Back to School...

We are getting ready to start school this week, so my amazing mother wanted to do something fun with the kids. She took them all to the mall and let them each pick out a new shirt for school.
Afterwards she treated us all to Lunch at The California Pizza Kitchen.Your the BEST Mom! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

P.S. It is so funny to me to see what kids go for when they can have any shirt in the whole store. I tried really hard to stay out of it and let them get whatever they wanted but I had to stick my foot down when Scott came out wearing a size 6 month t-shirt with googly eyes on it. Poor kid was heart broken. And Aspen was set on this little baby dress. She kept trying to convince me that she could just wear it as a shirt?? Luckily they both came to their senses and picked out very cute shirts.

The Fish Whisperer...

I took the kids to Adventure Learning park in Highland. Chase has been dying to go all summer long because supposedly it has some great fishing. Well he caught 12 fish, and his cousin caught 1, but no one else caught a thing. He wasn't even using a pole. He had a hook with some bait on it tied to the end of a fishing line. He would just throw the hook in the water and the fish would come swarming to it. The second they would bite he would just yank them out. He made it look SO EASY that we all made our selves our own little fishing lines. There were 10 kids total and 2 adults. We all tried for about 2 hours with out any luck. Chase kept trying to give us tips and pointers but after a while he was like, "I'm not sure how to help you guys, I'm making it as simple as I possibly can..." So after a while we just came to the conclusion that he must be the "Fish Whisperer"
He kept all the fish he caught in cups and bread bags so that he could come home and put them in the pond. The fish bag was a very hot item to be in possession of. Every one wanted their chance to sit on the grass and hold Chase's bag!Not many of the fish survived long enough to make it into the pond. Scott kept grabbing them out and playing with them and then putting them back in the cup but for some reason they wouldn't swim after he did that... When we first got their he used Chase's net to catch this dead fish, It was Nasty! He was really excited to show us the fish he caught though.

Midnight Snack...

In this case Zoe did not sneak down into the kitchen and eat a little midnight snack, but she was in fact the midnight snack. We spent the night in my parents back yard. My Dad put up his projector and we watched a movie and then slept out under the stars. Poor Zoe had some bug or bugs munching on her all night long. It didn't keep her awake or anything. she slept soundly the whole night. In the morning though her poor face was a mess.

The Creek...

Those were Chase's last words everyday as he headed out the door. "Bye Mom, I'm going to 'The Creek '", it has been all he has wanted to do all summer long. He is allowed to go by himself because it is right behind our house, it isn't too deep, and he can swim. Well Scott wanted in on the creek fun, he started begging me to let him go with Chase (which I wasn't comfortable with). So one day we decided to spend the afternoon at 'the creek'. The kids LOVED exploring! They knew Chase had caught a couple of fish here this summer so they brought along colanders to see if they could catch some of their own. No such luck, Surprise, Surprise. I bribed the kids. I told them if they would get their full bodies under water I would give them a dollar. They were all over that.Scott got a little careless while he was playing and fell in. I handed Lola to my friend and then plucked him right out. As I was pulling him out of the water he asked "Do I get a dollar?" It was pretty funny! And I totally paid him...

Girls Night!

Matt took Chase and Scott camping so it was just me and my girls. We had a fun night out on the town. We went out to eat for dinner, got some ice cream after and watched a little concert in the park. Then we came home and put Lola to bed, and then stayed up late watching Hannah Montana (per request of Zoe).Lola was going to town on the girls ice cream. She kept grabbing their hands so she could put it in her mouth. Then when it got to the bottom she would just use her finger as a spoon to scoop it out. Zoe and Aspen were both very good sports!

The next morning we rode our bikes to Macy's to get some doughnuts for breakfast.Aspen was giving me a heart attack on the way their. We have a pretty good sized hill between our house and Macy's and she went flying down that thing out of control, and when she got to the bottom she took off going the wrong way. On the way back I gave her a little tutorial on the proper way to ride your bike down a large hill, and made her show me that she was capable of using her breaks before I let her go down. It was a much smoother ride home!

Little Rascals 2011...

This is the little singing/dancing group Aspen has been in for the past couple years. She loves it so much. For their summer show this year they did Annie. It was so cute! Aspen's solo was "Maybe". She did such a great job!Zoe is her biggest Fan! She LOVES coming to Aspen's shows!!

Study Break...

Matt had to take a few classes before he could start his MBA program. He procrastinated taking those (they were online courses) until the week they were due. Needless to say it was a LONG week. Studying everyday from dusk until dawn. The one day he came out of his office and said "My brain is fried, I need a study break!" So we took off to Grandma's house for lunch, put the sprinkler under the tramp, and played dodge ball with the kids. It was great!!

To Grandmothers house we go...

My sisters and I spent Thursdays at my Parents house this summer. It was always my kids favorite day of the week, and we had some pretty fun things we did throughout the week, between the pools and splash parks but Grandma's house was their favorite. Her back yard is the funnest place on earth for them. She has a play house, a tramp, a hammock, swings, a huge blow up slide, and in addition to all that there is always lots of ice cream at grandma's house. It was my favorite day of the week too. I could put Lola down for a nap when she was tired and spend the afternoon chatting with my Mom and sisters while my kids totally entertained themselves. We are definitely going to miss Thursdays at Grandma's!

Dear BJ

Wow it’s hard to believe it’s been 2 years since we have seen you. We miss you so much! There are still days where I feel like you might just waltz down stairs and say Hello… And things could just pick up where they left off. I wish that were the case! I wish you could see the kids. They are getting so big. I wish you were here to chase them around, and throw them on the tramp, and then start chucking apples at them. Kids need that every now and again. You would Love Scott, he is so wild he would keep you on your toes, and definitely be one of your favorite wrestling buddies. I have a feeling you might have hung out a bit with Lola before she came down here. You might have warned her a little about what to expect when joining the Gardner gang, because she fits right in. She is such a spaz. She makes us all laugh, and we can’t get enough of her. The girls are just as girly as ever! They would love to sit on your lap and talk your ear off about any and every little thing that goes on in their life. I wish you could see Zoe and Addie together. They are two peas in a pod! They are so much alike, it makes me and Kelsie laugh all the time. Both of them are so FEISTY, you would be proud! Chase misses you the most. He has so many fun memories with you. He still talks about you all the time. He is a stud, you would love hanging out with him. He is a miniature Matt, class clown, irreverent, quick witted, and too smart for his own good.

We Love you! We still pray for you all the time. I hope that you are happy in heaven, and that you are at peace. I hope you take the opportunity to accept the gospel. And to accept the ordinances that have been performed for you. I hope you know that we love you, and we miss you! I’m sure there have been times in the past 2 years where you have been with us in one way or another. And I like to think that you keep a close eye on all your nieces and nephews, so Thank you for that! We are all very excited to see you again someday!

XOXO... Alicia