was tough!  Tough on us mentally, physically, and financially. We worked so hard, night and day and every weekend!  There were times when I felt this black cloud over my head following me everywhere I went.  There were days and weeks that I cried myself to sleep because I was feeling so overwhelmed. But I knew I couldn’t give up and I needed to work even harder just to stay afloat.  

Then one day, I was designing with my nine-month-old baby asleep on my lap and I felt so sick and nauseated. I thought to myself, “Oh no, I’m pregnant!”  It took us almost five years to get pregnant with our first baby and my baby was still a baby!! How am I going to keep up this pace if I am pregnant?

Fast forward almost nine months later. There I am, at work, having contractions. I was on the phone with one of my advertisers. I had to put her on hold several times until the contractions subsided. After each contraction, I would continue our conversation. Once I hung up with her I called my doctor. I had been induced with Rhett Taylor, which made me unsure if I was in labor or if it was just a false alarm.  My nurse suggested to go home and soak in the tub, and if the contractions got worse, she recommended getting checked out.

I went home and got in the tub, the pain was so intense that I immediately jumped out of the tub, got dressed, and drove back to the office to find my husband.  When I got there I told him that it was time. He said time for what? It’s time to have a baby!!! We had a 45-minute drive to the hospital and the contractions were getting worse, only minutes apart now.  We barely made it to the hospital and our second baby boy, Jayden, was born.

Within days I was back to work. No such thing as rest for entrepreneurs and self-employed! Thankfully my parents lived close by and they were able to give me A LOT OF HELP with the boys. (I couldn’t have done it without them – more of that to come) Within a month of having our second child, we opened our second location in Draper, Utah.

And that’s just the beginning…

Almost a year ago I felt like I was going to die.  It was as if life had placed an anvil on top of me that was too heavy for me to lift. I forced myself to continue until my husband had to have an intervention. I was too proud to admit it, so he made me an appointment to see a doctor. The doctor was confused about why I had come, though, as I was well under the “mark”. My husband had told her I was having issues with MENOPAUSE! I couldn’t help but laugh until I cried hearing it, and it made me realize that something must change.  That was the moment I finally admitted to myself that I was not limitless.

It all seemed to change, though, the moment my husband and I signed the loan documents for our new farm. My husband seemed to know that it would help me to be away from the city and escape from work. What we didn’t realize was just how much I would love this change! It was a new lease on life, in a way. We now had a life, away from the bustle, for just our family. It requires so much time and effort to take care of, but it’s fun and relaxing and our family is always working and playing together! That’s what matters most to us!! I love my husband and boys more than anything in this world and I love spending good quality time with them!!

This blog is about our journey as a family, from signing those papers to getting our farm life a working reality! There have been so many ups and downs and exciting, new experiences. It is a journey that I hope to share with others and for our family to be able to remember for years to come. My boys are growing up so fast, this is a journey about family, love, and learning. Learning to be ourselves, learning about new skills, and learning to live as a city family in the country without nannies, tutors, housekeepers, gardeners, caterers, Uber, Door Dash, or Instacart!

If you are new to this story, get ready to laugh, cringe, and ask yourself that same question I ask myself each day now, “What’s next?!?”

In our first and previous blog post, I told you about how we started out as a family business and started our family shortly after. It was a quick introduction but didn’t fully explain our background and breakdown of how our life has gone from a newly married couple to entrepreneurs with four boys! In this next segment, get ready to see how this became such a wild ride.

It was 2006 and I was pregnant with our third baby. I was exhausted. I was commuting over two hours each day. My parents were watching Rhett Taylor and Jayden while I was at work. My dad would drive to our home in Stansbury Park, Utah in the mornings to pick up the boys and take them to their home in Tooele which was 20 minutes each way.

I felt like I didn’t have a life. I was wasting so much time driving (as this was before I started waking up at 4 am!!) There were nights when my husband and I were so tired that we would stay in a hotel in Salt Lake because we didn’t think we could make the drive home. At eight months pregnant, I told my husband that I was DONE commuting.  I missed my cute little boys!  

