Fun Times

I just wanted to make a post about our fun times this month too. We have had so much craziness going on this month. It may not have been the best of stuff but we make the best out of everything. We have had some way fun things happening too.

We have been able to take time and go see the lights downtown at Temple Square. We went on a date night with our friends, Tyler and Nikki Johnson. It was way fun. We went downtown then went to Village Inn.

For the last few years, we always went and did gingerbread houses with Pauls family. This year we decided not to do them. I was ok with that since I get impatient in the middle of it, but it was always something we still looked forward too. Since they didn't I went over to my moms when Halle and Uncle Joe made one. It was actually a team effort but they did it for the most part.

Halle and the finished product.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas From Heaven Part 2

Merry Christmas From Heaven Part 2

Seeing that I have already posted this poem before I'll just add to the first post. This one is dedicated to my mother-in-law , the Osborne family, and the Birell family, and all of Aunt Carol and Aunt Gayles family, friends, and loved ones. I know that Aunt Carol and Aunt Gayle are going to be spending Christmas together with Grandma and all the others who have passed before them. Its just one big family reunion this year.

We all have someone we have loved and lost. This post is in memory of our loved ones we have lost. As much as I love this time of year, there have been years where it is harder for me because it seems to me that most people I have loved and lost in my life has been around Christmas time. I've had a grandmother who passed on Christmas Eve a couple of years ago and a grandfather a few years before two days after Christmas, But come on, who really wants to be bummed and grieve during the holiday season? When I think about my loved ones I like to celebrate who they were to me and think of good things and their life, not just their death. I've also been thinking about and missing my brother who passed away a few years ago lately and found this Christmas poem that really helped me the year he died. I felt like I should share it.

Merry Christmas From Heaven

I still hear the songs
I still see the lights
I still feel your love
on cold wintery nights

I still share your hopes
and all of your cares
I'll even remind you
to please say your prayers

I just want to tell you
you still make me proud
You stand head and shoulders
above all the crowd

Keep trying each moment
to stay in His grace
I came here before you
to help set your place

You don't have to be
perfect all of the time
He forgives you the slip
If you continue the climb

To my family and friends
please be thankful today
I'm still close beside you
In a new special way

I love you all dearly
now don't shed a tear
Cause I'm spending my
Christmas with Jesus this year

Copyright 1990 (can't read name)

I really hope you all have a great holiday season! Merry Christmas!
Love the Gardiners

Decembers Ups and Downs

I just wanted to give a quick update on Paul and I. This month has been very crazy. For the most part its been good. There have been a few things I'm disappointed that didn't turn out, but we make the best of it right?
At the beginning of the month we were close to having an opportunity to be able to move to Eagle Mountain and it was a job for Paul. I was so excited and anxious for something new, but unfortunately it fell through. The decision to go through with it felt totally right and we were looking forward to something new, but there have been a few things come up that I'm so glad we didn't go and am thankful to be around the family with everything that has happened.
We had a very fun family Christmas party that Lynette put together and I'm very thankful she did. She put a lot of work into it and we had a good turn out. I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to talk to Aunt Carol and visit for a few minutes. That was the last day we saw her before her stroke and we had to go to the hospital to say goodbye. It was also fun to see other family members that we havn't seen for awhile. It was nice to have a good reason to see the family. What I mean by that is that it wasn't a funeral that brought us together. Unfortunately that is the next family event for the Platt family.
I had my annual work Christmas Party. It was at Tuscany again. Same room, beautifully decorated and so much fun. I love the people I work with.
We welcomed a new cousin in my family. My cousin Jessica had her 2nd baby. I can't wait to meet her. My friend Kelsee also welcomed her 3rd early this morning. Congrats to the new babies.
Paul is still looking for a job. It sucks but i'm proud of how he has dealt with it all. Last but not least tomorrow is Paul's last final. He just finished extra credit today and will most likely pull of all A's his first semester at the U. I'm so proud of him. I also can't wait to have finals week over so I can have my hubby back.
I hope everyone is enjoying their December and this wonderful holiday season.

