The Lowedown

Wedding / Sealing #3: Aaron & Melissa

2011-05-16T10:55:00.001-05:00

January took us back to Vegas to celebrate the wedding of Aaron (Andy's brother Aaron, not my brother Aaron) to Melissa Earl in the Las Vegas LDS temple. It was another beautiful day with a beautiful couple. This wedding was especially fun for Andy and I to catch up with TONS of old friends that we hadn't seen in WAY too long. At the dinner the night before the wedding Aaron & Missy totally surprised everyone with their rendition of Islands in the Stream accompanied by a live band including none other than the musical stylings of Brendan Bybee on guitar, Andrew Lowe on bass guitar, Chaz Hales on keyboard, and Rusty Guthrie on drums. It was awesome! That kicked off the karaoke and was so fitting of this fun-loving couple. The wedding the next day was really cool, very vintage and as my friend Leesee called it "Victorian Eclectic". Whatever the proper name for Missy's style, the reception was gorgeous.

Keegan rocked it on the dance floor. I have no idea where that came from! (Oh wait, I think my roommates from college would say they know where he learned to bust a move. Am I right HDR girls?? Those were the days - but I digress.) Keegan was complimented all night on his moves, especially the robot and attempted breakdancing moves and headspins. A couple of our friends even told us that Keegan was their hero on our way out. It was a proud moment as parents to see his fearless command of the dance floor. Graham pretty much rocked the treat table, helping himself to old fashioned lollipops, mini cupcakes, and anything he could snatch containing sugar. Good times were had by all!

This was the final wedding of Andy's siblings so we were so excited to get another sister-in-law in this family of boys. We are so happy about the addition of Woan and Missy to our family.

Brendan stealing a moment with us. Aww.

Melissa's mother and grandmothers' wedding dresses

Christmas and Sealing #2

2011-05-16T01:13:00.001-05:00

Right after Patrick & Woan's wedding we headed off to Arizona for my brother Jason & Franchesca's temple sealing in the Mesa LDS temple. We were so happy for them! It was a really special day and they were beaming. Afterward we all enjoyed Cafe Rio together - yum! That night Franny put on a nice get together at their home complete with delicious appetizers, soups, cheesecake bites, and cheeses. Santa and Mrs. Claus even paid a visit and the boys were beside themselves with surprise and glee. Since it was on December 23 we decided to stick around for christmas. We had a great time! Here's a look at Jason & Franny's sealing.

Here are some photos from christmas. Highlights were the boys getting the Ironman toys Keegan told everyone Santa would bring him, Yo Gabba Gabba Vans, playing Minute to Win It on Christmas Eve, Snuggies for everyone, Nana and Papa giving a Teepee, Grandma giving a Batman batcave set, and a yummy ham dinner on christmas day.

Santa brought the boys dress ups and Graham wore Spiderman all day

We went to the Phoenix Zoo while we were in Arizona too. The boys really liked it, especially the childrens zoo.

8th Anniversary

2011-05-15T21:33:00.001-05:00

Let's back up a bit. On November 23, 2010 we celebrated our 8th Anniversary. We were in Vegas for Thanksgiving with the fam and Andy's mom suggested we leave the kids for a night and go celebrate so we did just that! Five star hotel? Yes please!! We got a room at the Trump and went down on the strip as if we were tourists: having dinner, walking through the Forum Shops at Caeser's and doing some christmas shopping. While checking in the woman at the desk found out it was our anniversary and upgraded us to a strip view room for free. What a view! It was fun reminiscing about the past 8 years. We loved the escape for 24 hours. Our room was super nice and a great price. We even had a TV in the bathroom mirror - so cool! Here's to countless more anniversaries with Andrew.

View from our room

watching CSI in the mirror while doing my hair

8 years and counting!

Wedding #1: Patrick & Woan

2011-05-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

On December 18, 2010 Andy's baby brother Patrick married Woan Shih in the Las Vegas LDS Temple. It was a beautiful day for two beautiful people! The ceremony was nice and full of family and close friends. The happy couple looked just that: happy! We are also thrilled because Woan's sister and brother-in-law, Tina and Matthew, just happen to be our good friends. Now it's official - we are related!! That made it even sweeter. Our boys love Aunt Woan (who Andy teases incessantly calling her Antoine) and have asked us so many times if Aunt Woan will be coming to visit. Congratulations to the lovebirds!!

Updates...

2011-05-15T19:31:00.000-05:00

So much has happened in the past couple of months and I have been a terrible blogger! There just isn't enough time most days. We have been celebrating weddings, sealings, birthdays, and lots of fun with friends and family. I will be posting some updates of some of the highlights for us.

Many of you have asked about Bri, the woman in my last post. To update you all, she passed away on May 6 after a valiant battle with cancer. She was a pillar of strength and will forever be an example to me. I feel blessed that I was able to know her growing up. We pray for her husband and sweet children and the loss of such an amazing mother and wife. The Lord must have a greater purpose for her on the other side right now. She left quite a mark in this world in her 31 years. I've been thinking about it for the last week. I feel so renewed in my resolve to make life a little more "on purpose" and spend the time and energy I have more wisely in teaching and loving my children, instilling a knowledge of the gospel and the stories of Jesus, and savoring the little things in life.

Each Day is a Gift

2011-03-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

I lost my temper with my two little guys today. They were supposed to be napping and instead they climbed on a bookshelf, tipped it over along with everything on it, got fingers slammed in a closet, jumped on the bed, threw everything in their room on the floor, and all around were NOT taking their nap. When I went to discipline them I raised my voice and lost my temper. Then I stormed out of the room having given them threats about hearing one more noise coming from their bedroom.

Bri

Then I heard the song "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas playing on a TV show. I immediately started crying. This is why: that song plays on the blog of my high school friend Briana. She is an absolutely incredible 31-year-old mother of 4 young children who is in the final stages of a valiant battle with cancer. She was the picture of health: marathon runner, road biker, mountain biker, and all around athletic, fit, etc. Then in November 2008 at 29-years-old, she received a diagnosis of stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to the liver, ovaries, and other areas. Since that time she has kept an amazing blog journaling her experiences and testimony through chemotherapy, radiation, surgeries, brain tumors, serving in Young Women during that time, a stroke at girls camp, and so much more. Through it all she constantly shows a positive attitude and strength; always talking about her beautiful family, her love of motherhood, and sharing her faith in the gospel. She displays complete unselfish love for her kids and husband. Briana will probably never know what an example she has been to me.

Stephens Family

One recent post on her blog, Walking In The Unknown (click here to read it), had me thinking about what she and her husband must be facing now with so many big decisions you never expect to be making at 31 years old. The prospects of returning to her Father in Heaven soon and her family facing the rest of their time on earth without their wife and mother, but still praying for miracles and survival if it's the Lord's will. Today as steam was rising from my head while I was fuming about my kids that song made me stop dead in my tracks and realize that EACH DAY IS A GIFT. Every single moment I have with my wild, rambunctious, goofy, giggly boys is an absolute blessing. I have no idea what the future holds for our family. Life is precious and I need to treasure every moment.

I'm so grateful I have this little monkey

and this monkey

If you want to read more about Briana's story, click here and you can read through her blog. Make sure to have some tissues.

First Day of Preschool

2011-02-08T01:48:00.000-06:00

Keegan started preschool Fall 2010. He absolutely loves it and asks if it's a "preschool day" when he wakes up. He is learning so much and adores his teacher, Miss Tammy. I can't believe that my little boy is getting so big! This is Keegan on his first day.

Fantastic Fall

2011-02-07T01:55:00.119-06:00

This fall we had a lot of fun. We had visitors and enjoyed so much of what fall has to offer. First we had my Mom and her husband Dave come for a visit in September. My brother Aaron was up in Huntington Beach with friends too so we met up in Newport on a freezing day to hang out. Newport was absolutely packed the day we were there despite how cold it was. The boys liked watching the people fishing off the pier and seeing their catch flopping around on the wood. It was a quick, fun visit.

Next Andy's mom Tauna drove down for a very quick visit. We took her down to Coronado Island and spent the day at the Del hotel and playing on the beach. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time.

The sand was so warm and soft

this kid is silly

Then we had tons of fun going to Oak Glen with the Shorts. We picked apples and explored the shops in a little western village. The boys even watched a gun show. The best part was getting to hang out with Brandon and Mandy, pinch Ella's chubby thighs, and watch Keegan have a blast with his idols Andrew and Ethan. On top of that, we ate lots of fresh apples and took home a big bag to enjoy.

playing with the pumpkins

Keegan, Andrew, Ethan and Graham

looking at the animals

going on a hayride

sampling the apples

Brandon, Mandy, Andrew, Ethan and Ella Short

Keegan and Andy in the orchard

Graham, April, Andy & Keegan

Andrew Short pushed Keegan and the stroller right into the tree so he could sit and pick and eat

Graham's little fingers trying to open the candy jar

candy shop sweets

Ella

In October Kara, my mom, Dave, Jason and Franchesca all came to visit for fall break in Arizona. The Nilssons came down all the way from Utah too for a trip to Disneyland. We had so much fun! Andy was at a conference that weekend so he missed out on the fun but we were thinking of him. The week started with a quick tour of Old Town in Temecula. The highlight of Old Town was sampling the yummy local olive oil and balsamic vinegars, the rootbeer shop, and of course homemade fudge (you know with the Gardner women we have to get some fudge). We all went to Anaheim for a couple of days and wore ourselves out at the Happiest Place on Earth. It was so fun having family here to go to Disneyland with and to keep us company while Andy was gone yet again for work. I love Disneyland in the fall when all the decorations are up and the haunted mansion is transformed to Nightmare Before Christmas. The funnest thing about Disneyland is that Keegan was tall enough to ride all the 40 inch rides for the first time! He felt like such a big boy going on the big rides with Grandma and Mommy.

all the fun was exhausting

Madie, Kara, Quinn, Graham and Sadie

Keegan's 1st time on Soarin'

Me and Karacita

Aunt Peggy taking the boys of Flik's Fliers

It's Tough to Be a Bug movie

Sadie and Kara at the Matterhorn - Keegan's favorite "snowman in the mountain ride"

Keegan and April

Jason, Graham and Franny

Small World

Kara

Highlight of the morning was meeting Woody

To end the trip, we took another drive up to Oak Glen for apple picking and exploring the pumpkin patch. I was so happy to get more apples! Jason and Franchesca found a Rome Beauty apple tree so Jason got a picture with his Italian beauty in front of it. Then we had some BBQ and a 5 pound apple pie. My mom sent Dave to get us 5 slices of apple pie and he returned with 2 big bags full of five 5 pound apple pies. That was a lot of pie! Oops! Once he realized we wanted 5 slices, not 5 pies, he was able to return 4 of the pies but we all got a good laugh over the mix up!

