Happy Easter!

I don't know about you, but for me I am not a fan of this "spring" weather. It made it difficult for me to get into the Easter spirit. Fortunately, there were a few beautiful days this month to get me through and we managed to have a great Easter.

We started the festivities off with the annual neighborhood flashlight Easter Egg hunt. Gabby was SO excited that she just ran around and squeeled at, and hugged every person she saw that she knows. It was hilarious! I forgot to take pictures...SHOCKER I know!

Then a few days later, she had her Easter egg hunt with her preschool class. They started off with a picnic in the park and then were off to get their loot.




I just LOVE the kids in Gabby's preschool class. Aren't they the cutest? Funny little side note...the little boy in the red coat(Griffin) is apparantly Gabby's future husband. She told me that he asked her to marry him and she promised him that she would. HA HA!! How funny/cute is that?!

We dyed our Easter eggs on Saturday. As I prepared the dye I'm always grateful that I have wood floors as I remember a not-so-fortunate accident at my Mom's house. Long live wood floors in the kitchen/dining room!





And then of course, we had Easter morning. Gabby got to look around the house to find hidden eggs filled with candy and her basket. She squeeled with delight every time she found an egg and then squeeled EXTRA loud when she found her basket. I just love that girl and her ability to make me smile so hard it hurts. Then Josh insisted that there was one more hidden egg so he and Gabby went looking for the "egg". He surprised me with a basket with a few things for Kian and I. (We had agreed to only get a few things for Gabby to save money but he really wanted to surprise me) AWWWWWwww! I'm a blessed gal for sure.


And here we are dressed and ready for church. Gabby got to wear her new dress, which is WAY cuter than this photo shows. Kian looked SO handsome in his grown up boy outfit. I can't get over how darling and amazing my kids are-I really am so blessed! Have I mentioned how blessed I am?!




I hope you all had a fabulous Easter as well. Life is GOOD!

What a Girl Wants

On Friday my friend had 4 extra tickets to the "What a Woman Wants" expo. I knew Gabby would love it because she loves girlie things like purses and jewelry. I thought it would be even more fun to have her cousin, Millie join us. G'ma Terri was babysitting Millie so the four of us headed over to the Southtowne Expo Center. If it weren't for watching the cute, excited girls I would have been bored out of my mind. It was booth after booth after booth of jewelry, purses, hats, shoes, makeup, designer jeans, blah, blah, blah. BUT...the girls LOVED it and had so much fun trying to decide what they'd pick to take home.
Gabby had brought some of her piggy bank money and decided to spend it on getting a feather "extension" put in her hair. I guess that's all the rage now. G'ma Terri even had one put in! Then G'ma let the girls pick out a ring, a small purse, and they got their nails painted. They were just SO dang cute!


I LOVE this picture-cracks me up how they are looking in different directions and not at the camera-it was IMPOSSIBLE to get them both looking at the camera at the same time. But how darling are they in those hats?!


What to pick? What to pick? (notice-again not looking at the camera) ha ha!



Manicure time! Of course, they both picked PINK!




This was a dressing room to change in but Gabby thought it was a pink tent and fell in LOVE! She begged me to take a picture of her and now wants a pink tent. That's my girl!


Here is her new feather in her hair. They said it would last 2 months-YA RIGHT! The large feather already broke off so now she just has the small part left. She still loves it though.

All in all, VERY fun day, good memories made, quality time with family...couldn't ask for more from a Friday afternoon. Thanks cute girls and G'ma Terri!

Gabby's First Testimony

I am starting to use this blog for more of a journaling purpose, since I've been slacking on actually writing in my journal. So, for that purpose, I want to write down the special moment we had on Sunday.
For months Gabby has been begging me to let her go on the stand to bare her testimony. I've always been turned off by the too young child going up there, while the parent whispers every word into their ear...it just never seems sincere and that bothers me. So, for that reason, I've been hesitant to let her go up. This past Sunday she really wanted to go. So, I gave her a quick pep talk about how she needs to just say what's in her heart about Church things. I was worried that she'd start telling a story about her latest Pokemon toy or the dinosaur that she heard outside her bedroom window.
She wanted me to go up with her, but the said the words by herself! I had to fight HARD to keep the tears back and stay composed. So, I don't forget, here is her sweet testimony:

"I'd like to bare my testi-story. I like to talk to Jesus. I talk to Jesus while I'm sleeping. I love this Church. I love my Mom and Dad. And Kian. I know that Jesus is part of this world. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen".

