GarNer GaZettE

2011-12-07T13:49:00.002-07:00

Chapter 2

Stalker

Once I realized that I wanted to be with this man, a strange amount of self confidence overcame me. I was always insecure and somewhat shy, but with him I felt a push to pursue him. So of course I did what any reasonable person would do and decided to stalk him. Heather and I found his address in the phone book, and put on our best disguise (baseball hats) and headed on our adventure. While trying to find his house we became very lost. So when we saw a lady outside her house we pulled over and asked her if she knew where the address we were looking for was. Of course she knew them, yikes, and asked us if we were going to see Holly (his sister) to which we promptly answered "yes"! She told us how to get there and I drove off nervous and red faced. We drove to his neighborhood. It was a nice neighborhood with big houses. His was the last house on the right. I wasn't sure if it was his until I looked in the big family room window and saw him. He was only wearing black jeans, no shirt, and was climbing a ladder up to some sort of attic space. I about died. I felt a little bit like a peeping Tom at this point too. So I was just about to drive on by, as was the plan, when I realized it was a dead end street. This makes doing a casual drive by rather difficult. I panicked. I was sure he, or someone in his family would see us!! So I slumped down in my seat pulled my hat down low and got the hell out of there!! Whew that was some serious stress. It was a very fun night though, and a memory that I love.

My Love Story

2011-12-01T13:50:00.003-07:00

I have wanted to write the love story of Jeff and I chapter style for a long long time. So I am going to do it now! I am actually really excited to write this because I love our story. So here it goes!

Chapter 1

So long Chuck.

I hated my senior year of high school! It was a terrible trial in my life. It left me defeated and feeling worthless. I am telling you this because that is my excuse to why I graduated and went on to work at Chuck E Cheese. I was almost the oldest one working there that wasn't a manager. I didn't mind my job, but it wasn't exactly getting me anywhere. I stayed there for 10 months, I think, and that was about 5 months longer than I really wanted to. I must say, however, that I made some great friends while working there and I have many fond memories that I will take with me through life. I also met by very best friend Heather there. So I wouldn't change any of it. At all. In fact, Heather and I decided to quit at the same time. So we just decided not to show up for work one day (really mature I know). Problem solved. We were no longer having to wear the smelly Check E costume. Darn. Heather went on to work at Sounds Easy (mmmm I miss those bread sticks) while I on the other hand headed to Subway. Best decision of my life. I remember going in for my interview, wearing my bright orange rain jacket (man I loved that jacket), and feeling very nervous. I don't remember much about the interview, I just remember feeling like it had gone well. It had, and I was hired. First day of work was nerve wracking as I tried to learn the way of things. But it was alright because he was there . He was cute with his subway shirt, apron, and visor. But mostly I loved his blue shoes. Oh I loved those shoes. They caught my attention. That and his "bed head" hair that stuck up in the back. I was so drawn to him. Instantly. There was just something about him that stirred up my soul and spoke right to my heart. So much so that I came home that day and announced to my mom that I had met the man I was going to marry. I knew it. She laughed at me of course but I just knew he would be mine, and I would be his.

2011-11-02T17:07:00.003-06:00

Ya know......sometimes you just want to quit. Grab your car keys and drive off into the sunset never looking back. Oh but wait I have 5 children and I could never leave my Jeffie. But still......sometimes there just ain't nothing left in ya! This last week I have been stretched thin (which begs the question why can't life literally stretch me thin.... hmmmm...) I am exhausted and honestly feel like a deflated balloon. At night I think to myself "how on earth am I going to do this all over again tomorrow"?? Yet I do, and I survive. Only today I am wanting to live. Not just survive. But I am just.so.tired. There are so many to do lists that I have taken to ignoring them all. That's not really working so well for me. Ah if only I could just pull it together. At least long enough to get my laundry done! Life. Wow it can be so beautiful and such a pile of crap all at once! The madness of it all!! I kinda wish I could go back to simpler times, only I would have to have mascara cause I don't love walking around looking like a fish...... but I just feel like things were so lovely back in those days. You know the Sense and Sensibility times. Although truth be told I am sure I would hate it. Maybe that's my problem I'm just a complainer. A self loathing, pity party throwing, unhappy grouch. Blah.

2011-09-30T21:55:00.002-06:00

Life is spinning all around me too fast. I can't keep up. My kids are going to be grown and gone before I know it. I want to make time slow, just for a bit.

Ahhh time....... There just never seems enough of it, and it is always speeding on by as if it was running a marathon. It will always control us. We will always be at its mercy in a sense. "Oh, 8:00 bath time for the kids". Oh it's 11:00, I really should go to bed". "7 A.M. rise and shine"! You see what I'm saying. Time is kinda the shiz, the power house, the Goblin King! Maybe that's why he is called "Father" time. Cause he is sorta in charge around here. And let's be honest, ain't no controlling or tricking him. Yep he's the Goblin King. HA- wait I am remembering a specific line, like the most important line of the movie, along the lines of "you have no power over me" darn! Bad analogy on my part.

2011-09-27T12:40:00.000-06:00

Wow we had an AWESOME Summer!!!! Ready or not here comes Fall!!

2011-09-20T11:46:00.003-06:00

While walking into my room, i took in a deep innocent breath only to have a very large mosquito suck into my lungs. In my violent coughing attempt to expel the nasty bastard i peed. A lot. all down my legs. A lot. Good thing I already had the bath water running.........

2011-09-14T10:29:00.002-06:00

I have nothing planned to write today. Nevertheless I am going to start and see what this post morphs into. I seem to have this cycle of good week, bad week. This week is leaning more towards the bad end of things...... the funny thing is I don't really know why! I just tend to fight reality more at times. This week I veto reality, I want to be independently wealthy, and have multiple houses around the world ready and waiting for me and my whim! Ahhh but alas, I am just an average mom, with a hard working husband trying to survive this thing called life. Life. It is a crazy thing and yet so beautiful all at once. Monday I was so emotional. I was crying all over the place. I watched the Mo Tab's 9/11 special and broke down in the middle of it-and I mean broke down-like sobbing, because it hit me so hard how glad I am that God allowed me to keep Jeff with me longer. That he could have died back in November of '07 in Guatemala without me, without his children by his side, without a proper good bye..... after all this happens everyday. People pass on unexpectedly, without warning. It happened to so many people on September 11th, 2001. I only know a fraction of that pain, because I really thought that was it, when Jeff got sick in Guatemala. I thought that he wasn't coming home alive. It is the most numbing, zombie inducing, dream like state of mind. Everything you do, you do as if you are outside of your body making yourself do it. Like a string puppet. It's weird and awful and lonely. But unlike so many others mine turned out different. I got the "happy ending". I need to make sure that I am thanking my God for that every.single.day. God is good. He is so very good. To me, to you. I have felt so restless lately. I feel as if there is so much more I need to be doing. Something greater, and bigger. I don't know what this means and to be honest it kind of scares me....... Maybe it's just the simple everyday need to look for someone I can help. Who knows. I do feel an overwhelming amount of love pouring down on me from Heaven, and it feels good :). I love knowing that I have so many people cheering me on up there. It makes all the difference in the world. I have a good life. A blessed life. My husband is an amazing human being who has done SO much good with his life! How did I ever get lucky enough to be able to call him mine?? My children, oh my children. I want so much for them! They have so much potential to do good in this world. I hope that is what they will choose-good. I hope I can teach them well and do my best as a mother :/ yikes! Mostly I just hope my kids, and my Jeff can always feel my love for them deep within their hearts. :) Cause goodness knows it's there in great abundance!!

Free Bird

2011-08-15T21:57:00.003-06:00

Life is good. I am happy. I have discovered something wonderful. It's a book called Intuitive Eating. It hits home with me and I am so glad that I have found it! I feel myself changing with every page I read. It's awesome. Totally awesome. I am so happy to be able to love myself just the way I am for the first time in my entire life!! I am so glad that I am able to to understand myself and have a better relationship with food. I feel like a free bird who has been let out of her cage after 33 years! It's amazing. There are so many things I love about who I am. They have always been so hard for me to see. I feel like each day I am able to see something new and wonderful that I can do or that I am already doing. I am a rock star you guys!! ;)

I went and saw The Help with my mom, sister, and two of my nieces today. It was such a good movie! I absolutely loved everything about it! It was hard to watch the way black people were discriminated against, inside I was screaming! Wow. It got me thinking. God gave me a gift. It's something I have had since I can remember. It's the gift of loving freely. Without any bias or judgement. I have always had a hard time with narrow minded people. I don't care to be in their company. They make me squirm in my seat. I just love people for who they are. I think that's the way it should be. I think that is the God like way. After all, he let us come here, be free to choose, and become who we want to be. If we aren't free to choose, do we ever really know who we are? No we don't. Which is why it had to be this way in order for us to to be. In order for us to become. After watching this movie I was overwhelmed with the feeling of how we are ALL equal. We are ALL children of God. He loves ALL of us the same. And it's SO important to take care of each other and love each other and help each other out. Just remember it doesn't have to be a big ordeal service project. People need your help every day all the time. Look for it, you'll find where your needed. :) "see a need, fill a need" - Bigwell (from the cartoon Robots haha). Good night!

2011-08-02T13:55:00.002-06:00

I feel like I need to redeem myself! I have been ultra negative the last while but I am going to play the Pollyanna game here for a minute! I am so grateful for good friends! Especially since I am kinda not very good at it! Not all of my good friends are pictured here but that doesn't mean that I am not so thankful for you in my life! It's good to have other women to just hash it all out with ya know? I am grateful for the example that these ladies are to me! They are amazing! So, so amazing! So life does have beauty mixed in with the dirt and grime and my mission this week is to focus on that!! :) I will try my darndest! P.S. I stole this from your blog Lis!! I freakin love this picture sooooo much!!! Glad you all could celebrate the big 33 with me me, hehe! OK OK I am stopping now! Peace out.

It's dark and I'm overwhelmed and alone........nothing new.

2011-07-28T21:12:00.002-06:00

I fear that my posts are taking a turn for the dark and dismal........ I don't mean for that to happen I am just in a difficult time in my life right now. A time where I am forced to do things that are hard and that I fell like kicking and screaming like a toddler over! Debt sucks. But trying to pull out of it without declaring bankruptcy, and in turn essentially doing what others did to us that got us into this situation in the first place, just is the only option for us! It doesn't seem right, ya know, to keep the train of dishonesty going. So it stops with us in our small part of things. And I am glad that we are doing it the right way, the honest way. But in doing so we are slaves to money and Jeff is forced to work 14+ hour work days. Every day. Mon-Fri and usually half days on Saturday. Wow. It suuuuks. Like BAD! Putting the kids to bed each night by myself after looooong days with them makes me want to poke my own eyeballs out cook 'em up and feed them to all 900 cats looming around my house wanting to live here! Bah! I am digging, and digging deep within to find strength, courage, patience, and still keep a kindness for my kids but I am fading fast, and I yell A LOT. It's like I am watching myself turn into some zombie form of me and I really hate it. I feel my heart getting harder and my attitude getting darker. Any advice from any of you fab 5 trusty readers would be awesome! My problem is I am a very private person when it comes to my feelings and talking about them. Partly because I have a hard time putting how I feel into words, and partly because I take longer than most to understand myself, or others. I am also insanely sensitive and if I don't feel like people are listening to me with full attention then I don't want to open up to them. So I hold things in until one day I have the inevitable classic "Janet melt down" :/ embarrassed much? I just never thought motherhood would be so.damn.hard. It was my dream since I was a little girl. But I sorta feel like my dream is morphing into some kind of nightmare and my kids are going to eat me in the night! Well........ ok that's a little much, a little. But I am feeling lost, so, so lost. I feel I am failing at what I wanted to do most in my life, and that's a horrible feeling indeed. Horrible.

