Rob & Jenny's New Blog

Just so's everyone's aware, Jenny has finally created that blog she's been promising! We've got a few posts up for anyone who care to go check it out. The address is gardnersabroad.blogspot.com.

How to eat a popsicle

Brought to you by Jason with assistance by Katie, Lizzie, and Grace.

First, choose your favorite color - matching to shirt color is nice, but not necessary

Next, you must perfect the technique, as brilliantly demonstrated by Jason:

Lick the popsicle

Make a funny face

And repeat

Try to keep your hair out of the popsicle. Hair is pretty, but not very tasty

Remember, the technique! Always lick the popsicle, never bite - it's cold!

When all else fails, make a mess!

A sunny afternoon at the park

Last week sometime Doug made a tennis ball cannon. Which of course meant that we had to test it out. So off we all went to the park to watch Doug. Unfortunately, the cannon was a bust, but we had fun anyway.

Here are the steps to creating the perfect "tennis ball cannon explosion - minus the explosion" experience:

Set up the cannon using any and all materials available at your disposal

Enter flammable liquid

Aim away from people and trees

Try to keep little fingers out of the way

Ask for help when try, try again doesn't work

When (I mean if...) the cannon doesn't launch the next best thing to do is to launch a volleyball at your nephew to release any frustrations

If throwing isn't your thing, try kicking

Make sure the nephew is alright

Then let him dance out the hurt

While Mom and Dad are away, the kids will play!

When you come home, you might find something missing. Yesterday Mark and I took Oreo to the pound. He hadn't been doing well for a long time. Mom and Dad finally decided that it was time to put him down. So they told Mark that once they were gone on their trip that he could take care of Oreo for them. I highly doubt that it would have gotten done if left up to Mom - she would have cried too many tears :) Rachel called the pound to find out if they would take him and what we needed to give to them. The pound said that they needed Oreo's medical records and owner consent. Mark went to the vet to get the records, but we didn't have any proof that the owner, Mom, wanted him put down. So we devised a plan to trick the pound. I went to the pound with Mark and pretended that I was the one that called. When they asked if the owner had given us consent we said yes and told them to call the house to confirm. Rachel answered the phone and told the pound that she was Mom and that she gave consent. It worked out perfectly.

So Oreo is gone from the house and, by now, most likely gone for good. Sorry to any that wanted to say goodbye to him, but I'm sure that you'll get over it soon :) When we got home from the pound, Mark went and happily cleaned the backyard for the last time. I called the carpet cleaners and they are coming tomorrow to clean the front/family/play rooms, the stairs, and the couches in the front/family rooms. Right now the boys are in the process of reorganizing the books from all the upstairs rooms. We needed to move the bookcases anyways for the big rearranging of the house project that we are doing while Mom and Dad are gone. Once they're done with that, we'll empty all the rooms that are being cleaned and try to move furniture to their new rooms. I'm sensing that this project of rearranging the house is going to take a while and that we are going to be sore and tired come next week. Wish us luck!

Time In Cally

Just wanted to send a little note to all the Gardners we were able to spend time with in CA recently in between our moves.

We really, really enjoyed our time with all of you, and to be honest it was really hard for us to leave. Lizzy has been great about all this, but I know she misses you all, especially her bosom buddy/kindred spirit, Shelley. Last night after I put her to bed I could hear her talking about or to "Shelley". It was sweet, and kind of sad, since it will be some time before they meet up again. We'll definitely have to do a video conference soon.

To mom and dad Gardner, thanks a million for your hospitality to us. Saying goodbye to both of you at the airport was hard...both Rob and I held back a few tears that came out after we parted company. Thank you for being so loving and great with our kids, they adore you both, as do we.

To the rest of the Gardners, thanks for being such wonderful aunts and uncles, my kids are so lucky to have you. Leaving all of you was tougher than we thought it would be, even if it didn't show.

BTW Doug, I never got to say goodbye to you before you went to scout camp, what up with that? Guess you better come visit if you don't want to be on my B list!

We're thinking of you all, and missing you. We are so grateful for the time we spent with you in CA. Thank you for the memories.