10 commandments of apple picking

pumpkins

can't lift this one

still can't lift that pumpkin

Graham trying to move the huge pumpkin

still not budging

yum

Graham sampled an apple and put it back in the bag

Graham's 2nd Birthday

2011-02-07T00:46:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun on Graham's birthday. We took Graham and Keegan to a local pizza place with skee ball and some fun kid games. They thought skee ball was awesome and probably could've played it all night. Then we had a little family party. We just got a Nothing Bundt Cakes here in Temecula so for birthday cake I couldn't resist getting us each a bundtlet. Graham LOVES Toy Story so we each had a Toy Story character on our cake and he and Keegan thought that was pretty cool. I wish I was an awesome cake decorator, but alas I am not. Graham was so happy and excited all night about the festivities. He is so sweet and we are so incredibly blessed he is our little boy.

At 2 years old, some of Graham's favorites are:
Movie: Toy Story
Book: Goodnight Moon
Toys: Woody and Buzz Lightyear
Food: Apples, clementines, and smoked turkey breast
Activity: Playing outside and walking along the little wall around our lawn and climbing on things
Words: "No, Uh", "Ee Ya Ater" (see ya later), "Luh You" (love you), "Mommy", "Daddy"

Birthday Boy

skee ball

Pizza with no cheese for Graham

Mmm

Graham and Mommy

Driving the Escalade

Not a fan of the birthday hat

Keegan loved the birthday hat

The cakes

Singing the birthday song

Yum - Red Velvet cake

So excited to get a Woody doll

Shootin' hoops

Dad and Keegan at dinner

Graham is 2 Today!

2010-09-02T19:00:00.000-05:00

My sweet little baby Graham is two years old today. I am stunned that he is already two. I remember 2 years ago today showing up at the hospital thinking I would be induced (Graham hadn't even dropped and I hadn't had any contractions that I could tell) to find out I was dilated to about a 6. The doctor broke my water instead and 4 hours later our little boy joined us at 12:34 pm.

Graham is such a sweet, fun boy and we cannot imagine our family without him. He is my blonde, blue-eyed, fair skinned little bear who loves to giggle, jump on stuff, roll around in the down comforter on my bed, hide in pillows, play hide and seek, and do about anything boyish. Oh yeah, and did I mention he laughs and giggles a lot?

Graham isn't saying many words yet, but when he wants something he knows how to say "ME!!!". He tells us "nigh, nigh" every night before bed and says "Luh you" (love you) when he's being sweet. Graham's vocabulary also includes "Ee uh ater" (see ya later), "bye, bye", "NO!", "Lille!!!" when he is upset with our dog Lille, and "thank you".

He loves to go out and about with me and cause trouble in stores running away from Mommy. Graham is curious, light hearted, and playful. He loves nursery class and reading books as long as he doesn't have to sit still for very long.

We are so grateful for Graham Ivan and feel so blessed he's in our family. Happy Birthday sweet little boy!

Always getting messy in the sand

Love his dimple!

Graham loves to swing

August 2009

Love the "gap tooth"

September 2, 2009

Disneyland October 2009

Gardner Reunion November 2009

Beach camping July 2010

16 months old at Moonlight Beach

10 days old

Never a Dull Moment

2010-06-05T11:16:00.003-05:00

My brother Sean was visiting a few weeks ago and one afternoon he said, "Uh, April, do you know what the boys are doing?" I looked in the other room to hear giggling and see this...

Keegan said, "Mom, it's snow! We're trying to eat the snow!"

Well, I don't think this snow tasted very good.

And here's just another silly photo of Keegan playing with 3D glasses.

My little man is 3 years old!

2010-04-27T12:22:00.001-05:00

taking a drive with Chuck E.

I can't believe he's 3!

blowing out the candles on the Thomas the Train cake

Keegan and Graham both loved skee ball

opening his "big jet!!" present

squishing on a ride at Chuck E Cheese

hooray for cake!

On Saturday, April 24 our little Keegan turned 3! He is growing up fast and we are enjoying him every day. Keegan talks up a storm and is very intuitive. He surprises us with the things he picks up on. Keegan has a sweet disposition and loves to give hugs and kisses. Last week when I told him he was the best Keegan in the world he said, "You're the best Mommy in the world". He loves to go with Daddy all by himself and run grown up errands. Keegan really likes music and sings in sacrament meeting at church, and if he doesn't know the words to the hymn he just hums the tune really loud.

To celebrate we just had our little family together. Andy and I asked Keegan what he wanted for his birthday and he said "a Thomas the Train cake" and pizza for dinner. We took Keegan to Chuck E Cheese for the first time in his life and he LOVED it! The boy ate 4 pieces of pizza and played all the games. (Poor kid with a dietitian mommy and chiropractor daddy doesn't get to do things like that very often.) Keegan and Graham both loved skee ball and by the end of the night he had 171 tickets to cash in for a toy. Then we came home and Uncle Sean had just arrived from Arizona to visit us. We sang Happy Birthday and Keegan was thrilled that it was for him. Then we had Thomas the Train birthday cake and ice cream. Opening presents was super fun because Keegan was ecstatic as he opened gifts. All in all I think he had a fun day and we had lots of fun celebrating our little man!

Here's a list of Keegan's favorites right now to preserve a snapshot of him at this age.

Favorite Primary Song: The Wise Man and the Foolish Man
Favorite book: Dinosaur books and Dr. Suess
Favorite movie: Toy Story
Favorite character: Buzz Lightyear
Other characters he loves: Thomas the Train, Woody, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse, Yo Gabba Gabba, Diego, Bob the Builder, and Lightning McQueen
Favorite toy: His new Jet and kitchen
Favorite shoes: flip flops
Favorite activity: going to Disneyland and the park
Favorite thing to pretend: Shooting a gun (he can turn anything into a gun)
Favorite ride at Disneyland: "The Snowman Mountain ride" (the Matterhorn)
Favorite foods: Lasagna ("Buh-zona"), pizza, spaghetti, chicken, clementines, strawberries, cake, scrambled eggs

Here's to you, Keegan! We love you sweet boy!

(I would've posted on his birthday but our computer was down.)

The Leprechauns Came!

2010-03-21T15:56:00.004-05:00

On St. Patrick's Day we all awoke to green noses and tricks that the leprechauns left for us! In Andrew's family the leprechauns come every St. Patrick's Day and make messes and play tricks on everyone. Then they dye your nose green while you are sleeping and leave you a "Cup O Gold" chocolate cup. This year they found us in Temecula. They scattered green jelly beans all over the house, wrote on the mirror with shaving cream, made a mess, dyed our noses green, and left a Cup O Gold for Keegan and Graham. Keegan was a little disturbed when he woke up and saw his green nose in our mirrored closet door. But he liked the leprechauns playing tricks on us. Graham was quite amused to wake up and see everyone with a green nose. I can't wait to see what they do next year.

Matthew and Tina

2010-03-21T15:30:00.004-05:00

This month we got a visit from Matthew and Tina Anthon. They came to visit from St. Louis, Missouri. We saw Matthew in Dallas last year but hadn't seen Tina in about 5 years. Way too long! We had planned to visit them in St. Louis while we lived in Dallas but something happened every time we had a break from school, including the transmission going out on the car and taking nearly 3 weeks to repair. Andrew and Matthew met at the 7-11 on 5th North and University in Provo, Utah back in their BYU days and have been friends ever since. They have said over the years that it would be fun to be related but there was never an opportunity to make that happen. Now we get to be family!

When Matthew came to Dallas in November of 2008 we schemed about getting Tina's little sister Woan to hang out with Andy's little brother Patrick to "exchange music" - no pressure. They both liked cool music, spoke Chinese, and were just all around awesome. Well now a little over a year later they are engaged! Patrick and Woan will be getting married August 14, 2010. Now we know that the three of us can't take all the credit, but we would like to think that we had a small hand in getting the happy couple together.

Anyway, I digress. It was fun to have Matthew and Tina here and to catch up. We drove down to the beach, saw the San Diego Temple, shopped a little, and made chocolate molten cakes. It was a short, sweet visit. There's never enough time to spend with good friends!

PSST - I am also excited about something Tina will be doing for work. Tina is a clothing designer (hello Project Runway - that's what here schooling was like!) and has worked for the May company among other places. Right now she works for Geranium, a really cool jewelry company. Her current company is going to launch a modest clothing line and Tina gets to design it! When things come to fruition I will let all of you in on the details so you can get some modest clothes that are also cool and don't have to be layered with 10 undershirts, etc. With Tina's sense of style they are sure to be modest clothes that I actually want to wear.

Dieter and Corola

2010-03-21T15:21:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago we were able to visit with Dieter and Corola Schenk while they were visiting from Germany. Andrew lived with them in Dusseldorf, Germany for a summer when he was 16. They have been special friends, along with their sons Dominik and Kay, for many years. Andrew and Dominik visited each other in Germany and Las Vegas growing up and had a lot of fun going to Italy, EFY, and Kolob together. Andrew hadn't seen them since his parents picked him up from his mission in Denmark and they went to Germany 15 years ago. Oh how time flies! It was great for the kids and I to finally meet them. We had such a nice visit spending the day on Coronado Island off the coast of San Diego. Maybe next time we will have to make it to Dusseldorf to see them again!

Sledding for the First Time

2010-03-21T15:12:00.004-05:00

On President's Day we went to Running Springs, CA to visit the Marshall Family. They were in Temecula earlier that week and we were having too much fun so we followed them back to their house a day later for Mountain Fun. We took the kids sledding for the first time and they loved it! Even Graham had a big, toothy grin all the way down. His sled kept veering to the side though so I didn't get great pictures looking straight at his adorable little face. We got some cute photos of Keegan and Graham that I want to share. We took Champ and Lille with us too. Our dogs loved being in the mountains and running free with Bentley and Quincy, the Marshall's dogs. There is something so refreshing and relaxing about that cool mountain air. After the kids went to bed we all stayed up playing Rock Band until 2 a.m. and visiting. It was a great time!

Poor, Dusty Blog

2010-03-21T13:40:00.010-05:00

OK - so I keep thinking about blogging and haven't done it in part because I have been dreading sitting down, blowing the dust off of this poor blog, telling you all how sorry I am for not blogging, giving you all the reasons why I haven't had time to do it, etc. etc. Now I am clearing the cobwebs and blowing off the dust. But alas, here I am about to tell you all of the above. This comes after several friends have scolded me for not keeping them informed about what we are up to and 2 notes from my good friend Nikki, one which was a card that read "Apes, What happened to you? Graham turned 1 six months ago! Love, N" OK, OK! You're right - it's time to play catch up. Get ready; here it goes...

First I would like to apologize for my negligence and say that I will make an effort to update this blog more consistently and visit all of your blogs more consistently. I have been really out of touch with what everyone else out there has been up to so if I call or email and act like I don't know about something that happened 6 months ago - it's because I don't! But I miss all of you and being in the know so I am vowing to make more time to keep up on your lives.

Now for the excuses (which is also the news) from our family. Where to begin? After Andy's graduation and our move to California we have been getting settled. I have learned that it is a lot harder to make a cross country move with a 2 and 1 year old than with no kids like our last move. We are in a smaller house but this one has a fourth bedroom so we have been reconfiguring and organizing. The yard is great fun with a large patio and basketball court that the boys spend their time riding in the Cozy Coupes on. We have a steep hill (Temecula is very hilly) in the yard that the dogs love to run up and down and sleep on.

