Duh! It Only Took Five Years!

This has to be an admission of dumbness that very few people can boast about (and in my case, it's not boasting). I can't believe it took me five years to figure this out--and it all became obvious this morning. Here's the deal: for YEARS I have been faithfully writing in my journal every morning, sharing pithy little thoughts and meaningful stories, along with insights I've gained along my life journey thus far. My thought in the back of my head was that someday, when I'm gone, someone would discover this box of dusty old journals and study them profusely to gain all my knowledge. Duh.

What about technology (as they say in Napoleon Dynamite)? Here's what I wrote:

..."it occurred to me that by writing every day in my journal rather than in my blog, I am missing a lot of opportunities to share pictures and aspects of my life with family. I think I will continue to write in here [my journal] occasionally, but I'm also thinking that my words might be of benefit to people before someone finds my journals in some deep box somewhere after my life is over. Might be nice to share my experiences and what I've learned while I'm still here to explain myself."

So farewell, Journal writing. This is now my journal. Forget that you won't see it in my handwriting. If you want to see how I wrote...check out the dusty boxes in somebody's attic.

Contagiously Charismatic Christian

This past weekend, we celebrated a wonderful occasion with Joel and Heather and their family, when little Spencer Aaron Gardner was blessed. There will be more on that little guy later, but for now, I want to celebrate a very special little guy who is getting bigger all the time: Christian David Gardner! Christian makes me smile constantly. I don't know of a more good-natured child. He is always chuckling at something, and his sense of humor is... I don't know how to describe it... he just seems to get the subtle ironies of life, even at the ripe old age of three. He has a depth and wisdom far beyond his years.

On my cell phone, I keep a message that Christian sent me many months ago, when he could barely talk. I listen to it when I am discouraged or lonely. Joel dialed my number, and then Christian said, "Hi Gammie. Love you." Oh how I cherish that message! It makes me tear up just to write about it. It's amazing the lift that gestures like that can give, especially coming from someone as wonderful as Christian.

Christian is a terrific big brother. I asked him the name of his new baby, and he says it proudly: "Spensa Aawon." If you ask him if he loves his new baby, he will tell you yes, and he really does. He's so cute with the baby!
He's also wonderful playing with Camryn, who shepherds him around doing all kinds of crafts and games with him, and he loves to wrestle and laugh with JD. I love being around this adorable little family. They are a great source of joy to us, and we will miss them when they move to Pocatello.

Happy Birthday Christian! Love you!

Emmie and Me (or We)!

How do you describe a person whose life is a treasure? How do you describe an angel who loves little children, who is kind, who is beautiful inside and outside, who loves the Lord and her family (as well as pretty much all people in the world), who is constantly striving to be better, whose smile lights up the world around her? Those words describe our Emilie Anne Gardner. Emilie became a cherished member of our family after five sons had already joined us, and just before the blessed birth of her little sister Caitlin. She was a delight from the very beginning. The nurses decorated Stan's office with hundreds of pink ribbons and laces, and the hospital put two bows in her gorgeous dark hair. When she was about 5 months old and could sit up, I took her outside and set her on the ground while I planted some raspberry bushes. I turned around to see that she had picked up an earthworm and was licking it as it wriggled, held tight in her hand! She has always been fascinated with the world and its wonders.Emilie grew up with a love for music. She pretty much taught herself how to play the piano. We got her into voice lessons when she was about 10, and she took off with that talent as well. Before going to college, Emmie starred as Emma Smith in the musical theater production "Kirtland: City of Gathering and Glory," an absolutely thrilling experience for all of us. It was there that we discovered her amazing performing abilities. Her radiance seemed to embrace everyone in the audience. I am so excited that she has the opportunity to perform as a Young Performing Missionary in Nauvoo this summer. It will be yet another amazing blessing in her life. Emilie has been blessed with six terrific brothers and a wonderful sister, who all adore her. Her 5 big and 1 little-big (translate: younger but way taller) brothers have protected her and pretty much screened all would-be suitors, a role which Caitlin now fills as her roommate and best friend. I asked Stan for his input about Emilie for this blog entry, and he said, "talented, love of people, incredible teacher of children, knows a lot about the Gospel--a Gospel scholar, beautiful on the inside and the outside." (notice we BOTH said that) "She melts peoples' hearts with her voice and her piano playing." He added, "When she's on the Kajukenbo mat (a martial art), she really kicks _ _ _ _!" I could probably spend days expounding on how much we all love Emilie, but you can probably see for yourself, just looking at the pictures. Happy Happy Birthday, our beloved Emmie!