Another Angel

This last week, Heaven took one of the very best back home. This is very weird to me, it's like de ja vu. It has only been five months since Aunt Gayle left and now she is reunited with one of her very best friends, Aunt Carol.
Carol is another one of my mother-in-laws sisters. She is a very sweet lady and always had something nice to say. She was somebody who made you feel very special. She loved you for you. When I first met her I was impressed with her fashion. She always looked nice wherever she went. She liked bright colors like me, especially red. She was very easy to talk to and had a wonderful sense of humor. She loved everyone she met. I'm happy to know that she is not only being united with her best friend (sister) but I know there is a wonderful reunion going on with her mother and brother Normand along with her husband, grandkids, and great grandkids that went before her. Carol you will always be loved and remembered and truly missed. I'm glad you aren't in pain anymore and i'm thankful for the chance Paul and I had to say goodbye. Love you.

Off To A Great Start

The Holidays are off to a great start! The first Saturday of December my mother-in-law put together her family Christmas party. I think it was a huge success! It was nice to get together with the family and celebrate Christmas. The last time the family was brought together was for the death of Aunt Gayle. At least this time was a happy reason. The party was held at the church. She put together a good brunch. We had some fun games and Uncle Jim (the oldest in the family) read The Night Before Christmas. Sarah and Lynette also put together a book of memories of Aunt Gayle and presented it to Uncle Max and the Osborn family. It was fun to get together and see family we don't usually see. I even got to know some of the cousins better. I didn't take many pictures since our camera batteries died on us, but this is what we do have. Stacey took some so when she posts them hopefully I can add them to the blog. Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday!

November Events

I love my brothers!

November has been a very eventful month in my family. My baby brother turned 12. He was just ordained as a deacon. It was very cool to see Hunter receive the priesthood and to see all of the guys in my family participate. I'm so proud of them and Paul and JJ who hold the priesthood. That is a very powerful thing to me and its great to experience things like that.
I'm also very proud of CJ. He is now an Eagle Scout. We had his court of honor over Thanksgiving weekend and my grandma Elms and Uncle Chuck were able to be here. Uncle Chuck was able to honor CJ and give him his awards. It was really cool to see. I can't tell you how proud I am of my brothers. I don't really want to forget Joe, JJ, and Paul.I'm proud for the examples they set and for being worthy to be priesthood holders. Paul counts too even though he's my hubby. I have to say I have the best brothers and brother-in-law. I'm grateful to have them all in my life.

Birthday Fun 2

Isn't he just the cutest?!
(My nieces and nephews are cuter than yours) ;)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know its a few days late, but I hope you all had a great start to the holiday season.
I feel like if I could name everything i'm thankful for I would forget the littlest thing and I can have a never ending list so I just want to say I'm thankful for everything in my life and couldn't have asked for a better family.
This year we were actually able to spend the day with both sides. Somebody turned the oven off at my moms so it set dinner back. Paul and I went to his parents to visit during there dinner and ended up eating a little over there then had the official dinner at my moms. It was all yummy. My grandma came to visit for the holiday too. We spent most of the day visiting and enjoying each others company and playing games. I always love spending time with family. I guess this post is better late than never. Happy Holidays!

Let The Holidays Begin!

Let the Holidays Begin!

Our Thanksgiving Holiday actually started on November 21st. We had our annual roommate/friend Thanksgiving.
Every year we get together with some amazing friends who happen to be Paul's old room mates.
This year we had it our house and Danny did most of the cooking with some help from Eldon and then everything the rest of us pitched in. I'm so thankful that Danny is a chef and loves too cook. Everyone who knows me knows that I don't really enjoy cooking.
They got up and started cooking early in the morning. The house smelled amazing. Chris and Christina joined us a little later and we had an amazing meal and just enjoyed each others company. This day was also the first snow storm of the year.

Birthday Fun

Happy 1st Birthday Jack!!!

On November 20th my nephew Jackson turned one! I can't believe how time flies. I don't have any pics of his party just yet, so i'll probably add them in another post, but I just wanted to wish my chunky monkey a Happy Birthday! My sister put together a wonderful dinner party for him. He was so cute. Jack just started walking a couple of days before his birthday. He is one of the happiest boys you will ever meet. I just love him.
We also celebrated my baby brothers birthday. He just turned 12 and will be ordained a deacon tomorrow. I'm so proud of him and have loved seeing him grow into the young man he is today. Hopefully I'll be getting better at having my camera around. I'll also need to add my Thanksgiving pics.

