Gardiners

Moms Christmas Gift

2012-01-13T23:52:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas all my siblings got together to do these pictures for my mom. It was fun to do it with everyone, but it was really cold. These are a few of my favorites.

No Room At The Inn...

2011-12-30T09:39:00.001-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-24T10:53:00.000-08:00

Day 6: My Grandparents/ People I miss

2011-12-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

For today's topic I'm supposed to write a letter to people I miss. As I sat down to write this and thought about it I realized I can't really just pick one person to write a letter too so I decided to put my own little twist on this one. I have a lot of people I miss and thought i'd share some of my favorite memories or something like that. As I sit here to do this, the quote "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same," comes to my mind. The only thing is the people that have left quickly still leave an impact. I kind of feel like today is appropriate for this post as I've been missing all my grandparents lately. This post is mostly dedicated to them. I lost two of my grandparents the week of Christmas at different times so this time of year I especially remember them.

Five years ago today I lost my Grandma Badder. She was my "buddy". She use to babysit me when I was younger. I don't remember those days, but I do remember her being one of my most favorite people in the world. One of my earliest memories of her is when we would go visit them or they come visit us after we moved she and grandpa always had a gift for my sister and I. I remember one of the first ones was cabbage patch dolls to add to our collection. Grandma would use to sing to me and teach me fun songs. We always sang the I love you and bushel and a peck with a hug around the neck. She also taught me "This Little Light of Mine" on the way to Canada for one of our reunions. She always had a hug and kiss for me. We may not have always agreed on things but she was always there for me to talk with and was a special person in my life.

Eight years ago on the 27th. My grandpa Elms passed away. Most of my memories with him are of sitting at the kitchen table and playing cards way late into the night. Gin was our favorite. We would fight and argue about rules or turns or whatever, but it was fun. He always had silly songs he would just belt outloud. When Sarah and I would go shopping with him and fill the cart he would never notice or at least pretend not too. We would end up getting a lot of snacks when Grandma sent us to the store. He always had nicknames for the grandkids. Mine was "sweetie pie" I loved it. When I go visit grandma I find that I miss my time with grandpa. I'm thankful for some of the talks we had before he died. He shared some stories about him growing up and dating my grandma.

I'm lucky to still have living grandparents today. My grandma Elms is one of the sweetest people I know and I'm very lucky to have her in my life. She has been there for every special even in my life and if she can't make it I know she has at least made an effort.I'm also lucky to have been part of a huge event in her life. Paul and I were able to join her as she was able to go through the Temple. We all went down a few years ago and got to go through the LA temple with her. Paul and I love going to visit her every year. She is easy to talk to and we have a lot of good times. She is also active and I love doing things with her. I'm thankful for the memories I have been able to make with her. When we were little she would babysit me too and play mcdonalds and house with me. When I went to grandmas I always got to sleep in her room with her. When my parents divorced and we lived with her for a couple of months we made Friday nights our nights for me to have a sleepover in her room. We would always watch TGIF together and have dessert somewhere in the middle of that. She is one of my favorite people to talk too today. I know I can tell her anything and I love the relationship we have.

My grandpa Badder is one of the sweetest men you will ever meet. He is very patient and loving. He is easy to talk to and I love that he loves you for you. I know that he loves each of his grandchildren and are proud of them no matter the different ways we choose to live. Our religious beliefs are different but I know he is still proud of me for me. I never really felt out of place with him but I remember when after I graduated and went back to visit he was telling his brother-in-law about how I graduated seminary and how I spoke at that graduation among other things and to me seeing that he told him made me realize he is proud of me no matter what. I also love going to visit him and he always makes me feel welcomed and has a place to stay there. I also love that when I go there he always has lotion out and will rub my feet for me. I don't know why but he has always done that for me. I can't remember what started it.

We are also lucky to have Grandpa Tom and Grandma Lavina close by us. I feel bad that we have been living so close to them for so long and don't go out and visit very often. That is something I would like to change. Grandpa Tom always has some type of jokes and is a fun person to talk with. Grandma has always reminded me a little of my grandma Badder. Shes is just so nice to talk with. I'm thankful to be a part of there family. Hopefully we can see them more than just at family dinners. I've enjoyed getting to know them.