Andy's chiropractic license took over 3 months to arrive because of a mistake made by the fingerprinting company which caused the FBI to not give him clearance, the Livescan people resubmitting everything, and a whole big mess. He finally got his license and started off by devoting the majority of his time to the Encinitas office down by the beach. After a few months the commutes, gas, and increased difficulty of marketing in a town where we don't live caused us to re-evaluate and move his attention virtually 100% to the Temecula office. So starting January 1, 2010 he has been practicing in Temecula. It was like starting over yet again but we are really excited about it and looking forward to building a practice here.

I have been building up my nutrition practice once again, which I put on hold while in Texas, and am looking forward to working with Andy to give our patients some well-rounded holistic health care. We have a lot of exciting programs in the works! (Including a partnership with Dream Dinners - yum!) If I could just find enough time and energy to put all of those things into practice right now that would be heavenly... but it's not happening yet. Soon though... Patience is not something I am good at.

A HUGE amount of time has been devoted to developing our new website which is almost ready to launch to all of you. Once that's ready to go I will post the link on here. It takes a lot to get a website going! I expected maybe two weeks - not months of writing the text and picking photos, etc, etc. Then there are the new blogs for chiropractics and nutrition. They are sucking lots of time so will probably be simpler than I had hoped but we are still happy that soon we will be posting to these blogs to give our patients up-to-date health info and tips. In addition to that my other "job titles" are graphic designer, marketing manager, or whatever else you would call an amateur who is married to someone starting a business and trying to save by designing their own ads, marketing materials, etc. The business cards, postcards, ads, etc. and communicating with all the people we use to print, publish, market, etc. has been MORE than a full time job.

My etsy shop was very busy through the holidays as people ordered lots of christmas cards and christmas gifts. It is so much fun to have that creative outlet and watch my business grow. I am hoping I can keep the momentum going all year.

Then there are all the interruptions in working that come from my adorable little munchkins that cause me to pause in the middle of a project to stop a crisis or get them a snack or kiss a boo boo or just squeeze them tight. I wouldn't trade these little boys and their craziness for anything though! Being a Mom is my favorite job title. Every day I feel so blessed to have Keegan, Graham, and Andy in my life.

We have also made some time for fun! Some of the fun things will probably get their own blog posts but I'll list a few. I have been terrible at remembering my camera lately.

November brought a visit from the Melvins. They even brought their 8-week-old twins! Shelby got to have a daddy-daughter day at Disneyland and we got to visit an aquarium and hang out. We have missed Steph and Jeremy in Texas and had fun catching up and meeting Shelby's little brothers, Asher and Bridger.

New Year's was awesome with Aaron and Patrick coming for a couple of days. Andy, Aaron, and Patrick all had to keep up the polar plunge tradition. However, our neighborhood pool was closed so where did they do it? You guessed it - in the ocean!!!! They are nuts! We drove down to Moonlight Beach and they all ran in (all the way in) to the ocean and came out freezing but very proud of themselves. Then we had Brandon and Mandy and their twins over for New Year's Eve. Patrick introduced us to the Tim Tam Slam. I am afraid to even tell you what that is because many of you will get addicted I'm sure. I will just say that it is hot chocolaty, gooey, rich bliss. We made it to midnight this year too!

In January we had Sonya, Noah and Lyla visit us at our new house while Andy and her husband Loren were at a conference in Las Vegas. We had a good 'ol girls' night out - Heaven! Keegan and Noah were so happy to see each other and acted as if it hadn't been months. Their cute puppy Quincy came too and was a huge hit. I almost stole her from the Marshalls for myself!

Then Alex and Kim and their boys came for Martin Luther King weekend. What fun we had!! The cousins enjoyed each other and we spent a nice, cool day at the beach. Aaron also popped on down to Cali with a very cute girl - Melissa - and we had more fun playing games and hanging out. If you don't know, Alex and Kim are the king and queen of playing games and it is always a BLAST to play with them. It's serious business! Just be careful if you ever play Sorry with them.

February brought the Marshall family again and then a visit to their house in Running Springs for sledding, Rock Band until 2 am, and hanging out. I will post more photos of the boys and their first sledding experience.

We've had fun running up to Rancho Cucamonga to spend time with Andy's cousin Brandon, Mandy, and their kids too. Keegan thinks Andrew and Ethan are the coolest and asks us regularly to go fishing with them. We have seen Aunt Jana and some cousins lately at the Short's house which is always fun! It's nice to be closer to family. We really missed that in Texas.

The first week of March we got to visit with Dieter and Corola Schenk who were visiting from Germany. Andy lived with them in Germany for a summer as a teenager and their son Dominik and Andrew would go back and forth to visit each other in Germany and Las Vegas. They have been special friends to the Lowe family. I will post more on that visit too...

March has brought us Matthew and Tina Anthon! Matthew and Andrew became friends at a 7-11 on 5th North and University in Provo in their BYU days and now we will be family! We love these guys and hadn't seen them in way too long. I will post more about this...

This past week my Mom and cousin Kara popped over from Arizona to spend their spring break with us. It was so fun to have them here and just get to do something girly like go to a store with another girl. I know, that sounds pathetic, but I am surrounded by boys 99% of the time. We checked out Tai Pan Trading which was like home decor overload and I LOVED it! I got a girly Easter wreath because I need SOMETHING feminine in the house since I am outnumbered 3 to 1.

Finally, yesterday we saw our friends the Doolins that we went to chiropractic school with. They live in New Mexico now and came out to LA for the weekend. Keegan was happy to see Zayne and we enjoyed catching up and talking chiropractics. It hardly seems possible that we moved away almost 8 months ago.

This post is so long that I probably lost many of you. Thanks for sticking with me for those that have read this whole thing. I know all these things don't excuse me neglecting this poor little blog. But they have been keeping us busy! We have LOVED seeing so many friends and family since moving back West. In fact I may have even forgotten some, and if I did, forgive me and know that we just love you all. I hope life will become more manageable soon - or maybe I will just learn to be more organized and juggle it better. Sending love and hugs out into the blogosphere!

Christmas 2009

2010-03-21T13:22:00.007-05:00

For christmas this year we stayed at home in Temecula. When my Mom heard we would be alone and staying home, she and Dave and my brother Aaron decided that maybe they'd hop on over here because they were going to be alone in Arizona too.

Only a few days before christmas we finally decided to toss our money saving idea of not having a christmas tree out the window and get a tree. The decision came because Keegan kept asking Andy, "Dad, can I have a christmas tree at my house?" daily and then there were the shouts of excitement any time we drove past a decorated tree. We're glad we got a tree; it wouldn't have been the same without it and the kids loved it.

On Christmas Eve we read the Christmas Story and the boys opened 1 gift. We had a ham dinner and yummy desserts.

The best we could do to get both kids in a photo in their christmas eve pj's
Some cookies I made with a cookie press.

Aaron sitting on Lille

Christmas morning was the best yet! Keegan and Graham were so excited - especially Keegan. We all had so much fun watching Keegan and Graham play with their toys and open presents. Keegan is really getting into the magic of christmas. Highlights were a Buzz Lightyear, a popcorn maker, Thomas the Train, "Shlaw-ko-let milk" (chocolate milk) from Santa, a recorder for Graham, and Cozy Coupes from Grandma which are still getting played with every day. We made our traditional Danish christmas breakfast of aebleskiver with buttermilk syrup. We filled the rest of the day with appetizers and leftovers. Of course laying around with christmas movies was also part of Christmas Day.

Cool PJ's from Nana and Papa Lowe

We filled the next day with a walk around Old Town and a movie with no kids in a theater ( a real christmas gift for Andy and me). It was a fun christmas and we are glad that Mom, Dave, and Aaron came to share it with us.

Thanksgiving & a Family Reunion

2010-03-21T11:50:00.009-05:00

DISCLAIMER: This blog is like a journal for us so this post is a doozy!

Our 2009 Thanksgiving was spent in Idaho with my family for a Gardner Reunion. If you didn't know, my family goes crazy for our family reunions and all of the fun, silly games we play along with tons of visiting and YUMMY food. Any family who calls their grandma "Sweettooth" and great grandma "Gigi" has got to be a little silly.

The 16 hour drive up there was a little stressful and consisted of over 4 hours of uninterrupted screaming from Graham and 2 diaper explosions resulting in one child strapped in his car seat wrapped in a blanket in freezing temperatures (because a change of clothes was inaccessible in the suitcases). But I am happy to say that we would do it over any time because the reunion was worth going through that drive.

I am so lucky to have such an awesome family! We had 3 days of fun, fun, fun. Here are some highlights.

Uncle Mark winning the Biggest Turkey Pageant

Kara strutting her stuff in the Turkey Pageant

Turkey Bowl
Some of the Thanksgiving food before Thanksgiving Dinner. (The dinner was DELICIOUS too!!!) We ate all day, and then ate some more, and then ate some more... and then had pie for dessert.

Our Thanksgiving Day parade
Grandma Sweettooth with our family. Keegan was not up for a picture with Gigi - a little grumpy.

We ate Thanksgiving Dinner at the Rose Ward church building because our family is so big now. Uncle Lance and Aunt Linda brought in bouncy houses on the stage for all the great grandkids. We played crossword puzzles and word searches about our family, the little girls got makeovers and made tutus, and the little boys made light sabers and had a Jedi tournament. Keegan thought that was cool! The kids put on a little "parade" around the cultural hall with the "floats" they made from boxes and costumes. Then they played dodgeball in the cultural hall.

All the "big" boys went outside and played football on the lawn of the church. It was cold! We are not used to the snow but it was a refreshing change. Keegan said he liked to be "chilly".

The next day we all met at the Blackfoot Inn breakfast room and headed out for a serious scavenger hunt all over town. Our groups had to find crazy stuff and take pictures of our entire team with the item to get points for it and then race to the bowling alley to turn in our photos as proof. Some of our finds were a farm animal and extra points if someone was on the animal (we found a horse and put little Andrew Gardner on it), a police officer and extra points if someone was handcuffed, a green boulder, a slide with everyone on it, etc. My team was the first one back but we came in second - another team beat us out in points.

Then we spent a couple of hours bowling our hearts out with the whole alley reserved for the family. We love to bowl.

That night was swimming at the hotel. The best part was little kids running outside to make snow angels and then running inside steaming to jump in the heated pool. There was a snowball fight in the pool too! We had a chicken dinner and another "Guess Who" Gardner trivia game. Then the guys and kids headed to Robyn and Doug's house for a Wii and Rock Band night while the girls all went to Jamie and David's house for a scrapbook night. The gals have been working on a big scrapbook of all of Grandma and Grandpa's photos. It has been a great way to learn more about our family history and preserve the photos of my grandparents courtship and life together. It has also been neat to scrapbook photos of my Aunt Jana Gaye and learn more about the darling girl who passed away as a toddler. Seeing all the photos of my mom and Aunts and Uncles as awkward teenagers has been awesome too!