My burden to bare

2011-07-12T22:55:00.003-06:00

Where to begin tonight?? Life is a fire ball of hell burning in a pit of despair at the moment. Ok not that bad but seriously, it's close! Let's make a fun little list of 5 things that I hate. Sound good? Mmmkay. Numero uno: Money. Second up would be: Jeff working long and LATE hours. Like kill yourself before your 40th birthday crazy a$$ hours. :/ Three would be: The inability of my voice to reach 3 feet across the room into my children's ears. I mean wow maybe I should go to Hogwarts cause I got the magic in me baby! Or maybe I just have the gift of tongues and my kids don't so they can't always understand me? Hmmm who knows. All I know is that being ignored by the kiddos makes the top 5! Now on to the fourth little delight in my positive list here: Food. Yep food. Ok maybe it's more of a love hate thing or an I love it, it hates me relationship. Either way we don't get along most of the time and let's be honest I only use it to make me happy. Not healthy so therefore I hate it. HA. Last one number 5 a rooskie: people who betray me and or my trust. This is serious shiz here people. If you know me well which, lets be honest the 5 of you who read this know me well enough, most likely, to know I have a sister who has chosen not to be my sister anymore. Which apparently is what this post is going to be about tonight. I'm always excited and nervous to put my feelings out there. I have never written about this one yet. It could be a long one. :/

I have no desire to get into all the annoying details. Been there. Done that. Can't do it anymore. The facts: I loved my sister Aimee. A lot. I looked up to her. When she got married I loved her husband like I would a brother. He was easy to love and I got along well with him. Then when her kids came it was like instant bonding for me with them. I loved them so much. Having kids of my own now I realize just how deeply I did love them. So close to the way I love my own children. I spent most of my free time at their house, or watching their kids for them. I honestly enjoyed doing it, it never felt like a job or an obligation. Just a way I liked to spend my free time. I just loved them so, so much.

I will always remember the last family reunion that Aimee and her family attended. It's insane the details that I can bring to mind. Even the sounds and smells of that one particular reunion in 2003. Little did I know that just over a month later things would spiral downward and my life would be forever changed. It sounds like I lost them all in a horrible car crash. Sometimes I wish I did. It would be easier. Through a lot of crap and misunderstanding and blah blah blah, it has now been almost 8 years since I have seen or talked to my sister, or her family. *except for the time I ran into my Niece, Emilee. Other then that, nothing. She last saw Tobey when he was 4 months old, last saw Simon when he was 2, never met Evann, Miloh, or Reesa. How is it possible to walk away from 7 of your siblings and many nieces and nephews without ever looking back? It's hard not to take it personal. It's hard not to feel betrayed mislead and angry. I have put as many pieces of my heart back in place as I can at this time, but I understand it will never be whole again. I will never look at things the same. I wont listen to certain songs without crying. I have to tell my kids that I have a sister that they don't know, and then try to explain why. She has told a mutual friend that she is happier then she has ever been....... wow to be so happy at such a price..... How is this possible? I know all of my family has changed since this, it's not just me. That doesn't make it any easier. Just sadder. People ask me if I ever think she will come around. My answer is no. Not in this life. Looking back I always knew that in my heart, but I didn't want to believe it, I couldn't it hurt to much. Now, though, I know it will always be like this. This pebble in my shoe. That has made a blister that festers up every now and again. About a year ago I promised myself I would never cry over her again, NEVER! But of course I did and have many times sense. That's real love. Not walking out on the ones that love you most, that's what cowards do. So I feel good about crying and I will let myself cry, because I love her, and I always will love her. My door will always be open even if hers is locked up tight. I am very much capable of forgiving her, but she will never ask. I wonder if she even grasps or understands how many peoples lives she will affect...... I try to hold on to all the things I loved about her. Like her laugh. I can still hear it in my head :) I'm grateful for that. She always made sure to let me know that it didn't matter what other people thought and to love myself. I am grateful for that. She stood up for me many times in my life. I am grateful for that. I got to have her as a sister who wanted me as her sister, in her life, for 25 years. I am grateful for that. I will get to have forever to smooth out the kinks and an eternity of her laughter. You better believe that I am grateful for that!

Love love me!

2011-06-08T19:47:00.002-06:00

So, I'm fat. Again. It sucks and I can hardly fit into my damn jeans anymore. This obesity roller coaster I've been riding since, ohhhh FOREVER is kinda getting lame. YO! Despite being the elephant in the room literally and figuratively, I know that I have got to get to a point in my life where I truly love myself. Inside and out. Flaws and all. I feel that is my quest right now. Most days I am ok with myself. I think it's the uncertainty of others being ok with me that makes me start to despise and doubt myself.

My Mom put me on my first diet when I was 11. It was embarrassing, my friends thought it was weird, and I felt different-not in a good way. Ever since that moment, and many others to come mind you, (Que 8th grade crush snorting at me on the bus every day. Good times)! I have felt out of place with the rest of the people around me. All because of my weight. My Mom, bless her heart, had my best interest in mind, when she would tell me I was pleasantly plump, or tell me that boys wouldn't like me if I was fat. The problem is that it kinda messed me up. All these years later and i still feel like Jeff couldn't possibly love me when I'm having a "fight with the scale" moment. The power of a Mothers words are just that-powerful! It scares me to think of all the things I may say or do that my children will have a hard time letting go of! Yikes! I don't hold any grudges towards my Mom and all I can do is make sure to do things on that subject a little differently with my own kids. But back to the subject. I am going to struggle with my weight for the rest of my mortal life. I know this. The problem is that I fight it. BAD. I don't want to have to spend the rest of my God given life counting calories or killing myself with crazy ass (there's that word again) workouts. However I know well enough that is the logic's of my situation. So I find myself stuck. Stuck back on that roller coaster that I despise with all that I am! Jeff is happy with me the way I am. He always gets a little sad when I do my extreme dieting because I loose my, well..... how shall I put this, womanly curves?! I also find it hard to believe that anyone else gives a damn (i swear a lot, it's a problem) about what size I am. I know I sure don't give a pixie stix about what people in my life look like! It's all about the inside with me. So like I said I have to love me, I have to accept me, I have to remember that I am a good person, with a good heart who truly loves the people in my life! What it all comes down to is this: at the end of the day with all the things I have accomplished, done or taught my children, love I've shown to my family, it will never be enough if I don't feel love for myself in my heart! So my jeans might get too tight to even button, but at this point I have to take a journey to love and accept myself. I'll never survive life if I don't do this now! I'm ok with it and I have a feeling once I get to that point things will be 100% different, and better (of course)! I am the way that I am. One of my trials in life is struggling with my obsession with food, and yes turning to food for comfort when I am feeling lonely, and or stressed out.....which is like every.single.day. :/ But everyone has struggles and that doesn't mean you HATE yourself because you are, well HUMAN! What it means is I need to grow and change and become what and who it is meant for me to become. And I will. Maybe the chubby version, maybe not. Who the hell knows.

Man i LOVE me a good puke fest!!!

2011-05-24T16:52:00.003-06:00

Last night a miracle happened. I slept through thee worst puke out of a child since ever having children! But I'm not happy about it. In fact I am guilt ridden to death. You see Jeff worked until the UN-godly hour of oh about 1 in the A.M. Then while he took a bath (yes my husband is a bather) :) i finally fell asleep-cause falling asleep alone sans husband-not so much my thing! Well around 2:30 I hear noise and see that the light outside of our bedroom is on and being the delight that I am get all huffed up because "why in thee hell is Jeff still awake and making so much noise and of all things waking me (aka queen bee) up"??!! So I storm into the bathroom hoping to draw attention to his completely unacceptable behavior. He hears me comes in and says "well that was the worst puke experience I've ever had". HUH??? So I dumbly reply "you puked"? To which Jeff gives me the look of you idiot of a wife and says "um....no". Then he relays to me the story of Evann whom after I put him to bed, on the BOTTOM bunk mind you!! Decided to sneak to the top bunk. (that punk)! Then decided to puke while coming down each.and.every.step of the ladder from the top bunk. Jeff was horrified! He said it took him 45 min. to clean it all up. Then and this is my favorite part he says "yeah, it sucked, and there's a pile of puke crap in the hall." The end he was done and that was his way of saying uh have fun with that! Wow how did I NOT wake up? This is wigging me out! Especially since Evann finished up the puke fest in OUR bathroom! What the what?! Wow. Normally I would be doing a dance of giddy delight at having slept through such a sick-uh-ning human experience-BUT my poor worked to the bone husband.......oh the guilt! Plus I don't think he entirely believes I slept through it he kept giving me the "uh huh" look like hmmmmm how is the mother of this child capable of sleeping through this? But alas IT'S TRUE!! Maybe it's because I have the worlds worst sore throat. Which in turn is giving me the worlds worst headache. Either way it's a great time here at the Garner house these days........... *and let it be known I got up with Evann all 20 gazillion times he continued on his quest to be my worst puker throughout the night! AND Miloh when his turn came and Reesa when she was crying for some unknown reason no pukes from her though or the others- YET! Crossies! :/ Also I have the best husband in the whole.wide.world. AND I owe him BIG TIME!!!

A bit of a change.

2011-05-17T13:57:00.002-06:00

So........i have neglected this little blog of mine for quite some months now. If I am being honest, I am kind of over it at the moment! :/ I just don't have it in me. I do, however, have a hankering to write lately so I figured my blog may tend to be a blabberfest for the time being. So read if you want or don't. Totally your choice!

I am reminded (a lot lately) of a line from the movie While You Were Sleeping (these mashed potatoes are so creamy....) It's when Peter is talking to his dad at the table and tells him he doesn't want to take over the family business.....anyways at one point his dad just flat out says "life's a pain in the ass". This used to be sort of a shock to my young happy care free ears. Now don't get me wrong I know that I have a good- make that- great life! Yet still life really is a pain in the ass! I guess the trick is zeroing in on those not so pain in the ass moments (sorry I keep saying ass!). I hope I am not alone when I say it seems so much easier to remember the bad stuff! Why is that?? I swear at the end of the day the bad moments are blinking in front of my face like a blinking beacon, while the I have to dig and scratch and dig some more just to remember a few of the goods points of my day! Does this make me a negative creep?? Or is it the more crap you have to go through in this pain in the ass life (SORRY!) the more bitter you become? I don't want to be bitter or negative, but I think it becomes a little inevitable in a sense. I remember how hard it was for my mom to be sympathetic to us as kids. I didn't know why. Now I do. A mother gives like the little stream (your totally singing the song now I know it)! She gives and gives until her stream becomes a mere trickle not sure how it's ever going to keep giving. A mother of multiple children, well just multiply that feeling for each additional child. My Mom had 8 children and 4 miscarriages, so a total of 12 pregnancies. Yep she's my hero. So I GET why it was hard for her to be sympathetic to me over some stupid thing I was whining about-but she did- and I can too. I can be a giving stream of a mom taking life by the horns and making it great, or I can be the trickle stream and just barely make it. Right now I am the second of the two I am afraid. But I want to change that. I want to be better, try harder, live more, laugh more, etc. etc. etc. So I just need someone to point me in the direction of that giving stream source.............

In other news/topics i have been re-decorating my house like some sort of crazy freak show lately!! I go "shopping" in my garage and find things I forgot about and transform them into a new delight!! It's so fun! Me and spray paint are having a relationship.....shhhh don't tell Jeff! Too bad he already knows and kind of loathes my obsession......but he lets me be. Love him. Any way I am channeling above said pain in the ass issues into crafting delights! It makes me rather happy and I love the whole transformation process! So, I am a crafting mama! Who would of thunk it?? NOT me. But here I am.

That's all for now. Over and out.

Summer catch up part 2

2010-11-10T10:38:00.003-07:00

Well I was going to upload more pictures but my computer is being poop. Back a few months ago in the warmth of summer (did I mention how much I am missing that??) there was this insane sunset!! I was out side with Simon taking pictures for almost an hour! It was one if not the most beautiful heavenly sunsets I have ever seen!! Here are 3 of the the oh.....20 or so pictures I took that night. Ok so this one doesn't show the sunset so much but me and Simon were the ones enjoying the beautiful night so I had to get a picture of the two of us. :)

This one is just my favorite!!