I miss a lot of people I have several who have passed on or people who are not part of my life now that were before. Everyone I meet and have met have all been apart of who I am today. Im thankful to everyone who has been apart of my life. I'm most grateful for Paul and for a wonderful husband he has been to me. I'm glad to have had the grandparents I do and am lucky and thankful to have the relationships I have had with them.

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
If they last a life time they are the ones who truly love you unconditionally. They are angels sent from the heavens above. Cherish them and adore them as they do you.

CHRISTMAS SHOES

2011-12-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Shoes lyrics

It was almost Christmas time, there I stood in another line
Tryin' to buy that last gift or two, not really in the Christmas mood
Standing right in front of me was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing 'round like little boys do
And in his hands he held a pair of shoes

His clothes were worn and old, he was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to pay
I couldn't believe what I heard him say

Chorus:
Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

He counted pennies for what seemed like years
Then the cashier said, "Son, there's not enough here"
He searched his pockets frantically
Then he turned and he looked at me
He said Mama made Christmas good at our house
Though most years she just did without
Tell me Sir, what am I going to do,
Somehow I've got to buy her these Christmas shoes

So I laid the money down, I just had to help him out
I'll never forget the look on his face when he said
Mama's gonna look so great

Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please
It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there's not much time
You see she's been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes would make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight

Bridge:
I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that God had sent that little boy
To remind me just what Christmas is all about

{ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/n/newsong-lyrics/the-christmas-shoes-lyrics.html }

This is one of my absolute favorite Christmas stories, song, and movie. It really shows that Christmas is about giving, service, family, and most importantly LOVE. These are all characteristics of Christ (along with many others). I really hope as we celebrate the Christmas season that we can remember the true meaning of Christmas and remember the saviors example and try to follow in his footsteps. Christ was Love. Merry Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

Paul working on ours while I was taking pics. He has more patience than I do with putting things together.

Little Gingerbread House Town
(everyones finished products)

Mine and Paul's finishing product.
Thanks Paul!

Grandma with the babies.

Every year we get together with the Gardiners and make our Gingerbread houses. This is one of my favorite Christmas time activities we do with the family. I don't have much more to post tonight but I plan on starting where I left off with the blog challenge. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and holiday season.

Its What Fun Is!

2011-09-27T19:57:00.001-07:00

This year my Brother-In-Laws work had a Lagoon Day and they invited us to come with them. I went and spent a day at Lagoon with my sister and brothers and some friends. It was such a fun day. I really enjoyed spending the day with family. We went on a lot of rides, had a great lunch, and even spent time at Laguna Beach. That was my favorite.

CJ, Carly, and Megan did the Screamer. At least I think thats what it is called.

Such a fun day! Hope to do it next year!

Day 5: 20 Reasons

2011-09-27T19:44:00.000-07:00

As I've been finding blog topics for this 30 Day Challenge, I've been putting some twists or my uniqueness in them. I can't remember the real topic for this one. It was 20 reasons for something, but I thought doing a 20 Reasons or things you love about your spouse would be fun. Paul and I each wrote down a few things. To be honest I could've come up with a lot more, but wasn't wanting to go beyond 20 cause then I would never stop.

These are my 20 Reasons/Things I love about Paul:

1) He is ALWAYS there for me no matter what mood i'm in. (That's saying a lot)
2) His patience with me
3) His eyes. They have a sparkle to them. I love that they change colors at different times.
4) His smile. I love the crooked smile most.
5) The look I see in his eyes to let me know he loves me. I know he means it too.
6) Love of Family
7) He is able to take me to the temple
8) His Testimony
9) His interaction with kids
10) They way he can summarize the scriptures and lesson for our sunday school class, especially when I try teaching and still get nervous in a small group.
11) He's sexy
12)He is a kid at heart
13) Never makes life dull
14) Makes me feel safe, secure, and loved
15) Love of people
16) He is a good student and studies hard
17) His Kisses and Hugs
18) Excited for the holidays
19) Sense of Humor.
20) The way he loves me.