Saturday we all drove to Idaho Falls where there was a video game place (like a Dave and Buster's) reserved and played video games, drove bumper cars, and played in the playland. Of course we ate too - lots of pizza! The time flew by because we were having so much fun.

That night we all went to Robyn and Doug's new home (so awesome of them to have our WHOLE family over when they moved in only a days before) for an old fashioned Gardner Christmas Eve party since we were all together. Dustin compiled old family movies and photos of christmases gone by into a DVD for everyone. When we saw Grandpa dancing around and talking on the video there were hardly any dry eyes (he passed away in 1991). That will be a family treasure! We had good food, a white elephant gift exchange for grown ups, the traditional pinata, a nativity, christmas caroling, and a visit from Santa.

During the nativity I left Keegan with the other kids in a sheep's costume and then when it was his turn Keegan jumped out, no costume on, with a "gun" and starting making shooting noises at everyone in the room. OK - he is Andy's son!! Leave it to my little guy to be irreverent and jump out with a fake gun. I guess he gets the love of firearms from his father.

The weekend was so full and we loved every minute of it. We were so sad to go home and leave the family members that we love so much. Thanks to Jamie, Robyn, Jalane, Linda, Jerri Lu, Summer, Melody, and everyone who worked so hard to make the reunion so memorable.

What we've been up to

2009-11-11T01:03:00.008-06:00

It has been one crazy fall and I am not really sure where to begin. I think I'll start with the big event that kicked off our fall...

Andy's Graduation!

All the hard work finally materialized into a walk across the stage to receive his

DOCTOR OF CHIROPRACTIC degree. Hip, Hip Hooray! I have never been so happy to attend a graduation in my life. We are so proud of him!!!! We had lots of family (and Loren) come for graduation and to help us pack up the moving truck. We literally couldn't have done it without them - especially Loren who may have single-handedly loaded a whole moving truck. Thanks everyone!

Next we packed up our house and moved from Lewisville, Texas to Temecula, California. Saying goodbye to our home was so much harder than we thought it would be. We had our 2 boys in that home so there are a lot of precious memories within those walls. The move was a 3 day drive for Andy, his brother Aaron and our beloved furry friends Champ and Lille. Luckily I was able to catch a flight with the kids and meet Andy on the other end of the move. I think Andy and Aaron enjoyed the adventure and using walkie talkies for 3 days - except for the mosquito lake near a motel where they, and the dogs, were practically eaten alive by mosquitoes! The muggy humidity of Texas is something we will not miss. I have never seen so many bites before in my life. Andy's brothers Aaron and Patrick, Woan (Patrick's adorable girlfriend), Paul Downs and some friends and people from church helped unload our stuff in under an hour. It was crazy! We have been slowly getting settled.

Aaron, Patrick, and Woan stayed for a few days and we managed to squeeze in a trip to Moonlight Beach. We had a great time boogie boarding. Keegan played in the water until he was freezing and then he chased seagulls all over the place. Graham played in the sand and ate the sand until he was totally pooped out. Here's a picture of Graham conked out on a towel.

It's late and time for bed. I'll have to continue posting later...

Graham is 1 year old!

2009-09-03T01:16:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe that a year ago today Graham joined our family. Graham is such a sweet boy and has added so much to our family. We love him and can't imagine our family without "Baby Grahamers" as Keegan calls him. Right now he is crawling everywhere and loves to get into anything he can and try to eat it. He loves playing in the fridge when it's open and crawling under the coffee table. Most of all he likes to be wherever big brother and Mom and Dad are. Graham gets quite upset if he has to miss out on something. He has a great big gap between his front teeth and I LOVE it! When he smiles or laughs and I see it, it just makes me laugh and want to pinch his chubby cheeks.

Here are a few photos of the last year.

SOLD!! In under 48 hours!

2009-07-15T10:51:00.004-05:00

Where have I been, you ask? Well, where to begin!

First of all, thanks in part to watching many episodes of Design to Sell and reading "It's All Too Much" and "Does this Clutter Make my Butt Look Fat" (I know - what in the world is that about! Read it and you'll understand the title.) we got our house looking great and our house received an offer and we sold it in less than 48 hours to the family from the second showing!!! Whew!! We are so excited to have the house under contract.

I have been MIA for many reasons over the past couple of months. The biggest reason is because we have been packing, cleaning, fixing, painting, gardening, and the list goes on... so that we could get our house on the market. We finally got the house ready to go on the market on a Friday night and I flew out with the kids early Sunday morning to look for a place to live in California. Mid morning someone came to look at the house and by Sunday afternoon we had an offer. The option period is up, inspection is done, so we are well on our way to having a SOLD house! What a blessing to have it sell while the kids and I were away so I didn't have to chase after them cleaning their messes all day long. I do enough of that already. :) Hopefully things will go smoothly from here.

Over the past couple of months we have had several fun things going on that I will be posting so watch for updates and pictures. There are half finished posts from the spring you can go back and look at too so you can see what we've been up to so go back in our timeline as well. I am so slow at getting all of this done.

There is one word that really describes me lately... OVERWHELMED!

Despite the craziness of life, things are looking better and Andy will be graduating August the 15th. Can't wait!!! More to come about that...

2009-07-14T20:50:00.003-05:00

My friend Austin shared this with me and I thought I would pass it along. Click on this link to see the best shampoo commercial I've ever seen. I won't spoil it for you, but it has a great message.

http://pop.6park.com/life2/messages/86399.html

Blue Lily Giveaway

2009-06-05T01:30:00.002-05:00

Check out Bluelily for an awesome giveaway! She has photographed Andy's cousin Nicole and our friends the Scribers and the photos are amazing! Her style is totally hip. She has a bunch of travel dates coming up. Check out Blue Lily's Blog to see her travel dates and photos of our cousins - The Jones Family - right here in Dallas.

2009-05-12T00:10:00.001-05:00

What do you think about this?

2009-05-11T23:58:00.008-05:00

Check out this link, watch the video clip,
and tell me what you think. I am a little puzzled...

Movie Recommendation

2009-05-03T17:29:00.003-05:00

Last night we watched this movie. I've wanted to watch it for a long time and we finally got around to it. This is about the Lost Boys in Sudan. We found it thought provoking and eye opening. It also reminded me of my time in Ghana a lot. The people and landscape are very similar.

The name of the movie comes from something one of the Lost Boys said during the documentary which will pull on your heartstrings. These poor boys went through unthinkable hardship and yet they come out smiling.

If you watch this, pay attention to the part about christmas. John has questions about christmas that are so childlike yet so pertinent. He is a spiritual man and very familiar with the Bible. During his first christmas in America he says, "What are these christmas trees? Are they in the Bible? They are kind of nice, but what is the purpose of these?" Then he says, "Who is this Santa Clause? Is he in the Bible? In Sudan christmas is a celebration of Jesus Christ." It was eye opening to me that a foreigner experiencing his first christmas in America could not see that our christmas is also a celebration of Jesus Christ. Something to think about...

This movie would be great to show to any teenager who needs a dose of reality and to see how truly privileged they are - or any adult who needs that too!

For the love of CHUCK

2009-04-27T12:45:00.004-05:00

For any of you who love the TV show "CHUCK" (which airs right before Heroes on Monday nights), you may want to run right out to Old Navy and get one of these t-shirts for your little boy. We LOVE, and I mean LOVE, the show Chuck thanks to Andy's brother Patrick. Anyone who watches will know just who "Captain Awesome" is. When I saw this t-shirt I had to get one for Keegan.

My Baby is 2 Years Old!

2009-04-24T23:29:00.006-05:00

APRIL 24, 2009
Today our Keegan turned 2 years old! My how the time has flown. We sure love our Keegan. 2 years ago today I was delivering Keegan with tornado sirens going off during a big storm here in Texas. 2 years ago today we became parents for the first time. 2 years ago today our lives changed forever for the better. Keegan is such a joy in our home and so funny too! At age 2 Keegan says about 20 words and loves the following:

Toys: airplanes, "cool cars", choo choo trains

Characters: Elmo ("Elgo"), Cookie Monster, The Incredibles, Nemo ("Memo"), Panda (Kung Fu Panda)

Books: Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, The Pout Pout Fish, Corduroy, Left Foot Right Foot, Where the Wild Things Are

Pasttimes: Music class, climbing, throwing just about anything, running, yelling

Food: southwestern chicken, spicy meat, spaghetti, ketchup, strawberries, applesauce, watermelon

When we first met Keegan...

One week old in premie clothes...

Two weeks old...

Somewhere in between...

Last week...

Today with his birthday cake and our family...

Whirlwind Trip

2009-03-20T10:49:00.013-05:00

We are back! We just had a whirlwind trip to Arizona for my mom's wedding and then on to California to check out a job opportunity and a few areas. It was crazy but SO much fun! Let me just say that it was a much needed break.

First the kids and I flew to AZ for my Mom's wedding. She married David Clifford. He is a really nice guy and we are excited for her. The food was delicious, the weather was perfect, and best of all we saw family and old friends. It was fun but both of my kids and I got sick and we were all 3 whining, crying, and crabby. Just wait until I post like the one group photo we got where my kids are screaming!!! Sorry Mom that you won't have awesome photos of all of us together. It's a funny memory, right?

Then EARLY the next morning my cousin Kara helped me fly the kids to San Diego to meet up with Andy for a few days. I don't know how I could have done it without Kara there! We got a rental car and soon discovered that they switched it from the model we were told we would get and that even with nothing else in the trunk our darn double stroller wouldn't fit. So we drove to the hotel with Kara and the kids in the backseat and the stroller riding shotgun. What a spoiled stroller! Later that day we went back and switched the car out for one more suitable to 3 adults, 2 kids with carseats, and a double stroller and Payless car rentals was very nice to accommodate us since the first one hadn't worked out. By the time we all got to the hotel we crashed from the wedding weekend and Andy crashed too because he had national board exams right before coming to CA (which is why he missed my mom's wedding). Here's a photo of Andy and the boys crashed at the hotel (Keegan still with his car in hand).

San Diego was so wonderful! The weather was perfect and cool. We drove up Highway 1 like we always do and stopped off at Juanitas Taco Shop - my family's favorite for going on 25 years now. Don't make fun of the sign - this place is the BEST! Yes it's grungy but do you ever get the best Mexican food at a 5 star hotel? Heck no! If you're ever in Encinitas or Leucadia, Carlsbad, etc be sure to stop in for 3 rolled tacos in flour tortillas with guacamole. It can't be beat! We also had to get a treat at the Leucadia Donut Shop - our favorite place for a really sweet donut and fun conversation with the Korean owners in their broken English.

We checked out a chiropractic office right in Encinitas less than 2 miles from the beach. Then we stopped off at the beach for some playtime. Keegan loved it! He has no fear of water and walked straight out into the waves. We are going to have to watch that kid! It was cold but didn't seem to phase him. At one point he got clobbered by a wave, stood up, and ran right back into deeper water. Should I be worried? Andy was actually taking video at the time so if I have time to load it up I'll post it. Graham loved the ocean breeze too and was all smiles. I think our kids are trying to tell us something: "Move us near the beach".

