Hmmmmm! What to Say!

What can we say about the Garn house in the last month? Alot! Zachary has been playing soccer on Saturdays with the VIP team in the AYSO. He loves it. Some days he just wants to dive to the ground and yell crash. Other days he wants to be the goalie so he can stand and block, while others he loves to run the field and kick the ball. This is an amazing team each Saturday another team in the league works with the kids on their skills and each kid is cheered on while making a goal. Each Saturday each child is high fived for a wonderful job on their goals. At times it brings tears to my eyes watching them and especially watching my Zach. Each time I see something amazing he is doing it takes me back to the fateful doctors visit where he was diagnosed with Autism and I was told that this was it. Most likely no progression and that alot of parents institutionalize their kids. Man has he proved them wrong.

Max is doing amazing in school. He is "getting" it all this year. Since kindergarten he has struggled a bit with school. Not anymore! Only 2 B's on the report card and the rest A's. Way to go little guy. He is so much fun. Dad's favorite way to wake him up is by ambushing him with tickles. I go in to find Max crazy with laughter. I have to say he is already a great at cramming. He can memorize a poem in a night and recite it the next day like he has spent weeks doing it. I can't figure out if that's good or bad. Good for great memory and bad for parents who procrastinate with helping him. I'll decide later. He is getting very excited to play football next season. He is such a boy, every pair of jeans and pants he has gets holes in the knees from recess sports at school. Part of me gets irritated and the other parts just wants to bundle him in a hug for looking so sheepish when saying "Sorry mom I will try not to dive to the ground". And his most fun accomplishment this last month: learning to play star wars theme on the piano. He is doing great in his piano lessons.

Michael has had a great time while in preschool. He is loving it. Our new project is working to write his name. He is wanting only to work on random letters so I sneak in his name when I can. He is also very spoiled. We always get to go to lunch and watch movies, play, color and hang out together. I live this time with him. It seems that it has go fast. Next year is already kindergarten. He is so patient with me when I am working or doing school work. He tries to practice his piano like his brother and sister which is fun to watch. Not to mention learning to play XBox.

Ryanne is a busy little bee. I think she will be like me and take on a ton of projects at once. She is in orchestra playing Cello, piano lessons and after school soccer. She is doing so good with balancing her time with practice and school work. She is doing really great. She loved her soccer. Which is a great outlet for her after a busy week. She is an excellent student and continues to excel in the classroom. We are really proud of all her hard work. It is so fun to watch her dance around the house and sing.

I guess that is more than a nutshell of information. But...its been a fun month. Matt is continuing with school and getting closer to his degree. I am really proud of him what an amazing man, husband and father. We are so blessed to have him. I am almost done with my Associates degree. December is THE month. I will be done and then hopefully able to start ASU next fall. Busy times! I am truly blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family. They all sacrifice alot for me to go to school. Thanks guys.

Another School Year Begins!

It's a new school year. Ryanne is in 5th grade, Zachary 3rd, Maxwell 2nd and Michael in preschool. They were so excited to get back to school and be with friends and their new teachers.

Michael didn't start school until that Thursday. He didn't want to go into class. I finally had him hyped up to go and excited, then he fell and scraped up his knee. So he didn't want to go anymore. He was so sad and cried when I left him. He did great though. He loved it. Now he looks forward to going every day and comes home singing new songs and singing the alphabet, counting and saying his colors. Things that I tried to work on with him but he didn't want anything to do with. He is amazing.

Maxwell.....well.....I have to say how horrible that I don't have a better picture of him. I can't even think of why not. He is doing so amazing. Last year he struggled so hard with his work and behavior. This year he is starting off strong and loving it. As a matter of fact for fall break he told me he was sad to be home. He wanted to go back to school because he loves learning. Yeah!!!! And his hard work is paying off, his grades are really great. Wea re so proud of him. Good grades this year mean swim team in the summer.

Ryanne started 5th grade and can't seem to wait for junior high. I can! She is doing amazing. She is dong amazing. Her hard work is already showing off with straight A's. We are so proud of her.

Zach is doing great. He loves school and his behavior is so much better. He is reading and doing great in math. My favorite thing is to have him read to me. I love hearing him sound out his words.

Zachary gets his Bobcat for Cub Scouts

Zachary received his first advancement in Cub Scouts...Bobcat

While doing the Cub Scout pledge he tries very hard to position his fingers. To get his Bobcat he has worked on the pledge and learning what an Akela is; a leader/someone in authority.

When he is given his Bobcat pin Dad turned him upside down. Zachary got a big kick out of that.

Another boy received his arrow of light and Zachary got to help with that presentation by representing the Bobcat.

After the meeting part was over it was time for some fun on the slip n slide. The kids all had a blast playing in the water. It was a great family day.

