Adorable Joshie

Our adorable Joshua James was born one year and a few days ago, on January 5, 2008. He has been warmly welcomed into a loving family and is the third son and fourth child of Josh and Melodie. Happy birthday Joshie!

I have seldom seen a child with more smiles and enthusiasm at being alive. Joshua is loved by his big brothers Adam and Jarom and his big sister Rachel. They make sure he is happy and they love to bring him toys (or exchange toys with him if he is playing with something they would like to play with :) !) He was born at a very busy time for his mom and dad; Melodie was pregnant with Joshua when she and Josh came to Ohio and several other states for a Mormon Tabernacle Choir tour. Despite the confusion and chaos that are an inevitable part of a busy home, Melodie manages to meet his needs beautifully and he is secure and happy, a precious little boy. I don't know how she and Josh do it, but they do it!

Here is Josh with Josh. These two have a special father-son connection that goes beyond having the same first name. I think Josh the dad is becoming more comfortable with being a dad. I have enjoyed watching Josh as he prepares meals, changes diapers, and gives baths and reads stories. He is doing a good job. He and Melodie have done a good job figuring out how best to manage their many time demands and determine their goals as a family.

For Halloween, Joshua was apparently a pumpkin. He is so cute! I have missed being able to be with our grandloves. It was so fun to see him when he wasn't very old and had a long tuft of hair on top of his head.

Joshie is a cuddly, smiley, happy little boy. Happy Birthday Joshua James!

Our Lovely Lori

Lori Caldwell Gardner joined our family on December 29, 1995, and we are SO glad David found her! I don't know what is wrong with my picture transfer-ability, so you may have to squint to see Lori. These pictures are super small, even though I upload them as large! Anyway, Lori is absolutely wonderful!

Oh how I love this girl! She's a terrific wife and mother, always full of good ideas and always welcoming. I'm sure that it is a daunting matter to face an influx of Gardner Clan invading their house, but she's always excited to have us (or at least she puts up a really convincing front!).

For me, it's fun to share the story of how she and David got together. They had a couple of classes together at Utah State: I think they were gymnastics and ballroom dance maybe? Lori, you'll have to correct me on that if I'm wrong. Anyway, David got his mission call (it came to our home in Billings Montana) and he went around, asking everyone he could find if they would bring him out so he could personally open his call. No one took his generous offer of free gas, except for kindhearted Lori. They arrived at about 3:00 in the morning, exhausted from the drive, after having narrowly avoided hitting a moose on the road. We were very impressed with Lori: her personality was so engaging and she was wonderful to meet, even at that super early hour. I remember Stan and I saying to each other, "It's too bad she's not going to be around when David gets back from his mission!"

Well, through a series of miracles, Lori WAS around when Dave got back, and he was a goner right from the start. Actually, I think they fell in love sometime around the middle of his mission, and it was just a matter of time before they moved forward to marriage. Lori and Dave have five absolutely adorable kidlets: Joseph, Sarah, Jacob, Bekah, and Emily. We love being with their family.

Lori is always finding amazing deals. She knows where to get great coupons, and she has created a stash of awesome gifts and presents for the family with some of her wonderful purchases. She feeds the family beautifully with wonderful homemade breads and home-canned or frozen peaches or strawberries. One of my favorite meals is crepes at their house. I imagine Lori will get those for breakfast herself in the near future if not today, because I think crepes are the family special birthday breakfast! This is Lori with Melodie, Josh's wife. Lori is holding their youngest, Emily. I love how all of "our girls" get along so well with each other. When we are all together, it seems like heaven to me.

This is a picture Lori took of herself with the Mac computer. I'm glad she doesn't REALLY look that way! I love watching Lori and David dance. They are really good. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of them dancing, but fortunately, I can edit the blog if I find a picture later! Lori, the happiest of birthdays to you! We love you and are very grateful for you.

Sensational Steve

派克汉尼汾流体传动产品（上海）有限公司
中国上海浦东金桥出口加工区
云桥路２８０号
201206

This is Steve's address in Shanghai, if anyone would like to try to copy it and send him a birthday card :) And here's a picture of Steve with his wonderful, almost fiance Alina:

To try to describe Steve, you have to have an amazing vocabulary. He is highly intelligent, thoughtful, service-oriented, straightforward, funny, enthusiastic, has a zest for life and is very inquisitive, creative, athletic, caring, and completely dedicated. He has a drive and determination that serve him well in any endeavors he attempts. He is not the kind of person you could put in a box and label. He is definitely his own man. As one of the performing missionaries in Nauvoo said, "Steve is one guy who has a lot of layers."

Those are some of the things I love about Steve. His 29th birthday is coming up on the 22nd of January. Happy Birthday, Steve! This is one of my favorite pictures of Steve. He and Caitie are holding Adam and Jarom.

He is an awesome uncle and a great brother. His nephews and nieces adore
him. They all look forward to the times that Steve comes back to the U.S.
I know they are excited (we all are) to meet Alina, Steve's sweetheart, whose Chinese name is Yue Yang (did I get that right, Steve?).

Steve tells us that when you make the "victory sign" in Asia, it kind of means that you are smiling.

From the moment Steve was born, he has been a lively, eager, delightful, full of life person. I feel deeply privileged to be his mother. In high school he would dive into the dumpster across the street from the office building where he cleaned. The dumpster was from a florist shop, and every night he would gather flowers that were still fresh and make beautiful bouquets, which he and his siblings would anonymously deliver, often past three in the morning. I had the honor of helping him to apply for the Montana state Discover Card Gold Scholarship, where I learned for the first time that Steve had set a personal goal to perform an act of service each day. I believe he still does that. (By the way, he was awarded the Gold Scholarship--but that's another story!).
When Steve served his mission in Romania, he literally exhausted himself, giving his mission everything he had. His mission president told me he wished he had a hundred more like Steve. Then Steve went to Nauvoo, just 3 days after returning home.

Steve and Emilie on the day we took Elder Nathaniel Gardner into the Missionary Training Center.

At BYU-Idaho, Steve took top honors in debate on a national level. He decided on a lark to take a Chinese class, and ended up discovering a passion for learning and teaching languages. His Chinese students love him and clamor to have him as their teacher. For the time being, though, he is learning business, doing work for Parker Hannifin in Shanghai.

Oh how we all love our son and brother and uncle Steve! I could write enough more to fill a book (or bookshelf), but suffice it to say: Steve we love you very much and are so grateful you are part of our family! Happy Birthday! And just remember: everything you learn that helps you grow (or saves a sand castle) is worth the SACRIFICE!!!!!!!!!!!!