We went to the Reservoir a few times this summer with our friends. It is always a winner with my kids!!

The Mama crew: Jess, Sawyer, Lisa, Mary, Me, Reesa, and Heather.

This one is my favorite of the day!! HAHAHA! This says it all.......summer is a blast!!

Another catch up post soon! ;)

Summer catch up

2010-10-20T20:59:00.005-06:00

Oh dear summer how I am already missing your heat. We had such a fun summer filled with lots of sun soaking activities. We went to Scofield Lake a lot this summer and will continue doing it every summer. Our kids love it there!! Of course it's always funner when cousins come along!! This is the kids looking at a crawdad (crayfish) they caught. Except Evann who is very involved with his pizza........ Oh the swimming fun!

I saw this hot guy walking down the shore line and had to take a picture! ;)

Oh Granny loves her some fishing! Yep she is up to her knees in the lake with socks shoes and pants on! :) Love her!

Josh off to set the crawdad free. This time Miloh is lovin on the pizza. :)

Oh the joy! She loves her blow up floaty and cried when Mom deflated it for the winter..... so mean I know.

Happy Birthday to the princess of the house! Two years old, and oh so good at it!

For her birthday we went to IHOP for breakfast and then swimming after-except the birthday girl never actually got to set foot into the pool area because the plastic pants Nazi was working that day and I had NO plastic pants, just a swim diaper. Poor Jeff went to every store near by for almost 2 hours and found nothing! :( Well at least she is too young to remember..........

Here's the gang in their PJ's getting ready to eat pancakes. Come to think of it the day was cursed from the beginning this IHOP experience was crap and it took almost an hour to get our food! The kids were trashing the place left and right and in a not so quiet voice asking "when is the food going to get here I'm STARVING" Good times! What was up with this day???? Wow!

Well at least it's the day we got our silly goof ball princess who we love and adore!! What on earth would we do without your gooey goodness in our family!! We love you Reese-nut!

Spanish Fork Rodeo!!

2010-09-10T17:07:00.005-06:00

So back in July Mary and I took our older boys on a date to the Spanish Fork Rodeo. It was very fun. Mary I put this one on here so you would stop saying you look like a hooker!! I clearly have you beat here!!! :/ The whole gang!

Beautiful Mary and her handsomely men!

Me and my boys!

Roping

This was what we sat above. The boys LOVED it!! I thought is was super cool for about 10 seconds and then the smell hit.................

The cuties!! They are all about the same height! So funny.

In the car on the way there. They weren't excited at all.......

Me and my mares!! Love you Mary and your cute boys! Thanks for the fun!

Sometimes............

2010-08-30T20:19:00.001-06:00

Sometimes this is exactly how I feel.................................

Eclipse!!!!!!!

2010-08-18T09:38:00.003-06:00

Ah blessed Eclipse my favorite of the movies thus far! How I loved seeing it twice in one week with the ones I love most! This was my second time seeing it. We went for a late B-day celebration for yours truly. First was dinner at the Blue Lemon my FAVORITE!! Then some shopping then some Edward! :) Here are 4 of the Fab 5 ;) Here is the whole gang! I love that Jesse came with! He is not ashamed of his love for the twilight saga!!

Lisa and I have started a tradition of going with each other first to all of the movies! So here we are at numero tres on opening night!

We bought these lovely matching Team Edward shirts to wear to the movie! HEHEHE it was fun! People give you strange looks when you go out in your matchy matchys! :) It was soooo good and so much fun! I can hardly wait for Breaking Dawn! Oh and Evann took this pic! Not bad ehh??!!

Kanab

2010-08-04T20:52:00.009-06:00

Back in June we headed to Kanab for a family reunion. The kids had a blast! We ate at a restaurant that had the best picture spots! Here's some bad boys who got put in jail!! Reesa checking things out!

Simey Crockett

Sheriff Evann

Riding the wagon

Arghhhhh giant killer horses run for your lives!!

My beautiful boys :)

My beautiful children!! :) :)

We had a picnic in a park that had a splash pad! Heaven of course for my kids!

Love these two!! Buddies for life! Notice Evann is now taller..................

Grandpa pushing Reesa on the swing. Such a sweet picture!

Reesa was in love with this place to say the least!

Grandpa had to have a turn too! ;) Love this man!

Yeah I know she is absolutely adorable!

You can't go to Kanab with out going to the sand dunes!!! Again, little kid heaven!

The amount of sand in the clothes........oh boy! :/

Reesa was not so sure about this place. She stood on the sidelines mostly.

I love the orange with the blue sky- so pretty! Here's me and the Reese nut. Oh and half of Jeff :)

The whole darn clan! (and Granny)

It was a short but fun trip and the kids loved it!! I love to take them there cause I have been going there since I was a kid too! I am sure we will go back again soon.

Ending with Evann and the pretty yellow flowers. I think they are called Yucca??? Peace out!

Slacker catch up part 2

2010-07-21T18:34:00.005-06:00

Sometimes when you have a gaggle of boys running around your house you find this sitting on the bathroom counter.......of course!! Who doesn't need a dollar, magnifying glass, and a giant rock??!! This was just to random to not take a picture and document! Gotta love it!

Reesa blows the best kisses HANDS DOWN!! Nub her!

My handsome Evann always eager for a photo opp!

Tobey decided to take his ball and stretch it onto his head! Goof ball. But a cute one!

Ahhhh it's always good to have a girly get together!! love these two!

Um ok this is Simon's "favorite picture EVER!" He thinks it's hilarious with the chicken in the background! I claim no responsibility for Evann's disgusting dirty foot! :)

Sometimes you have a nice bro-in-law who is part owner of the Sweet Tooth Fairy and takes you all to get yum yums! Reesa sporting Jesse's hat. So cute!

This is out of order but owell! Me and my boys (minus Miloh)

So back to the Sweet Tooth Fairy........ here we are surrounded by cupcakes galore and Evann and Miloh just want lollipops??!! Crazy boys!

But Miloh was quite happy with his choice!

HAPPY 70th to MOM!!!! LaDonna had this cake made this is a picture of my mom when she was a wee one! Soooo cute!!

Here's the happy couple at the big birthday bash!! Love my beautiful Mom and am glad to have her in my life!!

Slacker catch up!

2010-07-19T13:04:00.004-06:00

So I have been slacking BIG TIME!!! So here are a few things that we have been up to around these parts! Way back when we had a girls night at Lindsey's! She was giving Ella a bath at this moment but here's the gang minus her! We ate at The Dodo (um YUM!) then we went back to Lindsey's to have a chocolate fondue dipping extravaganza! Ahhhh delish! Good times with my ladies!

Ahhhhh my cat! :( how we loved our Titters!! We miss him! Jeff and the kids found him dead behind the garage one Saturday afternoon! I was heart broken! RIP Titters!
We had Logan over for a sleep the night before Tobey's birthday. They of course had a blast!

Yeah for Brooke and Tim!! They got sealed in the Temple and were also sealed to Jacolby! It was the sweetest sealing I have ever had the privilege of attending! Needless to say we were all blubbering fools!! Byron got to stand in as Jacolby and it was just so tender and special! Love them and love that sweet baby boy! Can't wait to see him again and get to know him in the eternities! Glad for the knowledge that families can be sealed to each other forever! What a great gift from the Lord!

I promise she does love him!! Maybe just not such a PDA type! :)

Tobey had his 7th birthday in May! We did a pirate treasure hunt and a snorkeler cake! Hey whatever makes the birthday boy happy right!!?? Here are the party goers after finding the booty!

Opening presents.

Blowing out the candles!

The snorkeler head cookie cake thing!! :) It was making me laugh every time I looked at it!

So this is a small catch up there will be a few more to come! Summer has been fun and I LOVE it! Although this Mom is kinda ready for school to start.......kinda!

2010-05-25T21:19:00.001-06:00

Seriously............... I am excited people!!!!!!!!!! :)

Spring Break

2010-05-09T20:59:00.009-06:00

Spring break this year was a fun filled trip to Las Vegas with the entire Garner clan!! All of Jeff's family came along for the fun. We had a blast! We spent one day going to the strip to do some fun activities. Here we are at the MGM visiting the Rain Forest Cafe.

Then we headed to the M&M factory and watched the 3-D movie. Here are the kids rockin the glasses! (Dad and Miloh sat up at the top)

Wooo hoooo!

My boys. :)

The crazies!

You always have to get a picture with Yellow!

Then it was off to the Coke factory. We got a picture with the Coke bear.

Later that day we all went to the Shark Reef Aquarium. Always a hit with our kids!

Showing their goods from the gift shop.

Evann wanted a picture in the mass of stuffed animals. Kinda reminds me of E.T. :/

Here the kids are touching the sting rays.

Tobey is always in heaven around sea life! I think we stayed at this part of the aquarium for almost 30 minutes!

I think Miloh would have swam with them if they would have let him!

Then we went to see the Botanical Gardens at the Balagio. It was amazing!! Everything was made of flowers and it smelled sooooo good! I loved it! My kids loved this giant ant.

This bee is made up entirely of flowers!!

This part was my favorite with the giant mushrooms!! Very Alice in Wonderland-ish! :)

I want a garden just like this in my backyard!! I was so pretty!!

One of the nights we were there all the married couples went out without kids. NICE!! We went and saw Clash of the Titans. It was nice to have a break because vacations with kids are very trying!

Me and my lover boy!! It was a really fun trip! And honestly are kids behaved great! It was fun to go with the whole family and I hope we can do a vacation together every spring break!

Easter!!

2010-05-04T19:09:00.003-06:00

Easter this year was well........ COLD!!!! I really don't know what is going on with the weather this year but wow it is not my friend!! Here is Reesa with her loot! She doesn't like to smile so much. Simon on the hunt! Go Simon go!

Tobey's loot!

Evann's loot! He likes to smile a little too much! ;)

Miloh's loot!

Reesa finding an egg.

This is the classic photo of the day. Yes we are hunting for eggs in the snow! Blast and retch! Lets hope for sunshine next year!!! PLEASE!!

HaP hAp HaPpY biRtHdaY!!

2010-04-29T20:23:00.005-06:00

So My beautiful Heather entered the wonderful world of "thirty, flirty, and thriving!!" :) Her husband, mom, and sister decided to put together a surprise party for her- 80's style! Can I just say this was probably the funnest party I have ever had the privilege of attending!! Loved ever single second of it!! Heather you are sooo beautiful and honestly look like you are still 25!

Part of the styling crew! Tiff, Heather, Mary, Lisa, Me, Meredith, and whoops forgot her name! :/ We will call her hottie in the glasses! LOL :)
Sometimes it is fun to do jumping pictures! HEHEHE :)

And the landing ones too!! Heather's land is very........... um "special"

We decided the candy necklaces were more appropriate as headbands when you are rockin it 80's style!

All of the fantastic foot and leg ware! I think Mary wins!!

Me and my mares!!

And whoops I put the wrong picture on here!! Sorry for those of you who are not looking at the camera in this one I am too lazy to change it out right now! Mary, again wins!!!! ;)

Me and two of my closest friends! Love you lady's to death! (Lis why are you not in this??!!)

Heather I love you more than I could make known on this blog! We have been through A LOT together and I hope we can go through A LOT more!!! I am here for you always and forever! Thanks for letting me celebrate you 30 years of life with you!!! Here's to 30 more good ones!! :)

Under Ella's UmbrELLA!!!

2010-04-12T12:40:00.007-06:00

Sweet little Ella had her first birthday!! She is such a cute little thing! We love her soooo much and were so glad we could celebrate with her! Lindsey and Bobette made this adorable umbrella cake for her "umber ELLA" birthday! Soo cute!

Here are the 3 divas chillin! Reesa looks like a freakin giant compared to them! :)

Apparently it pays to be Bobette and buy toys at DI 7 years before you even have married children! ;) this one sure was a hit with the ladies!