Pauls 20 Reasons/Things He loves me:

1) My Smile
2) My laugh/giggle
3) My kindness
4) My personality
5)My surprises
6) The way I get excited about things
7) The way I talk to our cat (when she's good and I'm not mad at her)
8) The way I try to make everyone happy
9) My spirit
10) My kisses
11) When I try to get grumpy, but i'm really happy
12) My love for holidays
13) My love of religion
14) My love of family
15) The way I sing/dance when I think nobody is around
16) My little notes I leave
17) The way I say " I love you"
18) The way I try to make him smile
19) My body
20) ME!

I'm thinking this would also be a fun journal topic. That way I can look back on things and know why I'm in love. I can come up with many other reasons.

Day 4: A Place We Have Been

2011-09-15T16:57:00.001-07:00

Traveling is one of mine and Paul's favorite things to do together. One of our favorite places is going to California. For the most part, its because is warm, affordable, and DISNEYLANDS home. We love Disney! Thinking about this post though, I decided to post about a place that is memorable for us. We love going on Cruises and the very first ship we went on is Monarch of the Sea. This is why I chose pictures of the boat. We took the California coast Cruise for our honeymoon and it has been one of my FAVORITE vacations ever! This ship took us to Sandiego, Catalina Island, and Ensanda. We were able to enjoy many excursions with each stop. Sea World and Kayaking were my favorites. Paul like Kayaking the best. Next best place we have been together is DISNEYLAND.

Day 3: A Habit I Wish I Didn't Have

2011-09-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Thankgoodness I didn't really commit to be on this everyday. I'm glad to do this challenge, but I'm doing it my own way. Life is crazy busy but hopefully I won't let too many days go in between. I will commit to do 30 topics and what not. I know we all have many habits. I definitely have a few that come straight to mind, but the one that bugs me the worst is I pick at or bite my nails. When I'm way overwhelmed and stressed out or nervous about something my nails disappear. At one point I was getting my nails done regularly so I didn't have anything to bite. At that point I would tend to start picking but not wanting to ruin them was a big motivation. Getting my nails done regularly was a good habit to have just a little expensive. I know I have more but I don't really want to get into them. I would ask Paul to help with this one, but he is studying at the moment. I think his habit would be procrastination. I think if we both do better at that it would allow us more time together and maybe he would feel a little more prepared for a test. He says he doesn't feel prepared sometimes but you wouldn't know that by his grades. I'm very proud of my husband.

Day 2: Meaning behind the blogger name

2011-09-03T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm definitely not the most creative or most original person. I chose paulandkelcigardiner as our name because that is who we are. We are the Gardiners. I also wanted something I can remember as I give the site out to our family and friends. When I chose this there really wasn't a story or anything meaningful behind the name. I guess there still isn't.

Blogging Challenge Day 1: Meet the Gardiners, Our Story

2011-08-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

I feel like blogging is a great way of keeping up with whats going on in my life. It could totally be used as a journal. Anyways I feel like life hasn't been that interesting lately and I havn't been blogging much. I would like to have something to say so I decided to do the 30-day challenge idea that i've seen some people do. I found a lot of topics to blog about, but I decided to kind of change some of them around and make it my own thing with my own style. I'm going to try to do it daily, but we all know life happens, AND if something news worthy comes up and doesn't relate to topic that won't stop me from somehow finding a way to put it in. Before I start the challenge of day one I want to give an update on whats been going on. I really can't believe summer is coming to an end. Ours was one of the most boring I can remember in a long time and a little interesting. Paul did summer school again so we didn't get to take our trip yet. We are planning on that for fall break. In June I got sick and ended up with kidney stones. It was also my first trip to the ER and Urgent Care, followed by 2 extra trips to the doctor. We also had a visit from my dad and his girlfriend. July brought me a new job. I got a month off before I actually started. I now work at Granger Medical Sleep Clinic. I enjoy it there and have been able to meet some awesome people. Paul finished summer semester with a 101% and now has a GPA of 3.97 something or other. I'm very proud of him and his hard work.

Day One of the challenge is to post 15 facts about us. When I asked Paul to do his part he reminded me that we did a Random fact thing a couple of years ago. When I looked at what we wrote down, most of it was the same stuff from that post. I know those of you who read this know us and all, but I thought I'd kind of change this around and introduce us again or whatever.
It also said to post a current picture of us. We had our pics done in July and this is a preview of it before I get my real copies back.