We also made a stop at the San Diego Zoo. I can't even remember the last time I went there. It was fun and my fav animal was the panda. Keegan loved the panda and the peacocks. He developed a love for peacocks last year when we went to the Portland Zoo with Krista's family and then the Tucson Zoo with Kim and Bryan last summer.

No trip to San Diego would be complete without a stop at Anthony's Fishette for the best darn fish and chips in the world! I don't even like seafood much but this place is dee-lish! Anthony's is so fun. It's right on the harbor in downtown and the views of the water are great. It was freezing!

After a few days in San Diego we went inland to Temecula where Andy met with a doc and we stayed with our dear friends Paul & Tiffany Downs. Temecula is beautiful! I love it there! We had a great time catching up with Paul & T and their kids too. We couldn't believe how grown up Andrew and Calie are and that Mason is Paul's Mini-Me! Keegan loved the park literally right at the end of their cul de sac and playing with the kids. We also took a drive around a loop that has vineyards, ranches, farms, and orchards. It was so pretty and reminded me of growing up in Gilbert before all the farms were replaced with houses. I downloaded our photos and realized that sadly I didn't pull my camera out and get any photos with the Downs's or their home or anything. I guess we were having too much fun to stop and snap a pic.

All in all it was a fun trip. It was great to have Andy all to ourselves for a few days.

First Food

2009-03-03T14:18:00.002-06:00

So Graham got his first taste of rice cereal two weeks ago. He immediately LOVED it. After spitting out 3 or so bites he couldn't get it fast enough and even voraciously sucked on his fist between bites. He is so funny! Here are a few photos of the experience.

6 Months!

2009-03-03T14:16:00.005-06:00

Graham is 6 months old already! Half a year has flown by. On the 2nd when he officially turned 6 months he weighed 17 pounds and 7 ounces. What can I say - my kids are hefty! He is SO fun right now. All smiles and giggles and squealing away. He is such a sweet boy. I am so glad to have him in our family.

so precious...

2009-03-03T14:11:00.003-06:00

Graham has the worst diaper rash I have ever seen right now. So he's been spending a lot of time in the buff with his little bum in the air to dry out. A few days ago I left him on his tummy on my bed with just a blanket over him. It got very quiet so I went in my room to find this little angel on my bed. Isn't he precious?

Twins

2009-03-01T13:10:00.003-06:00

Today my guys wore their matching outfits they got as their christmas gifts to stake conference. They looked so cute I had to snap a few photos. They would not cooperate very well (mainly Keegan). You can see what happens as soon as Keegan sees the camera now. See that look on his face? He's holding back that toothy grin!

A Fat Lot of Good...

2009-02-04T13:34:00.004-06:00

Hi all! I am so excited to tell you all about this blog. This has been planned for SO long, but today I finally got a minute to contribute at last. I have started contributing to "A Fat Lot of Good...", a nutrition, exercise, and healthy lifestyle blog along with 2 awesome women.

Nikki was my college roommate and an Ironman Triathlete. She's an ironwoman in the truest sense of the word. She has a lot of knowledge to share about exercise and good living. Most importantly she is a mother who's balancing motherhood with all the other demands of life and still taking care of her body.

Melissa is also an athlete and lover of the outdoors. She is a mother of two so she also knows a thing or two about finding ways to exercise and keep our families healthy.

Of course you all know that I am a registered dietitian so my love is nutrition. I will be writing about food, recipes, and other tips. I am also revitalizing my career now that Graham is doing better and life is normalizing (whatever normal is).

Life is never easy, but we have to prioritize ourselves. We only get one body and it's our responsibility to take care of it. As mothers we are the gateway to our family's eating & exercise habits for the rest of their lives. What children learn in the home is what they take into the world and how they will pattern their lives. I feel that this is so important!

Also, if any of you are interested in a consult with a nutrition professional or know someone who is looking for someone to help them lose weight, get in shape, cook, shop healthy, etc. - contact me! Soon I will post more about my business ventures.

Brothers

2009-01-09T18:22:00.002-06:00

This is a rare moment where both boys are not crying, calm, and sitting together. Aren't they sweet?

What a Ham!

2009-01-09T18:18:00.002-06:00

Keegan was being so silly while we were taking Graham's photos that we couldn't resist snapping a few of him getting into mischief. That's a boy for you!

Graham at 3 months

2009-01-09T10:22:00.004-06:00

Here's our little guy at 3 months old. Big brother tried to steal the show!

Our Christmas Card

2008-12-20T01:39:00.002-06:00

Don't quit your day job Keegan

2008-12-02T16:09:00.003-06:00

So last week I was trying to get Keegan to model a hat for me and this is the result. What do you think - does he have a career in modeling? ha, ha!

The obsession begins...

2008-12-02T16:03:00.002-06:00

If you haven't heard, Keegan loves "ELGO" (or Elmo as many others may know him). He's only 1 1/2 and somehow he knows who this fuzzy little monster is and he wants Elgo all the time. A few months back I found these little beauties in a bin at Target for 25 cents - that's right - 25 cents. Who knew they'd be such a hit. Keegan loves all things Elmo!

I must agree...

2008-12-02T16:01:00.001-06:00

I must agree with Graham's outfit - he is mighty handsome!

Holiday Shopping

2008-11-25T16:51:00.007-06:00

I am so excited because this year I have been featured in the Cloud 9 Designs holiday gift guide for my baby cocoon. This is a blog for indie design and people everywhere who want to buy handmade. Go to the Holiday Gift Guide link on the side of my blog to check it out! I am listed in the baby section. There are so many other cool etsy shops featured. You could buy all of your christmas gifts right here!

I am also excited because I am starting to launch a series of canvas gallery wrap personalized art. Here's a sample of the prints. These are printed on canvas using a giclee-type process with approximately 2 inch wrapped sides and can be customized and personalized for nurseries, kids rooms, or anywhere in the house. This is just the start so check Lillebarn often to see new designs.

12 weeks already

2008-11-25T16:49:00.004-06:00

Graham is 12 weeks old today. He is so sweet. We love our little bear. Here are a few pics of him today in his bouncy chair. Keegan climbed onto the coffee table to give him loves and poor Graham became a pillow. It's fun seeing Keegan be affectionate with his brother. I can't wait until they are running around together.

6 Years and at least 60 more I hope!

2008-11-23T18:19:00.004-06:00

Today is our 6th Anniversary. I can't believe how the time has flown yet it seems that we've been married much longer. Our lives have sure changed over the past 6 years and I am so glad that I have had Andy to experience it all with. He is my best friend and a terrific dad and such a wonderful man and I could go on forever but I won't get all mushy on ya'll.

To celebrate 6 years we went out to dinner and to see the new James Bond movie. At this point in our lives hiring a babysitter and going to a movie and dinner are a BIG treat. We thoroughly enjoyed the night out and can't even remember the last movie we saw together in a theater. Sad, isn't it? I can't wait until we are out of school and can get babysitters and go out more often. It is so refreshing! Anyway, we had a good time. It's always nice to spend time with your spouse alone so you remember why you click with each other and to just do something fun since life can get so serious.

I love you Andy! Here's to at least 60 more anniversaries...

Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-03T07:14:00.009-06:00

Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch here in Flower Mound for a fundraiser party for Andy's school. Keegan loved running around and trying to lift the pumpkins. There were also goats he could pet with a fence around them perfect for climbing. The funnest part was the little train made from barrels and dollys welded together. He was the youngest kid on it but I think he had a good time. We zoomed in on him during his ride across the field and he had his fingers in his mouth with an unsure look on his face. But when the train came back he was mad that we got him out of it. Keegan also loved the bounce house they had there - his first time in a bounce house. We rounded out the night with some hot dogs. You can't beat grilled hot dogs at the pumpkin patch! I love the fall.

This is what Keegan did when we left.

29th Birthday

2008-11-03T07:09:00.003-06:00

I'm late at posting this, but the 21st was my 29th Birthday! My last year in the twenties so I'd better enjoy it. To celebrate that night Andy took me to BJ's - one of my favorite restaurants. We had a great time and the kids behaved well. Andy came home early (he usually gets home about 8 pm) so we could spend time together and that was awesome. Thanks for a great birthday Andy! I also enjoyed a yummy lunch with friends to celebrate and we let our kids play. It was a nice day.

Halloween

2008-11-02T22:17:00.005-06:00

Halloween this year was low key. We dressed Keegan and Graham up and just went up and down our street. Keegan was an adorable lion and didn't really get candy to eat. We just paraded him down the sidewalk with the other kids and he thought that was cool enough. Keegan spent most of the night concentrating very hard in playing his harmonica. What can I say, Like father, like son! Here are a few pics of our little lion and sweet Graham. After showing our kids off Andy, his dad, and Aaron went to the high school football game to check out what this "Friday Night Lights" thing is all about here in Texas. Unfortunately Coppell High forgot to bring their smoke machine this time. Then our friends the Erickson's dropped by to show off Gavry's Sponge Bob costume which was hard to beat. It was hilarious! And Fisher was an adorable puppy with those big blue eyes. It was a fun night.

Visitors

2008-11-02T21:57:00.004-06:00

This weekend we got visitors from Las Vegas, Andy's dad Bryan and brother Aaron. They came out for Graham's baby blessing. While they were here Andy toured them around Parker Chiropractic College and showed them a cold laser. Then we had to eat fried chicken at Babe's. Dad said they had the best pecan pie he's ever had. On Saturday we went to Ft Worth to the Stockyards again with these guys. It was a lot of fun. There were some pretty cool bands playing and lots of old cowboys! We also had a real Dr Pepper made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. There was a free petting zoo where Keegan got to pet goats, a piglet, and some sort of Sicilian donkey or something. Anyway, he was hilarious with the goats. Some of them started bleeting and Keegan was imitating them. They frightened him a little because the adults got right in his face hoping he'd give them food so he pushed them. We rounded out Saturday with some good old Texas football and a visit from Andy's cousin Chris. When we have family around we realize just how much we miss them!

Baby Blessing

2008-11-02T21:54:00.004-06:00

Today we blessed Graham. He looked so sweet in his white clothes! Andy's dad, Bryan, and brother Aaron flew out from Las Vegas for the blessing. It was so great to have them here. We didn't have the best lighting or cooperating kids for photos after the blessing but at least we commemorated the day! I am so happy to have 2 wonderful boys!

7 weeks old

2008-10-26T20:05:00.004-05:00

I know I always say this, but time sure flies! Our little Graham is 7 weeks old already. He is getting big and more alert all the time. He started smiling on October 11. Well, his first real smile anyway. I just love his smiles. He is a sweet boy for sure. Keegan can now say "baby" and is starting to realize that Graham is a person. Graham is still fussy but we're working on that.

