Auntie Al Came Back!

Auntie Allison came to visit us in February!  It was the highlight of our whole winter. 

And she brought us treats from Grandma, chocolates for Valentine's Day, and lots of love and laughs!

We had all kinds of plans for her visit- dancing and eating and talking and kickboxing 

and mall walking and outdoor walking and baking

and visiting American Gothic!  Not the real one, but this replica in the State Historical Museum was pretty perfect. 

Look at those faces!

We make pretty great scowly Midwestern farmers. 

This was a fun day- and with the snow day the kids ended up having a five day weekend.  A perfect time for a visitor!

We also ate tacos and watched Hamilton and played several of our latest favorite games (Chameleon, Hues and Cues and of course SkyJo), introduced Al to the weird goodness that is Casey's gas station pizza, and all around just loved having her here with us!

Hair train!  Auntie Al knows all kinds of cool hair tricks.

We went on a date downtown!

And when it was time for her to head back to Utah no one wanted to see her go.  Auntie Al always fills our home and our hearts up with love.  Come back soon!  We'll feed you chocolate!

Visitors from the East!

 A lot has changed since Grandma and Grandpa were last in our house 18 months ago, namely Emma officially passed Grandma up! 

Grandpa was delighted to play her euphonium and battled Adam with their horns. 

Of course we had a night of popcorn and fudge and Sharp Shooters!

One night Grandpa taught our scripture lesson from Jeremiah about living waters.

We went to the movies!

We went to the Cheesecake Factory!

We tried to take a nice picture of the three of us. 

It's getting worse... 

Oh well, we tried.

Here we all are!  So proud of Grandma and Grandpa and the successful completion of their mission!  They are an example to all of us- one day we would all like to be missionaries just like them!

Wise Old Visitors

My 83-year-old Uncle Glenn and 82-year-old Aunt Lynn stopped by on their way from their home in California to visit Grandma (his sister) and Grandpa on their mission in New Hampshire.  We were so excited to have visitors in Iowa!  Everyone stayed home for the morning to enjoy their company and hear their wisdom. 

Old people always have the best stories, and these are some of our oldest living relatives!  They told us about our relation to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Donny Osmond, 

and how Grandpa Gardner fixed Uncle Glenn's brand new 1957 Ford pick up when Aunt Lynn popped the door out of the frame, how Grandma Gardner was such an involved member of the community, and most importantly, the secret of a long life and a happy marriage- they've been together for 63 years!  

First Uncle Glenn said, "Well, try not to die," which the kids thought was hilarious, and then, more seriously, they said, "We grew up in an era where you didn't throw things away.  You took care of things.  And if something was broken, then you worked and fixed it.  It's the same with marriage.  You take care of each other and you don't give up on each other.  You say thank you, I love you, and I'm sorry a lot." 

That advice was almost as sweet as the tears that came while they said it.  The Gardner men, by my childhood recollection, were a tough and tender bunch.  

And then Uncle Glenn called Aunt Lynn a wimp because she doesn't walk his daily 18 holes of golf with him anymore (although it's actually because she had cancer and lost her grip on the club).  But the kids thought that was hilarious too. 

It was such a treat to have them visit, even just for one hour!  Family is our greatest source of joy!

Whoooo's There!?

We've had a spooooky visitor in our yard recently- let's zoom in a little. 

Yikes! 

Hawk hunting hour has officially been renamed to Great Horned Owl hour.  There was a HUGE one sitting in our trees a few months back, and another one, or maybe the same one, has been hanging around for the past few weeks.  They are incredible to watch, but make us all a little nervous since they are predators and Laney is a very cute little prey!

A Visit with Grammy Q

 We didn't get to miss Grammy Q for too long, because she came out to to visit us just a few weeks after we got back from Montana!  This was her first time visiting since we've moved, and we had an action-packed week while she was here.  In no particular order while she was here- 

We went to the Winter Quarters temple!

Thankfully we all fit in Daddy's car- Marshmallow is starting show her age and was without AC- and not a minute too soon.  The Gray Rhino has since been replaced by Puff Daddy- Jason's newest work truck that only legally seats five. 

While we were in Omaha we went to the zoo!

It was so hot and a good thing that we brought swimsuits and had plans to spend the day in the splash park, kids adventure area and indoor stingray exhibit. 

It's still so fun to watch Noah experience the zoo for the first time- all over again!

He swears he's never brushed a goat before. 

Or climbed up this pirate ship. 

While Grammy Q was here we went on a date!

Which, in typical parent fashion included tracking down shoes for ever-growing children and bringing home the cutest grown-up version of Wolfy that Noah has been talking about for weeks. 

On our way to the pool one day we saw a huge turtle!

Of course Emma was willing to touch it's muddy shell. 

And we got Grandma out on the kayaks. Leah was feeling much better about kayaking this time around. 

Jason and the little kids stayed home- Adam was the man of the hour on this trip!

We had smooth waters and clear skies. 

One day we took Grammy Q to downtown DSM for a tour of the capital building- 

Card catalogues- what a concept!

There is a lot to admire in this beautiful building. 

Grammy Q is officially on our side in trying to convince Auntie Michelle to move out here!

We took our first spin around the Heritage Carousel in two years while she was here!

And took a few trips down the rocket ship slide. 

We went swimming twice! Those ominous clouds were harmless, but they kept the crowds away!

We also went to The Chicken, gave her a tour of our yard, roasted marshmallows, checked out the arboretum and Maffitt Lake, and overall just loved having some family out to visit us in Iowa!