Haaallleee!!!

She may be TROUBLE but she's sure cute!

Conversation with Caite:

Me: (talking to all the kids) Shhhh, you need to be more quiet the baby is sleeping.

Caite: Halle is NOT a baby, she's a woman. She has her own purse!

Me: True she has her own purse, but that doesn't make her a woman.

Caite: Well, she's still a woman, just a little one.

A Very Merry Christmas!

We had a Wonderful Christmas this year. It beat being in the hospital last year!! I love being able to just relax. With living so far away from family, we can focus on our little family. I like it that way. We don't need to be anywhere or do anything. We can just Enjoy the day. We played with our new stuff and stayed in our jammies until about 2. It was great!

Santa found us and brought new bikes for the kids. They were very excited. They had out grown and out wore the old ones. They also got a bunch of fun games we can play as a family. Isaac has been asking for a piano for several months (something we don't have room for in this house), so Nana and Papa gave him a nice key board for a Christmas/early birthday gift. It was a hit!

The biggest surprise came from Papa and Nana. There were a few gifts labeled to the Whole Family. So each of the kids opened one. They happened to be Wii accessories, with the final box a Wii. Now that was excitement and we were all VERY surprised. We have never owned any type of video game system, needless to say the kids are jumping up and down. We bowled, hit tennis balls, golfed, and played a bunch of other sports. It's a fun family activity. Thanks Nana and Papa!!

All in all we were spoiled this year.

And as Gardner Family Tradition goes...we spent all day yesterday (the day after Christmas) taking down the tree and all the decorations. As much as I LOVE putting them up and having the house all Christmasy, I LOVE taking it all down and having the clutter gone and my house back to normal.

Halle Turns ONE!!!

This year has been the fastest year ever! I literally don't know where the time has gone. We are so blessed to have Halle as part of our family and can't imagine life without here. She was a wonderful Christmas Eve present last year. Halle has turned into the sweetest, happiest baby. She is mellow and takes a lot from here siblings. She brings out a tender side in Isaac that I have never seen before. She melts our hearts and we love her!

Because Papa and Nana were in town we decided to celebrate Halle's birthday a few days early. So the night before they left we did cake and presents. She was not thrilled to have a party hat on her head, but as soon at we took it off she was very interested in opening her gifts. She dug into the cake and at one point, picked it up and shoved it in her face. We laughed, she laughed, it was a fun night.

Our Visitors

Nana and Papa came to visit this past week. We always love when they come. The kids counted down the days until they arrived and were extremely excited when they finally got here. We Christmas shopped, watched BYU lose, played games, ate good food, listened to Caite and Hayden put on a musical concert from the fireplace stage, talked until way past our bed time and celebrated the girls birthdays by going to Play Time Pizza. It's always wonderful to have family come!! Thank you Papa and Nana for visiting, please come back soon! Play Time Pizza

Ice Day?

Living in Utah and Michigan we know Snow days. But here in Arkansas it's a bit different. Last week it started raining a bit, then it turned to ice pellets. By morning we has a thick sheet of ice covered by ice pellets all over everything. School was cancelled and we stayed home (for 2 days)...you can't drive on ice like you can snow. The kids did everything you would do in snow, minus the snow man. They went sledding down the neighbors yard (on ice), and they "ice skated" on our drive way. Isaac stayed out in the bitter cold all day. I kept telling him he was crazy and needed to come in. He had a fun day!

Caite's 5!

It's doesn't seem like five years ago when Isaac and I got on a plane leaving Grenada and headed to Utah to have Caite. I left the island about a month before my due date so it was "safe" to travel. Aaron finished up finales and made it home just 2 days before our cute girl was born. Life hasn't been the same since. Caite is the best hugger, has a contagious smile and laugh, she is smart, friendly, and extremely picky about what she wears. We love her to pieces!!

We celebrated Caite's big day by having a few friends over for a Christmas Birthday Party. We made candy trains, home made pizza, and played games. The party was simple yet successful. Just the way I like it. Here are the highlights in pictures.

Baby Steps

Look at Halle go!

For the last few weeks she has taken a few steps at a time. Now she can go from the fireplace to the couch. In the background, Caite is singing and dancing on her "stage".

Fa la la la la

We decorated just before Thanksgiving this year because Aaron was home to help. I'm glad we did other wise it still wouldn't be up. I love this time of year. I love the lights, the trees, the candy, the music, the letters to Santa, the Christmas decor, the nativities, and the drives around the neighborhoods at night looking at lights. I love the feeling of Christmas. It's a happy, peaceful, joyous kind of feeling. We are trying hard to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas, but in reality they're true kids. They want their own TVs, cell phones, bikes, video games and everything else we see in stores. Although they may not be getting TVs and cell phones, they will be happy. I love their excitement. It's contagious.

Halle is starting to walk! She's not too stable yet, but will take up to 10 steps. I keep trying to get video of it, but she gets too excited and crawls after the camera. So a still shot will have to do for now.