Awwww...melt my heart!

Then after the meeting, a man in our ward who I don't know, approached me and asked my name. Then he said, "Well, Sister Garner, I just wanted you to know that you must be doing something right in that home of yours for that small little girl to be able to do what she did today. She touched my heart".
Awww...melt my heart again!!!

There is just something about sweet little innocent children that reminds you of what is truly important. Nothing has strengthened my testimony more than being a Mother.

Kian the Monkey Boy

Josh and I have been SO bad at remembering to record Kian. I have a few good ones on my video camera that I'll put on here later but I thought I'd at least get the two I have on my cell phone. Remember the quality is AWFUL, but at least you can see him. Those of you who live far away don't get to see how fast this little man is growing up! These videos were taken about a month ago. I'll be posting one soon of his new talent: commando crawl!

He is quite the monkey boy...ALWAYS wiggling and moving. He's hardly ever calm and still. How did I manage to get two babies who don't like to cuddle? But, we love him and can't complain. Never a dull moment around here! :)

Here is another one I took last night...it's nothing special but shows his super CUTE face! I'm in LOVE!!!

The House that Love (and Kids) Built!

I've noticed a great variety in standards when it comes to the cleanliness of ones home. I'm not here to judge (ok, maybe just a little), but I honestly just find it amusing.
I know some who's houses are absolutely filthy-both sinks full of dirty dishes, crusty floors, sticky chairs, etc. The best part is the excuse of "My house is always this messy because I'm spending too much time with the kids and never have time for the house cleaning part." Ummm......ok.
And then there is the opposite side of the spectrum. The houses that are absolutely spotless-shiny chrome, polished wood, floorboards cleaned weekly. And then it's this type of home that usually comes with the ol' "I never have time to play with my children. I'm just so busy." Again, Ummm....ok.
So, here's my solution, and what works for me. I pretty much make it a daily point/effort to find the balance. I keep my house "clean" to my standards but am the first to admit that my floorboards are currently filthy, and my windows haven't been cleaned in years (yes-YEARS). But I do make sure all the rooms are picked up and tidy before going to bed and I deep clean when I can.
And I'm also the first to admit that there are times when Gabby is sent to the basement to amuse herself for a few hours, or I let her play computer games for...don't judge me too harshly here...but HOURS! BUT-I do try really hard to make a huge chunk of each day about nothing else but us. Just Mom and the kids. The way I see it, this is now my full-time job, my career. I love the way my friends said it, "IF you are fortunate enough to be a stay at home Mom, then do it and do it WELL". I honestly try my best. I'm far from perfect but my goal is to be able to go to sleep each night, knowing that I gave what I could that day to my darling kiddos!
The other day Josh and I were noticing the random pieces of artwork that Gabby has hung in our house (AKA Art Museum), and the toys everywhere. I said to him, "Boy, you sure wouldn't know any kids live here huh?" And that made me feel giddy inside. It makes me happy to see these "messes" in my house.

Here is our fridge, and yes it looks like that ALL the time, if not worse. It is literally covered in layers of Gabby's artwork, love notes, preschool schedule, etc. She is SO attached to her art and always wants it displayed. If she isn't passing out her colored pictures to her friends and family, she's finding a place to display it in her "Art Show".


These two art projects were too long to be displayed on the front of the fridge, so the side seemed to work just great!

Gabby's latest obsession is building a fort in the basement. She will easily spend an hour or two building it, and then once Connor comes to play, she is down there for the rest of the day playing Train the Dragon to Pokemon to Jake and the Neverland Pirates to Sonic the Hedgehog. (They take turns choosing what show they are going to act out). Their imaginations are epic. And the fort makes me nostalgic, remembering the forts I used to build with my siblings and friends. What child doesn't love a good afternoon of fort playing? It truly is the best!


