And we ALL got spoiled (Christmas)

I hate that when I get behind on the blog it is hard to catch back up...

             We had such a great Christmas this year.  We decided to do a video chat with my family on Christmas eve.  Those who didn't come down were either on the phone or on google+ chat.  We usually draw names for Christmas and open our gifts from each other on Christmas eve, so we were able to see each other open gifts. It was fun.

Kelson loving himself in the webcam





CUTE- Rebs and Caleb



On Christmas day our little family opened gifts and played a little before church.  Kelson of course wanted to open every gift that was wrapped.  He got spoiled with some clothes, pj's, and lots of toys (blocks, Lincoln-logs, t-ball set, 'Dumbo' & singing magnets) and books.  Caleb liked the paper more than the gifts.  He also got spoiled with clothes, pj's, books, and toys (teething toys, stuffed animal, rolling and singing ball- which he is scared of if it gets too close haha)  Trevor spoiled me this year too.  He gave me a deep fryer and a Kindle Fire.  It was fun, I had NO idea he got it- he used his work bonus (a visa gift card) so I didn't see it in the accounts.  And just like every year, I didn't know what to get Trevor, but I think he liked his gifts I got him a thermal lined zip up hoodie, and a toy for his guns (I don't remember what it is called) he shoots the gun through it and it will tell you exactly how fast your bullet is going.  (So, we lost the camera and most of Christmas morning is on video- so hardly any pics)

Caleb staring at his new lion



Kelson preparing to open dad's gift



After we opened all of our gifts we ate our Christmas morning cinnamon rolls and headed off to church.  I love when Christmas falls on Sunday, it is the perfect way to remember the true meaning of Christmas.  After church we headed over to New Castle, so we could open the gifts from each other and from mom and dad Gardner.  Everyone got spoiled.  We got a 6 ft folding table (which i have wanted for a while) a cookbook and Trevor got things you shoot at and they explode haha 

We had such a good time spending our Christmas with family.  What a great Christmas.

I REMEMBER

I will post about Christmas later, but I wanted to do a post today....


I REMEMBER

It was 19 years ago
I lost a father and a friend
I was only 6 years old
but there are memories I hold

I remember eating early
in the morning with my dad
Breakfast before he went to work
then he'd tuck me back in bed

I remember swinging
in the yard watching as he played
basketball with the my brothers
and smiling all the day

I remember going to the farm
and helping with the sheep
feeding little lambs and
riding in the tractor until i fell asleep

I remember reading scriptures
as a family at night
He always led us on the straight path
and taught us what was right

I remember being woke up
in the middle of the night
to hear this horrible news
as my mother held us tight

I remember learning at church
that he would live again
I hold on to that promise
everyday to help me be with him

It was 19 years ago
we lost a father and a friend
I have a few memories
that I will cherish to the end.


I miss you and love you dad!

It's ALL about the boys

I'm sure I will have a lot more posts like this, but I just don't want to forget some of the cute or funny things that Kelson says...

Last time we were in St. George we drove past the temple and Kelson kept saying "It's my temple.  Look, it's my temple."  Then later when we got on the freeway he could see it and he kept pointing and talking about it. As soon as it left our view he said "where'd my temple go?"  "I wanna see my temple, where'd it go?"  It was a proud moment for Trevor and I.

A few nights ago as I was delivering some gifts.  He pointed at the Christmas lights and said, "Look at them lights mom."  "Look at them lights."  I said "Look at THOSE lights."  "It's not them, it's those."  He then got quite confused and was saying "look lights thock."  So I tried again, "those lights"  he again said "look at the lights thock"  haha so I said "never mind"  and he immediately went back to saying "look at them lights."  Haha  I guess he is a true Gardner after all :)  The funniest part is when I told Trevor and Clint at grandma's last night they didn't think saying "them lights" was wrong.  hahaha :)

One more short story.
Last night we were over at grandma's house and we had Hawaiian haystacks for dinner.  Kelson had rice and gravy and a few peppers and chow-mien noodles on his plate.  He picked up a noodle and dipped it in his gravy and said "that pencil good!" haha  he always gives us a good laugh :)


A LITTLE ABOUT CALEB TOO...
Yesterday Caleb started laughing a lot more.  He has been so stingy with his laughs and yesterday I was laughing and my laughing made him laugh.  It was funny and oh so cute.  He is sitting up all by himself now and only falls sometimes.  He has 2 teeth that he loves to show off with his smile and is working on getting 2 or 3 more teeth.

Just a little mud covered snack after breakfast

So, as I'm dipping chocolate this morning, Kelson says: "a lot of mud mom!"  Haha "yep Kelson it is a lot of mud."  A few minutes later Caleb starts crying and as his crying gets louder and louder Kelson says: "Brother is mad at you." So, I try to hurry and finish my project to get to my little screamer.  I am almost done dipping, and there is just a little chocolate left so I dip a Gram cracker in it and give it to Kelson.  He takes and just sorta looks at it like am I supposed to eat this- kinda look.  I said, "taste it, it's yummy."  After taking a bit he gives the cracker back and says "want more mud mom."  "It's good mud!"