What's for Lunch?

A few months ago a new Kroger was built in our town. I have been told it is the biggest one they have built. Needless to say it's very nice. The have a sushi bar with sushi chefs (or whatever they are called) there making it fresh daily.

I have been known on occasion (or several occasions) to stop by the sushi bar at lunch time.They have these Philadelphia Rolls that are filled with avocado, crab, and cream cheese. Dip them in soy sauce and a little wasabi and they are to die for! It's true I crave them often. Yesterday was one of those days! Mmmmmm so good! And yes, I eat all of them and would eat more if I bought more.

While I chowed on my sushi, Halle had ravioli for the first time. She chowed!!! She loved it!

Birthday Picture for Dad

Hayden drew Aaron a birthday picture. I found it GLUED to the chair Aaron sits on for dinner.

Tribute to my Man!

To my Golden Boy

Happy Birthday!

Just wanted to let ya'll know that I HAVE the PERFECT guy! Here are 31 completely random facts about him.

1. One of the other residents call him Golden Boy, because he does everything well.

2. He works extremely hard and gives 110% in everything he does.

3. He's a perfectionist.

4. He is wrapped around both his girls little fingers. (see above picture, look what he lets Caite do to him)

5. He loves the outdoors, but doesn't get to be out as much as he would like.

6. He's working on saving the world.

7. He is an incredible writer and public speaker (although he prefers not speaking)

8. He's very sarcastic.

9. He loves Indian Food.

10. He loves everything I cook (at least he tells me that).

11. He won't eat celery.

12. He doesn't like clutter. Everything has a place.

13. He has a file for almost everything.

14. He's patient with me and the kids.

15. He loves Broadway Plays.

16. He loves music...good music.

17. He loves to run.

18. He's a neat freak. (that makes it easy on me, one less person to clean up after)

19. He doesn't care for animated movies.

20. He's never been to Hawaii.

21. He loves his helicopter pants.

22. He can stay up late and wake up early and not be cranky.

23. He loves getting take out and bringing in home to eat while watching TV.

24. He's not a huge sports fan other than BYU football.

25. He loves Elder Neal A. Maxwell talks and books.

26. He loves to read, just doesn't have the time

27. He hates confrontation.

28. He gets more done in a day than most people I know.

29. Aside from me, his best friend is his dad. They are 2 peas in a pod!

30. He has a secret crush on Faith Hill and Taylor Swift.

31. In my eyes he's PERFECT!

Love you Hon!!

125 plus Thanksgiving

125...that's how many hours Aaron has worked so far this week and he's still not home. Hopefully he won't be too late tonight. I'm tired and I'm sure he' s beyond EXHAUSTED! The sad part is that he was planning on having the weekend off. But another resident's wife decided to have a baby, Aaron was off and in town so he got called in for the WHOLE weekend. Just our luck!

He did have Thanksgiving Day off. We were invited over to the Behesti's (our Bishop) house for a nice Lunch. It was wonderful. We were joined by a few other families and had a great time. The food was fabulous, it's always better when I don't have to make the whole meal. We ate til our hearts (and bellies) content then played "round robin" ping pong to work off some of that food before pie. I was in charge of the pies. I found incredible recipes for pumpkin cream cheese pie, coconut custard, regular pumpkin, and pecan. I had fun making them and even more fun eating them. It was nice not to have to spend the day alone. We really have been blessed throughout our time away from family with wonderful people who have become our family. We have been well taken care of over the years, although we look forward to the time when we get to spend Thanksgiving and the other Holidays with our families...all of them.

HE Knows Me

It seems like no matter what stage in life we are in it is busy. So many times I feel like I am being pulled in 4 different directions at the same time. There is always something that has to get done; whether it's making Christmas presents for all the Sisters in the Ward, doing the never ending piles of laundry, sitting down to do homework with the kids, or making dinner. I have left out the other 100 things that moms, wives, and LDS women do on a daily basis, but you get my point.

I found myself complaining the other day about not having time to enjoy anything I was doing. I was in a "get one task done so I could move on to the next task" mode. Not really happily doing any of them.

I was making dinner and Caite asked if I could play a game with her. I said after dinner. Well dinner came and went, clean up came and went, then baths came and went. I got the kids in bed and Caite started crying, "You said you would play a game with me!" But now it was bed time and she had school in the morning. "We'll do it tomorrow." She was sad and I felt bad.

Then I got a call from a lady in the Ward asking me to sub for her in Relief Society next week. The lesson is a Conference talk give by President Monson, "Finding Joy in the Journey." President Monson said, "Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important--and what is most important always involves the people around us." "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

The night I didn't play the game with Caite, I made her feel like she was less important than cleaning up. I don't want that to happen again. So I need to come up with a better solution. Dinner still needs to be made, the house still needs to be cleaned, but my kids need to know that they are the most important things to me. I'm working on it...finding joy in the journey. Heavenly Father knew I needed to teach this lesson. If no one in Relief Society gets anything out of my lesson, I did. I need it. Isn't that how it always goes? I'm grateful for a loving Father who KNOWS me so well, knows my needs, and knows how to meet them.