That night, when we picked the boys up from my parent’s home, we broke the news that we needed to move to Salt Lake City. I could tell they were heartbroken as we told them. I could feel my own heart start to shutter thinking of hurting them. Rhett and I didn’t even have to discuss anything before we both blurted out, “Move in with us!!” It didn’t take a moment of my parents sharing the same ‘couple’s telekinesis’ before they simultaneously said “YES!” What a crazy, wonderful, surprising 10 minutes that was! It was shocking for me to believe they would so easily leave their home of 30 years to move in with our growing family. The boys had become their everyday life, so living without them and going back to a quiet life at home seemed far too foreign to them it turned out. 

Rhett Taylor and Jayden with Grandma and Grandpa Rose.

The hunt was on to find a house that would accommodate two families. Thinking back now, it’s pretty incredible how fast it happened for us. Rhett was checking in on one of our job sites in a beautiful Sandy, Utah neighborhood and came across a “LEASE TO OWN ” sign. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity, he immediately went over to have a look.

I was at the office and received a phone call moments later with Rhett exclaiming he had found the perfect house. It was an older Tudor-style home, with over 8,000 square feet, two kitchens, 7 bathrooms, and a 3 car garage. And, to top it all off, it was only 5 minutes away from the office!! We never thought we would possibly find a home where two families could live as two homes in one and the price was right! Within a couple of weeks, we moved in. It was so nice having my parents with us for so many reasons. (lots more about my wonderful parents later) The most amazing part of all was not having the long commute for me or my parents, and being able to spend time with all of my incredible family without the panic of rushing around. 

After settling into our new place, the time came very quickly for me to have my third baby boy. I had an induction scheduled for June 6th, being only a few days away. My nurse called me and asked if I wanted to reschedule since it was such a superstitious day! That date didn’t bother me and I didn’t want to wait any longer, so I told her that I would see her on 06-06-06.  It’s actually the only birth date that I don’t have to try and remember!

The morning of June 5th I was working on a large pile of work in my home office and I started having light contractions. I was determined to get everything on my to-do list done before I had the baby! While it took me the entire day to finish my work, I then took a shower, packed my hospital bag, and went to bed knowing it would be my last good sleep for a while.  A couple of hours later, my contractions started to get stronger and this time I knew it was time to go to the hospital.

As soon as we got there my doctor was paged. The waiting seemed to take more time than eternity had to give. Finally, my doctor arrived, and within moments, he examined me and then asked me to push. The disappointment seemed to pour out of him from my attempt at pushing and he countered by telling me we would be waiting around all day if I didn’t try harder.

Well, being the competitive person I am thought to myself, “I’ll show you!” We waited for the next contraction and then he asked me to push again, so with all of the strength I could muster, I pushed so hard that the baby came flying out of me like a rocket – placenta and all!! If we had a radar gun it would have read 100 mph!  My doctor had to catch the baby with both hands!  He couldn’t believe what I had done, he didn’t even have time to put on his goggles and he was hitting the call button with his elbow requesting towels – stat.  Blood was all over everyone and we couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. Rhett was so embarrassed and kept asking us to quiet down, he didn’t want us to wake up the patients down the hall.  

It sounds unbelievable and like something out of a 1990’s comedy about pregnancy, but honestly, it’s the pure truth! Our third baby flew into this world like a comet from space! It helps explain how he is flying through life now. After he was born, we realized that we hadn’t decided on a name. Rhett and I were having so much fun trying to come up with a name. We thought of so many names to do with how fast he was born but then my sister Karen came up with the perfect name. Before we knew it several local news stations were calling, they wanted to interview me on TV and to introduce our newborn baby born on 6-6-6 with the name, any guesses?  

Family picture in Albion Basin, Utah

Christian!!! The perfect name for a perfect baby born on “the devil’s day!”

I hesitate writing this part of the story but we got such a good laugh out of it that I can’t resist.

