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!!!!!!!!!!!!

Joseph David Gardner: 11 Years Old!

Today is our oldest grandson's 11th birthday. Happy Birthday, Joseph! As you can see, Joseph is a fantastic soccer player (his dad is his coach!), but Joseph also has many other skills and interests. I'm amazed at his creative abilities. Joseph is one AWESOME dude!

It's hard to believe that it has been eleven years since Joseph was born. Joseph's birthday falls on his parents' wedding anniversary--Happy Anniversary, Dave and Lori :) Joseph is interested in all things having to do with athletics.

You can see how proud David is of his son. These two are great friends. Joseph is also a wonderful son to Lori, and a very supportive older brother to his four siblings: Sarah, Jacob, Bekah, and Emily. Joseph is taking on the responsibility of baby sitting on rare occasions for short periods, and he does a terrific job. Joseph shows remarkable maturity in helping his siblings to learn how to do things, as well as a lot of patience in interacting with them and helping them to interact with each other.

Joseph has recently demonstrated pretty terrific skills as a ballroom dancer. We got to see him perform over Thanksgiving break and he was outstanding! He takes after his parents and aunts and uncles. I would love to see him develop that skill. He also is learning how to play the piano. I have heard him doing very well with a few good musical pieces.
Joseph loves living near so many cousins. He and his cousin Max have a special bond. Their birthdays are very close. Even though Max is quite a bit taller, the two of them have a lot of fun playing together.

This morning, Joseph was telling me about the cool things he got for Christmas. One of them is a
HUGE truck with all kinds of amazing features. I'd love to show you a picture of it, but unfortunately I don't have one. Joseph also received a super Lego kit. He's amazing with Legos, and has loved them since he was teeny (a trait that is common among all Gardner guys).








Some of the things I love about Joseph are his enthusiasm, his sense of humor, his creativity, his love for family and friends, his spiritual sensitivity, and his good looks. He's a great young man, growing up to be a remarkable and wonderful person. We all love Joseph. Happy Birthday!

Super Sarah!

TaDah! It's Super Sarah! The one and only 8 year old in our family who is turning 9 on November 25th! We are so proud of Sarah. She is a delight, an impish little angel girl who has delighted us from the moment we were blessed to have her come into the family.

Here's Sarah with her little sister Rebekah, who is also a joy. Sarah is a wonderful example of a kind big sister, and she is always helping to take care of one of the little ones. I love how she is so kind and caring. Sarah follows her mother Lori's example.

Some of Sarah's talents are: she is very creative with crafts, especially in the art department. She is always making the most wonderful things! She draws, she colors, she designs. She's really remarkably talented. I have a cute note she wrote me when she was first learning to write, and I still treasure it.

Sarah also loves sports. I have watched her play soccer and would like to see her ice skate. I hear she's pretty good at that too!

I can't wait to see our Sarah-soda. She's a delight in every way. We're excited because we get to fly to Utah for Thanksgiving and see her! Love you Sarah and Happy Happy Birthday!

Cute Cutie Pie Camryn

This adorable little girl that is with Elder Nathaniel Gardner is Camryn Marie Gardner, whose birthday is today! Happy Birthday, Camryn! She is 5 years old, and she is wonderful. She has definitely stolen her daddy Joel's heart, and we are so grateful she is part of our family.

Camryn is a fashionista. She loves having her hair done and doing hair. I had the privilege of having her do my hair the last time we were in Ann Arbor, and it was fun to have her do it (especially learning that I had to have my hair sprayed with water). She is very gentle and very focused. She also is very creative. I don't know that my hair will ever look as good as it did with Camryn's creative skills! She uses them on her My Little Ponies also. I am pretty sure she got Grandpa to play My Little Ponies with her.

Camryn has lots of friends, and she is a very good hostess. She likes to play with dolls, stuffed animals, and ponies. She also is very tidy. I have watched her make her bed without being asked, and I am pretty impressed that she can do that as a young lady.

When we first got our Mac computers, we played with the special effects and Camryn had fun with them:


If you look at her eyes you can see how they sparkle with fun ideas. She is the epitome of creativity, and she is such a social little duck that it's fun to watch her in action.

Camryn is also a leader. She's a good example to her little brother Christian and I know she is very excited to have a new baby in the family. She will take very good care of her new baby brother when he comes in February.

I wish I had some more pictures of just Camryn alone! I think I'll steal a few from Heather's blogsite.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to our precious little Camryn! You are a joy to us!!!!!!

Our Wonderful Joel Daniel Gardner

In the foreground is our birthday boy, Joel Daniel Gardner, holding his son Christian: great dad, creative dating husband and one of the most wonderful guys in the world. Happy birthday, Joellie! I tried to do this blog entry yesterday, but the blog website was down for some reason. So please accept my apologies for the belated birthday wishes. We'll just have to celebrate extra hard in CHICAGO baby! Next weekend, yep, we're all 7 of us heading back to Chicago. I'm pretty pumped, especially since I had just told Stan how much I wanted him to come up with a fun idea to take me somewhere spontaneously like Joel did with Heather!