Oh the blessed-ness that is Evey!! She is just the cutest little thing ever! Love her too!! :)

Thanks Brad and Lindsey for the invite and Bobette for letting us invade your house Garner style!! :) Yeah for cute 1 year old Ella!! :)

What's been going on..........

2010-04-02T10:02:00.008-06:00

Well it has been a crazy ride the last few weeks around here!! We have had more than our share of sickness this year for sure! Here is Evann when the croup hit! He had to go to insta care where we found out in addition to the croup he also had the beginning stages of pneumonia! So he had to have an inhaler, antibiotic, and steroids! FUN stuff! :/ Reesa and I were in the ER two nights later til 2 AM when she had her turn with this crap and could barely breathe! She had to have two 2 breathing treatments and steroids! This is all in addition to the every other week puke fest that plagues are house!! I used to have such healthy kids........... what happened?? :( Well I have given birth to a Storm trooper!! She looks so funny with this on her head because it's so huge!! There is no hope of her NOT being a Tom-boy in this house!!

When the weather decided to be NORMAL we get lots of outside time in! This saves mom! :)

Reesa is loving the tramp this year! (literally lol)

Brotherly love! So glad this two get along so well........... most of the time!!

Miloh LOVES to get his picture taken! Again and again and again............ He is a cute target!

Evann also LOVES to get snapshots of himself on a regular basis! Good thing he's one cute target as well!!

What can I say about my little girl other than I just adore her!! She is such a cute ball of squishy goodness!! She is HILARIOUS and makes us all laugh on a daily basis!

Here she is loving her balls and the tramp!

Tree climbing has become all the rave around here!! I am just crossing my fingers that there will be no broken bones as a result!! :/

In case you didn't know Reesa has converted to Judaism and is now a Rabbi!! She walked around with this bowl on her head forever the other day!! It was sooooo funny!

Shalom!

Ahhhhh my sweet Jeffie had to have his gallbladder removed a week and a half ago! He is on the road to recovery and had his follow up appointment today! The Doc. told him that his gallbladder was very diseased and it is a very good thing that it was removed! He said it had an excessive amount of bile in it and that in a couple more weeks he should really notice a difference in how he feels! Yeah we are anxious for daddy to feel like himself again!

Now I need to remember to take pictures when Simon and Tobey are NOT at school so that I actually have pics of them!! Coming up next Miss Ella's umbrella birthday!! :)

Yeah for a new camera!!!!

2010-02-26T17:23:00.009-07:00

So what can I say my man rocks and he got me a camera after making me think he wasn't going to!! Love him! Here are some random pics I took with it! Of course we went to Jumping Jacks yesterday and I was so excited to take a bunch of pictures but it was not meant to be for my camera was sitting at home on the counter - BLAST! :/ Here is Mr. Miloh who is getting so stinkin big and cracks me up on a daily basis!! So this is the "I am an innocent rose" deception face.......................

Clearly NOT true!!! The little nugget!!

Evann wanted to try out the new camera so he took this of us before church on Sunday. Not bad!

Handsome Tobey!!

Sweet Reesa (or at least when she's not breaking giant jars of carrots on my floor!!)

Another handsome!! Seriously how did I get so lucky??

Well I know this would be a much better picture if the toilet wasn't in the background......... :/ Love my hottie!! :)

Simon...........well being Simon!!! Goof ball extraordinaire! :) Love the freckles- LOVE them!!

Reesa likes to leave smudgy pudgy prints on the lens........again sweet and helpful........

I am happy to have a camera and anxious for nice weather and play dates and cute outdoor pictures!! Come on Spring!!

2010-02-24T14:07:00.001-07:00

Ok so I got my new camera (YEAH!!) but can't get my pictures to post for some reasson (STUPID!!) Sorry............. maybe tomorrow...............

Pooh sticks!!

2010-02-05T13:05:00.002-07:00

My camera has died due to my lack of coordination. So there will be no new pictures until after Valentines Day.......that is if I get what I want for Valentines.......... ;)

just because........

2010-01-12T19:38:00.002-07:00

This is just a post for no reason other than to write! So here goes:
I find myself feeling so blah this time of year and I dislike that very much. I struggle with the cold and the lack of outside time a lot! I always want to run away and move some place warm- oh just about every single winter!! I am trying really hard this year to just deal with it and not complain so much! So far I think I am doing better this year than last but only time will tell! :/ Considering that I have months left to endure things could get ugly......... ;)

I am loving the opportunity to raise a girl!! It is so different and so fun! I love my boys and am still grateful to have 4 of them! But I am grateful that I am able to experience a girl as well. She brings me joy and makes me not feel so out numbered here!

I am grateful to have good friends and family. Having people who love me and take the time to understand me is wonderful! Even more wonderful is that they stick around even through all my craziness and periods of hibernation that I tend to have!! :/ I am the type of person who likes to surround myself with a few close good friends and keep those friends for life! You know who you are and I appreciate and love you! (this includes fam too) It is hard, as you fellow mothers know, to be a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong it is wonderful and rewarding but also very hard! Sometimes I honestly feel like I am the only person on the planet! Isolated and lonely. But then I talk to these wonderful people in my life and realize "oh they sound just like me!!" So thanks for reminding me that I am human! And that you too repeat yourself 1 zillion times a day, wake up and do the same things ALL. OVER. AGAIN. Fell like a zombie more then you would like to, know way to many words to way to many children's show songs, and forget things you are sure a person should NEVER forget!! This is the life of a mother. Yet I know none of you mothers would trade it for anything in the whole world!! That right there says just how awesome we truly are ladies!! :) I just want to love my life and be happy and I want the same for all of you!! So this concludes my random writing post I guess! I love you all and hope you know that my friendship and love is real and is forever!! :) OK enough with the cheese.......

Happy Hollidays!!

2010-01-03T20:13:00.003-07:00

How to eliminate Christmas break boredom: if your Miloh you stuff lots of balloons up your shirt!! If your Jeff, you use some scotch tape and wrap it around your head!! Both methods seem to work!

Our little Christmas angel pushing her new doll stroller from Santa. Can you believe how big she is getting??!! Those blue eyes and red hair just kill me!

What would New Years day be without building a snowman?? This seems to be a growing tradition at our house. Thanks to Grandpa giving us his white elephant snowman kit, our snowman turned out pretty darn cute I must say!!

This ones my favorite!! My boys are getting soooo big!! Oh how I love these little devils! They bring me so much joy! Loving Miloh's red hair with the Wilcock family green snow suit that has been in the family for like 20 years now!!! :)

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year!! We love you all!! Thought I would end the post with a little Christmas Elf I know and love! :) Lets make 2010 a year to remember!! (in a good way) ;)

Eclipse Countdown

2009-12-28T13:17:00.001-07:00

10 Years!!

2009-12-18T12:58:00.002-07:00

So Jeff and I got to go on a 4 night cruise for our 10 year anniversary a couple of weeks ago!! bad news is I forgot the battery charger for the camera-LAME!!! :( So this is the extent of the pictures we got on the digital. We bought a cheesy disposable one that we used so I will have to post those when they come back. Which by the way if you haven't bought a disposable camera in a while like me they take 6 days to get developed for some unknown reason!!!! Anyway that was the first dispute of the trip of course was why I didn't bring the charger. Never mind that I even thought to BRING the camera-sheesh!! Owell all was forgiven quickly as it always is with us! :) This is the picture of us right before boarding the S.S. Paradise. Ok I added the S.S. but it makes it sound cooler! More bad news. Upon boarding the S.S. Paradise it quickly became apparent to me that I was not loving this confined space with no window!! I am not a claustrophobic person AT ALL *some of you may remember my many hours as a child spent hanging out in the hall linen closet.......... but still I FELT claustrophobic!! Jeff was more optimistic about it being OK and telling me I would get used to it. I sort of did. Sort of. Here we are at our first stop: Catalina Island. Can I just say that I loved this quaint little island and would love to go back some day! Loved it!! And thanks to Michelle and Tracy we tried out the pizza place they suggested- no insisted and raved would be more like it! Well it was sooooo stinking tasty I will crave it for life!!! Here is my handsome.

We knew that this would be the last picture we could get before the camera battery died so I was like ok smile and be ready I have to take it fast! Well, some of us listen and some of us don't............

After Catalina we were at sea all night then in the morning we woke up in Ensenada Mexico. It was super nice the first part of the day and then it got so cold I wanted to punch someone!! Seriously HATE being cold! Jeff bought me a Mexican poncho and all was well. We ate a delicious lunch there and saw this blow hole where water shoots out when the tide comes in. I bought a cute purse there, and that was about it. The last day on the boat was like some form of torture because we were at sea all blasted day! You run out of things to do quickly. I tried to get Jeff to enter the hairy chest contest but he was having none of that!! :) We made the most of it. We were just very happy the next morning to be DE-boarding the S.S. Paradise!! :/

This one we took on the boarding doc right before we got on the ship for the first time so it's out of place but owell. All in all we came to the conclusion that we are NOT cruise people. We didn't like it much at all!! We did love the break, the ocean, each other, the food, the unlimited amounts of hot chocolate, laughing at the ridiculously loud flushing toilet, walking on the track on the top of the ship under a full moon with no one else around but us, being sooooo in love with each other still after 10 years!!! We are one, we are soul mates and the Lord knew what he was doing when he led us to each other! I love him with all that I am. I will love him always. NO ONE on earth knows me better and that's just the way I want it! I don't need anyone or anything else. I am happy with him and just him! Well.....and my kids of course! :) We are happy, we are blessed, and we love the life we have been given! So that is all the positives and we will just omit the negatives! It's always better that way! :)

I love you Jeff happy ten years my sweets!

New Moon bAbY!!!

2009-12-14T13:38:00.007-07:00

Oh happy New Moon night! I had been looking forward to this for months!! Here is Lisa and I driving up north to meet all the girlie's!! SOOOO excited!! The whole gang minus Kristy and her friend. From left to right: Ashley (Taylor's BFF), Jacob, Taylor, Rachel, Sarah, Lisa, Me, Edward, LaDonna. :)

OH MY GOSH Edward!!! HAHAHA

OH MY GOSH Jacob!!! :) Taylor is a major Jacob fan! She about hyperventilated during the movie- NO JOKE!!

Ohhh laaa laaaa Rachel!!

Waiting for the movie to start!!!! AHHHHH! Rachel, Sarah, me.

Me, Lisa, LaDonna.

New Moon Round 2!! So 14 hours later I was back at another theater to see it AGAIN!! :) This time with a whole gaggle of girls! Lisa, me, and Darla got there 2 hours early to get in line. And YES I was every bit as excited to see it this time as well!!!!

The Girlie's!! *note the gift bag in my hand. This was my clever decoy so as to smuggle a zillion cookies in to hand out to all the girls!! :) pretty funny.

ahhhhh such a good movie and such an improvement from the first!! Even though the first book is my favorite the first movie is NOT!! What a fun weekend of vampires and wear wolves!! Thanks to all who were a part of the madness!!! :) Good times.

LeAfS ArE faLLiNg aLL arOuNd..........

2009-11-10T20:12:00.003-07:00

Oh the joys of fall- at least for the kiddos that is!! We spent a good hour or two cleaning up all the leaves in the yard on Saturday. The kids were in heaven playing in the pile!! So we got some pictures!
Sadly after going outside today I realize that we will have to do the same thing ALL OVER AGAIN!! Dang blasted fall!! :( Owell whatcha gonna do?

Ok so seriously my "baby" is not so much a baby anymore!! She is getting so stinkin BIG!!! And BEEEUTIFUL!!

It's so bitter sweet knowing that she is my last!! I sure do love her and her red hair and blue eyes! My little Irish Las! So pretty!

"This is Halloween, This is Halloween"............

2009-11-03T13:44:00.003-07:00

I think it is safe to say that Halloween is Miloh's favorite because he gets CANDY galore!! :) The annual Garner Halloween party with the ever famous doughnut eating contest! Here are a few of the contestants.

Notice the tongue action here by Tobey!! He's already a pro!

