THE GARNER FAMILY

Newest Family Pictures

2010-12-28T15:38:00.000-08:00

I know there is a lot of them, but there is nothing I hate more than getting everybody ready for family pictures. So...once I did have them dressed up I wasn't leaving until we got all the pictures I wanted so I wouldn't have to do it again for a long time. Luckily it was Molly taking them and she was very patient with us.

Halloween fun

2010-11-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

Halloween is getting busier and busier for us. I think we had an event for like 9 nights straight. It was exhausting for me (its hard getting 4 kids all done up in their costumes night after night) but the kids loved it and we ended up having lots of fun. Haden was a bit disappointed with his costume this year, he wanted to be something scary and we put off getting his costume and so he ended up borrowing his uncle Blakes old clown costume. He made me promise that I would make his face look scary and I tried, but didn't succeed. So he ended up making himself a mask to wear out of a paper plate in hopes to scare people. I just decided to let him go with it, I thought it will be funny to tease him about it when he gets older. Halle also wanted to be scary which made me so sad because she looked so cute in her costume, but she insisted that I put blood on her face. I still think she looks more cute than scary but she was satisfied. Bailee was loving her bumble bee costume and made sure to tell people that she was not going to sting them. Avery stayed home with Dad handing out candy while I took the others around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. Shane said that everytime the doorbell would ring that she would jump up, grab the bowl of candy and run to the door saying her version of trick or treat which sounds more like "tick-a-tee." Haden is the only one that still has candy left to eat, I guess all my girls take after me and can't resist those sweet treats.

Avery & Jack

2010-11-04T12:38:00.001-07:00

These are pictures that my nephew Sam took for a contest at school. They turned out pretty cute. Avery loves her cousin Jack. If ever she is being fussy, I can just mention him and she will look for him saying, "Ack, Ack." It changes her mood just like that.

Just hangin' with Nisha, Angie, and Reagan & don't forget Ellen!

2010-09-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Love you Ellen! (Just in case she ever reads my blog)

My sisters, mom, grandma and I wanted to do something all together before Mikell went away to college. We went to Good Things Utah which was a blast, then we went shopping and to lunch then stopped for a quick visit to my cousin Jordan to see her cute new baby. I am so lucky to have these great girls in my family, we are all such good friends and always have so much fun being together. (We did miss Haley though) We'll have to plan it again when she is in town.

Time for school!!

2010-09-26T13:47:00.000-07:00

Here they are on their first day of school. Haden is in 2nd grade and Halle is in 1st. So far they couldn't be happier in school. One day Halle came home from school and said, "Mom, thanks so much for letting me go to school today." She is really good at doing her homework, she comes right home from the bus and wants to get it done. I'm just going to enjoy it now because I know it won't last. Haden is doing great as well. He doesn't exactly share the same attitude as Halle when it comes to doing his homework, he would much rather be out playing with his friends right after school. But he is really smart and it usually doesn't take him long. I'm just glad that they are still at the stage of school that I can actually help them with homework. Knowing Shane and I, it won't be long till our kids are on their own!

The Whole Family (atleast Shanes side of it)

2010-08-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that I love having a photographer in the family. I've never been one to take a lot of pictures so I am so grateful that Jen is around so that my kids can have some memories of their childhood. She did a great job. It is very difficult to get a good shot of four kids in one pose. I was to the point that all I cared about is if they were all looking at the camera. When Shannon was in town we decided we needed new family pictures because the last time we took them I was pregnant with Halle and Shannon was pregnant with Mitch. (I hate being pregnant in family pictures) Since then we have added a lot of family members, four more grandkids and two more inlaws. The Garner crew is starting to look as big as the Beus's.

Happy 6th Halle!!

2010-07-23T13:04:00.000-07:00

We sure celebrated hard for Halle's birthday this year. We did a Sunday party with the Garners and Ballifs and then Monday with the Beus's then we were leaving Bear Lake on her actual birthday so we stopped for dinner in Logan because she so badly wanted the waiters to sing to her. Then when we got home she kept asking when she was going to be able to celebrate with all her cousins. I guess three parties just weren't enough, so we had a sleep over with all the cousins. What a crazy night to say the least. We played all sorts of games, Halle's favorite was the game that I asked each one a question about Halle and if they got it right they got a treat and if they got it wrong they got a big juicy lipstick kiss from Halle on the cheek. When Mitch got his answer wrong we had to chase him and hold him down in order for him to let Halle kiss him. Can't really blame the kid for not wanting to kiss his cousin. He was a good sport though and they all had lots of fun.