Ft. Worth Stockyards

2008-10-26T18:08:00.009-05:00

While my mom was here we decided to finally visit the Ft. Worth Stockyards. There are 2 cattle drives daily with the famous Texas longhorn cattle. That was kind of fun. We saw a cowboy with a bull named Pecos Bill that he was riding - something you don't see every day. Andy tried to get Keegan to pet the animals. He was a little scared of the bull but thought the horse was neat and said "nay, nay" while he was petting it. (He's learning his animal noises.) The stockyards were fun and all of the western stuff you imagine Texas to be like. I haven't seen so many cowboys here before! The old Grapevine railroad comes through here too. Keegan was scared by the loud train! Andy especially loved Leddy's western store where they make custom cowboy boots, saddles, western shirts, etc. There were alligator skins hanging in all different colors that you can pick out for your boots! The chair pictured here was in Leddy's. I think we ought to make one! Leddy's has made boots for several presidents, including George W and the president of Iran, and made a saddle for Camilla Parker Bowles. While we were shopping in there the travel channel came in to film the custom making of a stetson cowboy hat. We took photos of a lot of signs that we thought were fun. After dark we went to Riscky's Steakhouse and had dinner with my mom for my birthday. It was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed my mom's visit and all of her help.

Dallas Zoo

2008-10-26T17:47:00.003-05:00

My Mom came for a visit last week so we went to the Dallas Zoo with the boys. Keegan loves to get out of the house and the weather here has been great. The zoo was practically empty. We had the best view of gorillas ever and even saw the silverback male right on the other side of the glass from us. He was kinda scary and intimidating! I was getting a little anxious that he might break the plexiglass and get us. He did a great job picking his nose - yuck! When we got to the children's zoo area there was a loud crack and then a total downpour. We were so happy that we had just walking into a little house with reptiles in it. We were definitely in the right place for the rain! Keegan got to pet a rabbit and a guinea pig in the petting zoo. He was a little hesitant!

6 weeks old

2008-10-26T17:46:00.001-05:00

This is sadly about the only photo I took this week!

One Month!

2008-10-11T20:32:00.004-05:00

I'm really late at posting photos, but Graham is a month old! He turned 1 month on October 2nd. The first month is a blur of bleary eyes and sleepless nights but lots of love and cuddling with this little guy. Here he is at 1 month.

I Love Knitting!

2008-09-25T17:50:00.003-05:00

For any of you who don't know, I love to knit. I got a book a couple of years ago called "Stitch and Bitch" (I know - bad name) and decided I would figure out knitting. My sister-in-law Krista is a great knitter and taught me some basics. Then I went to a convention for work and took my book along. By the end of the conference I had a scarf. Then I got my friend Ashley of mutze by ashley (the queen of hats and knitting altogether), whose site you can visit at www.mutzebyashley.com, to teach me how to knit in the round and make hats. Thank you Ash for getting me into this! I was instantly in love! I haven't stopped since. I now have a website on etsy: lillebarn.etsy.com where I sell knitted goods as well as photo cards and digital designs and things that I sew - mostly for babies and kids. Take a peek because we have lots of cool stuff! Anyway, what I'm excited about today is that I finished a cute baby cocoon for Angie, the photographer I've been knitting for. I put Graham in it and snapped some photos to list in my lillebarn store. I love this wrap! And isn't the model adorable?

3 weeks old

2008-09-25T16:36:00.003-05:00

Graham is now 3 weeks old and getting big! He is about 9 pounds already and getting pleasantly plump. We sure love having him in our family! He is kind of fussy a lot. We got him checked out this week and he has a hiatal hernia and a little reflux so no wonder! Keegan is adjusting and still only notices him a few minutes each day. Keegan seems to be growing up faster than ever. His new tricks are trying to sing the ABC's, B-I-N-G-O, and Old MacDonald Had a Farm. They all sound similar and the words are mostly "EE - I -EE - I". Our house is crazy but we are doing okay.

2 weeks old

2008-09-25T16:18:00.005-05:00

I haven't picked up my camera in a week! Today I realized that I haven't posted anything of Graham last week either. So, here he is at 2 weeks old. Andy's mom, Tauna, was here last week and helped us out a lot. It was so nice to have someone here so Graham could be snuggled (now he's not getting that with just one of me and big brother storming the house), dishes got done, and Keegan got some one on one attention just to name a few things I am missing. We were sad to see her go. We had a terrible time trying to get Keegan and Graham to be happy for a photo with Nana. Looks familiar to my mom's photo doesn't it? Anyway, please indulge me and my pictures.

Family Photos

2008-09-17T12:33:00.002-05:00

Check out http://www.weedonphoto.com/blog to see a sneak peek at some family and newborn photos that a local photographer, Angela Weedon, took of us last week. I have been making hats and wraps and baby cocoons for her in trade for some newborn family pics when Graham arrived. It was a long photoshoot (3 hours) but Keegan and Graham did surprisingly well. She played a cd of woom sounds in her studio which put Graham to sleep so she could mold his little naked self into her baskets and pillows. She also got Keegan to smile and play with her and I discovered he understands me more than I thought because he did everything she told him to. We will let ya'll know when we get to see all the proofs! Which one of these do you like?

First Week Home

2008-09-14T17:04:00.006-05:00

Well we have survived our first week home from the hospital with Graham. My mom was here and helped SO much! Then I had 3 days on my own that were really hard. Then Andy's mom Tauna arrived Wednesday night and we are doing well again. She will be here a few more days and I'm so glad. The help is so nice!

We love Baby Graham! Graham is growing and we swear his arms are getting pudgy. His jaundice is improving and he is starting to wake up. He also has the longest toes we've ever seen! So far Graham is a super sweet boy. I can't get enough of him! He and Keegan are so different that I can hardly believe they are brothers. Keegan is still a little oblivious to the fact that there is a baby living here. He seems to realize he has a brother for a minute or two every day. He is cute as ever and doesn't know what's hit him yet.

Here are a few photos of this week.

BIG NEWS!

2008-09-04T20:13:00.009-05:00

Ok, so let's just say that maybe the pregnancy hormones were getting to an all time high when I wrote my last post because it wasn't long before our Big Day. What a difference a few days makes. So, ignore that last blah and depressing post and focus on our BIG NEWS!

We welcomed Graham Ivan Lowe into our family at 12:34 pm on September 2, 2008. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Graham has a head of brown hair and more hair than big brother Keegan has at 16 1/2 months old! He is a really sweet boy and we are so happy that he has joined our family.

If you want the full story, here it is. If not, just skip this section.

For most of you, you know that Keegan was born at 37 weeks after 30 1/2 hours of labor and a lot of stress. So needless to say I was very nervous about the whole labor thing again. We had planned to be induced on Tuesday morning since my due date was the day of Andy's national board exams and we felt that missing those was probably not a good idea. At my check last Friday I was dilated to 2 cm and the doctor didn't seem too concerned about it. I had been feeling fluish, tired, and crampy for about 2 weeks. So we just moved forward with plans for Tuesday.

We got up at 3:45 am on Tuesday morning to shower and get ready to go to the hospital for a 5 am induction. We finally made it there at 5:20 am and checked in. The nurse started IV fluids and paperwork. Then at about 7 am she checked me. She said, "Have you been having contractions?" I told her nothing consistent, just cramps continuously and feeling fluish for a while. She said, "Well you're about 5 cm dilated!" What?!? I was shocked and excited. She called the doctor to let her know since this could definitely change plans for pitocin. Hooray! So Dr. Lungren came to the hospital around 8 am and broke my water. I was waiting for an epidural because the anesthesiologist was in a c-section. They said it'd be about 20 minutes. Within those 20 minutes my contractions became really hard and were coming 2 minutes apart. About 1 hour and 45 minutes later I finally got my epidural! I was quite nauseated and not feeling well after that and tried to watch TV. Just before the epidural I was at somewhere between 6 and 7 cm. About 11:30 am the nurse said, "I'll just check you again since it's been a few hours." Ok - no big deal. The nurse looked up and said, "Are you feeling pressure!?" I said not really and she said, "You are a 10 and your baby's head is right here!!" Oh! I had no idea because with Keegan I felt so much that there was no doubting it was time to push. She called Dr. Lungren who was in a meeting and asked if I was uncomfortable or if I could wait for her to get there. I was okay so we waited about 45 minutes for her to arrive. Once she got there I started pushing. By the 3rd contraction Graham's heart rate had dropped drastically and she called the NICU and for forceps. Andy and I both said "No forceps!!!" She said I had one more contraction to try and then she had to get that guy outta there. So I gave it all I had and he was out on the 4th contraction. He is quite bruised but beautiful. Andy and the doctor both told me he had more hair than Keegan as soon as they saw him so I was anxious to see that. He has his own look which is so fun. We are thrilled he is here safe and sound!

Enjoy some photos of our Graham.

One of those weeks...

2008-08-29T21:41:00.002-05:00

Ok - so this isn't the typical happy blogger mommy post. I have just had an overwhelming week and need to vent! Let me preface it by saying that baby #2 is coming soon. I am dilated to 2 cm and could have him anytime! So I'm not sure if these feelings are from being pregnant and hormonal and emotional and overwhelmed or what.

Do any of you just have "blah" days where you feel like, "who really cares about me anyway?". Am I the only one? Do any of you just feel lonely sometimes? Do you ever feel out of touch with friends and what's going on? Part of the problem is probably that I haven't been as good a friend as I could be in recent months because I've been caught up in pregnancy and chasing a 1 year old around. Perhaps I haven't called or emailed people often enough.

Do any of you ever feel like you try to give your best but then you don't get the return you're hoping for? I know failure is something to learn from but darn it - it stinks! I wish I were better at so many things - cooking every night, cleaning the house, teaching Keegan, being patient, reading scriptures EVERY day, being organized, being more creative, making money in my business endeavors, etc and I wish I were artistic. This is just the start of my list. I've had some feelings about another issue for a while too. I found out a few months ago that some people in my ward were talking about a YW lesson I taught. Apparently they felt that I didn't cover the topic well, that some of the lesson was wasted time, and that it needed to be re-taught the following week because I didn't give the girls the message they needed. This was just a couple of women but since learning this I have definitely had my confidence shaken. I know that I shouldn't let it get to me but I feel bad. I try to prepare lessons with a prayer and to be in tune with what I feel like I should teach. I'm not a great teacher but at least I try to do my best. But does this mean my best is not even good?

Keegan is also going through a picky eating and "I hate veggies" phase which is so frustrating! I am a dietitian for crying out loud! I know what to do here and I am still frustrated! I find myself becoming impatient and then feeling guilty. That starts the whole "I'm a bad Mom" sequence of thoughts. Anyway, I hope this phase will pass. Mealtimes have become a battle zone with screaming, crying, throwing food and everyone exhausted and not enjoying their food.

I guess my main point is that I am feeling inadequate. AND - I'm about to have another baby!!! How will I manage this? Can I handle it? I am wishing I were more like some of my friends who (at least seem to) have it all together. They are great moms. People love to be around them and they always seem in touch with friends. They are organized and patient and confident. They are spiritual and good examples. Maybe I just need some sleep to help me out of this funk. Oh wait - I can't sleep because I am pregnant! And come next week the sleep deprivation only gets worse!

OK - I will stop my whining. Thanks for letting me vent.

