Congratulations Julio!

We made it! Julio graduated tonight with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts and Animation. Doesn't he look handsome? I'm so proud of him. He's worked so hard to achieve this and now it's finally here. He'll probably end up sleeping for a week now to catch up on what he's missed out on the last several weeks.













We took a moment to pose for pictures. Thank goodness the ceremony was only an hour. You can tell from Bubba's face that was about as much as he could handle.

















Here's Julio with his family. His brother David (left) and Mom (middle) drove all the way from California to be here. We are so glad to have them here! And Julio's older brother Phil is on the right with his family.

We went to dinner at Macayo's afterwards. I am stuffed and likely to remain so for a while. Too much good food.












And of course Eliana the ham cheering her daddy on and making sure I get it on film.

Julio Graduates Next Week!!

MySpace Countdowns

Happy Birthday Uncle Jon & Grandpa!

We went up to Payson this last weekend because Uncle Jon turned 20 and was ordained on Sunday and Grandpa turned __. Grandpa wasn't there on Saturday because he was taking Alex and Landon to visit Ben, their dad. The kids were so excited to pick out a cake and sing "Happy Birthday". They both are still singing periodically through the day "Happy Birthday Unca Gon" (Tavian can't pronounce his j's yet).

Grandpa opening his presents. The plastic bag is standard wrap for Gartner men.

Can't wait to see that face on a mission!

Jon and Matt, Cardinal fans to the core!

The kids loved playing outside in the cool weather. I just wish they would have smiled bigger! j/k

Rainy Night

Last night it rained like crazy for about half an hour and then stopped. The kids were a little squirrelly so I asked them if they wanted to go outside and watch the rain. Of course it was only moments before watching became splashing. We all went out and got soaked!
The weather was nice and warm and lightning was pretty far away so I figured why not let them have fun for a little bit. I don't think I've ever heard so many delighted squeals from the kids.
And this is a dress I made for Eliana that I thought turned out cute. I love WalMart craft dept because it makes sewing cheaper than buying second hand. Notice her body language. Eliana was doing a hairflip for me. What a ham!

Weekend in Payson

This last weekend we went up to my parents' house in Payson to give Julio some quiet and a chance to really focus on his homework. It was fun for us too!Eliana caught up on a whole bunch of rest. In fact both the kids ran around outside so much that they slept real good every night.
Tavian's on the right. He's chillin with his cousins Landon and Alex. They were all so excited to be around each other. They loved it! We don't get to see them that often, but they go up to Grandma and Grandpa's quite a lot, so they showed Eliana and Tavian all the fun stuff to do.
I helped mow the back yard. Mom and Dad have a fun lawnmower to drive. Notice that I now look like I'm getting fat. In another month or so it will probably be obvious that I'm pregnant and I won't get so many awkward looks like "Do I ask?" We watched movies, went to the park, went on walks, and had dinner outside a few times because the weather is so nice there. It was nice to visit and take a break from part of the everyday stresses that come with being at home.