Austin and Mason…Best Buds

While we were living at Alpine Storage we got to be really good friends with the Davis family.  Mason is Katie and Parkers little boy and Austin’s best bud.  They had so much fun playing together.  It was great because we all lived in the same building so the boys got lots of opportunities to play.  When I was working a shift in the office, Austin would run to Mason’s house and knock on the door to see if Mason could play.  When Katie was working, Mason would do the same thing for Austin. It was so cute to see the two of them toddling around together.  When we moved I thought Austin would forget all about Mason because he was only 2 when we left.  No way, no how!

We got together with the Davis family last weekend while we were in Utah to catch up and let the boys play.  I told Austin we were going to see Mason and he got so excited.  He knew exactly who I was talking about.  We took them to Monkey Island and they ran around together for hours, just like old times.  When we left Mason gave Austin a big hug.  It was so cute. We are so sad that we live so far away from them now, but we love to go visit them whenever we go to Utah.

Katie had baby  Paxton a few days  after I had Kaleb.  They both pretty big boys.  Maybe they will be good friends like Mason and Austin when they get bigger.

U2 360 Tour

Vance has a few favorites in his life.  The Spurs, BYU Athletics, and U2.  He knows just about everything there is to know when it comes to these three subjects.  I am often astonished about the facts and statistics he can pull out of nowhere regarding one of these favorites of his.

I have never been much of a U2 fan until I met Vance.  Even now I have a hard time swallowing a four hour “musical journey” (as Vance calls it) during a car ride to Utah.  But Vance never seems to tire of Bono and the gang.

Last year the U2 360 Tour was coming to Salt Lake City.  Since going to a U2 concert is very high on Vance’s list of things to do before he dies we decided to splurge and get tickets.  We figured this may be our last opportunity because, lets face it, Bono is getting old.  Well, about a week before the tour began Bono had to have emergency back surgery and the tour was cancelled.  Well, after a year of waiting and growing anticipation we finally experienced Bono in all of his awesomeness. 

I have never seen Vance so excited.   We left for the concert 4 hours early because he was so worried we were going to get caught in traffic and be late.  And for those of you who know Vance and his perpetual tardiness, that is saying something.

The concert was well worth the wait.  We were both blown away with how amazing the concert was.  Vance had a huge grin on his face the entire time.  I had a big grin too but that was partially because I have a crush on The Edge.  He is the coolest!  We had so much fun, and not because we were catching a whiff of the marijuana that was being smoked in close proximity to us.  Not only was the music great but the stage was incredible.  We heard a guy say that it takes over 200 semi-trucks to transport it.  Pretty amazing!

Next on Vance’s wish list…see a Spurs vs. Jazz game. 

Party—5:00 A.M.

 

It’s Party Time!!!

When: 5:00 A.M.

Where: Mom and Dad’s bed

Who: Two little boys determined to not let their parents sleep

This was our morning.  Kaleb woke up at 5:00a.m. to eat and decided he was not going back to bed.  Being the pancake lover that I am, I decided to make breakfast.  Austin, being the food lover that HE is, must have smelt the deliciousness and came toddling out saying, “Pancakes?…O.K.”  Well, because of all the ruckus we were making, Vance was soon to follow.  After we had breakfast, Vance decided it was far to early to start the day so he went back to bed.  Austin followed, and then so did mom and Kaleb.  Austin and Kaleb were having a grand ol’ time cuddling in bed…mom and dad, not so much!

Party—5:00 A.M.

 

It’s Party Time!!!

When: 5:00 A.M.

Where: Mom and Dad’s bed

Who: Two little boys determined to not let their parents sleep

This was our morning.  Kaleb woke up at 5:00a.m. to eat and decided he was not going back to bed.  Being the pancake lover that I am, I decided to make breakfast.  Austin, being the food lover that HE is, must have smelt the deliciousness and came toddling out saying, “Pancakes?…O.K.”  Well, because of all the ruckus we were making, Vance was soon to follow.  After we had breakfast, Vance decided it was far to early to start the day so he went back to bed.  Austin followed, and then so did mom and Kaleb.  Austin and Kaleb were having a grand ol’ time cuddling in bed…mom and dad, not so much!

Easter Egg Hunt

We had a lot of family in town for Easter this year because of Kaleb’s blessing.  It was so fun to see everyone and spend the holiday together.  My parents came up from Utah with Emily and Annie, along with Gheen and Beth and their boys.  My Grandma and Quinn also came from St. George.  We all met up at Merrit and Mandee’s house in Blackfoot for a BBQ and an Easter egg hunt.  It is not often that there is nice weather on Easter weekend in South Eastern Idaho (or anytime during the months of March and April) but it was a beautifully sunny and warm weekend.  We sat outside on the patio and ate dinner and watched the kids run around their beautiful big yard.  Austin always had so much fun running around with his cousin Maggie. (Maggie is technically my cousin, but she is the closest thing on the Gardner side that Austin has to cousin’s and they are only two weeks apart in age, so we just call them cousins.)  We haven’t seen much of my Uncle Gheen and Aunt Beth and their boys since we moved to Idaho, so it was really fun catching up with them and enjoying the great weather. 

As for the Easter egg hunt…Austin had had a little bit of training.  The Monday before for FHE we wanted to teach Austin how to find Easter eggs so he would be ahead of the game during the actual hunt.  We hid eggs filled with gummy worms all around the house and helped him find them.  This little bit of practice sure paid off.  Austin had so much fun running around picking up eggs.  But he’s no dummy…after he picked up each egg, he would shake it before putting in his basket just to make sure it wasn’t a dud with no candy.  There were over 100 eggs hidden all over the yard, and Austin definitely found his share.  There were a couple of times that Austin and Maggie would see the same egg and race to go get it.  It was kind of cute to see the squabble over the egg that they thought was theirs.

“The Big Kids” searching for eggs

Grandpa Gardner helping Austin find Easter eggs

Aunt Emily helping Austin and Maggie

Vance double checking to make sure there are treat inside the eggs

Daddy’s Little Shadow

There is no denying it…Austin is a daddy’s boy.  He follow’s his dad around everywhere he goes.  I often try to help Austin with something (i.e. going potty, getting dressed, or going to bed) and he quickly replies with “No, Daddy’s turn!”  Vance has usually left for work by the time Austin wakes up in the morning, but on Saturday mornings when he comes into our room he is so excited to see that his dad is there.  He excitedly says, “Oh, hi daddy!” and runs to Vance’s side of the bed.  When Vance is in a different part of the house and Austin can’t find him, he walks around the house yelling, “Daddy, where are you?”  Last Sunday I was getting a kick out of the two of them because Austin would not let his Daddy out of his sight.  I took a few pictures of Austin following Vance around the house.  Vance is always a pretty good sport but you can see by the look on his face in the pictures that he is not always super thrilled to have such a constant shadow.