Marvellous Melodie :)

Oh how we all love this girl! Melodie is a joy to have in the family, and she does a terrific job as wife, mother, homemaker, teacher, violinist...the list goes on. I could come up with probably several hundred more roles that she performs with equanimity (my $5 word for the day). I think one of the most fun things about Melodie is that she really listens to her children's conversations. She makes note of what they say, and she always responds. I will be sitting in blissful unawareness, oblivious to the fact that one of the children has said something in undertones, and Melodie will immediately respond. I have never been able to master the transition from my thinking sphere (or you can call it escaping sphere) to listening, without making a conscious effort to leave the one behind and go for the other. But Melodie is able to cross over without any seeming difficulty at all. Her children know she hears them and appreciates them. She also shares their fun little insights with us, which makes it much more bearable to be so far away--when I know I'll get at least a fraction of their adorable remarks.

The way that Josh and Melodie met is remarkable as well. How Josh ended up as a Young Performing Missionary in Nauvoo is nothing short of miraculous--he did a crummy audition (or at least so he says), turned it in at the last possible moment, and wrote an illegible application form that the missionary in charge of selection had to call me to translate for him! Divine intervention, for sure. We went out to Nauvoo to watch Matt and him perform, and Melodie was the first Young Performing Missionary we met; we went to a fireside and she came around during the "get-acquainted" number. We loved her the instant we saw her. The more we got to know her, the more those feelings grew.

By the end of the summer, Josh had fallen in love, and she knew that she was supposed to marry him through some very choice experiences. He and Matt arrived home, and Josh brought Stan and me upstairs so he could tell us about this amazing sister missionary; that he was supposed to marry her, but he had no idea how to go about courting her. Well, unbeknownst to us, she was sharing pretty much the same information with HER family. Long story short, they got together for a date three days later--Josh drove from Montana to Salt Lake for their date--and they were basically engaged, almost before they called each other anything other than "Elder Gardner" or "Sister Larsen." Four beautiful children later, Josh and Melodie have established an adorable family. Melodie is the heart of their home.


Melodie is talented, gorgeous, fun-loving, kind, and interested in everything good. I love hearing her play the violin. We love watching for her when the Orchestra at Temple Square performs.

Melodie is a pure soul. She puts her whole self into everything she does. I have never heard her speak an unkind or judgmental word. She is a treasure. She is an inspiration. I am reminded of the scriptural passage in Proverbs 31:10-31 about a virtuous woman when I think of Melodie. Have a wonderful birthday Melodie! We all love you very much!

Jumping Jupiter! It's Jarom!

I'll never forget the delight I felt, seeing this bright-eyed, red-haired, clever little guy for the first time! Jarom is a treat to know; a wise soul who is entranced with the world around him. He is always thinking and always coming up with intelligent ideas.
This is Jarom with his Aunt Brit, who doubles as his cello teacher. Can you tell how much he loves her? At one point it was thought that maybe Jarom would be interested in a different instrument, but cello is very exciting and fun for him. How awesome is that, to have lessons from your aunt! Jarom has been entranced with all aspects of music. He loves learning about notes. Melodie wrote that one day he had arranged two oval rubber bands on the bathroom floor and said, "Look Mom, it's a an A and a G!" (I'm not sure if I remember the correct letters). She realized he had imagined a musical staff.
That gives you a clue as to the bright mind in this little guy.

Another thing that I love about Jarom is that he is so kind and helpful. I don't think I have ever seen him be unkind to his brothers or his sister. He is always very thoughtful and generous; always sharing. He surprised his mother Melodie by taking all of the wet laundry out of the washing machine and putting into the dryer, including a dryer sheet, at the ripe age of 3! When he had completed his task, he called for her to come see and was delighted at her enthusiastic appreciation of his work.

Jarom loves his dad and uncles too. He enjoyed being up in the air with Uncle Nathaniel, while Adam and Joshie were held up by Uncle Steve and Josh. Jarom likes to go up high.

I don't have a super large picture of Josh and Melodie and their family, so please forgive my blurry, swiped version from Facebook! They are a wonderful family, and Jarom is a wonderful part of it. Happy Birthday on February 10, Jarom! We love you!

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.