Santa Baby

We got this Santa suit for Julien when he was about 10 months old so it is obviously too big for little Kai but I couldn't resist he is just too cute!

The boys both LOVED Santa! I was a little nervous that Julien would be too shy to sit on his lap but the second he saw him he ran right up to him and gave him a hug!

1st Haircut!

Kai is not even 4 months old but we decided last night that he NEEDED a haircut! He was born with really long blond hair that was so cute but has since fallen out in random places leaving really long hair on top, around his ears and in the very back so...i finally gave in and we cut my babies hair! We still left it pretty long but cut off 1-2inches and he looks a lot better! I am just having a hard time with how fast this little guy is growing up! He rolled over at 1 week, got 2 teeth at 3 months and now just got his first haircut! What a big boy!

Before

(Ya it usually had a mind of it's own...another reason we cut it)

Just a little torture before we cut it all off!...It's so curly this is what it does when we would try and give him a mohawk

AFTER

Not too Shabby!

Last night we went to Nu Skin's Christmas party and it was amazing! They had Brian Regan come and do a private show for all of their employees! I love Brian Regan and we all laughed SO hard! I love the feeling when I laugh so hard I cry! Then after the show they gave away a lot of really cool prizes which of course I was sure we were going to win....but didn't, I don't know why I always get my hopes up. Anyway I was feeling kinda sad that we didn't win anything and then the CEO went up on stage and just started giving and giving and giving! It was so awesome! We had such a wonderful night and feel so blessed that Landon not only has a job but works for such a great company who treat their employees so well!

Teeth already...Really?

At just 3 months old Kai just got his 2 bottom teeth! I noticed that he had been drooling A LOT and constantly trying to cram his entire fist into his mouth but I just kept thinking that he was WAY too young to get teeth already but last week I checked and sure enough he had one poking through and another just under the gums. Both teeth have broken through now and nursing has become a joy! The day I found his first tooth I started giving him one bottle of formula a day and plan to gradually switch him over. It's a little earlier than I was planning to quit but at least I got to nurse him for a little while. This kid is just trying to grow up WAY too fast!

This picture makes me laugh

The Best Two Years!

Goodbye My LOVE...

The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy...our lives have changed so much!!! We are no longer living in Hawaii and are back on the mainland living in Utah with my parents. We decided that as much as we LOVE Hawaii and our amazing friends there that the best thing for our family would be to move back to the mainland and be around family. I think that if Landon and I did not have any kids we would have stayed in Hawaii forever but living in Hawaii with a family is completely different. We wanted our kids to be able to grow up around family, to go to good schools where they wouldn't be the only white kids, to have a yard to play in, a safe

neighborhood with friends, a home bigger than a 2 bedroom high rise...and so much more. Landon and I talked many times and kept going back and forth...every time we would go to the beach we would change our minds and tell ourselves that maybe we could stay a little bit longer...but in the end we knew that moving back to the mainland was the best thing for our family so Landon began the job search...

We have been extremely blessed and Landon was able to find a job really quickly! Landon is now working for Nu Skin and its going really well. We are really excited for what lies ahead and look forward to finding a new home and meeting new friends and especially being able to spend more time with family! We are having a hard time getting used to wearing coats and socks and shoes again but feel lucky that we were able to spend two and a half years living in paradise and hope we can go back and visit often!

Laie Temple Dedication

Landon and I were so excited that we were going to be in Hawaii for the open house and re-dedication of the Laie Temple! We loved going to the temple when we first moved to Hawaii and were so sad when they announced that it was going to be closed for almost 2 years! It was so neat to be able to take Julien in the temple with us and he was so excited that he got to go in! The Laie temple is so beautiful! Then two weeks later we found out that we were going to be able to go to the actual dedication at the temple with the Prophet! Right as we were walking in to the temple the Prophet got there so we got to go into the temple at the same time as him and then he came into the room that Landon and I were in and talked with us for a minute. It was so cool to be in the temple with the prophet!

Tis the Season

I think most people hate going to the mall around Christmas time...because it is always so busy and crowded, but not me I LOVE it! I love all the beautiful Christmas trees and lights and shiny decorations. I love the music and the sales and just the excitement of it all! Landon and I normally have Christmas music playing and our tree up the day after Halloween but since we are moving in just 6 DAYS it has been really hard to get into the holiday spirit this year. So, today when I took Julien to the mall to ride the Christmas train I was in Heaven! We had so much fun at the mall today! It finally started to feel like Christmas!

Getting ready to ride the train with his friend Bentley
The conductor was so cute...totally reminded me of Grandpa!

After the train ride we took the kids to get some energy out... a room full of bounce houses

and games!

