We are ready to trick or treat!

KK and Nanna, ready for soccer!

Let's go play!

We always have crepes on Conference Sunday! YUM! YUM!

Caleb had a great time playing with the mirrors at the Drs. office.

It has been a while

I haven't been keeping up with the blog very well, but here is a quick update for the last couple months.
Jer and Jesi, both made the Jr. High 7th grade basketball teams. Neither one of them have ever played before so we were surprised and excited for them! They are both on C teams, but like I said they haven't every played organized ball before, so we think it is great! Most importantly, they are having a blast even with 5:30 am practicing!
Coy boy is in the school choir. He hasn't liked doing things like this in the past, but he wanted to try it and is really liking it.
KK and Nanna are just finishing up soccer season. Ike pushed the season back a little, but the weather is still beautiful and they love playing. They are on the same team which is so fun and great for scheduling. Caleb has made a lot of progress this year and is really into every game. The past couple of years he hardly knew where the ball was, but he is really focusing this year. Nanna just loves to run around and kick the ball.
Chad and I are doing great! Chad has recovered from his stress fracture and is back running up to six miles. The stinker is getting fast, too. If I don't start to pick up the pace, I'm going to be the third fastest in the family, behind Jeremy and Chad. (Jer runs about a 7 minute mile right now.)
When I'm not running erans or doing chores, I'm usually at the school. I volunteer a little three days a week and then I'm on the PTA Board at the Jr. High. I really like being more involved and getting to know people. With all the kids in school I have been able to go on all the field trips so far this year! I love that!

We have purposely tried to slow life down since moving and it has been a huge blessing for us.

At any rate, life is good and we are having fun.

We love this time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. This year has seen many unexpected changes for our family. We were very sad to leave behind wonderful friends and frequent contact with our dear families as we moved to Texas, but we have met wonderful people here and we are very aware of the many blessings we have. We have been blessed, watched over and protected in so many ways. We have nothing to be but grateful!

We hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season and we hope to hear many wonderful things from you over the next year!

I will be e-mailing this and posting it on my blog with pictures, if you want to check it out! www.ccgardner7.blogspot.com

Love,
Carolyn, Chad, Jer, Jesi, Coy, KK and Nanna

We having fun!

We have been having a great time the past couple of weeks. The kids were out of school for over a week becuase of IKE and we took advantage of the time. We went to College Station (Home of Texas A&M) to visit the George H.W. Bush Preisdential Library. It was very fun! We also went to San Antonio to see some of our friends from Notre Dame. It was a fun week.


We got back to real life when school started again. Reportcards came home for the first time. It seems too soon for that already! I am at the elementary school three days a week volunteering and I love it. I spend my other time keeping the house, yard, and family in order.


Jer and Jesi are doing great! Jer had a couple friends over on Friday and they decided they wanted to swim. So they ran home to get their suits. The next thing I knew we were hosting a swim party for about 10 kids in the neighborhood. It was pretty fun. Jesi had her suit on and was outside a little too quick for my liking when she saw about six boys her age out there. This boy/girl twin thing can be tricky. Jer and Jesi are trying out for the drama troupe this week. So, lets keep our fingers crossed.


Coy has made a couple friends in our neighborhood as well. He also started chior at school. I am really surprized, becuase he doesn't usually like that sort of thing, but he is really enjoying it. School is going good for him. They are very structured at Katy Elementary and it has been great for him. I don't ever have to worry about what he is supposed to be doing. He is always right on top of it.


Caleb is just awesome. He wants to do everything. Right now he is working on a poster for a contest at school. He is very diligent and puts time into it everyday. He left his bike out last week and it got ran over by a car. He was so sad, but he had enough money to chip in for half of a new bike, so we helped him out with the rest and he loves it!


Nanna is on two wheels now! I am so excited! One of my favorite things is to go on bike rides after dinner. Some of the kids choose to swim and other bike. Nanna isn't quite ready to go all over the neighborhood, but she will be soon. Nanna also got her first love note. She came up to me with it cupped in her hands and said, "A boy at school loves me." It was pretty funny. This little boy is by her side when ever he can be. It is pretty funny, but I am keeping my eye on him!


Lastly, We are loving General Conference! The talks yesterday were amazing! We are also very excited about our football teams (BYU and ND). They are both doing good, especially BYU. Chad and I are trying to work out going to the TCU v BYU game in Dallas in a couple weeks. It should be fun! I'll post pictures.


That's about it! Hope you enjoy the update and the pictures!