A growing family

 Here is our little crew. I can't believe how fast time flies.

These little kidlets grew up over night.

And this baby girl turned 1 yesterday!

Which is a good thing because her baby brother will be joining us soon.

And I think he's going to look just like his big brother.

It has been a whirlwind year, but the best year ever. And as our little crew gets bigger, we are filled with gratitude for the adventures our little family has been blessed with and for the many adventures yet to come.

Little Darlings

Somehow we pulled a brunette, a blonde, and a redhead

out of our gene pool hat.

 HOW ON EARTH did we get so lucky!?!

Love these little goofballs!

Ben

Note to self:

Never leave the Bud unattended with a grown up game in close proximity...

One Million Card Pickup anyone?

Ugh.

Valentine's Party

Last weekend we had a Valentine's party.

It looked a little like this:

And a little like that:

And tasted kind of like this:

We played silly couples games and laughed pretty hard.

But the prize of the night goes to Paul's second counselor

who brought these as his "hors doeuvre" assignment:

McDoubles. AWESOME.

6 Months

She's 6 Months Old!!

(14.1 lbs, 25 inches)

 And look what she can do!!

 HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?!

I JUST BROUGHT HER HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL!!

 Her loveliest of features are for sure her eyes - they are so breathtaking and these pictures do NOT do them justice.

(although her cheekers are a really close second on the cuteness scale)

Happy 6 Month Birthday Baby Girl!
Thank you for bringing so much JOY to our family!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Becoming

Ever since I attended Time-Out for Women last fall I have been consumed by the idea of "becoming."

Becoming the mother my children need me to be.

Becoming the wife my husband already sees in me.

Becoming the person that my Heavenly Father, in His divine plan,

has promised is my potential because I am His daughter.

It has consumed my thoughts in the early hours of the morning as I cuddle her:

It has consumed my thoughts in the daily tasks of feeding and clothing and entertaining these two:

It has consumed my thoughts as I discuss things of mortality and things of eternity with the one I share them with:

It has consumed my thoughts and guided my course as I study this:

and this:

And then today I stumbled upon THIS.

Which I am convinced was not by accident.

Because it has been a HUGE stumbling block in my "becoming" process and for some reason putting a label on it helps me to learn how to step around it. Kind of like a spiritual warning sign that says "THIS IS THE HOLE YOU KEEP GETTING YOUR FOOT STUCK IN SO DON'T STEP HERE!!"

I love THIS talk about spiritual warning signs.

So today I am choosing to be awesome. Today I am stepping around the stumbling blocks and choosing to move forward trusting that the Holy Ghost will be my personal "becoming" guide.

I know he will - he hasn't led me astray yet.

Family Christmas Card

Behind the scenes of making a Christmas card...

Step 1: Take a family photo.

This will allow friends and family far away to see how much the kidlets have grown.

Gardner family photo - take 1

 Gardner family photo - take 5

 Gardner family photo - take 13

 Gardner family photo - take 17

 Gardner family photo - take 23

 Gardner family photo - take 31 = good enough.

Step 2: Book photographer for next years family photo ;) Using the self timer on the camera with small children = less effective.  You good for it Val?

Step 3: Collect addresses of family and friends in far away places. Dang. For those of you who have recently moved or whose addresses we lost - we hope you had a WONDERFUL Christmas!

Love, the Gardners.

My Present

Dear Santa, I know you have your hands full so feel free to skip me this year. I've already got what I want under the tree.

It's not wrapped in paper with a pretty red bow - it's too perfect for that.

Didn't come from a fancy store - it came from a place much better.

This precious gift has brought more joy to us this Christmas

than anything from your workshop ever could.

She loves looking at the lights and tasting the tree.

She is a special reminder to us of another Special Baby whose birth we celebrate this time of year. And because of His gift we get to be with our sweet little gift (and our other gifts Rachel and Ben) forever.

So while we're grateful for the love and generosity your gifts represent, nothing in your bag could ever compare to this. Thanks anyway Santa! Merry Christmas!

Tonight I had the hankering to get all fancy

and exercise my mad culinary skills

(I watch Food Network - watch out)

by making poached pears with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert.

They were nasty.

So while admitting defeat

(alright my culinary skills aren't that mad)

I reached in the fridge and pulled out a simple jar of

home canned peaches.

And that's when I realized

sometimes you don't have to get all fancy to succeed.

Sometimes success is found in the simple things.

Although I don't think the series "Iron Chef - Home Canner Edition" will be airing any time soon...

FALL!

We love Vernal in the fall.

 Our home is surrounded by very big trees which provide beautiful shade in the summer, and a TON of leaves to rake in the fall. But the kids don't mind those big leaf piles...

 Benny especially loves playing tackle with Daddy in all those leaves...

 And Daddy loves playing tackle right back.

 The lil' sweet pea likes to sport the pink warm weather garb...

 And Daddy loves those rosy pink cheekers.

 Happy Fall!!