July Highlights

The month of July was pretty busy, that's for sure. We celebrated the 4th by having a family BBQ and Paul and I went to see the fireworks in West Jordan. I really hate that I wasn't able to get pictures. 

We also moved out of the house. We are fortunate enough to have wonderful friends who have room and offered to let us stay with them until we leave in September. We decided to take them up on the offer as it is helping us save for the move too. 

I had an extra holiday off for the month. In Utah we celebrate the 24th as Pioneer Day. It gave me an extra day off work. I enjoyed that. 

Other than that nothing new going on. I just thought since I had time I would catch this blog up. I hope that with our move that you will continue reading this to stay caught up with the Gardiners. 

What Honeymoon?

Remember the Brady Bunch when all the kids ended up with them on their honeymoon? Thats what happened here! My cousin Maddie left on her mission on July 9th and her farewell was on June 30th. Because of this mom and Steve changed their plans for the family trip to Cali in August and made it happen right after the wedding. Unfortunately Paul wasn't able to make it and I went near the end so I miss DisneyLand. This was one time I was looking forward to it because it was new to my niece and nephew. I'm glad they had fun. I still got to join in with Balboa, family dinners, swimming, the farewell, etc. It was so fun. 

 

Moms Wedding

 New Family

 On June 21 my mom got married and I now am the oldest of 11 kids. Steve is a great guy and all of us have blended well. It has amazed me how quickly we have come together and how good we all get along.

Exciting Changes

In the beginning of the month Paul and I announced to our family that we are going to be moving to Iowa in September. This decision did not come easy, but we both feel that we are in a rut. We are inbetween grad school and life and just felt we needed a change. We are looking forward to going out that way and to spend some time with some other family members that until recently we havn't seen for years. 

 

Since the announcement we have moved out of our house and are looking forward to the changes that lie ahead for us. It is a bittersweet time in our life as we have lived here in Utah and feel that our lives are here, however we have always known we would be moving and also feel that we need some type of change. We will miss all of our friends and family here in Utah and hope you will continue to stay in touch and come and visit us. We love you all. 

My Birthday

This year for my birthday I wanted to go to the zoo. My sisters-in-law and nephew met us there. We had a great lunch and a great visit. As always my favorite were the monkeys and the sea lions. After the zoo we met my family for some gelato. It was a great day!

May: Mom Turns 50!

May started out with a bang and finished with a bang. After my Iowa trip nothing new happened until the end of the month. My mom turned 50 and we had a surprise party for her. It was quite fun. Memorial weekend was spent with the family and it was fun getting to know our new family.

Dad and Robins Wedding