It's facebook's fault!

Well...I had really hoped that my blogging would improve. However, I've really been sucked in to the world of facebook and I think too much of my computer time goes to that. So, what's been going on in the world of the Garners? LOTS...I'll try to recap 2008 thus far! Sorry for the lengthy entry!

My 2008 began in an incredible way - in Cuba. New Years' Eve 2007 is one of the most memorable days i've ever had. We had been in Cuba since the 27th, spending time with our new Cuban friends from La Iglesia Bautista del Camino (the Baptist Church of the Way). FBC Greenville has a partnership with this church and it was the first time a team from our church had gone down to get to know the members of this church.

Monday, December 31 found us at the home of Servillio and Marina for the "End of the Year Cult Celebration" - we certainly weren't sure what that meant, but it turned out to be an incredible day. I think it was just a translation thing that called it a "cult!" We spent time out in their gardens...talking, sharing life stories, eating fresh fried plantains and singing/dancing to bon jovi & aerosmith. we then had an incredible worship service in spanish and english. My friend, Kathy, preached her very first sermon and it was amazing. We shared an experience that is beyond words. After the service we shared an incredible meal, which included a roasted pig, whom we had met on Friday :-) It was so yummy...roasted pig, black beans and rice, fresh fried plantains, fresh guava, fresh bananas (right off the tree in the garden), salad - it was quite a feast. Later in the afternoon we went back to our hotel to rest for a little while. The hotel arranged for us to have a "special" dinner in the private room before the night's activities were scheduled to begin. The hotel had a huge party around the pool. We enjoyed ourselves, but it was hard to get into the stand-up comedians who were speaking spanish so fast we couldn't understand much! Cara and I enjoyed our Cuba Libres & Cuban cigars, though! We came home on January 2, but I knew I was going back. That wish has come to fruition and I am leading the team that will return on December 28!

Winter/Early Spring was pretty much regular stuff going on...school for the girls, gymnastics and brownies for Mason, ballet for Kate, work for Tedd, numerous volunteer things for me. I had a crazy wild hair and did a boot camp for 8 weeks this spring...i wouldn't say it was fun, but it was great to accomplish things I never thought I could do! The girls, Cara and I went to Fripp for a few days over spring break to join Paige and her kids. It was fun, but cold. There was a day that we went out on the beach with kids playing in their bathing suits and the grown-ups sitting in sweatshirts and long pants! It was nice to have a short getaway, though.

Then came summer! The girls went to Savannah for the first week out of school - they had a blast at "Camp Grandma" and I enjoyed having some time to chill out, meet friends for lunch and got to a meeting or two without having to find a sitter! I think it was a great experience for all involved and the girls are looking forward to going back next summer!

Mason did swimteam again this summer and it was awesome! She started out swimming her standard back and short free. Then she added in long free. The coaches decided to offer an incentive this year. If the swimmers swam in each event over the course of the season they would get an ironman tshirt. Mason wanted the shirt so they went to work. In one meet, Mason swam breast, fly and 100M IM - she learned how to swim breast and fly on Monday and the meet was on Tuesday...it was quite incredible and we were very proud parents! She was DQ'd in all events, but it didn't matter - she did it...and was the only 8-under girl who even tried it! At the awards ceremony, not only did Mason get her ironman tshirt, but she was also awarded with the Most Improved Swimmer for the whole Brookfield swimteam...again, very proud parents!

The third week of June found us at Edisto, one of our favorite places on earth. We rented the same house as last year with Nan, Pop-Pop, John-John and Aunt Nell. Again, the highlight for the girls was having a golf cart that came with the house! We had lots of fun at the pool and the beach. Kate surprised us all by going under water in both the pool and ocean. It was a huge breakthrough for her and we were very proud of her. It was a huge fear that she seems to have overcome! One suprise we had that week was seeing Kate's teacher, Ms. Joann, on the beach. We were sitting on the beach one day and looked over at this lady who looked like Ms. Joann. I sat trying not to stare! Tedd walked past her and called her name...it was her! She had come down for a few days and was just as surprised as we were! We had a great time visiting with her and playing in the waves! Ms. Joann is truly a blessing and it was such fun to see her at the beach! We were sad to leave, but knew we'd be back next summer!

I'll add more later!

I am a terrible blogger...

I had such good intentions of keeping this thing updated and I have totally failed at that! I've got quite a few things to blog about so I'm going to try and set aside some time to do that in the somewhat near future. I want to tell you about my trip to Cuba, the goings-on of the girls, etc. I will try to be better at updating this...of course, you might have already given up on me!

A Few Updates

I was really hoping that I would do a better job at updating this in 2008. Obviously, that was wishful thinking! I'll keep trying!

The Garners had a great Christmas, surrounded by lots of family. PaPaw and Grandma came up the weekend before Christmas which was great. They were able to join us for the FBC Candlelight Service, which might be my favorite service all year! Kate was even in the Greenville News (with her parents, but we're not nearly as precious!) The top-notch gift of the weekend was Kate's bride costume. The child is obsessed with getting married - she talks about it all of the time. Just in case you were wondering, she plans on marrying Troy from High School Musical - watch out Vanessa Hudgens! I'll have to get some pictures uploaded! Grandma found a dress-up bridal gown, veil, bride shoes, and also made a bouquet. Kate wore it A LOT!!! PaPaw and Grandma went back to Savannah on Christmas Eve morning so they could spend Christmas with Pop and Eleice. We were sorry they couldn't stay for Christmas, but understood their need to get home and enjoyed the visit we did have.

We spend the next few days with my side of the family. Mark was in from Phoenix and John & Danielle were here from Pennsylvania, so it was lots of fun. We enjoyed the family time together. With everyone so spread out, it's really quite a treat to all be together.

Christmas morning was very exciting around here...as you might imagine. My parents, brothers and sister-in-law and grandmother came over around 8 to "do Christmas." The girls were very excited to see what Santa had brought for them. Kate got the Princess bike she really wanted and Mason got a digital camera. They have both had lots of fun with their Santa gifts. We spoiled them a little too much and got them each a Nintendo DS. Mason wanted a Wii, but we all know how hard those were to find! After opening far too many gifts, we had our traditional Christmas breakfast. The rest of the family went back to Mom & Dad's while we stayed here and played, rested and cooked. All of us present for breakfast plus my aunt and uncle all converged on Mom & Dad's house mid-afternoon for Christmas dinner. We were only missing the Petersons, who went to Michigan for the holidays. All in all, it was a great day.

I spent the 26th getting ready to leave for Cuba. More on that later. I think the rest of the family enjoyed a relaxing day! Thank goodness for wonderful families and great relationships!