Dallas Farmer's Market

2008-08-23T15:58:00.003-05:00

Today we went to the Dallas Farmer's Market in downtown Dallas. I have been wanting some sweet peaches to make homemade jam and some other local goodies. We had a great time despite the heat and humidity. Keegan sampled 4 wedges of watermelon and was itching for more. We tried sweet corn, Texas honey, watched some bees in their hive, tasted Sharmyn melon (looks kinda like a white cantaloupe), and some other yummy fresh produce. We came home with all Texas grown fruits and veggies and can't wait to eat them up! We got watermelon, peaches, yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, sweet onions, bell peppers, a cayenne pepper, and some bee pollen. Then we picked up an Italian basil and a Thai basil plant from a cute little old farmer who grows every kind of herb you can think of. We'll be having some good Thai curry and bruschetta this week! Here's a look at some of the stands and goods. YUM!

Accessorizing

2008-08-21T00:13:00.005-05:00

o with little boys you can't do too much to accessorize. There are no bows, ribbons, headbands, tights, shoes to match each outfit, bracelets, etc. However, Keegan decided to accessorize himself this week. We went to the Children's Place earlier this week just to get out of the house. I was looking through a bin of hats and plopped this little guy on his head to be funny, knowing he would just throw it off in a few seconds. A few minutes later when it accidentally fell off Keegan was distraught and anxious to get my attention. I looked over to see him handing it to me and babbling something that I think meant, "MOM! My hat fell off! Put it back on me!" So I put it on his head and he wore it proudly. After a good 30 minutes I thought, "Hey maybe I'll check the price and get him the hat." Guess what? It was 49 cents! What a find! So Keegan has been accessorizing most of his outfits with his new hat this week. Here are a few pics of him walking around the house playing in his hat. He thinks he is so cool in it. We think it makes him look older. What do you think?

Cool Product

2008-08-07T18:37:00.004-05:00

So I recently found a new mascara that I love. It is so cheap and it doesn't smudge - really! I saw it on Oprah. Her friend Gail did a show on best new cosmetics and this won for mascara and I think you'll be surprised because it's just Cover Girl. I gave it a try and voila - it works like they say. Here it is... Cover Girl Professional mascara.

Casual Remarks - Something to Think About

2008-08-07T18:03:00.007-05:00

So I was given an article by someone this week that really made me stop and think. It's about what we say as parents in front of our kids and how it affects their view of themselves and the world. The article is an excerpt from a book called "Hidden Messages: What Our Words and Actions are Really Telling Our Children" by Elizabeth Pantley. This is worth the time to read although I know it's a long post. I can see myself in so many of these situations already and Keegan is only 15 months old! I also relate to the way these remarks can make you feel. As a child I overheard a lot of negative things about me and it's funny because looking back at my childhood I don't really remember hearing my parents make positive remarks to friends and family about me. And to sum it up, growing up I had terrible self esteem and then I made some choices I wish I hadn't because I didn't think I was worth much so what did it matter? It wasn't until I moved away to college that I realized that I was a daughter of Heavenly Father and that He loves me and that I was worth something more than I had been treating myself like. I know this is a serious post, but this article affected me and made me realize that to give my kids the kind of self esteem and view of the world that they need to be strong enough to make good decisions and feel that they are of infinite worth to us as parents and to their Heavenly Father then I have to start NOW.

This is my goal - to work on my casual remarks. I hope you like this article. I may even buy the book.

Casual Remarks
Elizabeth Pantley
From the Article:
It’s a curious affliction: the tendency to talk about one’s children in the most brutally honest and hurtful ways without realizing that the cherished subjects of the offensive comments are listening to every word. Right now, you may be saying to yourself, “This never happens to me.” Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I think there’s a good chance you’ll see yourself in at least one of the following examples.
Unloading a cart full of Cheerios, macaroni-and-cheese and hot dogs at the grocery store’s checkout counter, a harried mother chats animatedly to the cashier. “…Only one more week ‘til summer vacation, then the kids will be home all day. I can already hear the bickering and whining! I don’t know how I’ll manage to live through the next few months! Want to buy two kids, cheap?” The cashier laughs and shakes her head, “Oh, no thanks, I have my own! I know what you mean! I’m already waiting for next September!” In their supposedly innocent light-hearted banter, neither one notices the shopper’s two children standing right beside her, listening quietly to every hurtful word. Neither one notices a pair of small eyes cast downward just so, or a nervous little cough...

Consider Amir’s situation as he walks in the door after another grueling day of work. His joyful, eager children run for Daddy, but Mom spies him coming in just before they have their chance to pounce. And the daily gripe session begins. “I am SO glad you’re home. I need five minutes of peace and quiet. These kids drove me crazy all day! Abdi and Sheida have been like wild animals. They were fighting in the living room and knocked over the potted fern. Aria has been acting like a two-year-old—having temper tantrums over every little thing. The wash machine is broken again and I have four stacks of kids’ dirty clothes piled up in the laundry room . . .” Quietly and unnoticed, three dispirited children fade into the background of the family room and turn on the TV.

Then there’s Megan, chatting on the phone with her best friend. As usual, the conversation turns to the daily issues with their children. Megan dramatically relates how very annoyed she was with Kyle at baseball this morning. “I was so embarrassed!” she groans. “Kyle struck out and he stomped his foot like a baby and threw his helmet on the ground. You’d think he was five years old instead of 15!” She chuckled. “ I think adolescent hormones are taking over.” Meanwhile, said adolescent is just a few feet away, pretending to work on his homework—but actually suffering the embarrassment of listening to his mother talk about his very real pain as if it were some big joke.

I know many parents who slip into the type of unfortunate conversation of a mother and father who approached me after a recent parenting lecture. They were anxious to talk with me, bemoaning their three-year-old’s latest behavior problems. “Molly’s been a good girl until recently. It’s like we’ve entered the terrible twos a bit late. She’s just no fun anymore. She’s constantly yelling ‘No!’ to us and won’t listen to a word we say. We’ve tried to be patient, but she’s pushed us to the end of our rope!” I glance down to see a little three-year-old (Molly, perhaps?) clinging tightly to her father’s leg. But she’s only three, she doesn’t understand what they’re saying, this couldn’t possibly hurt her.
Or so we think.

The Hidden Message

“I can talk about you all I want, and since you’re just a child you’re not listening to what I say anyway. You’re not worthy of the same respect I’d give another adult. Besides, this is how I REALLY feel about you, and I don’t care about your feelings—you’re just a kid so your feelings aren’t important.”

Think About It
If you don’t believe that your children hear your casual remarks, try this: As you chat with a friend or your spouse, casually slip a question in the middle of your conversation. Something along the lines of, “Do you think we should round up the kids and take them out for ice cream?” Be ready to hop in the car when you hear the chorus of, “Yes!” from the four corners of the house.

Children do not always react outwardly to what they hear. However, if you could see into their hearts, you would find a record of every careless word, every thoughtless action, every adult laugh, that here, in the most tender and vulnerable of places, was not found so funny. Here would you find also significant—and often, inappropriate—meaning attached to these products of childhood observation. Children struggle through the growing-up process, and along the way they question who they are and what their meaning is to this world and to their parents. A parent’s potent words, and the multitude of other comments, gestures and actions, help a child paint a picture of who he really is, and how important he is in this world. How tragic for that child if, despite how we really feel, that painting is not the masterpiece we envision!

Changes You Can Make
Given the extreme importance of your words, it simply makes good sense to choose them carefully. From now on, if your child is within hearing distance assume that he may be listening—and don’t say anything about him that you wouldn’t say to him.
If you see a bit of yourself in the previous examples, you’re no different than most parents. But that doesn’t mean that this behavior needn’t cease. Such a simple change could have a very positive impact on your children’s lives. As you talk about your children—and let’s face it, they’re among our favorite topics—pay attention to how those words sound from your child’s point of view. If you think that what you’re saying, or about to say, can be construed as hurtful or embarrassing, stop. Talk about something else.

If you’re not sure what you’re saying has a negative impact or not, ask yourself how you would feel if you overheard someone talking about you in those exact words. Or perhaps you can ask yourself, “If I were talking about my boss/spouse/best friend to another person, with the object of my comments listening, would I ever say such a thing?” If your answer is a mortified laugh, then stop mid-sentence and rephrase your comments in a more positive way, if you find them absolutely crucial to the conversation.

Better yet, find something shining and wonderful to say about your child, and be sure your child hears it. That type of “casual comment” can yield life-enhancing benefits to your children. It may help them compose a more wonderful vision of themselves. An image that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

Happy 34th Andy!

2008-08-02T20:55:00.003-05:00

Andy celebrated his 34th birthday on July 19. I can't believe how time has gone by. For the big day he wanted to get some Thai food from our favorite Thai restaurant here in Dallas, Sawadika, and then go see a movie. The food was delicious! Good choice honey. Keegan spent most of the dinner using the chopsticks as drumsticks on the table. He may have a future as a drummer. Then we dropped Keegan off and went to see Hancock after that. It was fun to get out to a movie by ourselves. We topped off the night with dessert of a brownie sundae and piece of cheesecake.

Backyard Fun

2008-08-02T20:40:00.004-05:00

Here are a few photos of Keegan enjoying the summer in the backyard. He loves his swing and pool. His buddy gave him the pool for his birthday and we have really enjoyed it. He loves to get in and splash around and then lounge back against the sides with his arms up like he's real cool and just relax. In fact, the other day Andy emptied the water from the pool and brought it into the kitchen to dry out a little. I gave Keegan some lunch which he was eating quietly. Then I heard him giggle. I went in to find him sitting in his pool enjoying the lunch and laughing at how clever he was. I had to grab the camera quickly before he moved.

Bowden's Cabin

2008-08-02T20:31:00.004-05:00

I forgot to add a few photos from our dinner at the Bowden's cabin over 4th of July weekend. Isn't the stream pretty? It was so nice to be up the canyon. Oh - and there were a bunch of these blue caterpillars which were cool.

4th of July Turley Reunion

2008-07-24T15:01:00.004-05:00

The Siblings

Nick & Keegan

launching water balloons at Krista and Mimi

Brandon & Andy
Our family and the spatula that Keegan would not let go of. He screamed if anyone tried to take it and smelled like a charred hamburger until he had a bath.

Lighting the cannon at the Shriner's house
Pregnant cousins - all having BOYS!
Big Stanley and Little Stanley
Great Grandkids
Turley cousins who were at the BBQ making a "T" for Turley

We spent the 4th of July this year with the Turley family for a reunion in Provo, Utah. We had a great time seeing cousins, aunts and uncles, and of course Papa. Some highlights were a BBQ at the Shepherd's house in Mapleton on the 4th of July, visiting BYU campus, meeting the Shriner family (Aaron Lowe's girlfriend, Leah's, fam), lighting off the cannon and scaring everyone, and dinner at the Bowden's cabin up Provo Canyon. We had a lot of fun getting out of the humidity of Texas and going back to where our relationship started at BYU. Our hotel was also really close to Cougar Stadium so we saw all of the Stadium of Fire fireworks show from the window in our room. Keegan thought the fireworks were pretty cool and LOVED being around all the other kids. We hope we can get together for another reunion before too long!

