Thanksgiving 2018...

This year we gathered just up the road at Mike & Michele's house with his family, Lynnett and Robert & Janice.  It was a cold day and just as we sat down to eat our delicious smoked turkeys, the snowflakes began to fall.  

It was so pretty.

We stayed here in town for the entire break taking a day to bake and host a zillion little ballers in a turkey bowl or two.  

(The boys played non stop from 11am to 4pm in the field behind our house and it was dreamy.)  

Another day to decorate for Christmas and fully deck the halls.  

And then a day to go sledding as a family in the first big snow of the season.  Then we snuggle in to watch a movie and relax together.

We didn't hit a sale.  We didn't hit the road.  We totally hit the jackpot.

We are excited for the holidays and all the magic the season brings.  Between wrestling and basketball for all three of our big boys we sure hope to fit in some tradition and some new celebrations in the coming month.

Thankful for this crew of Gardner Guys

And this life we get to live together in the beautiful Utah mountains.

Fall Soccer Is a Ball...

May I present to you this year's fall soccer season in pictures...

First, Here are the facts:

Kael's team is the Kimodo Dragons, Coached by Uncle Mike

Dax's team is called Spicy Mustard, Coached by RyGar

Ace's team is the Orange Tiger Sharks, Coached by The Marshalls

This year the boys are all on great teams.  They work hard.  They've improved so much athletically.  And we have been paying out the dolla bills for all the goals. :)

Kael had his first hat trick this season.  That's 3 goals in one game for those of you (like me) who don't speak fluent soccer quite yet.

He loves to score and show off his big boot - kicking goals in from afar.

Dax has gained command over the field and runs his defense like an impenetrable wall.   He love to send the ball from back field clear up to the opposing team's goalie.  His strikers don't hate it.  :)

When Dax's team has a significant lead, which happens rather frequently, Daddy-o puts him in as a striker and he excels at that too.  He is sure to make it abundantly clear that he likes defense best.

And last but not least is Ace Face.  Ace has always played aggressively in any and all sports he participates in and this soccer season was no different.

We pray he won't bite off that tongue during competition because that tongue is the ultimate show of concentration for this little spit fire.

See y'all in the spring.  I'll be the one sitting on the sidelines in a down jumpsuit because you know how fall ball goes.  Brrrrrr....

Halloween or Bust...

I do believe my days of coordinating Halloween costumes are behind me.  These dudes know who they are and who they want to be and a mama's gotta support such clarity and vision, right?  I threw my extra time into making sugar cookies and relish trays to feed my hungry gents... which may have meant more to them in the long run.  Food talks.  :)

Kael starred as Aaron Judge.  No surprise here.  

This Yankees fan LOVES him some baseball and his team of choice.

He takes it all very seriously.  He has a card collection that cannot be rivaled by any of the other dudes and he already owned the jersey, the pants, the helmet and the gloves.  #winning

Dax went as a Ghostbuster this year.  He loved his blow up ghost sucking machine and his goggles.  By the end of the night his goggles were fogged over from his head being so hot and the night being so cold.  They RAN and made a killin'.  :)

Thank you for noticing the added touch of green slime to the cheek.  It was a nice effect.  

Ace Face was going to be a monkey since the time he was three.  He has a list of animals he aspires to be for Halloween and is patiently checking them off one Halloween at a time.  Bless his little animal lovin' heart.

The fact of the matter is this little sinewy boy can climb anything and hang from anywhere without breaking a sweat - so in that way, his Halloween costume was fitting and thanks to You Tube the face paint finished off the ensemble.

Booner was a ferocious dinosaur.  He spotted this costume in the store while running errands with me a couple of months before Halloween and has worn it regularly ever since.  Which is good because you gotta make your money stretch when you actually spend it on a costume.

Sometimes our little two year old acts ferociously stubborn, but mostly his character doesn't fit the bill - he just looks adorable and stayed warm.

 There was dry ice magic in witch's brew...

 And trick-or-treating with the cutest crew.

Not heart broken it's over after the marathon day of school costume parades, class parties, baking, face painting and costuming.  Happy Happy Halloween!