A whole lot of catching up... 4 posts in 1!

Well this is a long post of catching up....

CHASE AND MALORIE TIED THE KNOT!!
Chase and Malorie got married this last weekend.  They got married on Dec. 10 in the St. George temple. It was a very good ceremony and I am so happy for them. 

They decided to have a reception in New Castle and in St. George- so we had a busy week.  They went thru the temple for the first time on Wed. the 7th, and on Thursday we decorated (the New Castle church) for the reception.  The New Castle reception was on Friday the 9th.  It was decorated with a westernish theme.  It turned out way cute. Saturday was the wedding, the luncheon, and the St. George reception.  The receptions both turned out way cute and they were very enjoyable.  Congrats you two!

Chase and Malorie with Grandma and Grandpa Gardner

CALEB IS 6 MONTHS
I can't believe how fast time has gone since Caleb was born!  He is such a happy little guy.  He will smile his big dimpled smile all the time- but he won't laugh for much.  He rolls over like crazy these days and it is very hard to change his diaper cause he is such a little wiggle-worm.  He is always reaching for something to put in his mouth.  He got his first tooth on December 5th.  We started him on solids (baby food) about 1 1/2 weeks ago.  He has tried and likes rice cereal, green beans, carrots, and peas.  He still wakes up about once a night.  He is really close to sitting all by himself- he just falls a few times, he hasn't figured out how to stop the falling yet.  He is around 17 pounds, and a very happy baby.  He loves Kelson so much... he loves to watch him play and loves when Kelson gives him his attention.  We love him so much.  Happy Half-Birthday Caleb!

GARDNER FAMILY PICTURES
Before the New Castle reception we had family pictures.  It was well overdue... besides wedding pictures the Gardner's haven't had family pictures taken since Brett was 2!!  They turned out pretty cute... (here are just a few)




WELCOME TO THE WORLD BABY KINSEY

Clint and Jamie were due to have the baby November 9th, but she didn't want to come. So, she came on the 16th instead.   I just kept feeling so bad for Jamie... I've never even gone past 38 1/2 weeks.  Kelson has loved having a little baby cousin so close.  So many times right after she was born he would say. "I wanna see baby cousin." Congrats to Clint and Jamie!

Kinsey Beth Gardner

Halloween

Unfortunately I had to work on Halloween, so when I got home I was very tired.  I went to my in-laws house to get the kids and my mother-in-law was busy cutting up deer meat from the hunt.  So, I took Brett (11 yr old brother in law) and Kelson trick-or-treating in New Castle.  We didn't go to very many houses, but I was tired and I figured Kelson didn't need TONS of candy.  He let me put the lion costume on- but he did cry for a minute.  Once he realized people were giving him candy he didn't care about the costume at all.  After trick-or-treating in New Castle, we went to Andrea's house to get a treat.  Kelson was so happy from all his candy and the boys looked so cute.  Halloween evening with my boys made my day great!

Wedgie Giraffe and a Scary Lion

I bought a giraffe costume for $4 at a yard sale for Kelson to be for Halloween.  The night before the Halloween Carnival in Beryl I decided I better make sure that it fits...  I put the costume on (no hood) and it was pretty snug- then I put the hood on and it became wedgie giraffe.  So, the next morning I asked a friend at work if I could borrow a costume for him.  She brought a few to choose from... I chose the lion because it is adorable.
Beryl Carnival Story:
So, I decided to take both costumes to New Castle just in case the Lion costume was way too big- good thing I took both...
I said lets put on your costume and he was so excited until I held up the lion costume.  He said "scary"  I said "yep the lion is scary huh?"  So I told him we are going to put it on and he ran away from me saying he was scared.  Yep, sure enough he was scared of the lion costume.  I tried a few times and finally put on the giraffe costume.  As we were getting in the car he said, "mom- bum hurts".
We went to the carnival and he didn't really want to wear the hood because it made his bum hurt.  Well we bought a few tickets and played a few games.  He won a cake at the cake walk, and of course he picked the ugliest one of all (did NOT even look edible!).  It was a pretty fun night and lucky for me I won some raffle prizes.
Enterprise Carnival Story:
A few days later was the carnival in Enterprise, so I had tried preparing him to wear the lion.  We kept talking about it and he kept telling me he would.  Well, it was a little bit of a fight to get the costume on.  Once it was on I thought he would think it was cute if he saw himself in the mirror- WRONG!  He looked in the mirror and cried "scared mom, scared"  So, he didn't wear his hood most of the carnival in Enterprise either.  He was being scared of everything.  I finally decided he would enjoy the cake walk again.  Well, because we won a cake at the previous carnival he thought he should just get a cake.  So, the entire time we waited in line he was kinda whining because he wanted a cake.  A few times he even layed on the floor whining for a cake now.  So, we finally get to the cake walk and luckily we won again!!  This time he picked a cake that looked and tasted pretty darn good.  It was an adventure at the carnival without help.