Max had fun. He can't wait until next year when it's his turn to join Cub Scouts.

Max-Man turns 7!

7!7!7!7!7!7!7!

This year it is really hitting me as the kids each celebrate a birthday how fast the time flies. I really truly can't believe that Max is now 7! I can remember when he was born. He was such a long labor and didn't really want to come out. Then all of the sudden we had a sweet 9 lb 12 oz little sweetheart. I wish I had a newborn picture of Max but....we used film way back when. So no digital picture to upload. At least his scrapbook has some.

He was a great baby. With Ryanne 2 and Zachary only 15 months when he was born life was pretty much a blur. He did find a partner in crime in Zachary early on.

Max was such a great teacher. He taught his older brother how to do everything from standing, walking and stealing muffins.

He was always very curious and got into everything!!! Just as a baby should I suppose.

Now he is an amazing 7 year old. He is doing great in school, loves video games, playing, swimming and football. We love you Max-man and are so grateful you are our son.

Humpty Dumpty!

Michaels Hospital Adventure!

I can call it an adventure now, but then it was devastating. On August 3rd (Matts birthday) the kids were outside in the backyard playing. The 2 major rules are no touching the pool gate and no standing on top of the playhouse. Well Michael was standing on top of the playhouse blowing bubbles and fell off and hit his head. I asked him to stand up and walk to me and he couldn't. He was really wobbly on his feet and was in alot of pain. I thought it was just a bump so I put ice on his head. Then his nose started dripping blood. Just the right side. That wasn't right so we took him into the ER. After a couple of hours and a CT scan we found out that he had a large skull fracture and concussion.

Because they were worried about swelling and bleeding in the brain they transferred him to Cardons Childrens Hospital PICU for overnight observation. He was so tired, poor little guy. They had to wake him every hour to make sure he was responding. The IV was tramatic for us both. But he braved it all.

After the next mornings CT scan showed no bleeding or swelling we got to take him home. After all the poking and tests Michael went home with lots of toys. The nurses and doctors who treated him were wonderful. They really helped to ease our worries as much as they could.

Then the day after we brought him home we ended up in the ER again because Michael fell off the bed and hit his head again right on the fracture. We seriously thought of strapping him to a chair. For days following the hospital it seemed that he kept having head accidents. We are so blessed that he is healing great and doesn't seem to have any complications.

Ryanne Swim Team

Ryanne 2010 Swim Team

Ryanne did swim team for the second time this year. She had a blast. 8am practive monday to thursday. She did really great at the meets. She is a bullet with the freestyle and breaststroke. We are really proud of her. She is an upcoming athlete. A couple of days before the last meet we got a great camera and were able to take some great pictures of her. How fun to get these pictures in sequence.

Done. Looking for the results! She did awesome.

We told her to pull up her swim cap so she didn't have the mad smile from the cap. What an awesome girl she is. I am often in wonder on how blessed we are to have these wonderful children.

A Week of Family! Vacation Time!!

This year we went on a family vacation to Kansas. It was so fun to see so many family members I haven't seen in over 10 years. Too long. It was so fun to spend time with Damon (my brother) and niece/cousin Amanda. We visited the Show Low and Albuquerque, New Mexico Temples.

And of course we had to take our tourist pictures next to state signs.

During our trip we stopped at a bunch of sights along the way like the Dalton gang hideout and Dorothys house. We got to play, stretch our legs, and go through the underground escape tunnel.

I don't think Matt know how much the kids take after him! Scary thats our little girl.

Coundn't pass up the munchins! Zachary make the cutest munchkin.

We Also detoured to Oklahoma to vist Michael "Moose". Moose isn't so Moose anymore. Slim, trim and no more curls. He looked great. Although it was only a short 1 day visit it was really great to see him. Hopefully we can see more of him this winter.

I have to be honest I hate having my picture taken. It was amazing spending so much time with my brother. Funny how when you are younger you play all the time, middle school age it fight time, now later in our life we are best friends. I love him and am so thankful he opened his house to us. I can't say enough how fun it was spending time with all them. The cousins had a blast.

Uncle Aynard had a late 4th of July party. It was so much fun and I can't believe the firework show they did. It was amazing. The kids enjoyed the dunking tank.

Max had to take his turn in the tank.

We spent some time with Jody and Sam. We got to feed the horses, look for eggs, and play with Ella their dog. The boys tried to chase and catch a chicken but gave up pretty quick. They did love feeding the horses.

The Beard side of the family.

The last night there my cousin Joe had a little family reunion barbque and swimming. It was so emotional to be with family. And fun to watch us all as parents and our kids running around. It brought back so many great memories

By the end we were all done so we stopped and had some fun at an abandoned building and took some pictures.

What a great trip we had. I am so glad that we were able to go and spend some much needed time as a family and visit family as well.