Umpa Lumpa doopity doo I've got a perfect costume for you!! :) These were super easy cheap and sooooo fun!! We got lots of laughs and laughed at ourselves too!!

Me, Holly (miss liberty), and Jeff doing a little umpa dance!

Jack and Sally AKA Lisa and Greg!! They were my favorites!!

The Halloween gang minus Simon but plus Logan! :/ Hard to keep track of all those candy mongers!!

To end the Halloween goodness here is our very own Halloween fairy!! LOVE her! What a fun year this was soooo love Halloween and thank goodness it wasn't TOOO feezing!! :) Hope everyone had a spooktacular time like we did!! :)

Summer to Fall

2009-10-10T20:25:00.005-06:00

The sunflowers are all dying, but I loved them while they were here. My pedicure is chipping and peeling, I just might shed a tear! :(

Jeff's birthday has come and gone, and boy are we getting old.

Soon I wont be able to throw those rowdy boys out, cause it's getting to dang COLD!!

We have started to call Evann the chicken whisperer, for reassons you can see........

And what would fall be like without a carameled gooey???

Fall means time to break out all those jackets and warm sweaters.

But, I can't say that I mind to much, cause NO ONE wears them betters!! :)

Fall, your not my favorite because you make me cold. Even if your colors are beautiful, bright, and bold! Because after you comes WINTER and oh goodness do I FrEeZe. The tipy tip of my nose down to my knees!! But what can I do but put up with you, until at last one day. SUMMER will be ours again and we will play play play!!! :)

2009-10-10T16:51:00.001-06:00

I apologise for my lengthy absence, but I will post within the week.........at least that is my goal!!

OH MY GOSH!!!!!

2009-09-16T09:33:00.002-06:00

Holy WOW people check it out!!!

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/newmoon-trailer-no-2/851585733

I think I have watched it 10 times in 15 minutes!! Got a little chocked up too! I can't wait!!! :)

Happy Birthday Babe!!!

2009-08-29T09:44:00.004-06:00

Why I love you OH SO MUCH:
You love me just the way I am. You let me be who I want to be! You have never let a day go by without telling me you love me!! You boost my confidence with your kind words of love. I know you will ALWAYS be here for me no matter what!! You make me laugh all the time!! :) And you are my favorite person to laugh with.

You like to be silly and still play like a kid. (I know that our kids love that about you too)

You are sooooo handsome you still give me the butterflies!!

You love your children so much! I also love seeing you with your baby girl (not pictured here) a fathers love to a daughter is so sweet and precious!! I know she will always cherish her daddy!!

Jeff I love you inside and out!! You are my everything and I feel blessed for everyday that we get to share together!! Happy Birthday to the best man I know who has the BIGGEST heart!! (That's literally true! Funny story Jeff had to get an x-ray of his heart a while back and the doctor said he had a larger than normal heart!! Thanks Doc. already knew that!!) If you know him at all you know that "the force is strong with this one" Nuff said!!! :)

HaPpY BirThDAy EvAnN!!!

2009-08-28T20:48:00.002-06:00

My little boy is growing up!! Look at those beautiful blue eyes!! I love this picture of Evann when he was 2. He has always been so handsome! What can I say about my Evannator........ he is a VERY independent and determined boy!! He loves to smile and have lots of attention! He manages to sneek into my room almost everyday to make my bed for me!! How cute is that?? He says "mom I just LOVE making beds"!! :) Well I just LOVE him!!

He is ALL boy!! He loves to catch toads, chickens, grasshoppers, daddy long legs, just about anything that moves!!

He has started to get into skateboarding and got himself an awesome skateboard for his birthday. He had a skittle skateboard cake. And if your wondering how skittles taste on cake- WOW surprisingly fantastic!! I love this picture because I can see a little bit of me in him. :)

Yeah for being a big bad 5 year old!! How we love this energetic, surprise around every corner ,keep us on our toes kind of boy!!

Happy birthday Evannator!!!

All AbOuT siMoN!!!

2009-08-16T20:28:00.004-06:00

This post is so over due!! Our sweet Simon turned 8 and we just can't believe he has gotten so big!! Here is Simon when he was 3 :) And 4

and 5

And here is our sweet little boy just after he was baptized on his actual birthday! What a lucky kid!! He did so good and we are so proud that he made this important choice in his life!! He was just glowing after he was done!! So cute!!

Here is Simon with his proud daddy!! What handsome men!!

We love you Simon!! What would are family be like without you??? You are such a great helper and friend to those around you! You make mom and dad proud of who you are becoming everyday!! Congratulations on turning 8 and getting baptized!! Keep being the awesome kid you are!

Holy mother of pearl catch up post!!!

2009-07-29T11:47:00.006-06:00

Ok here we go!!

Sarah got married on July 11th!! What a beautiful bride! Simon and Tobey were her ring bearers. So cute!!
Here they are walking down the isle. They did so good! Simon was so nervous he was shaking! :) little cutie!

Ahhhhh the love birds.

Hooray for my Mom and Dad on making it 50 years!!! We celebrated up at the This is The Place Park. My parents rented out an old pioneer awesome house for the day!! It was soooo fun!! We tried to recreate the Hawaiian theme they had at their reception. It turned out great!!

*minutes before this photo while we were all waiting for them to feed each other my dad cuts a piece for my mom then cut his piece and proceeds to feed himself a large bite of cake!! :/ Oh Dad you feed Mom not yourself!!! :) Hilarious man!!

My last baby turned 1!!!!!!!! Holy time warp I feel like I just had her! She is getting so big and more and more irresistible with each day that passes!! Here she is in all her wonder devouring her piece of birthday cake!!
She is not messing around!! Both hands people both hands!!

Scarf.

Oh and she even wanted to share! :)

This is my favorite picture of the day!!! Oh the love!!

After she was done she picked her plate up, dumped the rest of the cake in the grass and took off up this hill!! Jeff kept calling out "Reesa" and she would stop hold her hand out behind her without looking back at him wave and then keep on going up the hill!! Oh it was simply GREAT!!

THE END!!

George Eccles Dinosaour Park

2009-06-25T12:50:00.005-06:00

Before we get to the dino pics. I had to share these beauties!! This was Reesa's first sippy and Bajio experience!! Wow she made her mama proud the way she packed down the beans and rice!! :)

Really do they get any cuter????

Yesterday evening we went up to the dino park in Ogdon. Far away but so fun!! My kids were in dino land heaven!! We brought Logan along for the day.

FREAKY!!! :)

HA HA what an awesome Dad they have!!! :)

Cabella's and the Air Show

2009-06-08T19:55:00.003-06:00

I took all the kids to Cabella's the other day to pass some time. We have lots of that time around here now that school is out!!! Here are all the little trouble makers in front of the big stuffed moose. Saturday we went up to Hill Air Force Base for the Air Show. It was lots of fun!! I think we will go again next year. This is the boys with their free airplanes they give to all the kids.

Miloh loved his.

Reesa liked hers too!! :)

The highlight of the show is of course the Thunder birds. Soooo cool and loud!!

It really was fun and I would recommend it to anyone who has kids that love airplanes!!

2009-06-02T21:06:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1BHZ4UQ2GA&feature=player_embedded

HOLY CRAP!! Check this out!! I would have to say things are looking rather good!
*i may have peed a little......... :)

Reesa's "photo shoot"

2009-05-28T19:55:00.003-06:00

While playing at the park yesterday I decided to have a little photo shoot with my beautiful baby girl!! She is so delicious and sweet and gushy! I just love her to pieces!!!

She looks like a little doll here!

I am loving having a sweet little girl!! Knowing that she is our last child makes me just cherish every moment with her that much more!!

2009-05-28T19:47:00.002-06:00

I would just like to give a shout out to ABC Family's Harry Potter weekends that they keep doing. LOVE IT!! They do previews for the new Potter- Half Blood Prince throughout the movie. Seriously that makes for a great weekend in my opinion!! Harry Potter+ my bed+ PJ's= happy me!! :) Happy Potter weekend to all!!

2009-05-21T20:42:00.003-06:00

Well what can I say...... I am a Twilight geek and even though it is 6 months away I am excited to do the whole crazy midnight madness again with New Moon!! This is the first official poster that they have released. It makes me giddy all over again just like with Twilight! And let's all hope this one is better directed and acted then the first- not that I am a hater but come on people we all know it could have been A LOT better!! Any way the countdown is on!! Can I get a whoop whoop for team Edward?? :) Bring it on baby!!

HUGE catch up post!!

2009-05-18T13:03:00.007-06:00

Wow- OK- everybody ready??? Here we go!!!
This is what naughty boys do when they see dirt and a hose.......mud wrestling of course!! I was not a happy mom to say the least.

WICKED!!! Yeah for Wicked it was SOOOO good!! Lindsey saw it in NYC and said this cast was way better!! I loved every minute of it and wish I could see it again and again and.........well you get the idea. Here are some of us who went. Jason, Beth, Kristy, and Miggy (Miguel).

Marianne, Taylor, Makaye, Riley, Kamryn, and Rachel.

Me and Michelle. My mom and dad in the background. Didn't get a picture of them for some reason how rude of me!!! Whoops! Well they were there even though my dad slept through the entire thing!!! Now that's one pricey nap dad!!!

Me and Ladonna. Jeff was there too but seeing as he was coming down with the worlds worst case of tonsillitis he was not down with the picture taking! :(

A little Chuck E time on one of those fabulous spring blizzard days!! Well... at least Easton was looking at the camera!!

EASTER!!

That'll be mine............ :)

Simon takes his Easter egg hunt VERY seriously!!!!

Oh I how I miss Miloh's long shaggy hair!!!! I love this picture!!

As you can see Reesa continues to grow up and out!! Oh how we love our little princess!!

Happy Birthday to Tobey!!!! Tobey's is now a big bad 6 year old!!! Yeah for our Tobers!

Apparently his party was disappointing????However his train table from Michelle and her kids was NOT!!!!

Behold the dino/volcano/ hot lava/ spider cake!! :) We love you Tobey hope you had a great birthday!!

Overdue post!!

2009-05-12T11:44:00.004-06:00

Jacolby Robert Wilcock April 22nd 2009- May 3rd 2009 Though we only had you with us for such a short time you will
never leave our heart, our homes, or our minds!!

We love you little guy!!

We lost a loved one last Sunday May 3rd. Little Jacolby Robert Wilcock, who was born too soon for his little body to make it, went back to his eternal home. I am so grateful that i got to meet my little nephew and hold his tiny perfect hand before he left us. He had one of the strongest spirits I have ever been around in all my life!! I am so fortunate to have been able to meet him and to have him in my family!! What an amazing little man he was and is!! We love you Brooke and Tim and are sooo sorry for your loss!! The graveside service was so good and there was such a feeling of peace and love there. I can't imagine how hard it must be to let go of your child for the rest of your life here on earth!! It makes me cry and makes my heart hurt just thinking about it! But Tim and Brooke have been so strong and so incredible they amaze me!! I am so grateful for my saviour and the knowledge I have of eternal life!!! How blessed I am for that knowledge!! Situations like these always make me remember how important missionary work is! I want everyone to have what I have and know what I know! We truly are so fortunate to have testimony's of this gospel and all that it entails!!

Meet Ella!!

2009-04-08T12:54:00.002-06:00

Yes it's true I am now a Great Aunt!! Lindsey had her sweet little baby girl on April 1st. She is our little April Fools Day baby!! :) She is so sweet and tiny and I just love her to pieces!! Congratulations to the new parents!! You guys did good, she's beautiful!!! Ella Lee Kelstrom

March goodness

2009-04-02T09:40:00.005-06:00

Did I ever mention how much I love this gooey girl?? She is my pretty princess and we just can't get enough of her sweet face!! You can't really tell in this picture but Miloh was walking around the house in my giant boots. I love it when kids do that. The best is when he puts on my high heels!! :)

So Tuesday night Jeff was being nice and cooking dinner for us. Well I came in the kitchen to see he had found my Wal-mart purchase and decided to wear it while making dinner. How could you not love someone so fantastic as him!!?? Needless to say I had to get a picture of it. He is my favorite- by far!!!! :)

How did I get so lucky as to have friends as cool as these two??? This is what happens when you go to Ross late at night and find hilarious clothes such as these. You have to put them on and take a picture!! Seriously though I love you both more than I could ever express on this blog!! Thank you for being my friend and loving me no matter what!!! *on a side note Mrs. Heather- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! Thank you for all the memories through out the years- we have A LOT of them!! :) Sorry we couldn't make more great ones in Paris!! Someday...........