Reflections/Blessings

Hello World~

I have been trying to think of something a little different for this blog. I think since I've been doing it, I usually list or ramble on about a whole lot of things I'm thankful for. It is that time of year, right? I really can't come up with anything too different. This is the time of year where I reflect on not only things of this year, but of also in the past. You know, there are a ton of things that I can list, but I think this time I want to just briefly explain, or at least try to give some reason behind it. Because of that I don't want to list every possible thing, cause as I get going I can list things that you really don't think of and may take advantage of til about now. I guess I'll start my list in no particular order.

One of the things that is definitely at the top is my family, my husband in particular.I really can't figure out how I got so lucky. He is amazing and one of the most patient people I know. I'm so thankful to have his patience and love. I'm not the easiest person, but he is amazing. He has a way of putting things in perspective for me, even when i'm too stubborn to see things. I'm thankful that he is a priesthood holder and can take me to the Temple. I'm grateful for his testimony and for him wanting me to be a better person. I love to see when he is passionate about things. I love him for loving me. He's great!
My in-laws are pretty great too. You hear some pretty awful in law stories, but for the most part, I have pretty awesome ones! I mean, they have given us the opportunity to live in the house that we live in. Paul's sisters and their families are pretty great too! They have also given me beautiful nieces and nephews.
I'm also thankful for my family, especially my mom. She is a wonderful example and a very strong woman. I'm so lucky to have a mom who I'm close with and can also consider my friend. My brothers and sisters are pretty great too! My sister has also given me a beautiful niece and nephew who I just love playing with.
My religion is also something I am grateful to have. I love to know that we have the gospel in our lives and am thankful for the doctorine that we have. I love knowing that I can be with my family forever. I had a fear of death growing up and sometimes I think that I may still have it, and I love knowing what I know and knowing that death isn't the end. Its great comfort.
Good friends are also on my mind. Through the years, I have had some amazing friends and I'm thankful for every person that has been in my life. I'm thankful for the friendships I have had and still have. I'm grateful for love and support from people. Knowing you aren't alone and that there are other people to talk to makes me feel better when i'm just having "one of those days".
I can totally go on and on but these things have been on my mind lately. I hope everyone has a great holiday season and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

~Goodnight :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This Halloween has actually been pretty fun and laid back. Thats good for me since I have never really gotten too much into it. It's been fun having a three day holiday weekend. We went to some friends on Friday night and had a little get together. Then Saturday we went and spent the day with my brothers and sister and family. My mom did a dinner at her house then we took Jack and Halle to Trick or Treat at Soda Row in DayBreak. That was crazy. It was fun seeing all the different costumes this year. I spent most of the just taking pictures of my adorable nieces and nephews. I loved the costumes this year. Halle was a pirate, Jack a monkey, Payton toad, Maclain mario, and Presley was Princess Peach. Joe was batman and CJ was DJ Pauly from Jersey Sore. I thought those costumes were creative. Hope everyone has a good and Happy Halloween!

Birthday Tributes and Weekend Fun

This weekend we were able to celebrate two birthdays in our family. Halle turned 4 on October 19th and Mary celebrated her birthday on October 18th. For those who don't know, Halle is my adorable niece. I just love her to pieces and am so thankful to have her in my life. She is so much fun to be around. She is a very active child and I just love her energy. Halle has a wonderful imagination and is so fun and creative. I could go on and on, but I won't. I do feel very lucky to be her aunt. For her birthday my sister threw her a Barbie and Zebra themed party. Her cake was beautiful. Her party was fun and busy. The first few collages are of her party.

We were also able to celebrate Mary's birthday. Mary is my sister-in-law. She is Paul's baby sister and is so much fun to be around. I love her to death. She is one of the friendliest people I know. She is very sweet and always willing to help. She has become one of my best friends and I'm glad to have her in my life. For her birthday my mother-in-law did our usual family dinners, but turned Mary's into a costume party. We had a delicious dinner and played a few games. It was a fun night. I hope you had a wonderful birthday.

My weekend was spent spending time with my family. I love these types of weekends. It was fun to celebrate birthdays on both sides. I hope everyone has a great October. Looks like Fall is finally on its way.