We love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jenny =)

Kiwi Travels

Here's Jenny's account of the trip so far:

Dear friends and family,
Thought we’d post an update on our adventure of entering New Zealand thus far.
As far as the flight…well, let’s just say, it could have been worse, but not much! But we survived, after 12 hours of no leg room and kids screaming cause they were too uncomfortable to sleep. Although it was a lifesaver that they had individual t.v.’s with all kinds of kid shows on the back of each seat, so Lizzy was able to watch hours and hours of Dora!
Just when I thought the flight from hell would never end it did, and then the real fun started…customs! Boy, were we a sight to behold with our mountains of bags piled a mile high on these little carts that we probably only meant for 2 or 3 medium-sized bags. We each were pushing one of said carts and I had the stroller with our lovely, but screaming children….we definitely got some funny looks. It was like parting the red sea as we walked by with all our stuff and people literally stopped and stared. Then there was the business with the escalator and Lizzy…let’s just say that if she develops a life-long fear of them I will not be surprised…but she survived thanks to a lovely British woman who was in front of her on the escalator and was able to catch her as she soared mid-air off the first step. Then there was the business with the rental car. I have a bone or two to pick with whoever set that up from Rob’s new company. They grossly underestimated the about of room we would need for all our stuff and our own bodies. Once we were able to secure some things to the rack on top of the car we were fine, but we did not have that luxury on the way to the hotel. So heading there we once again resembled a circus with my arms and legs literally hanging out of the window so that we could fit all the luggage. Don’t worry, the kids were safe in their car seats, but if we had gotten in an accident, I think I would have been a goner! Um, it’s a good thing my parents are not on facebook yet, this would not go over well with them…but we made it to the hotel, (despite the underestimated trickiness of driving on the left side of the road) and after some much needed sleep, we are starting to feel human again, and the kids are running around happily. I am actually pretty amazed at how well they are doing with all the changes we’ve put them through in the last 36-48 hours. They really are great kids.
Later this morning (we are 16 hours ahead of mountain time) we head to Rotorua (three hours south of Auckland, where we are right now) where we will be staying in another hotel for two weeks while we look for housing.
It has been a bit of a crazy start here so far, but we are still very excited to be here. The people have been quite kind, and there is a charm to them that is hard to describe…it reminds me of the old movies I’ve seen with the lovely British (New Zealand accent is distinct from British but there is a lot of both here) accents and someone is always saying ‘would you like some tea and crumpets’? There’s a calm to them that I don’t see in a lot of Americans (including myself) because we do everything so quickly and are not very patient…things are done a little slower here, which can be frustrating at times, especially when I’m used to a rather face-paced lifestyle, but I’m sure I’ll get use to and learn to appreciate that aspect of the culture here.
So that’s it so far, I will post pictures in the next few days, after I can locate my camera amidst our mountain of baggage in the hotel. Please forgive me for not starting the blog yet, that will happen soon, and I will place the link on facebook as well as alerts to updates on it. We love you all and appreciate you being a part of our lives, even from so far. I’ll give another update soon, til then, cheers!

Goodbye, Robby & Jenny

I wrote this on my journal:

Lizzie and Grace stole my heart while they were here visiting between moving from Tennessee to New Zealand. In the van on the way to the airport Lizzie kept saying, “Graaammmpaa” so I’d grab her and we’d giggle. Over and over again.

We returned home and I went to the closet — it was empty, no more crib for Grace. All I could think of was her gorgeous smile as she toddled through the kitchen.

I’ll miss them. I hope they have a joyous life in New Zealand.

Emily Anne Schofield

She has a name! And she's home! Mark called while everyone else was at the family ward [and I was home alone enjoying the silence :) ] wanting me to bring some clothes and a blanket for the baby. So I quickly grabbed some things and headed out the door. Too bad I was so excited about seeing Emily again that I forgot that I would most likely have to head to my ward straight from the hospital... so I was a little late to church, but it was SO worth it! Anyway, back to my story. I got there and headed up the elevator - all the while with a HUGE grin on my face. The other people on the elevator looked at me funny, but I'm use to that :) When I got to their room, I quickly grabbed Emily from Mark and didn't give her back for a good hour or so. Rach, Mark and I had fun chatting, I got to help pick out her middle name (k, so really I just agreed with what they had chosen, but that's helping right?), and I told them all about what had been happening at home with Shelly and Jason and the other million and two people in the house (Seriously, there's a TON of us here. It's crazy!). When we were all ready to head home, Emily decided to make a huge mess in her diaper. So Emily has had her first bath, in the sink in the hospital room. She screamed the entire time. After quieting her down, we were again ready to go and so we did. Rach had to be rolled out in a wheelchair while Mark brought the car around and I became the photographer of the "leaving the hospital" experience. It was great fun! Now mother and daughter are both home safe and sound. And everyone rejoices!