I can't say enough about my little Halle. She is so sweet and her fun loving personality makes her such a joy to be around. She is turning into quite an affectionate little thing. She has a hug for everyone that comes her way. I can't even believe that she is going to be in first grade in a couple months, I don't know what I am going to do without her all day long. I know for sure her little sisters are going to miss her a ton. She's definitely growing up too fast. Her favorite birthday presents this year were her baby alive and a pogo stick. Oh, and of course her pink hair extension. Looks good Hal. We love ya.

Bear Lake with the Ballifs

2010-07-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

We just got back from an annual trip to the Ballif's Bear Lake Cabin. Shanes Grandpa and Grandma plan a fun get a way for the whole family every summer. It's something we look forward to all year long. This year was no disappointment. We had a great time relaxing, talking and playing the games that the Ballifs planned for us. We were sad when it ended but can't wait until next year.
Jen apple stacking.

Water balloon launching.
Uncle Bryce coaching Haden on how to win all the adults.
Shane was the winner of the paper sack challenge. I'm such a proud wife.
Grandpa Ballif was great at keeping his balloons in the air.
Shane can stacking. This one he didn't do so well at.
Feather blowing contest.

Bouncing golf balls from the cement into the bucket. I didn't really win this one, I just wanted it to look like I did.
The highlight of the trip for Avery was Cheese Balls!

Halle & Bailee loving the Jump-o-lene.
And of course, lots of fun at the beach!

Mikells graduated from High School! WHO KNEW?!!

2010-05-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

I must admit, and sorry to all of the other Beus sisters. Mikell probably has us all in the brains department, -at least as far as school stuff goes.- I am so proud of her, she just graduated Fremont High yesterday and recieved a scholarship to Snow College. Brains and Beauty; watch out college boys! Love ya Kell!

Baptism Day for Haden

2010-05-25T16:56:00.001-07:00

I only got one picture on the actual baptism day, but it really was a special day for Haden and for our whole family. Thanks to everyone who helped make it so great. And thanks Shannon for the special book, everyone there wrote a message to Haden and shared their testimonies in it. I am sure he will treasure it forever. These are the baptism pictures Jen took. Haden doesn't love photo shoots, the only way we could keep him interested was to let him pull a few funny faces. We are so proud of ya buddy.

Dance Recital Time

2010-05-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Halle and Bailee had so much fun in their dance classes this year. They both have looked forward to this recital all year so they could dance on the stage. It was a lot of fun, Halle loves to dance and she did a great job, she was really excited because her teacher put Halle and Belle doing the splits in their routine. The highlight of the night was when the dancers all came out a took their bows and backed up to the back of the stage so their teacher could come up on stage to and say a few words, Bailee took that as an opportunity to strut her stuff. She got out in the middle of the stage and started dancing her little heart out, even throwing in some break dance moves that I have no idea where she learned. We all had a good laugh. Shane and I often wonder where she came from because both of us were so shy when we were young, Bailee doesn't have a bashful bone in her body.

Eight years old!

2010-05-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking having 3 out of my 4 kids birthdays all within a three week period. It was a crazy month. Haden is now 8 years old, he got a sleep over with his friends and then the next day I took the cousins to Surf-n-Swim. It was such a fun day. Haden asked for the usual basketball stuff for his birthday, but I have to hand it to Molly for getting him his favorite present, a poster of him playing basketball. He was so excited, as soon as he opened it he said, "Mom, where's a sharpie? I need to sign it." We love ya Haden.

Bailee's now THREE!

2010-05-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

We love our Bailee girl! For her birthday this year she sort of made up her own theme, everything she asked for was with pink sparkles. She wanted to get her nails done, pink sparkly. She begged for a pink sparkly ball and pink sparkly tutu. We had a salon party this year, her and her cousins got to get their nails, hair, and makeup done, everything done in, of course, pink sparkles. Bailee was in heaven.

Avery's 1st birthday!

2010-05-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

My baby's growing up! Avery is such a good little girl and so much fun to have around. We had a little party for her on her birthday with the family and she loved every minute of it. We gave her her cupcake to eat and thought that she would just go crazy with it getting it everywhere, but Avery hardly even tasted it herself she just picked out little pieces with her fingers and put it in Halle and Bailee's mouths. What a good little sister.