School Closed...Mom Goes Crazy

We got a message from our neighbor while we were out of town that said, "Chrystal Hill will be closed next week due to a roof structural problem." What in the world? So we got home Saturday and talked to a friend who's kids go to the same school. Same message, not much information. On the news that night they had a blip on it saying that the fire retardant that was sprayed on the roof when it was built in 1992 is causing a chemical reaction with the trusses and wood under the shingles that causes them to weaken and decay. Great so the roof of my kids school is at HIGH RISK for caving in on them. Now no one is allowed in until it is fixed. How long will that take?? I read on the website just now that the students and their teachers will be relocated to Maumelle Middle School starting Monday until further notice. The problem...k-5 relocates to Maumelle Middle and Pre-K (Caite's class) relocates to Oak Grove about 10 miles away. They both start and end the same time. Someone will be late.


In the mean time we have ALL been together ALL last week and now ALL this week. The kid had had about enough of each other. I've have enough of the fighting. The weather hasn't been conducive to outside play. cold. rainy. We still can't find Hayden (see earlier post) and Isaac likes to tease everyone when he's bored. Aaron came home last night gave me a hug and kiss. I said take me away. I did. Without kids this time.

Branson

(Warning: this is a very LONG post)

We survived a week long Family Vacation!! We set out Sunday afternoon for a quick 3 hour drive to Branson. I'm so glad our kids are good travelers. It make life so much easier. We got to our condo just in time to grab dinner, do a little grocery shopping for the week, unpack, and put the kids to bed. We had a beautiful 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 kitchen, 2 living room, screened in porch condo located right on Lake Table Top. It was roomy and worked quite nicely for our big family. It was very nice to stay in a condo vs. a hotel. much bigger and we could make our own food (when we were there).

Day One: We hung out at the condo in the morning and then we had to go to one of those "high pressure sell you a timeshare" meetings. It was really easy to say no due to the fact we have no money to buy into it. How ever they still put the pressure on and the 1 hour meeting turned into 2.5. I was mad. But we got 2 day tickets for our whole family to go to Silver Dollar City for only$34 (it would have cost over $200 if we paid out of pocket). The rest of the day was spent driving around Branson seeing what it had to offer. We found a mall on the river that had a great fountain and fire show set to Christmas music. The kids thought that was fun.Day two: Got back in the mini-van and drove 4 hours to Independence, Missouri to check out the Visitors Center, the funny Community of Christ Temple, Adam Ondi Ahman, and Liberty Jail. We thought since we were staying in Branson we were already half way there, so we took advantage of the opportunity of seeing all the Church History Cites in Missouri. Very neat. I think my favorite was Adam Ondi Ahman. The fall leaves made it gorgeous! The history there is amazing and the future is even more incredible. It is such a peaceful place, similar to the Sacred Grove. You can definitely feel the strong spirit there.

Day Three: Silver Dollar City. Their "Old Time Christmas Festival" started the beginning of November, just in time for us to see it. Every building was lit up with a million lights, they had all kinds of Christmas Shows going on and all the shops were filled with Christmas Decor. It was so much fun. Of course the kids only cared about the rides, the light Parade, and all the little candy shops. The rides were great and there was something for everyone. Among the favorites were the "little roller coaster", the frog, the shooting boat ride, and the indoor roller coaster.

Day Four: Isaac woke up throwing up. Hayden followed a few hours later. While the boys were home sick, I took the girls shopping. We got to the outlet mall, I put Halle in the stroller and Caite says, "Mom I need a rag, I just threw up." I looked in the van and all I could see was vomit on the floor and seats. Sick!! So I spent an hour cleaning it up with baby wipes, just to get it clean enough to go to the store and buy carpet cleaner and real rags. No real shopping was done. So sad and so sick. So day four was a bad day.

Day Five: Hung out at the condo until after lunch...making sure everyone was okay and not going to throw up anymore. Back to Silver Dollar City (it didn't open until 1). This time it was cold out side. We bundled up and had another fun filled day. The favorite was the Foam Ball House we found at the end of the night. It was a 3 or 4 story open building that has these cool foam ball guns. You could shoot at people from across the house, or up to different stories. It was really fun. Aaron really got in to it.

Day Six: Back to the outlet mall for some shopping. It took us 20 minutes to get to the parking lot from the road...too many cars...too many old people...no parking places...I was annoyed and didn't want to fight the crowds with 4 kids. No shopping was done. Went back to the condo, ate lunch, packed up and headed home.

Vacation was fun, but it's soooo nice to be home.

Thanks for the Condo Nana and Papa!