This is my incredibly talented husband, and Brother in law Bret in all their glory ridding Swing Bikes. I have never heard of these in my life. I think they came out in the 70's and apparently Donnie Osmond was the spokesperson for them (LOL). His bother Bret found them on KSL classifieds and bought two- ahhhh let the memories begin!!! They spent the day ridding up and down our street making little ramps and being kids again! Enjoy this fantastical Little piece!! Watch Jeff's head as he lands.

TWILIGHT NIGHT!!

2009-03-24T11:00:00.003-06:00

Ok so these are backwards- dang it! But you will get the idea still so owell! So Friday night- last minute Heather, Tiffany, and I decided to go the the midnight release party of Twilight at the Wal-Mart in Riverton. We found out that a supporting actor or actress would be there sometime after 10:00. So even though I had been working in my yard all day I smelled and looked like pooh I decided what the heck lets just go!!! It was such a fun night I loved every minute of it.
This is Heather and I jumping for joy after getting our movie and getting it signed by Victoria!! Me and The actress who plays Victoria in the movie. Please don't mind my large face in the corner!! :( She was sooo sweet and BEEUUUTIFUL!!!! I had to hurry and stick my face in there because the security guy was like pushing us out of the way-um excuse me if you wait in line for 2 hours then you dang well should be able to snap a picture!! Sheesh!!

Here's Heather with her.

Heather and Edward. Oh laa laa. To bad he's made of cardboard.

Sometimes you ride a bike while waiting in line for 2 hours because it's after midnight, your are very bored and loopy!

Or you can take a nap on a shelf just under the oil.

Or take pictures of yourself with your DVD. ( Sorry Tiff- but at least I got your beautiful eyes-right??)

Or take a picture with oil tin man funnels (in rainbow assortment) on your head!!

They had a costume contest and the winner got a 37' flat screen TV. Not bad! This is the kid that one. Tiff actually knows him. He was dressed up as Edward and even had contacts on.

These two were James and Victoria (obviously) let's just say that she kinda thought she was famous......yeah.......hmmmmm.....not so much honey!! There costumes were good though!

Well it was an awesome night and even though I only got 4 hours of sleep I am so glad I went!! Thanks Heather and Tiff for being crazy and spontaneous with me!! You guys are awesome!! So next time you are watching Twilight and you hear Victoria say "I'm the one with the wicked curve ball" Just remember I met her and I am cool because of it!! HAHAHA :)

HA HA HA

2009-03-19T16:02:00.002-06:00

A funny stroy: While driving home from having dinner with Daddy at his shop on St. Patricks Day I noticed a pretty cool looking green tractor thing. So I said "Hey guys look at that cool green tractor over there". Simon's response: "Well, looks like he's not gettin pinched!" :)

Chubbers and VeGaS BaBy!!!

2009-03-16T13:40:00.004-06:00

Here is Reesa's new thing that she does with her Binky. Sooo funny! She wants the Binky in but the tongue out- what a goof ball!! I present to you the 22 pounds of deliciousness that is Reesa!! She had her check up a month late and yes she is a petite little 22 pounds. You can see her ochers from the dang shots! The nurses loved the chubby goodness!! She just keeps going up off the charts on her weight and was 85th on her height. She is our little teapot!! I am already having to put her in 12- 18 month clothes and forget about jeans stretching over those chunkys she is ALL stretchy pants!!! :)

Thursday morning dear brave loving Lisa came to our house so that Jeff and I could take off to Vegas. We love her for giving us a much needed break!! Greg was there to help on the weekend

(thank goodness) and even let Lisa take a nap while he took all the kids on by himself!! I know I liked that guy! :) Vegas was...... well interesting. The first night there we realized we had the loudest people possible beside us who were getting ready to party up on the strip and Midnight. Jeff and I were trying to sleep while they laughed and blow dried their hair! Ughhh. Then @ 6 a.m. a few floors above us they were remodeling- of course!! So they were chipping out tile and running drills and all that "quite" stuff! Seriously?? So needless to say we went the front desk and asked to be moved. They gave us a new room and free buffet-BONUS!! Next night went much better, but it was the last night when psycho rapist murderer was attacking a girl and something or someone was slammed into our door. Security was called and was back and forth throughout the night- CRAP!! It was freaky and I wanted to leave but was too scared to leave the room! Wow! We were VERY ready to be back in "Happy Valley" let me tell you!!!

On a happier note and time here with Sponge bob.

This is the view from our Hotel. We stayed @ the Monte Carlo.

The night view. Ohhh Ahhhhh. :) We really enjoyed our time together and a break from the every day-however-Jeff and I have decided we have no desire to return to Vegas- Ever!! Things have gotten soooo bad there it is disturbing to say the least! Passing through or visiting for the day is all we can handle!! No more over- nighters for us!

We did see 2 shows: The Blue Man Group and Criss Angels Believe show. I loved the Blue Man Group! The Criss Angel Show was a little interesting. Kinda Alice in Wonderland on drugs but I like weird stuff so I didn't mind it. All in all I am still glad for the get away! Thanks again Lisa and Greg for being soooo awsome!!

Lisa's wedding pictures

2009-03-06T14:10:00.002-07:00

Hey if any of you want to see some of the pics. from lisa's wedding click on this link and enjoy!www.justinhackworth.com/blog be sure to watch the slide show @ the end it's my favorite!

The Latest Happenings

2009-03-05T16:07:00.004-07:00

Last Friday was the annual Kindy 500. The kindergartners get to make their own cars and drive around the school to visit different historical sites or people. They meet the Statue of Liberty and Abraham Lincoln. They get to see a bald eagle and MT. Rushmore. They get a drivers license and learn about the Liberty Bell. Pretty cool. This was the parade they do first thing in the morning for all the school and parents.

This was one of the things Tobey brought home from the fun day. Miloh was obsessed with it!! Too cute.

Yes I am aware that I said there wouldn't be another one of these in my house for 3 to 5 years! What can I say I am a sucker when it comes to animals!!! This is Oscar he is a Chocolate Pie Daschound. He is 3 1/2 years old and fits right into our family!! He is slightly OCD when it comes to playing fetch though! The dog would do it all day I kid you not!! Good thing that there are plenty of kids around here to play with him!

I think he's sooooo cute!! Sorry about Jeffs "G's" HA HA

Speaking of OCD......... Yes I painted another wall! I have one more left to paint and then I will be done and my house will be much more colorful and delightful!! :)

Being SiLlY and painting my kitchen!

2009-02-22T21:07:00.003-07:00

Sometimes one fights going to bed for so long that he ends up falling asleep like this!! Seriously if I had the energy of this kid I too could sleep in this position, not to mention I'd weigh 100 pounds!!! HE goes and goes and eats and eats then goes some more and tries to eat until all hours of the night- HELP ME!!! We love him none the less! This is Evann's "the snake is killing me" face. :)

This is Simon's.

It's fun to wear moms hat and be goofy!

Ahhhh brotherly love. To bad it only lasts 2 min.

Behold the master of the shake face pictures in all his glory!! This is his best yet- prize winning for sure!! HA HA HA (and maybe a little creepy.)

Following in Dad's footsteps is master #2!

Here is what I do when I am bored with my house!! I paint! I am in love with my new kitchen wall! The best part is I didn't even have to go buy paint because I had some flourecent orange that I am going to paint the boys' room with so I took some of that orange and mixed it with black paint until I had the orange I was looking for!! Wah lah here's my new wall!
close up

far away

even farther away

I am now on a painting rampage and am going to paint the wall in my family room this week. Probley a bright red. I can't stop I want more color in my house!! maybe I will paint the hallway after the family room............... :)

Fish Tank and Pig Tails

2009-02-19T12:44:00.002-07:00

Ta Daaaa here is our lovely fish tank!! This is our new family obsession around here. It is quite addicting I can't lie. The kids love it of course almost as much as daddy!! :) Yes we have 2 tanks. This one holds the more aggressive non reef friendly fish Puffy and Trigger. They are funny.

Look closely and you will see Reesa's first piggy tails!!!!!! Oh I could just die! She was so stinking cute with these mini things!! Love it!

My little camera happy Miloh. He made me take like 15 pictures of him with his favorite jacket on. He's such a little ham!

Well that would be "the end" of this post. Until next time..........

Happy Wedding Day!!

2009-02-12T10:50:00.002-07:00

Yeah for Lisa!! Saturday Lisa got married to Greggory Cummings. I am so happy that she found someone to love! They are such a cute couple. Welcome to our crazy family Greg!!
Here's the "Fab Five" as we like to call ourselves!! Seriously I love you guys and you will always be more like siblings to me!! You are some of my very best friends!!
Lisa and her adopted children!! They love her sooooo much!

Here's her beautiful cake that my sis in law Wendi made! Sooo pretty!!

Sometimes it's fun to blow ALL the candles out in the whole place, making the "candle lady" have to re-light them 25 times!! Oh gosh what do ya do??? He thought it was like the funnest place EVER!!! :)

Yeah for a somewhat decent family picture (thanks LaDonna). With five kids this is about as good as it gets!!!

What a fun night!! Congratulations Lisa we love you so much and are sooooo happy for you!!

Happy Wedding!!

Don't tell me 'cause I already know that.........

2009-02-06T12:55:00.004-07:00

I have THE cutest baby girl on the planet!! (sorry Heather :0) Hayleigh is a close second!!) She's actually loves peas??? This is a first for me. Not one of my boys would have anything to do with them!!

The icicles on my house could kill a very large water buffalo- I told you they get ridicioulsly huge!!!

Sunsets are magical even when there's ten feet of snow!!

I am in love with my dark hair!! Thank you Heather for making me a brunette!! I am having fun with this "new me" :)

Sorry for the month long absence! I will try not to let that one happen again! Happy cold as mold freeze your knees to one and all!! Short but sweet right?? :)

A little story.

2009-01-10T16:11:00.002-07:00

Those of you who know me well, will get a good laugh at this. I was betrayed something terrible by my husband last night!! I innocently came into our bedroom to ask him a question. He was acting wierd and said "whatever you do don't look at the T.V." So like any normal human being would do I immediately look at the T.V. And there he was in all his HORROR- E.T.!!! And of course it was the worst part where he is all pasty and white laying on the bathroom floor! I nearly threw up!! I screamed "I hate you for life" and ran like hell!!!! So yes everyone I am still deathly afraid of E.T. and NO my children will NOT ever see this film if I have any say in it!! UGH!! I may never recover!

December happenings...............

2009-01-07T12:51:00.005-07:00

Me and my girl. We did a Nativity pagent at Jeff's parents this year. Simon Tobey and Evann were the 3 Kings. Evann lasted all of 2 min. before taking his costume off and declaring "this is so stupid" what can I say he is not a fan of the performing arts!!

Grandpa and Reesa.

Reesa and her new BFF Olivia. This is Kerry's lilttle girl that she had on November 2nd.

Little miss cutie pants!!

Deecamber 27th was Annukka's B-day and so we went over there for some chili and sledding.
Don't worry that I got there and realized I had forgotten the bag of snow clothes!! Simon was a good sport and wore some of Maya's pink gloves! I told him pink was cool and that Jesse (his cool older cousin) would wear them and think they were awsome- It worked!!!

Look at those moves!! He was a little sore after this one!!

Yeah for good friends. Angie was down from Texas for Christmas and so Mary gave her a baby shower while she was here!! She is expecting baby #3 but her first boy!! Yeah we are so excited for you Angie!!

