THE TRAVELING GARDNERS

Isabella Marguerite Gardner Born June 27, 2011 at San Ramon Medical Center 8 pounds 11 ounces 21 inches long About 4 hours before the surgery, we dropped the boys off with the Moore Family. They took the boys to the local Alameda Fair. Dan surprised me and brought me to a hair salon. They waxed my eyebrows and cut, colored, and straightened my hair. Dan then went home and cleaned up the house. I was so grateful for my amazing hubby and wonderful friends. My c-section was scheduled for 5:30pm at night. This is one of the last pregnant pictures before the surgery. I was retaining so much water!!!  Putting on my brave face. They could not find a good vein for my IV. I felt like a pin cushion. Ouch!  While Dan was waiting to be called in to the OR, he took pictures of himself in the mirror. He had to wait an hour. It took that long for the anesthesiologist to do my spinal block.  IT'S A GIRL! First pictures of our sweet girl being checked after she was delivered. P...

We celebrated Father's Day the day after the real Father's Day. On the real Father's Day, I was in bed on bed rest. So, I was not able to spoil Dan like he deserved. He said he understood. After all, I was on bed rest growing a baby. However, I wanted to do something special for him to show him how much we appreciate and love him. So I called up Nothing Bundt Cake and ordered him a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. We also ordered the best Chinese food we have found in the bay area called Shangri La's. Dan had to pick up the cake and food, since I was still on bed rest. But it was still a relaxing and fun Father's Day celebration for Dan. Dan had the day off. He got in a great work out like he wanted to. I was able to rest. Dan had fun. And the boys tried chopped sticks for the first time. :) 

A few months ago we began decorating Isabella's nursery. It started with some pink paint. The boys were so excited that we would be painting a room. They decided to sneak in the room the day after Dan painted, and do a little "touch up".  They painted the inside of the closet. They painted the carpet. They "touched up" a few walls. And they painted themselves. I walked in and said put your hands up! And immediately took off Zachary's outfit that was soaked in pink paint. Then I said, "Don't move. I am getting my phone to take a picture!" We couldn't be too mad. Dan had left out the roller brush and paint holder with some leftover paint inside. And they were just trying to help right? The bad news is some of this pink paint will not come out of the carpet! Any suggestions?

Memorial Day 2011 This Memorial Day was a little different this year. Our ward(church congregation) had a special family day set up at the temple. We went for a few hours during the afternoon. We brought our own lunch and then drinks and dessert were provided. They had set up a special scavenger hunt for the kids around temple grounds. Also, there was a woman in our ward taking family photos in front of the temple. So we all got dressed up and drove to the Oakland Temple. It was so peaceful and nice to focus on family. And also remember on this special day the soldiers that have sacrificed their life for our country. One of the many things that I remember about this temple is the smell of fresh flowers everywhere.                                       We had to take a picture of the Bird of Paradis...

This is the park where Dan will be doing his half Tri next month. He has been practicing and training in open water at this lake. Today the boys and I decided to join him and bring a picnic and sand toys. Ben and I posing with the 34 week belly. Look closely and you can see the beautiful fountain in the bottom left of the picture next to Ben. It's a Victorian fountain that Liz gave us. It used to belong to Dan's Nana!  Dan swimming laps. Today he swam 1260 meters. So proud of him!