If I Could Turn Back Time- Installment 2

This is a recap of November and December.

In February of 2007 Paul’s parents were called to serve a mission in Hong Kong. They were thrilled with their call. They would be serving as temple workers in the same mission that my father in law, David had served in as a young man.

They had been out about 4-6 months when Nancy hurt her knee getting onto a bus. After much uncertainty of how things would be handled, they came home in early Sept. It was upsetting for them, but it was pretty clear that they were needed back in the states.

They blessed our family with their return and were also able to be home just in time for the baptism of their twin grandchildren. It was a lovely day and the Spirit could be felt very strongly during the baptism.
Not long after the baptism they were able to welcome two new grandsons. I became an aunt to two of the cutest, happiest little boys ever! Their names are John and Calvin.

We were also able to spend the holidays with them which was an unexpected surprise. We spent Thanksgiving at Joi and David’s house where the cousins worked on puzzles together and got to enjoy their grandparents.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving was the BYU vs. Utah game. I had been waiting a long time for this. Paul’s dad had left us the tickets for this game when he went on his mission. When they came home early he asked Paul if he could go with him and Paul told him he promised to take me. David made some calls and got a ticket from Dr.Tucker. We ended up swapping tickets with them so they got their 50 yard line seats and we were down on the front row right in the middle of all the action. It was so fun to be right there will all that energy!
After BYU won, Paul took off like a bullet to storm the field. I took off after him but he was long gone. I thought that I had lost him forever. Miraculously we found each other in the huge crowd.
After the game we went to dinner with our friends Karen and Cameron and on the way home got into a small car accident on the freeway. A car was following too close in the traffic and rear ended us. Luckily they drive a huge SUV with a huge tow hitch and we came away without any damage to us or their car.

In early December we had some really good snow pretty early on. I was determined to get a great, classy, elegant family photo for our Christmas card like we had done the year before. I worked hard putting the outfits together, all matchy matchy, but it wasn’t meant to be. Here are some of our outtakes. They include bright blue gum, squinty/closed eyes and wrinkled noses.

Instead this is what we ended up with. One day the kids started playing outside and made this way cute snowman. They did it all by themselves and even used a scarf and hat that I had crocheted for Andrew. When they showed it to me I knew it was too cute to pass up. I hurried and started trying to get clothes for us that would coordinate with Mr. Snowman and we got this shot. I still love it!

In December we went to Gardner Village to see the Elves, Andrew had a Christmas concert, and we decorated, and baked to get into the holiday spirit. On Christmas Eve Santa came with our pajamas and once again, left them without being caught by the kids.

Christmas morning went great. The kids got everything they wanted including Webkinz, Cars cars, Squawkers McCaw and a Wii.

On December 29th the whole Gardner family went to Seattle to meet the two new babies. This was our Christmas gift from David and Nancy and what a great gift it was. We had a very early flight, the first ever for Andrew,but it was so fun to all be on the same plane. There were ten of us all traveling together from Salt Lake. While we were there we got to spend time together as a family, see the Public Market, ride a ferry, and be part of the baby blessings. It was such a special treat to all go as a family.

The Gardner FamilyThe kids fell in love with both boys instantly. This is JohnAnd this is CalvinAll the Gardner cousins together (John, Megan, Matthew, Amanda, Andrew, Emma and Calvin)
We got home pretty late on New Year’s Eve. My parents picked us up at the airport and took us to their house where we barely had time to welcome in the New Year. The night, and year, was over before we knew it.