Here is the beautiful Salem Pond lights. They do this every year and I love it! It looks so cool because the lights reflect in the water. It's free to drive by so come and see it next year if you haven't ever been!! Hope everyone had a great New Years!! Happy 2009 to all of you!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-23T09:50:00.003-07:00

We want to wish all of our family and friends a merry Christmas!! We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday. We want to tell you all that we love our Savior and love celebrating him this time of year! Thank you to all who have helped us out lately, and shown the true meaning of this time of year through giving- time, friendship, love, kind words, and yes even gifts and money-WOW we are so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives, who have helped us out in a time of great need!!! My heart is full of love to all of you! Merry Christmas and let's all make this a fantastic New Year!!!
With love, The Garner Clan!!

Christmas and the 5 Senses-Simon style!!

2008-12-19T12:38:00.003-07:00

Ok I had to blog about some cute school work that Simon brought home yesterday. They had yo fill in the blanks on a paper of what christmas smells, tastes, sounds, looks and feels like. So here are Simons answers- so cute!! According to Simon:
Christmas smells like....COOKIES
Christmas looks like.....FROSTING
Christmas sounds like....BELLS RINGING
Christmas feels like....HAPPINESS
Christmas tastes like....GINGER
Isn't that so sweet!? I love my little guy so much! Just thought I'd share some of his sweet little personality with the rest of you!!

SnOw dAyS and GinGerBreAd

2008-12-16T13:57:00.003-07:00

Oh the weather ouside is frightful...... Wow has it been FREEZING the last few days!!! My kids are loving it though! Here's Simon and Tobes playing in the snow. Notice our giganturan icicles!! We have to knock them down with a broom every few days or else they would kill someone!!

Sunday we went to Grandma and Grandpa Garner's to make some gingerbread houses and eat pizza. Here are the 3 olders and thier houses.

They turned out pretty darn cute I'd say!!

I would just like to say the I can NOT believe that Christmas is in 8 more days!! What the heck?? I haven't even bought one single gift yet!! Yikes! Well hope you are all on the ball more than I am, oh and God bless us everyone!! :) Merry Christmas!!

Funny!!

2008-12-09T15:33:00.003-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv4SCfEuYqg
Ok click on this link above to laugh your head off at a High School Musical Twilight parody! HILARIOUS!! Thanks Heather for telling me about this! It's great funny fun!

HaPpY AnNivErSaRy!!

2008-12-08T10:17:00.004-07:00

9 Years- WOW!!! How wonderful it is to be Married to my Jeff!! He is EVERYTHING to me!! I love him more than life itself, and it just keeps getting better!! We went up to Salt Lake and stayed at Little America. We ate at Texas Roadhouse on the way up, and let me just say um- YUM-O!!! I can now die a happy (and fatter) women :)!! Those rolls oh my goodness!! I will never stop craving them as long as I live!! Anyways is was delish to say the least. We also went to see the light at Temple Square. Freezing but beautiful! I want Jeff to know that I love you I love you I loooove yoooou!! (Elf) Happy Anniversary to my love!!

YEAH Reesa finealy decided to smile for a picture!! (this is not the one, next one down). I love this one though and re-affirms my love for my camera!

There are NO WORDS!!! Oh my goodness I love my little girl!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-02T17:13:00.003-07:00

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Here are a few pics. from the weekend.
This one is just a little extra. This is how Miloh fell asleep last night. Too cute!! And yes he sleeps on the couch. He is following in his brother Evann's footsteps!! He also stays up until 10:30- 11:00 just like big brother!! Lucky us! We had Thanksgiving at Jeff's parents house this year. This is the only picture I took! (whoops) But is was cute of Daddy and Reesa. Jeff has been working some CRAZY hours at work lately- can you tell??? Poor guy!

This is my little indian "Running Fox"

My Tobey turkey!!

Theese are for Lindsey who requested some pictures of the chunk. She will Never smile when I put the camera in her face so...... we will keep working on that one. But as you can see she is getting cuter and fatter every day!! Oh the joys she brings!

A Weekend of Twilight

2008-11-24T09:14:00.003-07:00

Ok so theese are out of order but owell. I saw Twilight 3 times this weekend because I was so sure I was going to LOVE it! Well round one the midnight showing was such a downer for me! I hated it!! I was so upset by how the movie was thrown together! I already had my tickets for Friday and Saturday. Round two was with Jeff, his brother and his wife (forgot to get a pic of that night). I was telling them your going to hate it. it's NOT good!! Whem-much to my surprise- I really liked it the 2nd time around!! Jeff said and I quote "I liked it, it wasn't bad at all" wow!! Jeff's brother liked it, and his wife who has read the books loved it! So now I was getting very excited for Saturday round 3!! Let me just say it gets better everytime!! I can now say that I too LOVED it!!! I think I was expecting too much the first time around. It really is low budget, and not the best acting but it is fun to watch the book come to life! And they are starting New Moon for sure they announced it yesterday! I am happy. So here's the pictures from Twilight Weekend.This is on Saturday. LaDonna, Wendi, me, Kristy, Rachel, Taylor, and Michelle.

Lisa and I at the midnight show. VERY excited!!

Before the midnight show we went to Summer's for Bunko and a Thanksgiving feast! Yummy! I made Twilight treat bags for those that were going to the movie. Here are some of us with our bags. Lisa, Heather, Wendy, me, Janeia, and Nicole.

Here's the Bunko/ dinner gang. It was crazy amounts of loud girls!! What a fun night. Summer wins a prize for most delicious turkey EVER!! I enjoyed the girl time for sure. What great weekend!! Oh yeah and TEAM EDWARD!!!! :)

Only 10 days left!!

2008-11-10T16:19:00.003-07:00

Ok so the psycho Twilighter in me is coming out and I am peeing my pants with excitement that we only have to wait ten more days!!! Yes (of course) I am going to the midnight showing, then for date night Friday, then again for a family girls day on Saturday!! I know, I know but what can I say I am very passionate about things that I am passionate about that's just the way I am! So that's all this post was for just to say I am terribly excited and love the outlet that Twilight (and the rest of the books) have been in my hectic life!!

Joy in the Journey

2008-11-03T22:32:00.003-07:00

I am in the mood to write so this is going to be a non "picture book" post. I have made my New Year resolution early this year. It is to find joy in the journey! I am extremely good at being negative and complaining my life away- yes I know BIG shocker!! I seem to feel like the target most of the time, but I want to start living like the arrow aiming for the bulls eye. (ok is that one word or two)??
My life is very difficult for me, but I am not stupid enough to think that I have a hard life because I REALLY don't! I have so much! The thing is, when it comes right down to it there is nothing more I need than what I have right here within the walls of my home! Jeff, my children, my faith, love-it's all right here with me everyday of my life.
I have been thinking a lot about last year around this time when I almost lost Jeff. What would I have done? Where would I be right now? Would I have been committed to some psych ward? I can't really say for sure but the strong side of me tells me I would have survived. I have SO many people in my life who would have rescued me. I have Jeff forever and when you go through a near death experience with your other half you can hardly breathe!! But that's what got me through- knowing that death is not the end, but the beginning of forever.
I know this is a lot of mumbled ramblings but sometimes I just love to write. For those of you that don't know, writing is one of my passions. Mostly poems and songs but any kind of writing is a major outlet for me. This does not mean that I am at all good at it, and I can't spell worth a crap, but hey I do what I do!!
I am so excited for the holidays this year! More so that usual and I am not sure why. Just today I was looking at the big Deseret Book Christmas magazine and the Liz Lemon Swindle pictures of Mary holding Jesus just made me cry. I think one of the biggest reasons why we all love this time of year is because we all become so united in traditions that have existed for SO long! We all do so many of the same things. Plus there is a "spirit of Christmas" that we all feel, and love. It is Christ and he is the center of all things good and holy.
So, back to my resolution: I want to remember that I have EVERYTHING I could possibly want and more! I have multiple reasons to "find joy in the journey". However- life is not always peaches and cream. There are lots of wormy peaches and sour cream days lurking around every corner. So that is why I have set this goal. To take those days and focus on the good parts and how I can grow as a women from things like cleaning food off the kitchen floor for the tenth time that day and feeling like some sub species of a robot maid! All these things are for my own good and make me who I am. I am grateful for my trials. They teach me and mold me more than anything else could. I know things aren't all that great right now in the world with the economy and all that fun stuff. But no matter how bad things get I know I will get through it, I will be better because of it, and I won't be going it alone!!
I want all of you to know that I love you, I love Jesus Christ, I love my life and I WILL find joy in this journey!!

Annual Garner HaLLoWeEn Party!!!

2008-10-29T15:28:00.006-06:00

Tuesday was the Garner family Halloween party. Jeff's mom LOVES Halloween and has been doing this for many many years now. It's a blast and the kids love it so much! Here is Jeff, Reesa, and I. The traditional doughnut on a string eating contest.

Grandpa almost won right here but the last piece fell on the floor which means you get disqualified!!

Go Granny go!!!

Jeff wins this thing like every year- except this year. His fell on the floor too! Like Father like son.

The kiddys turn.

Simon started out with his hands behind his back, but somehow they ended up on his ears- go figure! We sure got a good laugh out of it though!

Come on Indie!!

Go go Power Ranger!!

Me and my clown.

clown, pimp, and super Cody

Yes this is disturbing and I apologise for the nightmares that are sure to take place tonight!!!!

Miloh my little chicken

Wolverine, Power Ranger, Indiana Jones, and chicky poo.

What a fun party it was!! Jeff's mom put so much work into it and we all reaped the benefits so thank you Hazel it was awsome!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Patch, Sister Sleepover, and Miloh's Birthday

2008-10-21T15:06:00.008-06:00

This may very well be THE longest post I have ever done!! Last week we braved the Pumpkin Patch with some friends. I love that I have pictures of me behind this from when I was little!! Gotta love traditions.

The newest babies and the mamas.

The crazy's minus a few. Hey you gotta shoot the picture when you can or they ALL run away!! The crazy thing is that there were 6 or 7 more kids there in our group!!! YIKES!! SISTER SLEEPOVER TIME!! This weekend we had our sister sleepover up at Michelle's cabin. Oh the funness of that!! Here is Sarah and Kristy.

Lindsey lou who.
And what sleepover is ever complete without the famous shake face pictures??

This is what happend every time Bobette tried to sit up!! The bed would eat her-HILARIOUS!!!!

Um- for real your 5 months pregnant??? Wow are you kidding me!! TINY!
Try not to be jealous of how freakin hot and cool we are!! Thanks guys for a GREAT time!! Those who did not attend you missed out!! And you were missed!!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Miloh!! Wow my baby is 2 and I have a new baby!! Where is the time going?? We had a little family party for Miloh yesterday. We carved pumpkins and decorated Halloween cookies.

Simon and Josh doing some decorating.

Here is Simon with his pumpkin.

Evann's.
Mikayla's.
Evann getting loopy after one too many licks of the frosting knife!!
Here is his creation. I don't know I think it needs some more sprinkles?!! Oh sugar!

Here's Miloh's cake. He liked the big vampire mouth.

Here's the after cake face!!

Miloh's pumpkin. Ok..... he had a little help! Notice Jeff's big scary one on the right. He carved that in oh about 5 minutes!!! Mr. big artist! The carving clan.
Tobey was very proud of his creation!!
Miloh we love you sooooo much and are so grateful to have you in our family!! Happy birthday Miloh Man!!

Cullen Boys: New Twilight Trailer!!

2008-10-09T19:57:00.001-06:00

Cullen Boys: New Twilight Trailer!!
Here it is!!! The third and best trailer yet!!! They saved the best for last! Click to watch! I am soooo excited! Jeff says I am a dork-so be it!!