COUSINS

2009-11-29T14:54:00.001-08:00

BROOKLYN (Barry's little girl)

MITCH (Molly's)
SAM (Molly's oldest)
BELLE (Molly's)
JACK (Molly's)

TESS (Molly's)

Barry, Haley, and Brooklyn came in this week for Thanksgiving, so we thought, "Hey, lets get all the cousins together for a picture. -Bad idea- We took Jen with us over to Shady Lane and we told her we just wanted to get one group shot. Well we were all late, it was freezing cold, all the little girls were crying, there was a big chicken chasing the kids around, and by the time we got the individuals done, we decided to bag the group picture. I'll have to remember for next time to do the group shot first. Then we went over to my house and did the best we could inside. Anyway, here they are. What an exhausting morning. It's been so fun to see Barry and Haley again, and cute little Brooklyn. We sure miss having them as our neighbors. We're all hoping that they want to move back to Utah someday. The other kids are all Molly's, she has five now. We love the Stratfords, our kids are together all the time. They all such good kids and so much fun to have around.

HALLOWEEN

2009-11-17T20:28:00.000-08:00

Annual pumpkin carving with Grandma Garner
Maria borrowed Halle's witch costume.

I thought I'd better post our halloween pictures before thanksgiving got here. -With a week to spare too- This year surprise surprise, Haden wanted to be a football player, AGAIN! And I know I'm not a very fun mom but Halle reused her dance costume as a penguin, and Bailee reused Halle's old chick costume, and I just bought Avery's costume. I have to say that this was the easiest Halloween I have ever had. Last year I worked really hard to make the costumes so I deserve a year off, right? The kids still loved every minute of Halloween. The candy is all they really care about anyway and they got plenty of it. Haden and Halle's only lasted until the next day and Bailee didn't even bother putting it in her bucket, she would open it up and eat it right when the people gave it to her. She gets that from me.

THE WHOLE FAMILY

2009-10-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

We finally got our family pictures taken, I felt guilty when Haden and Halle were supposed to take a picture of their family to school and we didn't have one with Avery in it. Molly is the PTA president and for their fundraiser they did family pictures. She asked Melissa Rackham to take them for her, and since she is our neighbor she took lots of extra shots for us. You're the best Melissa. (you too Molly)

HALLE-b-DALLE

2009-10-19T10:12:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy, I never posted pictures for Halle's 5th birthday. My camera's battery went dead right after I took this picture, luckily for me Shane's mom was there with her camera, so she has all the other pictures from the day. Our sweet Halle is now 5 years old (actually she's been five for a few months now) We love having Halle in our family. I can't believe my little girl is in kindergarten now, time flies. She has such a cute personality, I guess I always assumed that she would be really shy like I was when I was her age. I was wrong. She is such a girly-girl. She's always giggling, she loves being silly with her sisters. Her favorite things to do are dancing, tumbling and playing with her friends. Halle is such a help to me around the house, she loves playing mom and pretending Avery is her baby. When she grows up she says she wants to be a cheerleader. Shane and I feel so blessed to have Halle with us, probably because we were so close to losing her when she younger. We had no idea at the time what we would have missed out on. We love you Halle.

CRAZY HAIR

2009-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

So it was crazy hair day last friday at Haden and Halle's school. I didn't have any colored spray for their hair so I got some toll paint and just painted it in their hair. The last time I did it I mixed the paint with gel and it washed out easy. This time I forgot to mix it and it took forever to get it out. Right when Halle got home from kindergarten we had to run into town and didn't have time to wash it out. She was so embarased to be at the mall with her crazy hair. She made me wash it out as soon as we got home.

AVERY'S BLESSING DAY

2009-06-07T17:17:00.001-07:00

Today we blessed our little Avery. It was such a special day for our family. Shane did a great job with her blessing. She wore the same dress that Halle and Bailee wore for their blessings. It's a special dress to me because it is made out of the same material that Shane's mom made my wedding dress out of. She is an umbelievable seamstress. She changed it a bit to make it a little different for each of my girls and she did a great job. Thanks for all your hard work.

KINDERGARTEN FIELD TRIP AT THE ZOO

2009-06-07T17:08:00.001-07:00

I needed a little break from feeding Avery so I let her go to town on the gorilla.

FINALLY! UPDATED PICTURES OF AVERY

2009-06-07T16:56:00.001-07:00

Avery is now 2 months old. What a good baby. Shane and I got lucky this time around, I am proud to say that she is sleeping all the way through the night, at least for the last 4 nights. Here's hoping it never stops.