Gardner Village

Halloween is probably Paul's favorite time of the year. I love watching him get excited for it and doing different activities during the month. Ever since Paul and I have been together, we have made it a tradition to go to Gardner Village sometime in October to see the witches. Usually, this is followed by stopping at the bakery there and getting some pastries or cookies and some hot chocolate. I have always enjoyed this date and today was no different. I wasn't able to get many pictures today cause it was crazy busy getting ready for Witches Night, but we are planning to go again this next week. Usually we try to go on a weekend night when its not super crowded. This year we went during the day. Totally different experience. They had a lot of kids activities going on along with preparing for Witches Night. We were able to get decent pictures with the camera, which was nice. Hopefully my dad will go with us when he is here and we can use his for others at night. I want to get some of the new ones. There was a hula hoop one and a firefighter. My fave is the baseball witches and the witch flying in (I caught half of it) to an airport type thing. Its cool. Hope everyone has a good night.

OCTOBER

The most exciting thing going on this month was my trip to Iowa. I was lucky to be able to go back there for a couple of weeks to visit with my family. I was back there for the college and high school homecoming. It was fun to get to take a nice and relaxing vacation.

Me, Grandpa, and Kathy

Ella had her 3rd birthday while I was out there. We celebrated with a Dora party for her while my cousin was in town. The girls met on her actual birthday for lunch at the Shack. It was great! Sometimes, I actually miss that place.

The highschool had a lot of activities for homecoming. It was fun to see how everyone in the community participates. This year each class had a dance off. That was super fun to go to. The above picture is me, Keeley, Aunt Beth, and Tiff at the pep rally.

Cheerleaders riding in the parade.

Ke was a nominee for home coming queen. This is her and Max (I think) riding in the parade.

Aunt Heather and Aunt Beth. I have so much fun with them.

Grandpa and Aunt Beth

Grandpa and I downtown watching the homecoming parade.

It was totally fun for me to see my cousins and their dates for homecoming. I believe it was Tim and Tiff's first dance. It was fun to be there and see them get ready and meet the dates. They all looked great.

Jess, me, Ke, and Tiff

I truly hate saying goodbye, but I'm so glad I was able to go to Iowa. I always have a good time and enjoy spending time with my family. I'm happy though because now I'm counting down for my dad's trip out here to Utah for a visit. One week now! He will be here for Halloween. Yay!

September Happenings

I can't believe how the month of September flew by! We have had an interesting month.
We have been taking care of a cat which officially became ours. Or so we think. I have fallen in love with her. I swear she thinks she's a dog. She loves to fetch. No joke! We bought her a couple of toys and her favorite is a stick with a feather (which has been torn off) and a ball that rattles. She carries it up to us when she wants to play. When i'm done with it I usually throw it she'll go get it. I threw it down the hall a few times and she keeps bringing it back. Its pretty fun.
I also want to officially say that Paul found a new job! I'm so excited for him. We didn't really say much, so nobody really knows that he quit his job back in August. He took a phlebotomy class and has been looking for work in that. He has been applying for other jobs too even if not phlebotomy, since we both have to work, but I can finally say he found one. He is going to work as a phlebotomist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Its a good job and I'm very proud of him. What impressed me the most was that during his time off, he found a few temp jobs that weren't the best, but helped bring in an income. I was very proud that he would do things like that to take care of us. There are some people I know who don't really care and won't do anything until they have a real job, so that really impressed me. Not too much going on. I am now back in Iowa visiting my family and am glad to have made it safe. It's my first day here so I havn't done much but I'm glad to be able to see my family. I'll keep you updated. Happy end of September!

Happy 18th CJ

Happy 18th CJ!

For my baby brother's 18th party my mom decided to throw a surprise circus themed birthday party for him. It was so much fun. She rented a cotton candy machine, had an old fashioned popcorn maker, and grilled hot dogs and put them in old fashioned wrappers. The best surprise for him was his Glamour Kills cake. My mom had it specially made for him. It was awesome. The garage was decorated as a circus tent. It was fun to be able to celebrate with him. These were just some quick snapshots of his party. We love you CJ. Thanks for being a great brother!