My Poor Little Sicklings

2008-10-09T09:27:00.003-06:00

It all started bright and early Wednesday morning. Evann came into our room-he does this a lot- and worked his way into our bed. Shortly after that around 5 A.M. the vomit started to fly! He managed to make most of it into the toilet- thank goodness for that! It wasn't until about 10:00 A.M. that He started up again and this time Miloh decided to join in on the vomiterrific fun!! Oh the joys. Needless to say my day went something like this: Catch the chunks in a bowl, soothe sick child, dump and clean out bowl, put a load of soiled blankets and clothes into the wash, put soiled child into the bath, repeat SEVERAL times!! Here is sickly pants Miloh. Notice the towel on his pillow. Sickly pants Evann with soda crackers in hand and bowl at the ready!!
It all started AGAIN bright and early Thursday morning at 2 A.M. when Tobey came into our room and got into our bed. Well lets just say MAYBE a tablespoon worth of through up when into the toilet with Tobey's episode! Oh how I love scrubbing mass quantities of foul smelling human discharge off my bedroom and bathroom floor at 2 in the morning!! Good times are being had here at the Garner household!! Simon, Jeff, and I have yet to join in on the fun-bring it on baby!! Speaking of baby I am praying like a mad women that Reesa doesn't get this!!! I will have it twice it I have to I just don't want her to get it she is too little and it scares me to death!! Dehydration is not a good thing for babies! Sickly pants Tobey.
Well here is Miloh starting the road to recovery- we hope!!! He looks much happier anyway.
Evann too seems to be feeling better. At least good enough to want to do some painting. Lets just see if breakfast stays in the tummy's!! Try not to be jealous of all the fun that we are having here- your time will surely come!! After all that's why winter is so blasted fantastic!! Flu season is almost here yippee!!! Until then happy sniffles, pukes and diarrhea's!!

Cute Miloh and Kirby

2008-10-03T13:44:00.002-06:00

Miloh loves to bring me the camera lately and this is the face he makes so that I will take his picture!!! Say cheese!! Here he is picking me a flower..............
And then giving it to me! So sweet!!!
Monday night Michelle, LaDonna, Taylor, Rachel, and I went to see Kirby Heyborne in Provo. I liked his songs a lot-he has a good voice, and he was hilarious!!! It was way fun. Thanks for coming guys!

Time for a little catch up!!

2008-09-29T10:31:00.003-06:00

Here we are at the park. Now notice Miloh's foot....... he didn't quite have his footing!! But he did catch himself...... now what??
Evann to the rescue!! Yeah I just watched the whole thing, took pictures, and laughed!!!

I had to include this one of Miloh an his musheys!! Pucker up!

Last week was crazy hair day at school. Tobey said he looked like the baddest bad guy ever!!?? Well.......hmmm I don't know about that!!!
Last but not least, we blessed our little angel yesterday! She is sooo beautiful!

Our family is now complete! I love my little girl and my four boys so much!! I would never be able to do any of this without my Jeff!! I am grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be a Mother a wife and that I can have my family forever!!

Oh yeah had to stick this one in here to because-well it's irresistable!!!

RAINBOW LOVE

2008-09-12T15:53:00.004-06:00

I love summer rainstorms and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the rainbows that follow!!! Miloh likes them too!

This is Reesa and Casen's first meeting! Casen is the cutest little gangly thing EVER!!! I think Reesa's head may be twice the size of Casen's!! :) And Notice how Casen looks Latino next to Reesa's fair skin. Love it.

random pics, sunday picnic, and bLoNdiE!!

2008-09-08T15:02:00.005-06:00

This is my little sleeping beauty. My delicious Miloh!! LOOOVE him!
Let's just call this one CHEEKS!!! Oh the goodness of Reesa's cheeks!
This Sunday was Stake Conferance and well, yeah we don't so much take our childrren to that yet!! (give us a few more years) So we went to the park for a picnic instead. Needless to say they had a BlaSt!!

Oh and Daddy had some fun too!! :)
Miloh loves Cheetos!! He licks them like a sucker I was so happy to capture this moment!!

Ok this is embarressing but Heather wanted me to post a picture of my new hair. I have gone EXTREMLEY blonde!! And here I am........... Ta da! Let me know what you think and please be honest!

First tooth!!

2008-09-06T11:01:00.005-06:00

Simon lost his first tooth last night!!! He has the smallest little teeth!! He was very brave while Dad yanked it out!!! He was very happy to find 8 quaters under his pillow this morning!!

Now we just need to pull out the one next to it that is very loose too!! Simon wasn't feeling up to double yankedge though!! I said "maybe in two days", he said "maybe in two weeks"!!

Off of the tooth story I have a funny Simon story: Yesterday I asked Simon if he was going to hunt when he was older. He looked at me and said: "duh I'm not going to kill animals I'm going to be an artist"!! That's my boy!!!

Funny Evann story: This morning Reesa was looking up at the ceiling and smiling. I asked Evann what he thought she was looking at. His response: "she is looking at the angels that are flying, and carrying all of the dead people". Yikes!! I may have nightmares tonight!! I don't know what the heck kind of answer that was but I am slightly disturbed!! It would have been a cute response minus the dead people!! :(

HAPPY GIRL!!

2008-09-04T16:41:00.001-06:00

What can I say- I love this girl!!!!!

ScHooL TiMe

2008-08-27T09:20:00.002-06:00

Today was Tobey's first day of Kindergarten!! I couldn't find the camera on Simon's first day (of course) so we will just pretend here!! This is the bus they take. When it was time to go to the bus stop this was my conversation with Tobey: "Tobey do you want me to walk with you to the bus sto-" "No mom that's ok" Well ok then Mr. Independent pants!! And they're off!!
Best brother buddys!
I can't believe I have two kids in school and one in pre school!! Crazy crazy- but quite nice I must say!! :)

So I guess this means fall is on the way, and Halloween will be here before we know it. Uggg I will start preparing myself for the fridgid- but enjoy the warmth while it lasts!!! Happy School time!!

Jumpin Jacks

2008-08-25T09:21:00.006-06:00

Evann wanted to go to Jumpin Jacks for his birthday. We invited Michelle and her kids to meet us there.

I love this picture!! Thanks for comming guys!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVANN!!

2008-08-23T13:59:00.009-06:00

Happy 4th birthday to our Evann!! The little boy who has always been his own person!! We love you bud you add so much spice to our family!!

What would we do without you in our lives?? Happy Birthday buddy!!

Reesa Pictures

2008-08-15T19:47:00.007-06:00

Here are some random shots of Reesa- A.K.A. Chubba Chunks!!
The boys LOVE to kiss her fluffy cheeks!!

This is what happens when you don't feed her every 2 hours!! Angry baby!!

I keep finding her sleeping in the cutest positions!! Exhibit A

Exhibit B

We love her so much! Evann keeps saying "oh mom I just love her, she's so cute I just love her and lets keep her" Yes I think we will keep her!! :)

beauty

2008-08-10T15:21:00.005-06:00

Oh how I love the sunsets here!! This was a beautiful night and we had to snap a few pics. Enjoy!!!

Happy Birthday Simon

2008-08-03T16:41:00.014-06:00

This is a few days late but here is Simon's Happy Birthday post-with a few mis- haps!! While cleaning the house getting ready for the party Miloh came flying past me into my room. I then heard a loud crash followed by crying, followed by Evann yelling that Miloh was bleeding. I run into my room and Miloh has a good sized gash above his left eye. Great!! So I call Jeff who was luckily heading to Springville for a job and he came and got Miloh, took him to the insta care where a doctor glued him shut. Ok that problem solved. Next mis-hap: just as the party was starting Evann decided it would be a good idea to through a croquet ball at Tobey's head!! The result- the biggest goose egg I have ever seen!! Poor kid. So I guess this is what you get when you have a birthday party with a week old baby!!! YIKES! Contrary to what you all might think I kept my cool and did NOT have a nervous breakdown! Yeah me!

So on to what this day was all about...... Simon!! Our sweet boy who we love sooooo much! I can't believe he is seven and going into 2nd grade!! Wow time flys. Here are some pictures of the worlds biggest helper and bestest big brother!!! I don't know what I would do without all of your help my little buddy!! We all love you so much!!! Happy happy birthday my little man!

Thanks cousins for comming to the party!!!!

So handsome!!

Hilarious!!

Independent!

Loving!!

Silly!

Great sense of humor!!

Love you buddy!

REESA

2008-07-28T19:13:00.008-06:00

She's here!!! Reesa arrived on July 24th (barely) at 12:06 a.m. She weighed 9 pounds, and is only 18 inches!! Our little tea pot, short and stout!! This is right after I had here. I am glad to have my family there. Taylor, Rachel, Devynn, LaDonna, Michelle, Lisa, Mom, and of course my Jeffie pooh (who took this pic.). Glad you could share that special moment with me!! Here she is right after she came out. SOOOO cute and squishy.

Ok Jeff was dying over the fat roll on the back of her neck so he had to take a picture of it!! She is such a big ball of mushy goo!!!

I love her!!

I don't know which one is more fluffy...........

Thak you LaDonna for making this delicious head band for her!!! She looks adorable!!

So, I love her to pieces and I am loving playing dress up with my little girl!! Welcome to our family baby Reesa we love you SOOO much!!!

Ode to Country Life!!

2008-07-20T19:16:00.002-06:00

Oh how I love living out in the country! This is the coolest moth ever! My kids call them "mighty moths". They are HUGE!! So fun to be a boy and grow up here. Seriously I love summertime in my yard. I can sit out on the porch swing and hear: An owl, a pheasant, crickets, TONS of birds, I can see multiple types of butterflys, bees, wasps, ants, grasshoppers, big toads- So GREAT!!! I am so blessed to live in such a "creature-riffic" place! There's no place like home!

Happy Birthday Dino Museum!!

2008-07-11T14:01:00.007-06:00

Once again it was off to the Dinosaur museum with Heather, Taylor, and Easton!! This time they were having a birthday party for the museum and so they had differant booths set up with activities for the kiddos! Here are the boys after getting thier faces painted. Ok so this Dinosaur is made completely out of balloons!!! WOW pretty dang cool. I can't imagine how long it must have taken!

Ah brotherly love!! Taylor and Easton in front of balloon Dino.

Simon and Tobey showing off thier painted faces! I love Tobey's long neck it's my favorite!

The little terrors!! They had fun and actually ALL behaved very well!! Good job boys. Thanks again for a dino-riffic day Heather!!

4th of July

2008-07-08T21:12:00.006-06:00

Happy Independence day to all!!! This picture turned out so cute I am sad that I didn't think to jump in there and have someone else take it!! Duh! Owell I am not looking my best these preggo days so maybe it's better!

Here is my pyro man looking rather hot!! I love this picture and the one in it!!

Sadly Evann incured a large blister on his fingertip shortly after I took this picture!! He had to learn the hard way that you don't touch the sparkler spark!! Poor kid he was not so happy with life after that. Hey hope everyone had a great day. I really am proud to be an American and I love my country very much!! I am turning into my Mom and I cry at parades and when the Tabernacle Choir sings patriotic songs and when everyone stands with thier hands over thier hearts as the flag passes by. We have so much to be grateful for as Americans!! God bless the U.S.A!!!!!!!!!!!

Wahoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-06-17T19:25:00.003-06:00

So I am quite happy to report that todays check up turned out to be rather nice!! I have been having a horrible time this pregnancy and just want the dang thing to be over with!! Starting on Sunday night I have been having contractions and pain on and off (oh goody more crap)!! Well I am never doing much of anything this early- MAYBE 1/2 a centimeter at the MOST! But I am actually 1 and 1/2 centimeters dialated!!!!! Wahoooo bring it on baby!!! Maybe she will come early! Either way the doctor said I will not have to go past the 22nd of July because he will induce me for sure!! Thank you Lord there is light at the end of the LONG DARK tunnel!! All I know is there will never be another child in this womb AGAIN!! I am so happy to be able to say that I am done for real. It is time to move forward and past the child bearing days for me! I am grateful that the Lord blessed us with a little girl to give that feeling of completion. Anyways I just wanted to share the good news!! I am sooooo excited to see what she looks like, hold her, smell her, enjoy her, and have another girl in the house!! Come on down baby Reesa!!