Dad's 65th Birthday

2008-07-13T22:02:00.004-05:00

While we were in Utah, we celebrated Andy's Dad's 65th Birthday. He seemed a little depressed on his birthday and signed up for Medicare first thing in the morning. (He gets down to business pronto!) When all the siblings got together in Provo we treated him to dinner at Tucano's Brazilian restaurant and you can see the results in these photos. It was a lot of fun to go out with the family and celebrate. Then we had the most delicious Texas sheet cake from Magelby's Fresh. I am still dreaming about it.... Anyway, Dad claimed this was the best birthday he's ever had and I hope it was. We are sure glad he was born. The best comment came from Grandma Lowe (his mother) who is 93. He was complaining about officially being a senior citizen and she said, "Wait 'til you're 93 and all 5 of your children are senior citizens! Then you'll feel old!" Too true.

Raisin Feet

2008-07-13T21:55:00.002-05:00

Keegan LOVES the pool and could possibly swim for an entire day without getting out of the water. In fact, when we do get out he is quite pruny. I couldn't pass up this chance to photograph his little raisin feet! Aren't they cute?

Seriously, the pool is my favorite part of the summer. I'm so glad that Keegan loves to go swimming.

Nothing Better than Good Friends!

2008-07-13T21:53:00.005-05:00

Keegan and Baldie
Some of my best girls!
Me & Ash (oh - and Elynn who is Austin's baby that Ashley always steals)
Me & Sarah
Keegan with the Bald Barbie

I got to make a quick visit with some friends on my way to the Turley family reunion over the last week of June. It was so great to see good friends who we miss so much! Here are a few shots of my visit. I'm not sure if it's the life experiences we've shared together or just that we all click so well, but my Vegas girlfriends are amazing and I was so happy to see them. We get so carried away with each other that our husbands have stopped asking when we'll be home because they know it will be well after midnight (usually somewhere around 2 am!).

I'm also including a photo of Keegan from our friends the Okuda's house. Of all the toys, he went right for a Barbie. Just what Andy would love. But it wasn't just any Barbie, it was a bald one just like him. We got a good laugh out of it. My friend Sarah thought it was hilarious and took these shots of him with his bald Barbie friend.

My Little Guy

2008-07-01T00:27:00.002-05:00

Today my friend Sarah took Keegan's 1 year photos. He is getting so big and we couldn't pass up the chance to capture him at 1 year. The only problem was he was not interested in capturing the dimples and toothy grin - oh no! He is getting his 1st molar and mostly wanted to chew on his fingers and cry. Sorry Sarah! I must say that despite his mood, Sarah did a great job and you can't see the tear streaks on his face (and did I mention she did all of this at 9 months pregnant?) I wonder what those watching us at the park were thinking watching 2 very pregnant ladies barking like dogs, playing peekaboo, and trying to coax a 1 year old to smile while crawling around on the ground.

Here is a sneak peek at the photos. You can see more on her blog at:

www.sarahjanephotography.blogspot.com

Something Pretty

2008-06-19T23:26:00.002-05:00

So our yard has been full of surprises - some good and some bad - since we moved in. A good surprise that recently popped up were 2 lily plants that are each blooming right now. The past owners planted random bulbs in the front and backyard and every once in a while pops up and surprises us. It's fun!

Best New Buy

2008-06-19T23:15:00.002-05:00

OK - Here is the best thing we've bought for Keegan in a while. For a mere $20 at Wal-Mart or Toys'R'Us you too can have this little beauty. Andy put in this swing and Keegan loves it! As you can see, he is thoroughly enjoying himself. When we have to take him inside he cries because he wants to keep swinging. It's especially fun to blow bubbles while he's in there and he can swing through them. Anyway, I think this purchase is definitely worth it. The only problem is it's so darn hot and humid in Texas that we can't stay outside all day.

Father's Day

2008-06-19T22:55:00.005-05:00

This year Father's Day was a little hard for Andy I think. He has decided to sell his Vespa. Making sacrifices that go along with being a student is hard and that's all I'll say. On Saturday he took Keegan for a ride on the Vespa in the Baby Bjorn since he won't have the chance very soon. I was scared but Andy drove nice and easy. Keegan wasn't sure what to think at first but ended up liking it. Anyway, he wasn't quite himself and didn't seem as excited as he normally is to get a Texas sheet cake all to himself. However, Keegan made the day really special. Keegan decided to start walking on Father's Day! We were talking in the kitchen on Sunday morning and turned around to find Keegan walking across the room - so proud of himself! Since then there's no stopping him. He doesn't want to be held and cuddled because that's so boring when you could be exploring! He is still a little shaky at times and learning how to step over bumps,etc. I just can't believe my baby is walking! He is growing up fast. Soon he'll be a big brother too. Here are some photos of Saturday and Sunday and little Keegan showing off after church.

2008-06-01T17:00:00.001-05:00

Papa & Keegan

An Unforgettable Graduation

2008-06-01T15:03:00.004-05:00

As I said in my last post, we went to Sean's graduation while we were in Arizona. It was one we will never forget. Let me tell you why...

The day started with torrential downpours and so it looked like graduation may be moved inside the high school. Not traditional, but seemed like the best thing to do. Well at graduation time we learned that the ceremony would indeed be on the football field regardless of the pouring rain. Luckily, my friend Michelle had given Keegan a rain coat for a birthday gift while we were there. If it hadn't been for that we would've been in big trouble. I had only packed sandals and capris because I was not expecting 60 degree weather and rain! My cousin Kara had a hooded sweatshirt for me to borrow. So we headed to graduation with hooded sweatshirts, 2 beach towels, a fleece blanket, and 1 umbrella for my Mom, Kara, brother Aaron, Keegan and I. We carefully climbed up the wet bleachers of the stadium and took our seats hoping this would go quickly. OH NO - it did not go quickly!

First, there were 3 kids who tied for valedictorian so we listened to 3 speeches! Then the class president got up and said, "Just bear with me for 4 more minutes" to which the crowd cried "NO!". She spoke anyway for 4 minutes. All the while the rain is dumping in buckets. Luckily the principal skipped his speech this year. And yes, it's still Mr. Santa Cruz - the same principal I had in high school. All of a sudden the kids in Sean's section stood up and started screaming. Sean texted us that there was a rat running loose in their row. Nasty! About 15 minutes later a security guard walked across the football field holding a rat by its tail. The stadium was full of umbrellas and shivering family members. We were soaked!! Then the names were called - all 722 of them. Yep - Sean's class had 722 students. The poor kids were so cold that many of them, especially girls, just walked right off the field after their names were called and didn't return to their seats. Afterward we made our way down to find a sopping wet Sean who was bright red from the cold. We snapped a few photos and made our way to the car that my mom had illegally parked in the handicap area considering that I am pregnant and we had Keegan. What a night! We went home exhausted and freezing. Keegan was pretty entertained by the whole thing though. He really liked the umbrella and seemed to think if was kinda fun.

Happy Graduation Sean! We're proud you made it! We won't ever forget your graduation!

A Good Visit

2008-05-27T16:23:00.005-05:00

Well, Keegan and I just got back from a good visit in Arizona a few days ago. We went for Jason's wedding and then stayed until my baby brother Sean's high school graduation. We got to see Papa Stan Turley (who Keegan is named after), and go to Tucson to see Andy's brother Alex & Kim and their kids, and then I even saw my best friend from high school Michelle after WAY too long! I feel like we've been out of touch with almost everyone for about a month since we went to Oregon and Arizona but now we're getting home and back to normal. We had so much fun seeing family and friends and just taking a break from our usual routine. Sean's graduation was unforgettable but it deserves its own entry so that's to come!

We got to see Papa twice while we were in Gilbert which was a real treat. Keegan loves to sit on his lap while he sings "Jesus knows all about my troubles..." in his ear. We are so blessed to have so many good grandparents and Papa is definitely someone to look up to. He's such a good man and great example of living the gospel. He is practical and down to earth and has a good sense of humor too. I always love hearing the stories he shares. This trip we learned that he lost his eye at a Father and Sons campout. Someone threw a bullet casing in the fire and he was about 20 feet away. That bullet exploded and flew 20 feet and hit him right in the middle of the eye! Talk about bad luck! I knew he'd lost his eye when a bullet had flown out of a fire but never knew it was at a church campout. Be careful all you boys at your campouts!

In Tucson we had a great time as well. Keegan loved cousins Braeden and Bryan. He was also fascinated by Pixie, the devon rex cat, who I forgot to get a photo of. Our house is so quiet and boring compared to having cousins to play with! We went to the Tucson Zoo with Kim and Bryan. It was hot out but there's tons of shade so we weren't too hot. The best part was that the animals were hot so they were all swimming and playing right in front of us. I've never seen a tiger or polar bear so close at a zoo before! The tiger jumped in his pool right in front of us and the polar bear was swimming laps and doing little "jumps" right in front of us too. The Tucson Zoo is great for getting up close to animals. There were also peacocks roaming the grounds and calling to each other. If anyone's heard their screech they know it's loud and could be scary at night. Keegan loved it and when they stopped screeching he tried to imitate their call. I got a kick out of that. We also had delicious salads at a place called Chopped that I would highly recommend! Anyway, we had a lot of fun in Tucson. Thanks Alex & Kim for having us!

I also finally saw my best bud Michelle after years - I know - pathetic! We have babies that are 1 day apart: Keegan and Emily were born 1 day apart. It was great to see her house and meet Spencer and Emily. They are adorable and have the biggest blue eyes! Keegan loved playing with them, especially in their pool of balls. I'm seriously going to have to get one of those. Thanks Michelle for the great idea! We spent a whole afternoon catching up on life and our families. Michelle has been such a true friend since Junior High and I couldn't ask to have had a better buddy growing up. I really miss living close by her. It's fun to see friends after such a long time and pick up and visit like normal. That's when you know you have a good friendship I think. Now I am going to try and be a better friend in the future and not let it be so long between visits.

Jason's Wedding

2008-05-22T01:00:00.004-05:00

We have been in Arizona this week for my brother Jason's wedding to Franchesca Dastrup. The wedding and reception were really nice and we enjoyed seeing everyone while we were home. Everything was really pretty. The wedding cake was one of my favorite things so I'm posting a photo of it here. My cousin Kara caught the bouquet so I'm posting a photo of her for all of you eligible bachelors who are looking for a cute girl (plus she has a Master's degree in teaching and a job so that's always a plus!). I must say that being in photos and wearing a nice dress at a wedding while nearly 24 weeks pregnant does not make one feel very cute. I mostly felt like a cow next to all the other cute sisters (Franchesca has 5 sisters and 1 sister-in-law who all looked gorgeous). Meeting the Dastrup family was fun and Michelle and Angelica kept us entertained. The weather took a record-breaking turn over the weekend and went from pleasant to 111 degrees in 2 days so we have been a little hot. We are really happy for Jason and Franchesca!