She's here

Rachel gave birth at 2:20 a.m. this morning.  She had a baby girl that weighed 8 lbs. 12.6 oz.  Both mother and baby are doing great!!!

Rachel and Baby #3

Yesterday, Rachel got a phone call canceling her doctor's appointment for today - her due date - because her midwife was going to be out of town.  She called back last night, trying to get another appointment and this morning she got a call telling her to come in for her Non-stress Test and they would have a doctor see her right after that.  

Everyone at home went to the lagoon this morning with the kids and at about 11:30 we started wondering about Rachel.  Doug got a call from Mark saying that the doctor told them to head straight to the hospital (right next door) and they would induce her today.  We quickly headed home, left the kids with everyone else and Elaine and I went to the hospital to take Rachel her bag and some other items that they wanted.

The nurse wanted to have another ultrasound done, to make sure that the baby's head was in the correct position, before she started the pitosin.  The head was right where it needed to be and the pitosin was started at about 2 p.m.  

We then talked about names, even though we don't know whether it is a boy or a girl.  I got on a computer and looked up the most popular names from 2008 and Rachel and Mark asked me to look at the names #50 -1 00.  We talked about using family names and I suggest Isaac, my grandfather's name.  Then I suggest using Russell as the middle name.  Then I giggle when I told them that his initials would be IRS!!!

Elaine and I left the hospital at about 2:30 and we hope to hear about things happening soon.  We can hardly wait to hold that cute new baby!!!!

Obedient child

Since I have a little time on my hands, I thought I'd post something funny of Shelly from a few weeks ago. I was baking brownies for Matt, and Shelly was helping me. I gave her the spoon to lick off and then gave her the bowl and told her to lick it too. So... she licked it, with the bowl over her head. I guess it's easier that way, right? :) It was funny, so Rachel and I recorded it. She got chocolate all over in her hair, so Rachel had to give her a bath afterwards.

Happy 4th of July!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the 4th so far! This morning Doug and Mom were up super early so Doug could run the 10k. He finished in 55 minutes!! Go Doug!!. Then we [the sane ones] woke up a bit later and made red, white and blue pancakes while Mom and Doug went to save our spot for fireworks. For some reason the white ones were the most popular... I have pictures I'll put up later. Then we headed off to the Wonderful Woodbridge Parade. Shelly got quite a bit of candy thrown at her feet. She was the only one under 20 for the last hundred feet or so, so I think many of the ones who knew how were aiming for her. Then we came home and made 4 batches of homemade ice cream. One Rocky Road, two Cookies & Cream, and 1 Orange Creamo (one that Mom grew up with, apparently). Then we finished getting the rooms ready for Robby, Jenny, kiddos and Katie to sleep in. Then we're off to a BBQ at the church [Free Food!! Then run away to avoid the bands...]. Tonight we're off to fireworks, and I hear that Brea and Spencer and kids are going to join us! Exciting stuff!

Well, Katie is here and Robby & Fam just showed up - I'm off to play!

Happy Independence Day!!

Baby News

No, it's not here yet... I did have my ultrasound last week to see if they needed to induce early, but apparently it's not a concern. [the baby is measuring in the 60%] At the Dr's yesterday [it was a different person than I normally see - I get to see an actual Dr every other week (often a different one), and my normal midwife the rest of the time - weird...] I asked about the inducing thing, and [due to mis-communication] we went around in circles for a while. She kept thinking that my next appointment was the day before my due date - but it wasn't. She kept saying that they don't want to let gestational diabetics go past their due date, and I kept saying 'so that means that I'm going to show up for my dr's appt and be induced?' Then she thought that maybe instead of coming in for an appointment she should just schedule me to be induced instead. I've been having mixed feelings about being induced early and apparently the 'no' side of me was winning yesterday morning. She said that most likely I would show up for my next appt, my regular midwife would examine me and see if I needed to head on over to the hospital or wait and schedle an appt for a couple of days later.

Then she told me that if I wanted to 'go over' I would need to do NST's [which I've been doing for a while now] and gave me the impression that I would only be allowed to wait for a day or two before they started putting pressure on me to induce. Apparently they schedule inductions over the weekend... and I can choose between 8am and midnight... [for some reason the idea of being induced over the weekend just seems wrong. I don't like planning on being in a hospital on a Sunday - it's ok if it works out that way, but planning for it on a two day stay seems wrong somehow] Judging by how the Dr was sounding, I'm probably going to end up with a baby no longer in my belly in just over a week. No more waiting allowed for me. Maybe my midwife will see things differently and that info might change... Who knows?!

