New Years with the Gardners

Last week we headed to the DC area for a Gardner New Year. We finally made it to one of Brett & Jill's parties! We were thrilled to see the boys and get to take part in their Best of Grape wine tasting New Years party. Don was especially thrilled to play Rock Band with his rock star bro! We finally got to meet all of their wonderful friends that we read about on their blog. We had a great time. We wished we lived closer and could hang out more often.

We are amazed at how fast the boys are growing. Peter is starting to talk now, he has some cute catch phrases. For example, "all done" is his way of saying he's finished, he doesn't want any more, or good bye... it's adorable.

Aaron is also at a really cute phase, he's smiling and interacting more now. He's a quiet one most of the time, except when his brother comes by to give him a hug. It's so cute to watch Aaron light up any time Peter comes over to see him.

On New Years day we all headed to Lil & Donald's for a wonderful New Year's lunch. YUM lasagna! I was definitely part of the clean plate club that afternoon. It was an unexpected treat that Grandma Lil had some for us. I look forward to that meal all year! Here are a few shots of our afternoon...

Four generations of handsome Gardner boys!

We stayed in Maryland with Steve for the remainder of the weekend. We had a great time playing the new game he gave us - it's a gambling game that Pirates used to play called Shut the Box... After a few rounds of that, we decided to take in a movie and rented Get Smart - which we all enjoyed.

The next morning we woke to find about 10 deer mingling in the woods behind Don's house... this happens all the time when we're there, and I still jump up and run out to the deck to see them like I'm 6 years old. (I think the guys get a kick out of my reaction at wildlife right in their back yard!) When Steve spotted them this time he called me out and I came running with my camera.

I was eagerly getting shots of a deer rear end.... ...until he pointed out one that was looking right at me...

Thanks Steve! I think I'm almost ready for that National Geographic job! Ha!

Once I finally got tired of taking pictures of the deer in the yard, we decided to head up to the only "mountain" in the area, Sugarloaf Mountain, for a hike. We decided to take advantage of the mild weather, and got to enjoy a really nice hike with great views.




All in all we had a great time. Thanks to all the Gardners for making our New Years so awesome! Happy 2009!