Thanksgiving

This is such a terrible year to travel and I was afraid that Craig and his family and Lynne and her family wouldn't be able to make it this year.  The storm came in right before Thanksgiving.  The roads weren't all that great which made their drive even longer then usual.  On top of that, Lynne and Bryan was in an accident in their new car before they got out of Salt Lake.  : (   It was just a fender bender but it still wasn't a fun experience when you are on your way out of town. 

Craig and Diana got here early enough so we could celebrate Cooper's birthday!  It was so fun singing to him and seeing him dive into his brownie.

Even though Lucas's birthday was on the 15th, we got to celebrate with him too.  It was so fun to see both the boys soooo happy.

I've always given the grandkids an ornament each year like my mother did for all of her grandchildren.  Last year I started giving it to them before Thanksgiving dinner.  They had so much fun opening their ornaments and discovering what they would be.  A couple of weeks ago, Joelle mentioned to her mother that she wished her ornament would be a ballerina and surprise, surprise . . . that is exactly what I had gotten the girls!

Thanksgiving has become one of my favorite holidays.  I am so grateful for family, the gospel, and this great land I have to live in.  What amazing blessings I have! 

YEAH Cooper!

I didn't go to Craig and Diana's blog until after I posted the Halloween pictures.  Isn't Cooper the cutest little Golfer? 

More birthdays!!!

I can't remember what I posted now but I don't know if I posted Steve's birthday. Here are Steve, Scott, and Gabrielle on their birthdays.  Happy Birthday!!!

Scary Halloween Spooks!

Ty and Lucas are the best Batman and Robin . . . I wish I could have seen them in person!

 Gabrielle doesn't look too spooky . . . just cute like her mother!

 Grant is a scary bear, Mary was a fairy, and Emma chose to be a Pumpkin? :)

 Joelle was a very scary wicked witch and Addie was the pretty Glenda good witch.

The "G" Girls

Last weekend Stephanie, Denise and I traveled to Utah for the annuel Garner cousin/aunt get together.  It really did boyd me up and filled my soul.  I wonder sometimes if Grandma Doris and Natalia are permitted to glimps in on us when we are all together.  I know I felt a sweet spirit while we were together.  We talked and laughed, and you can't have that many Garner women in the same room without a few tears!  We talked about family traits and characteristics that are carried from one generation to another.  I mentioned the loving service, the lack of gossip or critisism, and their sweet spirits.  Lynne added that we have been blessed with the gosple and how most Garner women have remained faithful members.  Diana, Andrea, and Camille mentioned how much we love each other but also we are friends.  We also talked about missing those that didn't come; Bruce's girls, Lee's girls, and Katherine and Jennilynn.  You were all missed and we would love it if you could come next year!! 

The Parkers begged us to come down for Thanksgiving.  As much as we hate for that tradition to end, we think it might.  It is hard for us to leave most of our family here to fend for themselves on Thanksgiving if we were to drive down.  Besides, they wanted all of us to make it.  Scott, Brian, Steph, Denise, Ayla, David and Roger all have to work on the Friday after. Thanksgiving was so fun when we used to go down, and I have some of the best memories from those get-togethers!  I wish we could pick a day in the summer for a Grant and Doris family reunion.  Maybe Dad's birthday in July?!!

Gabrielle

Here are some of the many faces of Gabrielle!

David's Birthday

 Okay, I know this is backwards but I forgot to post David's birthday. The cake and ice cream must have been very good! The kids look like they enjoyed it!

School Picture 2010

Oh my Goodness!

I love it when other people are good bloggers.  I hate it when I check every week and no one has updated.  I have absolutely turned into one of those people.  I don't know what has happened but between school (work), church, and family, it seems like I just don't take the time to get onto the computer any more.  Sooooo, maybe I can change . . . no promises.

First I have to write about what Joelle said Saturday.  She was getting ready to go home and I told her that I would see her tomorrow for Uncle Steve's birthday party.  She told me that she thought I didn't sing "Happy Birthday" too nice at this house.  I said, "It isn't me that sings badly, it is all the uncles."  She thought for a minute and then said, "Well, I have a plan."  I asked her what it was and she said that when everyone comes tomorrow, we chould have a lesson on how to sing. 