If I were to pick one word to describe Joel, it would be this: determination. I have loved this boy since I first saw his adorable face when he was born. He has an unquenchable desire to know all about everything. When he was crawling he got into soap, butter, sugar, toasters, cockroaches (we were in the Philippines and they are rampant there--even if you're a spectacular housekeeper), and was always watching everything with intensity. If we turned our backs, he could figure out how to take something apart and put it back together, and it would still work! The best fruit of Joel's determination is Heather. Joel fell in love with her when he was 14, informed me he would marry her when he was 15, and finally convinced her to marry him when they were going to school at Utah State University. They have three, going on four, adorable kids: JD, Camryn, and Christian. Heather tells me that they're considering naming their expected little guy after the places where they fell in love with each other. Pretty cool! With Heather's support and encouragement, I have watched Joel become a truly great man, and I know there's even more to come, because that's just the way Joel is. Once he decides something, NOTHING will stop him. Nothing. Nada. No Way. He just decides and goes for stuff, and gets there.
This is a picture of Joel and Christian. They are good buddies, and Joel loves all his kids. He and JD have a ton of fun together with Legos and ball games, and Camryn is definitely Daddy's little girl.

It always amazes me how each of our children has grown into such a unique, yet amazing individual in their own right. Joel has gone from a marginal student who worked part time at Checker Auto to an exceptional physician--an anesthesiologist who will be doing well in his contracted job next year in Pocatello Idaho. It's fun to see Heather and Joel excited to find a house. They deserve it after all these years in their crumby little apartment in Ann Arbor!
These six boys have a great time with their dad and each other. From left: David, Nathaniel, Joel, Stephen, Stan, Joshua, and Matthew.

Joel is wise, hilariously funny, witty. Inside he's a marshmallow: kind and compassionate, always willing to do everything he can to make things right. I love his integrity and I love his drive. Most of all, I love Joel. Happy birthday, dear son! You are an inspiration to me. I love you! Mom

Bekah Boo!

Happy Birthday to our little princess, Rebekah Loreen Gardner! She is a bundle of sunshine and a joy to everyone who knows her. Some of the things I love about Bekah are: she loves to smile. I think she is smiling 99.9% of the time! She makes ME smile, just seeing her smile. She loves her brothers and her sisters. She is kind and loving to her baby sister Emily and she thinks of ways to make her happy. She also loves to play with her big brother Jacob. Bekah also loves her oldest brother Joseph, who is a very good example to her, and her big sister Sarah, who helps her learn lots of creative skills. Another thing I love about Bekah is that she loves to talk and sing! In fact, just about any form of happy communication is something you will find Bekah doing. She is a little angel girl.
Bekah finds joy in everything, also. She loves to learn about things, and she gets excited about life and all the fun things life has to offer. She loves to play--outside, inside, it really doesn't matter. She just has a lot of fun!

We love this precious little girl and are so glad that she is part of our family. We are very grateful that she was born to Dave and Lori, who are some of the best parents in the world. Happy Birthday, Bekah Boo!

Nananananananananah....MATT MAN!

Happy Birthday, Matthew! Today is the 27th birthday of our precious son, and how we love him! Matt is a pillar of strength and integrity, a man who has blessed our lives and those of his brothers and sisters (and wife and daughters). We are so grateful for our Matthew Aaron Gardner. As I type this, I am listening the the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "Sunrise, Sunset." "...when did she get to be a beauty, when did he grow to be so tall; wasn't it yesterday when they were small?" Tears come to my eyes as I realize how precious life is and what a miracle to be a part of someone's life--and how especially blessed I feel to know Matthew as a part of my life. Maybe Matt never grew to be "so tall," :), but he definitely stands tall in the things that matter!


This is Matthew's precious wife, Brittany, who is a marvelous mother to their little Della (pictured), and tiny newborn Aliya (above with Matthew and Brittany at top of page). The way that Matthew met Brittany and their subsequent courtship and marriage has been an answer to prayer. She is a treasure to us. The story of how they came to know and love each other is a story of divine promises fulfilled and friendships that extend throughout eternity. How we love her!








Matt and Della have a special "Daddy-Daughter" relationship. It's so fun to see them together. I know his three girls have Matt wrapped around their little fingers. Couldn't imagine a better place for him to be!
Last year, I was so proud of Matt, Josh and Nathaniel when they ran a half marathon in Logan, Utah. They were successful because they spent months consistently preparing and working to achieve their goals. I'm proud of the example Matthew sets in working to achieve his goals. I'm grateful that he brings inspiration into his decisions and he has great faith, which strengthens my own. We were also very proud of him when he prepared and studied and practiced and was chosen to join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Now we get to watch Matt and Josh singing on Sundays!




Oh how I hope that someday everyone reading this will have the privilege of knowing Matt. I am greatly blessed to have this wonderful son. We love you Matthew Aaron Gardner! Have a marvelous birthday. And may you be blessed as you have blessed our lives!