David Gardner

Della Lucinda Gardner was born April 12, 2007 at 2:07pm weighing in at 5 lbs.  The plan was for her to come within a couple of days of our baby arriving but I guess she couldn’t wait. 

Just added a set of scanned images of the Easter Cards that the kids made for Granny and Grandpa on their mission. Jacob was a little reluctant to participate at first but he out-drew everyone else by the time it was done.

And following up on the last bit of picture fun here are some pictures from our trip to San Clemente. The trip included Disneyland, the beach and surfing, Chuck E Cheese, basketball, dancing, good food and a rather exhausting ride home.

I know it’s a while after the fact but here are pictures from Joseph’s pinewood derby. He wanted a matchstick-shaped derby car and we pulled it off pretty well. Despite the low aerodynamics the car placed third which was pretty fun too.

It’s been a while (as Emilie noted in one of her comments). But it’s a new year!

So Joseph and I are now in that ever so awesome Father/Son/Scout tradition of getting a block of wood, sawing it, going to the hospital after cutting your finger off, sanding it for hours on end and seeing no visible difference, spray painting it and slapping some plastic wheels on the side that fall off right before it’s your turn to race. In other words the Pinewood Derby!

I didn’t remember the wood being so hard to saw when I did it with my Dad. I’m guessing most other kids have dads that are wood-working geniuses. Our wood-working shop consists of the kitchen counter and some tools borrowed from a neighbor. (Lori really likes the sawdust on the food she’s cooking). We spent 25 minutes last night making one cut. I cut my finger and we still have a long way to go. So I’m searching around for others who are more experienced in the art of the pinewood. If you know someone that can help send them my way.

Steve’s latest China adventure is hosting an English learning program based on phrases found in TV episodes and movies. Phrases in this episode include those found in typical dating language (ie “We should do this again…”, “It’s not you”, “We should see other people”, and “You’re such a nice guy…”) Hopefully the video stream works better for you. I tried from work and home and the video was very slow but the audio worked pretty well. I give you the main page and a direct link to his first episode.

Joseph is a very talented lego builder. Here is his latest creation…A super mower (complete with 14 wheels, a computer, a tv, and a big blade).

My brother and his debate partner in college decided to make Shakespeare easy to understand for all. They came up with a grand summary of all his works…well grand may be a stretch. It may not be “grand” but it’s very entertaining:

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [18 MB]

(Note: The audio quality is not the best. However, I feel it’s enjoyable none-the-less.)

The big black truck I’ve driven the past three years has finally bit the dust. On the way back from returning a rented trencher it gave a big bang followed by rattling in the engine and blue smoke coming from the exhaust. It was affectionately nick-named the Exxon Valdez by several of my co-workers. If you’re not familiar with the real Exxon Valdez you can check out the article on the infamous oil tanker at wikipedia. Why such an unfortunate nick-name? Well, my truck leaked a bunch of oil, and my co-workers claimed (comedians such as they are) that everywhere the truck was parked they could see oil drenched seagulls and seals, and dead fish. Perhaps it is for the best. Now, the wildlife surrounding my work and home are safe.

It’s Easter. That means it’s time for Easter Egg hunts. Over the weekend we went down to Utah county to watch my sister’s ballroom dance concert and be with family. On Saturday morning our children went to an Easter Egg hunt in Payson. It was a free-for-all. Parents everywhere were “helping” their children horde Easter Eggs so that their children didn’t feel left out. Unfortunately, we didn’t help our kids so we came away empty handed while others had difficulty carrying their egg stashes out to their cars. You’d have thought the eggs were filled with 100 dollar bills.

An hour later we went to the Spanish Fork Easter Egg hunt. In the eggs there were prizes from gift baskets to new bikes. We were scared for our lives. However, this event was much more organized. Different age groups went to different fields and only the 3 and under age group was allowed to have parents assist. An announcer came on welcoming everyone to the event and indicated the hunt would begin in 3 minutes. I was on the 7 and 8 year old field with Joseph. About a minute before the horn sounded a few kids on the field couldn’t stand it any more and took off running and picking up eggs. Well, that set off an avalanche of children. The “hunt” was over in minutes. This time there were plenty of eggs all around and the kids had a great time. Phew. No bike though.