I guess I thought it was cute because only a little 5 year old LDS girl would come up with a "plan" and then think that a "lesson" would help. :)

Here are some pictures of the Birthday:
P.S.  Her plan didn't help much.

Pictures of the Draft

I just wanted to thank Cassie and Lynne for sharing pictures with me!! :)

AWeekend to Remember!

This last weekend was an eventful one.  It was the weekend of the GFL Draft (The Garner Football League fantasy football).  It has evolved into one of the best weekends of the year . . . most of the time.  It started with a trip to the Clegg Cabin.  Thanks to Jennilynn's parents letting us use their cabin. : ) The kids had fun roasting hot dogs, making smores, going to the lake, and of course sleeping together in the loft.  Thursday I came down with a headache that would not stop and Friday I had to go to the hospital.  It left a lot on Stephanie's shoulders but she, being her normal selfless self took everything on and played my part.  Everyone pitched in and covered for me but I think most of it fell on her. 

They found a cyst in my brain, (at least there is something there!)  Lynne was diagnosed with the same thing when she was having all her headaches 8 years ago.  Even though it can have severe ramifications these cysts usually don't and we are all reassured that I'll be okay now.

Anyway . . . . In spite of the mishap things ran smooth and everyone had fun! 


The second thing we found out was that Colton had a mishap too.  He was up hiking Mt. Borah with the Scouts and fell 200 ft!!!  I know!! Sounds pretty bad! But then again Heavenly Father's loving hand just reached out and protected him making what could have been a devastating accident into a couple of worried parents and some bumps and bruises. 
I love family!
I love reunions!
I love our Heavenly Father who is always there and who gives us all we love!

Bryan Jeppsen

It was hard finding pictures of Bryan.  He is usually behind the camera taking the pictures so I don't have many of him.  He is the oldest so since I started with Denise, I am ending with Bryan.  It has only taken me eight months to get it done too! 

Bryan and Lynne were married in December of 2000.  I still remember her coming home from church and talking to me about him.  She thought he was very witty and smart, and he is.  He loves his family and is very protective of those he loves.  He is probably the most fair minded person I know.  I love these qualities.  That is the way I always tried to be with my children and I concider it very important to be fair in your dicipline and in all you do in the home.  He has many talents that I admire too.  He loves to read, and is very artistic.  I think that is why he is so good at photography and editing.  He is a very good writer and I think one day, or I hope one day him and Lynne would consider writing books.  I think they would be very good. 

During football season, he lets the "Garners" decend upon his home and never complains when we all come and disrupt his household!  It takes someone special to put up with the "Garners"!!

Even though he has all these qualities, the ones I admire most is how he honors his priesthood and fulfills his rolls of being a good father and husband.  Thank you Bryan for who you are and all you do.  We love you!

David and Ayla -- July 10, 2010

Scott, Steph, and Lynne have all posted about the wedding.  Soooo I thought I'd add my thoughts.  Weddings always brings back the memories of my own wedding day.  President McComber married us.  He was a friend of Roger's parents.  The first thing he did was have everyone introduce ourselves.  It went fine until it was Craig Cartwright's turn.  For some reason he was very nervous.  He stood up and said, "My name is Craig Cartwright, I am the sister of the bride's brother."  He blushed and then said, "I mean, The bride is my brother-in-law."  He then tried one more time and still didn't get it right.  President McComber was laughing as hard as everyone and then tried to get some reverernce back into the sealing room.  The rest of it went pretty normal.  That was a little over 39 years ago and look at our family now.  Everyone is in the picture below except for Steve and Katherine's three little ones.  It went from the two of us to 25 and still growing.  I LOVE our family.  The wedding was beautiful and turned out sooo well because of the hard work and effort that everyone put into it.  Thank you all!!  I love you all!