No pictures, but a lot of fun!

Just don't tell Mom, k?

On Tuesday I went to Sand Hollow with a group of people from the ward. It was a blast! Jeff and Ami have a boat, two WaveRunners, and a wakeboard (technically, it's all Jeff's stuff, but he and Ami are engaged so it's basically both of theirs). They love to go out to the lake and always invite a lot of people to come along. I wasn't one of them, but they did invite Alaina and Kayley, and since Kayley couldn't get off work, I got to tag along with Al/Alaina (I call her Al a lot, so don't get confused on me, k? And for those of you who are up to speed on which friends have moved away from me, yes she is one of them, but she came back down to finish a shed she was building for a neighbor). At first I was a little leery of going, mostly cuz Al was coming to pick me up at 6:50 AM - when she asked me if I wanted to go it was 12:30 AM - but I realized that this would be one of the last opportunities I have to spend time with her before I head home on Saturday and she heads back up north. So I agreed to go, with a warning that I might not be too happy with so little sleep :) 

Well, I got up at that crazy hour, got ready, Al came and got me, and away we went to meet up with everyone (everyone being Jeff, Ami, Chris, Craig, Audrey, and Brandon - he was the only one I didn't know, apparently he's a friend of Jeff's). Al and I took her car down to Sand Hollow cuz we weren't sure how much fun we would have and if we would want to stay as long as everyone else, but that also meant that we got there before the others. We just sat in the car chatting and taking in the beauty of Sand Hollow. We only had to wait for about half an hour - which really didn't feel like that long - before they all got there. Then the fun began, even before we left the dock. 

We got the boat in the water and off the trailer just to find out that the battery was dead. It was adventuresome trying to get the boat back to the dock. We had floated far enough away that we had to use the paddles to get close enough to toss Craig the rope and then we realized that the battery was in the back which was facing away from the car, so we had to turn the boat around. Finally we got the boat close enough to the car, and facing the right way that we could jump it. I was a little nervous as I watched them hook everything up, they were standing in water holding jump cables that were connected and had electricity running through them. Needless to say extra care was taken to make sure no one got hurt. In the end it all worked out, the boat started and we could begin our adventures, just as soon as we jump started one of the WaveRunners.  

After all those adventures we finally got out on the lake. It was awesome! We wakeboarded, took the WaveRunners out, just swam in the lake, and joked around for six hours. I was surprised when I found out we had been out that long, it was so much fun that time just flew by without me noticing. Sadly, since I completely refused to try the wakeboard - I was never mean about it, I just kept saying "no thanks" to any offers to try - Craig told me that I was released from my nickname, Sister President Katie Anne Gardner the Third (if you haven't heard about my new name, you'll have to go to my blog and read about it, it's a great story). I laughed when he said that, and replied "That's too bad, but it doesn't change my mind". He looked at me for a second and then said "Why do you like to make me mad?". To which I said "Cuz I like too and I'm really good at it having practiced with my 5 brothers", he didn't have a reply to that one. So according to Craig, I no longer have my nickname, but I don't really believe him :) I did take a WaveRunner out all on my own after going out on one first with Brandon (he annoyed me,  not sure why, but he did. It didn't help that he kept tipping us while we were on the WaveRunner) and then with Craig who taught me how to drive it. I was scared out of my mind while I was driving that thing. After I got use to it, I wasn't as scared and had fun jumping waves and chasing the birds. 

All in all, it was a great day. Though the past few days have been full of me being a complete wimp. I got sunburned pretty good on my knees and I have been whining every time I move my legs. The sunburn is mostly gone now, thanks to vinegar, and I can walk without wanting to scream. The only sad thing about this whole experience (besides the nasty sunburn) was that I forgot to grab my camera from the car, so I don't have any pictures. I guess that I'll just have to get myself invited along again and remember the camera. 

Happy Fourth of July to Me!!

No, that is not me dressed up in a clown costume handling a big, giant star balloon. But I will soon have my own balloon handling picture to post on here because my friend Janalee and I are going to be official balloon handlers in Provo's Freedom Festival 4th of July Parade. It's kind of a big deal and I am kind of excited about it. Or really excited actually. And no, I will not be wearing a clown outfit. Dang it.