I was thrilled when Zoe told me that she wanted to go and play racquetball for the third time!  Unfortunately, we were unable to reserve a court for this morning; so, we ended up going to Walmart instead to purchase a bracelet kit. To start the date we watched a great little Mother’s...

  Aspen was so excited about her date this morning that she was the one that snuck into my room and woke me up at 4:58!  She had set her own alarm to make sure that we got up on time.  It was fun to see how anxious she was to start our date.  We had been brainstorming ideas for her date...

We are fast approaching Chase’s second pinewood derby!  When I asked Chase if he would prefer, “the best looking car or the fastest car”, he replied, “Both.”  So, we got some work to do! For our devotional we talked about pornography since this happens to be...

Scotland has a tendency to like and want the same things as his older siblings.  So, when he heard about how much fun Zoe had golfing last week, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. We started our fathermoment with some grub.  I picked Scott up from his preschool and we decided to go to...

Zoe lucked out this morning!  Alicia and I are leaving on a little 9-day get-away, which means that I will not be here next week to take Zoe on date.  So, we decided to let Zoe skip school this morning and enjoy the beautiful Spring weather while hitting the sticks on the golf course. Zoe...

Shiki Nails are the wave of the future!  Alicia loves them since the designs are super cute and because they last so long.  We were under the impression that you could buy a generic brand of Shiki Nails at Walmart and then apply them at home.  It turns out that we were wrong, but I was...

Technically, I lost our last paper airplane contest, so I was thrilled that Chase gave me a shot at the title this morning! We started our date at McDonalds where Chase enjoyed some cinnamon pull-aparts.  Chase is getting old enough that we is quite self conscious of having his dork dad take...

He is only 4 and already he is hooked on Costco!  I am not sure if he fully comprehended the question, but when asked if he likes Disneyland or Costco better, Scotland chose Costco. On Monday, Scotland was not happy that Alicia was the person picking up from school.  He asked,...

Imagine my delight when I heard that Zoe wanted to play racquetball again for this morning’s FatherMoment!  This means that 1) She must have enjoyed our date last month, and 2) She really likes racquetball! We started by reading a few scriptures about marriage and chastity.  The one...

All week Aspen had been telling me about how excited she was to make up a new dance.  Two weeks ago we had some music blasting as we cleaned our house and Aspen and I were both busting out some of our best moves.  Ever since then she has been excited for our upcoming FatherMoment where she...

I keep trying to explain to Chase that dark chocolate is for older women, but he continues to claim it as his favorite!  If you recall, I took Aspen to Starbucks a while back, where we worked on authoring a book.  While we were there we purchased some of their hot chocolate that she thought...

There is nothing like making treats at 5:00 AM!  Scott was super cute this morning, because he was so tired.  I carried him downstairs and sat him on our coach, where I tried to snap a picture of him.  Unfortunately, our camera’s battery was dead, otherwise you would have seen a cute...

There were three things sweet about this morning’s FatherMoment: Donuts, Lots of candy, and Being with my Zoe Lynn!  We started by watching a video with an awesome story.  It was about a 13-year-old boy who competed in a triathlon while towing, pulling, and pushing his friend with...

I know that my FatherMoments are supposed to be focused on the children, but guess who just bowled a 206?  Yes, that is right!  My fatherhood was at its finest this evening as I performed an amazing feat, in front of Chase; knocking out 5 strikes and 4 spares in the great...

I was a little surprised when Aspen told me that she wanted to play soccer this morning.  The last time that I coached her team she seemed much more interested in cheering on the sideline and making up chants than playing.  Our FatherMoments was a little thrown off this weekend.  I...

Do you know the muffin man?  The MUFFIN MAN! Alicia made up some blueberry muffins (from the box) last week and Scotland has been talking about them ever since.  He was very decisive on wanting to make some muffins for our FatherMoment’s date.  We started with a little wrestling match...

Zoe is looking like she might be my most athletic daughter!  We had a racquetball court reserved for 5:00 AM, which we were running a little late to.  Zoe was so cute, because she reminded me twice throughout the week to call ahead and make a reservation.  If it wasn’t for her, there...

Nothing like a little booty shak’in to start the day!  Alicia and I  both pride ourselves in our God given ability to cut a little rug.  In fact, one of Alicia’s biggest regrets in life is never having performed at the bar.  As for me, I have had my nights of glory on the...

The New Year has started and Chase and I kicked it off with a great FatherMoment! Chase has been working on the Faith in God program, so we spent the morning memorizing the 6th Article of Faith and discussing what it meant.  He has a great brain and is good at memorizing!  Because it is a...

This has been a wonderful year!  I can’t help but be excited about this last FatherMoment that I had with Scotland.  I started this goal a year ago, to take one of my kids on a date each week, and today is the one year anniversary! Scott-Dogg received a new game, Connect 4, from Santa...

Did anyone else create a “fat budget” this Christmas season?  Personally, I planned on gaining about 10 disgusting pounds during the holidays, and thanks to our FatherMoment, this afternoon, I think I will be right on track. Christmas falls on Sunday this year, and I happen to...