Lynne

Pictures have come a long way.  But here are some of Lynne.  She was our smallest baby.  I have thought many times that these little spirits have to be very brave to consent to being the first born to new mothers!  I thought I was prepared to being a new Mom but I soon found out that I really didn't know as much as I thought I did!  This new little girl was very sweet and happy.  I remember one time I was in California visiting my mother when Lynne was about a year old.  She became a little cranky which was very unusual for her.  I realized that I had forgotten to feed her lundh and it was about 3:00.  That was her nature.  She wasn't a complainer and was patient with me.  She was in a body cast from 3 moths to six months and she didn't seem to mind it at all.  She has had several surgeries and it amazes me now how well she coped with everything.  She has so much endurance and compassion because of her experiences.  I know that is one of the reasons why she was such a good Relif Society President.   

She will never know how much I appreciate the example she has always been to her brothers and sisters.  It is much harder to misbehave when you have such good examples to follow.  I have always looked up to her spiritual strength and her strength of charactor

She is such a good Mom and home maker.  Her boys always look clean and well cared for. But more important is that they are taught the gospel.  She teaches through family prayer, scriptures, and family home evenings. 

She has created a place where her family wants to be.  Where they can be safe from the world and feel loved. 

Her father and I love her very much.

This past weekend Stephanie, Ayla, David, Jennilynn, and I all drove down to Lynne's in Utah.  Lynne had a bridal shower for Ayla and it was so much fun.  Lynne did a great job and it was so nice getting to visit and enjoy each other.  I forgot to take pictures of the shower but . . . it's amazing how I didn't forget to get a couple of the boys!


Jennilynn and I also stopped and spent the night at Rick and Doris's on Thursday.  Before Lynne and Bryan moved down to Utah we always used to stay at Rick and Doris's.  I enjoy and Love Doris so much and I felt like when ever we see her lately it is always at a family event.  We just don't get to talk and visit on a one to one anymore.  She is always so accommodating and a good friend.  They have remodled their home and I loved everything they did.  It looks soooo nice.  I know it was a lot of work but it was worth it. 


We had Gabrielle with us and we were so glad that we stopped.  She was really getting tired of the car and it would have been a miserable 30 more minutes it would have taken us to get to Lynne's.  She was just starting to get cranky.  The two nights we were down there she didn't sleep real sound.  She would wake up and talk or complain and sometimes cry all night.  She wasn't all that happy in the daytime either.  Finally, during the shower she was just miserable and let us all know she was ready to go home.  We even thought she might have an ear infection because she has a cold.  She really started crying after the shower so we threw things together and into the car and left as soon as we could.  I told Jennilynn that I thought she was homesick.  I texted her yesterday and Gabrielle slept all night after she got home and has been fine.  We decided she missed her Dad and her sisters.  Babies are much more aware of their surroundings then we give them credit for and they definately know what they want!

Yesterday was Father's day and there was a cloud burst! The kids couldn't help but go outside and play in it. Yes, in some situations, Steph is STILL a kid! She was probably the instigator.

I also wanted to make a note of how blest I think our home has been. Roger has been the best example to our family of how to be the best Dad. I direct the music in Primary now and I brought my "secret box". The first item was a hammer. I told the children that when I married Roger, he didn't know how to work on a car or fix anything in the house. He learned how to rebuild an engine, replace brake pads, install new ignitions and alternators, and just about everything there was to do to keep our cars running. He has knocked out walls, tape and textured, learn how to install new lights, and can fix anything there is to fix in our home. He layed the laminent flooring and has replaced toilets, water heaters and has done all kinds of plumbing projects.

The next item they pulled out was a BYU cap. I told the kids that Roger wanted to go to the games but didn't take off alone like most Dads. He would take all the kids with him! It would give me a break but the kids loved it too.

There was a piece of charcoal that one of the kids thought was a brownie! I told them what it was and said that it represented the work that Roger does around the house. I have never picked up a dirty sock or any of his cloths. Not only do I not have to pick up after him but I also don't have to wash his cloths or even mine because he does that too. He has done the majority of the dishes for the last couple of years and he even takes all the garbage out. This is just a few of the things he does to help out in the home.

The last thing in the box was a tie. I told the kids that for most of my life I didn't have a dad that held the priesthood. I am so greatful that Roger honors his priesthood and was able to take me to the temple when we were married. I am so greatful for his testimony and his strength in the gospel. (I was going to add a picture of him but they didn't turn out)