THE TRAVELING GARDNERS

New Years Eve Wrigley turned 1 years old!

This year even though feeling under the weather, we attempted to keep the Christmas spirit in our home and keep the traditions going. Over the years, Dan and I have really tried to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and not get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas madness. Being sick, we were forced to slow down and stop and reflect on our blessings from this past year. We have so much to be grateful for this year. I am happy to say that for Ben this year it was not all about him getting presents. Don't get me wrong..... he is 4 years old and was so excited and hopeful for Santa to bring him that special scooter he asked for. But he was just as excited to give presents this year and learn about baby Jesus. He was excited to give his brother a present this year. And because he is convinced that the baby is a girl, he wanted to buy every girly toy he saw in the stores for the baby. He and I had a very sweet talk about kids that don't have toys or homes this...

Ben, Zach and I have bronchitis. Dan has a sinus infection and an upper respiratory infection.We were all put on antibiotics a few days ago. Hopefully we will be back to our normal selves soon! Due to rain and being sick, poor Ben has not been able to ride his new Christmas scooter. And Zach longs to ride his new tricycle somewhere other than in the house. On a good note, I can not remember the last time we were all sick at the same time. Truly blessed in that way. I can't even remember the last time I had the flu or a cold. Also, being sick during the holiday time, Dan has not had to use any real leave. His unit is fantastic and totally understanding. They truly support family. And I am so grateful for that. So we missed out on a few big Christmas traditions this year. Next year we will be sure to get it all in. Here is a list of things that I was bummed to not do this year: * Visit the temple with the nativity scene and lights display * Primary Christmas show * Make and b...

We took a different spin to our Christmas photo this year. We figured since we have spent the past 6 months living in the wild west, that we would take some wild west family pictures.

The day after Dan graduated from his training, we drove out to Utah. We got to our storage unit by 4:00pm. By 4:15pm it started to sleet and snow! So we headed to our lodging on base and planned on staying in the hotel until the snow let up. However, the next day brought us to the ER in the morning. I was having horrible pains in my left side and lower abdomen. After a few bags of IV fluid, pain meds, a few ultrasounds, and a lot of waiting, we discovered that a little bit of the placenta tore. So, I was put on bed rest. My amazing husband and his super hero muscles unloaded the smaller moving truck all by himself. (Since Dan's Mom was moving to Illinois, we gained a lot of family heirlooms and items from our 6 months in Arizona. So much that we had to rent a moving truck to bring it to Utah!) Over the next few days we stayed in our lodging hotel on base and watched as a huge blizzard hit Utah hard. The news was calling the weather life risking to drive. We were so grateful to be...