  Be on the lookout for a sensational children’s book about a unique boy and girl who were made for each other!  Aspen and I spent the morning in Starbucks illustrating and writing a new children’s story. We started our date watching some great little videos with nice holiday...

Guess who thinks his dad is super cool because of his gaming skillz?  Correct Answer: Chase! Chase had been struggling with the “Escape the Mines” level on Wii’s Indiana Jones game, and badly wanted me to spend some time helping him figure it out.  You can only imagine his...

Scott-Dogg is Santa’s official helper this year!  He has been super nice and was excited to go pick out a few gifts for his brother and sisters. I picked Scott up from his pre-school and we started our FatherMoment.  The only problem was that I had forgotten the camera!  So, I am...

Nothing like a little frozen yogurt when it is freezing outside!  After giving her several options for a place to get a treat, she liked the idea of going to Red Mango the best, since she would be able to pick her toppings. Zoe and I, actually, did not make it out on a date this last Friday...

She’s making a list, she’s checking it twice…!  This morning Aspen wanted to put together her Christmas list and do a little window shopping. We started our date by watching a few videos (video1, video2).  Aspen told me that she liked video2 better. We then started...

He who fails to plan, plans to fail!  This is a difficult lesson for me to learn.  I woke Chase at 5:00 AM, and we decided that we were going to head over to the church and play a little soccer.  Chase just started his Futsol season and playing on a basketball court would be good practice...

Is there anything better than spending quality time with your child while napping?  Okay, I can think of a few things, but I must say that I loved Scotland’s idea of building a fort and then napping in it! We didn’t start our Fathermoment with the usual devotion.  Instead, I...

The famous fairy is getting ready for the Halloween party tonight!  Zoe is extremely excited about the trunk-or-treat being held tonight in our neighborhood, and really wanted me to paint her nails in preparation for the event.  She is going to be Tinker Bell! We started our date on our...

Today, was the first field trip that I have been on in a long time!  A few weeks ago, Aspen was very excited to give her teacher a letter that we had written about my willingness, and enthusiasm, to volunteer in her class.  Today, Aspen was extremely excited that I was going to be able to...

Christmas is almost here!  Okay, maybe we are a little early, but there is something about putting up your lights when it is 70 degrees that is much better than when it is freezing! The kids did not have school since it was Fall Break, so Chase and I took advantage of the opportunity have...

Pumpkin bread is a wonderful way to enjoy a cool October morning!  We have been on a baking kick in the Gardner home, lately; but I am not complaining because I love to bake! Scotland and I started did our morning devotional at the computer where we watched some videos that teach lessons. ...

Does anyone remember when Zoe and I planted some zucchini plants a while back?  Well, today was the day that we harvested the benefits our of our labor, by baking some delicious homemade zucchini bread! Zoe’s favorite zucchini was, of course, the jumbo-sized one that we failed to pick...

“Here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the door, see all the people…”  Let me just start by saying that Aspen and I agree that today was one of our best dates!  Aspen wanted to go our to our ward building and “play church” for our...

For Christmas I gave a Chase the royal garb of the apiarist (a beekeepers suit) so that he could join me in my honey farming.  At the start of the Spring I loaned him the money to buy his apiary (beehive) as well as some packaged bees with a new queen.  This was the start of some great...

Four!  When is the last time that  you got hit by a golf bowl while playing miniature golf?  As you can see from the picture, Scotland has a pretty big swing! Scotland had been asking to go golfing with me for a while.  The original thought was to take him to a park where he could swing a...

Guess who is officially swimming?  Alicia took Zoe swimming last week and was able to get her to swim from the middle of the pool to the edge, all by herself.  On the day that this happened, Zoe was extremely excited to tell me, and she made up her mind, then, that she wanted to go swimming...

Nothing like a swimming at 5:00 AM!  It was a beautiful still morning with a crescent moon still in the sky and a glassy pool of water. Aspen was very excited to go swimming for our FatherMoment.  Our plan A, to swim at the Lehi legacy center, was foiled as we arrived to a parking lot...

The day has finally arrived that I can justify playing a round of golf on the weekend!  Now that Chase is older he is asking to play golf with me.  Oh blessed day!  This is something that, in the past, I was only able to squeeze into my schedule when it was played during work hours, or on...

Scotland is pretty good with his numbers and colors these days.  This makes him a respectable Uno competitor! We started our date by making a run to the local bakery where Scotland picked out a glazed doughnut.  What is wrong with the kid!?  At the bakery there are huge cinnamon rolls...

In case you haven’t heard…. Zoe got her ears pierced last month!  Now, one of her favorite things is to switch her earrings several times on a daily basis.  Since this is causing her ears to get infected I decided to remedy this by helping her create “the most amazing...

It amazes me how much my children love the Dollar Store!  Of all the things that Aspen wanted to do, going to the store with a $2.00 budget made it to the top of the list. I actually made a very good attempt to talk her out of going to the store just because we have done this a few times and...