Kai even got to play

Swimming With Dolphins

Our friend Holly is a dolphin trainer here at the Kahala Resort and let us come have a private swim session with the dolphins! It was such a cool experience! Neither of us had ever swam with dolphins before so we were really excited. It was so nice to have Kolohe (our dolphin) all to ourselves! Julien was a little scared...I was too at first...but in the end we loved it and felt so comfortable swimming with them.

Touching Kolohe for the first time. I was surprised how hard they are...they almost felt like an inter tube

I know the welding glasses are hot...poor guy had some battle wounds so they had to do some laser treatments for a minute so we had to wear the glasses

Landon feeding him fish

Dancing

Landon and I learning how to have him do tricks

Definitely a day we will never forget!

A big Week!

Some big things have been happening at the Garner home this past week...

Julien

Since day one Julien has been completely OBSESSED with his binky...seriously I don't think that I have ever seen a kid more in love with it than Julien. About a year ago we decided that he was getting older and didn't need to take it everywhere so we tried to tell him he could only have it in his bed...this slowly turned into OK only in bed and church, then we added the car, then if he sat quietly at a restaurant or in the stroller, or while we were at the Dr or in the shopping cart... It started to get a little out of hand but honestly it kept him quiet and made him happy, which made us happy so I didn't really care. I think I even said that I didn't care what people thought...if it keeps him quiet and still he can walk down the isle with that thing! And I was serious I had no plans of taking it away from him. Landon had other plans so one night a few weeks ago he cut the end off of one of his binkys and of course Julien had a meltdown and would not touch the thing cause it was "broken" After a few minutes of crying at bed time I gave Julien the spare binky. Then last week we were getting ready to go somewhere and I could NOT find his binky anywhere! We were in a hurry so we just had to leave without it...something we never do because he had to have it in the car. Surprisingly he did really well in the car without it...I just kept telling him Julien you lost it, I don't have it, you are a big boy and don't need it! That night before bed I still couldn't find it and was trying to decide if I should take a quick trip to the store or not but I decided that maybe it really was time to get rid of the binky and see if we can all survive without it. He cried for almost 2 hours that night but I was strong and didn't give in and he finally fell asleep. The next night he cried for maybe 5 minuets and then that was it! Nap times have been a different story...I used to be able to say ok its nap time and he would say ok and go get in bed, because he knew he would get his binky now its a little harder and he has even skipped quite a few naps but I at least make him go in his room and have quite time which has sometimes turned into screaming for an hour or so until I give in and let him out but the binky is gone and he doesn't even really ask for it! I just hope that we all survive the flight back to the mainland in 2 weeks! I am really proud of Julien though and he is pretty proud himself...he loves to tell everyone that he is a big boy and doesn't need his binky! I think it really helped that he was the one that lost his binky, it wasn't me taking it from him.

Kai

At just 11 weeks old Kai started sleeping through the night! He is such a good baby and an amazing sleeper! I really got blessed with such a good baby! I feed him around 10 or 10:30pm and put him down and he will sleep until 8am or 9am! His little smile and laugh and big blue eyes just melt my heart! I love that little boy and am so glad he is letting me get some more sleep!

Our Family
We have big news...we are moving back to the mainland! We have absolutely LOVED living in Hawaii and are definitely going to be sad to leave but we have decided that we want to raise our family on the mainland. We are leaving in just 10 days and when we are not running around like crazy trying to pack and clean and get everything ready we are trying to get in as much beach time as possible. We are going to have quite the adjustment going from 80-90degree weather year round to SNOW! I think Julien is going to have the biggest adjustment...he runs around all day barefoot and shirtless. He is not very excited about having to wear a jacket, socks and shoes. But we are so excited to be with family and are glad that we will get to see them all the time. We are moving back to Utah and will be staying with my parents through the Holidays and then hopefully finding our own place. It's going to be a big change but we know that it is the right thing for our family.

Hi Grandma

Just wanted to say hi

To Infinity and Beyond

Julien is still obsessed with Toy Story so his costume this year was a no brainer. I thought it would be fun for him if we all dressed up as Toy Story characters so Julien was Buzz Lightyear, Landon was Woody, I was Jessie and Kai was an alien. I have never attempted to make our costumes before so I was a little scared but was pretty happy with how they turned out.

Halloween was a lot of fun this year!

Making pumpkin sugar cookies

Painting his pumpkin

Friday night our friends had a really fun party...here are some of our friends who looked So good!

The whole gang

Julien with his buddies...they all had so much sugar we could not get them all to sit still at the same time

Mummies...I think Kai was the best one

Our little Toy Story family

Buzz and Cinderella

Cinderella meets Toy Story

Julien playing games at the ward party

Our last Hawaiian pumpkin :(

Hahaha! I love this kid!