Love These!!

I bought my girls these cute outfits for the 4th of July. My friend is starting up a photography blog and wanted to mess around with a new lens she just got. I playfully told her she could use my girls anytime because I wanted pics of them in their cute outfits. Well the other night she called and said " the lighting outside is perfect!! Think I could come grab your girls and take some pictures??" To which I responded "Heck Ya!" I love how they turned out!

Gone Swimming...

I was nervous I would be out of my league trying to take 5 kids swimming by myself. But it's all good. The 2 younger kids pretty much stay in the shallow area where they can touch, the older 2 can swim so I don't even really pay attention to where they end up, so all I have to do is watch Lola... which is actually a lot of work!!Lola is fearless! She doesn't want to be held, she wants to get down and swim with the older kids. So I let her down, and she takes off walking. She usually gets a few steps before she falls in the water and I pluck her out. She thinks it is hilarious, doesn't mind at all that she goes a few seconds under water without breathing. She just giggles and takes off again.

Happy Birthday Lola Jean!

I can't believe Lola is already ONE!! This last year flew by. She is so dang cute! She has the funnest personality, she is busy and active and she jabbers constantly. She is a good sport about being carted around, and kissed, and squeezed. She can hardly catch a break, all the kids are just crazy about her and have a hard time letting her do anything on her own. She started walking a couple days before her birthday. It is the cutest thing to watch because she is still so tiny. She got a little more into the cake the second time around. At first she just wanted to get all the polka dots off of it, but eventually she went in for a taste..
After a couple of licks she decided it was pretty good, so she went to town.. We just love her!! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Fireworks...

Finally, we made it to my kids favorite part... The Fireworks! They were SO excited!!
The younger kids made themselves a cozy bed on the tramp that they could lay in while they watched the show.The older kids got to put on the show. Rick and Russ helped a lot, but I was including them when I said kids, Because when it comes to lighting things on fire these 2 were like kids in a candy shop. At one point Rick was holding a Roman Candle and laughing as he is shooting it like a gun. And Russ got out his blow torch for a fire work that apparently didn't have a wick. Yes I stand by my statement... The OLDER KIDS put on the show.Lola kind of liked them. She turned around and cuddled up on Matt's shoulder like she was scared but every now and again she wanted to sneak a quick peek. After a while she just fell asleep.Scott loved them. Each time as Rick was getting one ready Scott would shout "Uncle Rick! Is this one going to be TOO LOUD?" But after a while he was tired and cold so Matt and I took turns cuddling with him in the house while watching "Finding Nemo".And that concludes our Independence Day Marathon... Hope Yours was as Fine as Mine!!

Stewart Falls...

The morning of the 4th we took our kids to hike Stewart Falls. Our kids LOVED it! Scott has been begging to go hiking again ever since. We took our time and let the kids find all sorts of stuff on the way up. It was raining a little so the kids kept trying to make umbrella's out of leaves and sticks. They were pretty impressed with the huge waterfall at the end. Chase wanted a closer look, but Scott had no desire to get any closer. The way down was a little faster because Zoe and Scott were getting tired so Matt and I gave them piggy backs most of the way down, so we didn't have to stop and see every leave that looked like a hat. Chase probably hiked it twice by the time we were done. He kept running down a ways and then coming back up. Sometimes he would hide in the bushes and jump out and scare us. And a couple of times he would hide in the bushes and let us pass him and see how long he could follow along right behind us before we realized he was there.

America the Beautiful...

This is one of my favorite patriotic songs. There are so many good ones, but the words to this one are so touching! Aspen had to learn it last year so we started singing it at bed time. I am not a singer, except for in the comfort of my own home and then... Let's just say it gets exciting! We like to jazz this one up a bit and try to sing it like Ray Charles did on the Sandlot. It's made for some GOOD TIMES at the Gardner's! I get to be Ray Charles, and Matt is always the one in the back ground shouting out things like "sing it brotha... Yes he did... Oh, sweet America..." You get the idea. Well today we sang it in church, and my kids were singing LOUD and PROUD! I'm just glad that none of them shouted anything out in between verses!


O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

4th of July Parade...

I Love the 4th of July!! And yes, a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is just a big Party!! I love any excuse to dress my kids up, paint their faces, and play with them for days on end, but it is so much more than that. I love it because it means I am FREE! I realize that freedom has come at a great cost, and I am thankful for all those who ever have or who currently are defending my freedom. What a Blessing! So to honor them, we partied for 3 days straight... So Fun! We started with our Neighborhood Parade on the 2nd. This year our parade Grand Marshall was none other than... Lightning McQueen!! He was a hit!And Thanks to Rick and Deb I was in tears before the Flag Ceremony even started. They asked for everyone to be quiet and then to set the tone for the Flag Ceremony they played Johnny Cash's rendition of "That Ragged Old Flag"(if you've never heard it, you should youtube it. It is Fantastic!). Right after it ended they did the flag ceremony, followed by the singing of the National Anthem by our very talented Friend and Neighbor Jolee Carol. After the parade and Flag Ceremony we had breakfast/concert/carnival.... Basically we had a great time with our families, friends and neighbors!!
Aspen Sang "Proud to be an American" She did so good!I think my girls went back to the Face Painting Booth 5 times...Grandpa with his little Fire crackers...Happy 4th of July 2011!!