The other thing that has me giddy as a schoolgirl lately...watching Gabby and Kian play together. They are SO cute together and just love each other so much. Gabby is always reading him books and showing him things/teaching him. "Look Kian, this is a ball" or "Kian, this page shows you things that are red". She is just an amazing big sister! While Josh and I were busy cleaning the house the other day, she built this "train". Kian was one of her passengers. She even asked him where he'd like the train to take him and he "replied"-to the moon!




So, yes I'm fully aware that these photos will make the clean freaks cringe in horror. But to me, these photos just make me realize exactly what it is that I love so much about my life. I love my job-it has the best benefit and perks package EVER!

I Heart Valentines Day!

I Heart Valentines Day! Years ago, I couldn't say the same. I used to hate it. Why? Well, my last name was Valentine and I felt like I was the only one in school who didn't actually have a Valentine! I remember at the end of the day they would read name, after name, after name of all the girls who had flowers waiting for them in the office. Needless to say, never hearing my name called was never the highlight of my year! And every time someone said "Will you be MY Valentine"? or "Valentine? Is this your holiday?" I just cringed.
BUT, now that I have a new last name, I have to admit I miss the name Valentine-good thing I kept it as my middle name. And now that I'm married and it's no longer about do I or do I not have a special someone, I can relax a bit about the day. Plus, having kids just makes the day awesome!

Back in January, Gabby and I decorated these darling foam mailboxes we found at Target. We made one for her and one for Josh. Starting Feb. 1st, I would put a love note and a treat or surprise in their mailbox for them to find in the morning. It was like our countdown to Valentines Day, and of course, Gabby loved it. Too much! She kept waking up earlier and earlier each morning to check her mail. We are going to have to rethink that one next year! You can see the cute mailboxes in this picture of the Valentines cards we all got. Gotta love Holiday loot!


Valentines Day this year fell on a Monday, so we decided to do our traditional fondue on Sunday night. As always, it was SO yummy! I just can't get enough of chocolate covered strawberries. Deelish!!!









Hope you all had a yummy, fun, and sweet Valentines Day too! Even though the day has come and gone, I wanted to say I HEART my friends and family so much! The last 6 months has been quite the trial/adventure/crazy time for me, but it has also forced me to realize how blessed I am. Thank you to all of you for all your prayers, love, support, and encouragement. Funny how hard times teaches you how many blessing you have! Love you all!

Better Late Then Never Christmas Post

I know, I know..I've been completely MIA on my blog. I've been very sick, blah, blah, blah. Long story. I'll get into it later. But for now, I'm going to try to do a catch-up.
Christmas this year was so nice. We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house in Wyoming. My brother Lance and his family were there too so we had a full house. It was fun. I'm pretty sure Gabby was in heaven with so many cousins to play with! I, as always, didn't take enough pictures but I got a few good ones.

Lance's family has a tradition of each child opening a Christmas ornament on Christmas Eve. Love it! And we'll be doing that from here on out. But this year we didn't have one for Gabby so Josh took a last minute trip to Wal-Mart and picked up a Grinch ornament. She loved it and everyone seemed happy with their fun, new ornaments!


The cousins decorated a really cute gingerbread house. I'm pretty sure Gabby spent more time eating the candy, then putting it on the house.


Hayden was SO dang cute with Kian. He held him, played with him, and rocked him to sleep. He's one of the best babysitters ever!




Isn't he the CUTEST Santa EVER??!!!


I just LOVE my kiddos!

After we spent Christmas morning with my family, we headed back to SLC to spend the rest of the day with the Garners. It's SO fun to have two Christmases in one day, with both families. I used to complain about it, but it's growing on me. And Gabby loves it too. She was really excited to see Will and Millie. The only picture I got was of Gabby and Millie loving their new Pillow Pets. They are just so dang adorable!


Christmas was awesome, as always. I learned a LOT this year. We are saving our money so decided to only buy presents for the kids. It really helped me to put everything in perspective and focus more on what Christmas is all about. I won't get into details now, but I had some really amazing experiences. It was truly a Christmas to remember!