Summer Recap

All good things must come to an end. I'm kind of bummed that summer is ending, because it was such an awesome summer. I'm ready for fall though. I don't want it to get super cold but I have to say I do love fall. I just wanted to share some of the highlights of my summer. I think it kind of started out slow though, with Paul deciding to do a summer semester of school. It did pick up in the end, but I also found things to do to keep me busy with Paul in school.

This summer was my summer of concerts! In June we went and saw Eddie Money with my family. Eddie Money was way fun, especially since my dad was here and we actually went as a family. I don't think i've ever been to a concert with both my parents AND all my siblings. Paul gave me the BEST birthday gift. I also got to go to see BACKSTREET BOYS! I have to say that was probably the most fun for me. I got to re-live my past. I was obsessed with them in my teens! And Boy they can dance! Just love them. In July my mom and I went to Draper Days and saw Colin Raye. He is one of my favorites. He did a lot of his hits that included a lot of my faves like LITTLE ROCK; ONE BOY, ONE GIRL; THE GIFT; and several others. I grew up with a lot of different kinds of music, and love them all. You can probably tell by my concert choice this year. But oh so fun!

June Higlights:
~No more school!
~My dad came to visit us for Fathers Day! First one with him since my parents divorced. We were also able to take pictures with him and just enjoy a long visit.
~ My Birthday!
~ BackStreet Boys!

July:
~ 4th of July
~ Colin Raye
~ Got to visit with a cousin who I havn't seen in years and met his new wife and my new cousin. So much fun. Great visit, too bad it was short!
~ Family stuff
~ Stadium of Fire with Carrie Underwood! Totally forgot to mention her in concerts! It was way fun. They have the BEST fireworks there too!
~ This Century came and did an acoustic set at my mom's house! It was amazing! I found a new group that I love!
~ May not be so exciting, but Paul started his summer semester.

August:
~ Paul graduated SLCC with two Associates
~ He also completed a Phlebotomy class and is trying to find work in that
~ CALIFORNIA!Much needed vacation and had a blast with the family.

I'm sad its coming to an end, but it was so much fun. We ended on good times and made awesome memories. We celebrated C.J.'s birthday last week and my mom threw him a surprise party. See next post for pics. We also enjoyed a fun Labor day weekend with friends and family. Hope everyone had an awesome summer and will have a great end of the year!

Farrells and Wahoos

I forgot to add this to my last post and wanted to let everyone know that when you go to Cali you have to go to WAHOOS. They have the best fish tacos ever! We also went to celebrate the August birthdays at FARRELLS. That place is awesome! Noisy too! If you order the Zoo they carry it out on a stretcher and run around the shop and deliver it to you making a huge deal out of it. It was fun! For those who don't know what the zoo is, which may be many of you since I didn't know before, its a huge thing of ice cream with 7 different flavors. They have 4 ice cream and 3 fruit flavors. They also serve 4 different toppings with it. It serves 15-20 people. It was fun to have it. I love that they do fun things at that place. It is one fun ice cream place!

California Part 2: PICTURES

I guess these are better late than never. I just wanted to add some fun pictures of our family vacation. This was the first time my entire family has been on vacation together in 5 years. We had a great time and made plenty of new memories. This is also the first time in years that my grandma had all her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids together. We took advantage of this and did a random family pic. The pic. above is of all of us cousin and great grandkids, I will have to post the actual family picture when my uncle gets them to us.

We spent 2 days at DisneyLand. The above collage is Day 2 when it was just Paul and I. Below is day one with the family. It was Halle's first time and so much fun.

While we were in Cali we also celebrated my cousin's 4th birthday. We went all the way to Cali to just go to Chuck E Cheese. It was actually pretty fun. They do huge parties for the kids. They had a ticket tank where you go in and try to catch the tickets (for b day kids only). Porter was first and had no idea what he was doing so he just stood there as tickets were flying everywhere! It was too cute though.

You can't really go to California and not go to the beach!

Paul and I had another opportunity to go to San Juan Capistrano Mission. If you read my post from last years trip you will know a little more about it. They had a Zorro exhibit this year. It was way fun. Plus its always fun to get to spend extra time with Grandma. We invited Garrett to come with us then after that we went to Ruby's Diner for lunch. Yummy! They had a kids game area and some other things going on. Garrett got to play on the stilts and learn to use a weaving loom or machine. Whatever they are called.