A couple of days after Christian was born, my sister Karen called me laughing her head off.  She asked if I saw Grandma’s letter. My Grandma Rose would send weekly emails to family and friends all over the country updating us on the happenings of the family.  She announced that I had given birth to a healthy baby boy and that I had gotten “skid marks!” It would be an understatement to say that I was mortified! I assumed everyone reading the letter would wonder why she would make such an announcement.  To make it clear, I didn’t get “those” kind of skid marks!! “During childbirth, you might tear, bruise or get what is lovingly referred to as “skid marks” – a kind of graze on the inside of the birth canal which is extremely painful.”  It has more to do with burning rubber when you take your vehicle from 0 to 100, and less to do with what you find in a little boys underwear!! 

Grandma lovingly taking care of baby Christian

Another chapter of our story had commenced, and in more ways than one it felt perfect. My parents were living with us, we had three beautiful boys, and business was good! Little did we know that our story was about to change.  

I must continue on our story, as I have yet to explain and expand briefly on some very important moments in our lives to get us to where we are today. We, of course, had our fourth boy, Kaleb, and many more deeply affecting life junctures around the same time.

We spent the next year in Sandy, and we put in an offer on the house. During this time we were able to sell our homes in Stansbury Park and Tooele. Our offer was not accepted though, and so, we were on the hunt for a new home. It wasn’t as easy as the first time and we looked at countless homes but nothing felt right.

Then one day, I got a call from a friend of ours who was also a general contractor. He needed me to meet him at the home of a well known celebrity who had just moved to Utah. The subdivison was newly developed, and while I had heard of it, I had never ventured there to see it myself. I remember commenting on the home that was for sale next door. Within two months we had moved in!!

We were finally home and everything felt right. The home was beautiful and perfect. There was a fully finished basement with a second kitchen and laundry room for my parents. Plus, business was going better than expected and we felt on top of the world. Suprisingly, I was once again pregnant with our fourth baby and gave birth to him exactly one year to the day after a very emotional miscarriage.  

At that time came the financial crisis of 2008. This indeed affected the renovation and building industries, quite badly, in fact. As many as 200,000 small businesses closed during and after the financial recession. Rhett and I worried nightly as we talked to many of our clients and builders, whom we had worked with for years, who decided to close their doors and could not pay us for the work we had completed. As our competition started to close up shop we thought for sure we were next. But this was not an option for us and we were not going to give up. Our whole family, on both mine and Rhett’s side, and a couple of our good friends were so supportive during these times, that I can only be thankful to have such wonderful people surrounding me in this world and will forever be eternally grateful.

But even harder than the financial crisis we were facing came the news that my father had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Once again, I felt like I was living under a black cloud. I couldn’t sleep at night and I couldn’t take all the pressure and pain I was feeling. I needed my daddy and couldn’t imagine my life without him in it. He has always been a strong and independent man whom others had looked up to. I could tell he didn’t want anyone to worry, but as a family, we were totally distraught. He pushed forward with the grace and strenth that only a soldier could muster. Our family always remembers him saying, “Once a marine, always a marine!” He was a Vietnam veteran, and he also served in the Gulf War as a civilian contractor. He had so much love for our country and would have given his life for it.

We kept a blog of his struggle and the 18 months of fighting Leukemia that took over our lives. Trust me, I can’t write this without tearing up, and I don’t think many people can read our blog for him without doing so as well. You can see the blog here.

This was the most trying time of my life.  I was working harder then ever to manage our business while also taking care of my dad and his needs. This is when I knew we were in the right place at the right time (more on what I am talking about later). It is still incredibly hard to write these words and realize that I won’t see my doting and strong father on this earth anymore.

Because he was a patriot, and I mean what the word used to mean there and not trying to be political, he always had an American flag flying at home. When he lived with us, I had been meaning to put up a large flag as he requested, but never got around to doing it. Now, however, our farm has a massive flag flying on a large flagpole. I think of him every time I look at it and remember him and who he was: my father, my mother’s prince charming, a loving, wonderful man, large in stature with the kindest heart, the patriot.

Thankfully my beautiful mother still lives with us and is a huge part of our lives. I am very blessed and can only be thankful for the precious time I had with my dad and the example he was to my wonderful husband and our band of boys. I love you daddy!!