ANYONE UP FOR A GAME?

2009-06-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Mitch! You're running the wrong way!

We had our first annual Beus flag football game. All in all it was a good time, but there is no such thing as a Beus competition without a little trash talking. We don't need to mention who won this year (because it wasn't us) but I will say this, the team with Grandma Eve on it did have the unfair advantage. She scored the winning touchdown at the end of the game fulfilling a life long dream for her. Congratulations Mom.

BAILEE'S FIRST PONY TAILS!!

2009-06-07T16:38:00.001-07:00

It was a big day for us. It only took her 2 years and 2 months but we finally pulled her hair into ponies. I'm so proud.

SHAKE IT HALLE

2009-06-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Halle had another dance recital. They danced to the song Move it, Move it from the movie Madagascar and it was adorable. You did great Hal.

Happy Birthday Haden!

2009-04-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I have a seven year old. Haden begged me this year to please invite LeBron James over for his birthday. I told him that I didn't think that there was any way he would be able to come and that he would have to settle for a basketball party with his friends. We had to postpone it a bit because his birthday was a little too soon after the baby came to be throwing a big party. Plus if we did it the weekend of his birthday then Uncle Bry wasn't going to be able to come and Haden would not hear of that. So we did it last Friday at the church and they had lots of fun playing basketball and dodgeball and a few other birthday games. We also had a family party for him on his actual birthday. He got a Dwayne Wade basketball uniform but made sure everyone knew that LeBron was still his favorite and Dwayne Wade was his second favorite. He loved all his gifts except for some books we got him to read and as you can tell from the expression on his face, he wasn't very excited. I guess next year I'll just stick with all basketball stuff. Not a day goes by that Haden doesn't make us laugh. He is such a happy kid and is always really excited about life. What a blessing Haden is to our family. Happy Birthday bud, we love ya.

Bailee's TWO!!!

2009-03-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Bailee. I can't believe she's already two years old. We had the whole family over for a birthday party and Bailee was wired the whole night. She loved all the attention on her. Bailee is so much fun to have around, she is definitely full of it. She always makes us laugh and has lots and lots of personality. We love you Bailee.

SHE'S FINALLY HERE!!!

2009-03-30T13:29:00.001-07:00

Avery Mae Garner. Can you believe we actually agreed on a name. She was born on Monday, March 23rd. She weighed 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. I know it's still hard to tell but so far I think that she looks the most like Haden did when he was a baby. It's been so fun to have her here, all the kids love her. Bailee can't hold her enough, we really have to keep our eyes on her to make sure she is being careful. Halle is just a little mommy, she has been a really good helper to me since Avery came. She loves to bug Haden with the fact that we now have 4 girls in the house and only 2 boys. Haden is determined that she is going to be a great basketball player because she has really long fingers to be able to palm the ball with. The first thing he said in the hospital was "Oh she has hair like LeBron James." And he was really excited to know that her birthday is on the 23rd, just like LeBron's number. Shane's been a little paranoid about the other kids around the baby, so he's been great to take the kids out with him to run errands so I can have time to rest. I am sure everyone is so glad that she is here so they don't have to hear me complain about the pains of pregnancy anymore. I am definitely not one who loves being pregnant. But now that our sweet baby is here I can say that without a doubt, it was all worth it.

F-H-S

2009-03-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

This is a bit out of order but I just got these pictures from Halle dancing at the Fremont game. She was about one move behind the rest of the group almost the whole dance. Good thing she had her friends to show her what to do. (She'll get it someday) She was so excited to do it and had so much fun and looked really cute out there, I guess that's all that matters.

GO BULLDOGS!!

2009-03-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

Haden just finished his first basketball season. They had lots of fun and finished in second place. Don't tell Haden though, he is convinced that they were the champions. He was the point guard and rarely dribbled down the court without his tongue out. He is very intense and loves to win. He had a great season and scored several points each game. Way to go buddy.

3 1/2 weeks to go!!

2009-03-04T18:19:00.000-08:00

She's almost here! I went to the doctor today and she told me that I am still just a 3 and not quite ready to go into labor. She did say she thinks maybe this weekend though, so here's hoping. We are all so excited. As far as a name for this little girl, we are still clueless. Hopefully something comes to us before she's here.

HALLE'S DANCE RECITAL

2009-02-01T13:55:00.001-08:00