Paul and Kelci Gardiner: Our Story
Paul and I met our JR. year of Highschool. We had first period English together. I kind of had a crush on him but never said anything. I had a couple of crushes back then and one of them was known and I hate when people know things when I don't want them too, so I decided not to say anything about this one. Plus we had different groups of friends and all that stuff. Trust me that should never matter. Anyways near the end of the year he came up and asked me to smile because he saw me smile once and thought it was a great smile. I loved that he was easy to talk too. Come to find out years later he had a crush on me too. That was the end of JR. year. We had tried to get together to hang out that summer before I went to my dads but it just never worked out. Sr. Year I had work release and only two classes a day. I never really saw him. We actually saw each other at Sr. Dinner dance and talked forever and he FINALLY asked me to dance. I know I could have, but honestly that night I was determined to not ask anyone to dance. They had to ask me. I'm glad he kind of got a clue, much later on. :) After graduation we kind of stayed in touch that summer while I was gone. I came home and we started dating, even though at the time we were going to different colleges. We have been married for a little over six years. I work full time. Paul works full time and goes to school full time. I'm so excited because now he can start applying for grad school. He will have his bachelors in the Spring. I'm excited to see where life will take us. This will also (hopefully) get us a step closer to starting our family. We love to travel. We love cruises and going to DISNEYLAND. Paul likes to play video games to wind down, I like hot bubble baths and reading. Shopping is my therapy. We are U fans. (BYU to when not playing each other) I'm more the sports fan. I could prob go on and on now that i've started writing. I'll just stop here. Have a great night!

link to pics

2011-08-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hello! We recently had our pics done. Here is the link. Go check them out!

www.mardelphotography.net/Photography/Kelci-Gardiner/18403611_4wrCnx/

I'm having a hard time trying to decide what to order. Let me know your faves! Thanks.

July's Highlights

2011-07-27T14:22:00.000-07:00

Some of these may not fall under highlights, but I just wanted to share some things that have been going on this last month. I may or may not have mentioned these in recent posts, but this is kind of my reminder what we did and this was basically our month.

We celebrated the 4th of July as a weekend event. My mother-in-laws b-day is the 3rd so we did a family bbq on the 2nd and went to lunch with her on the 4th. We also had a bbq at my moms and Paul and I went to the West Jordan Firework show. We had never been to that one. It was fun. We also watched fireworks on the hill at my mom's house on the 2nd. I love the 4th of July. I love all the fireworks and am glad that they let them go pretty much through the 26th thanks to Pioneer day too.

My brother turned 21. We had a big dinner for him. It was a fun night.

I ended up back at the doctors. Luckily I didn't have to go to the ER again. Come to find out the pain pills they gave me caused issues with the other issues I was having so when stones tried to move they couldn't. They gave me more medication and got me on the right track for treatment. I really feel like we are headed for the road of recovery. I have had two good weeks without getting sick cause of the stones. I'm so thankful to have Paul by my side. I feel bad we havn't had as good of a summer as we could.

My sister-in-law was put of bed rest for rest of her pregnancy, so I've gone to visit her. Hopefully I can put in more time for visits next month. I feel way bad. I hope she can get through the next three months. I don't want the baby to come early and him not be healthy. I can't wait to meet my new nephew though.

Paul got an A on his second test for this semester. I'm happy he is enjoying this class a lot more than he did last summer. I guess its more interesting than regular statistics.

I got a gift card from a photography place, so Paul and I had our pictures done. I can't wait to get them back. They will for sure be posted.

We celebrated Pioneer Day. I love the month of July with all the fireworks.

The biggest thing this month is I got a new job! I'm so excited. I start in August. I'll have a few weeks off that I need to find stuff to do, but I'm so looking forward to something new. It really couldn't have come at a better time. Its full time, more pay, and benefits. Paul is looking to go part time for the next two semesters of school so he can graduate next spring and we can move wherever grad school will take us. I'm trying t help out by working full time and hoping to get through school faster so eventually I don't have to work and I can be a stay at home mom. I feel like we are in the right direction for my goals and dreams to come true too! I also feel like with out clinic moving downstairs and having to combine with others it would cause problems and I would come to not like my job. I can honestly say in the years I worked at the SMART Clinic I have never once dreaded work. I hope with this new job I will feel the same.

My dad's divorce is final too! He doesn't have to put up with his CRAZY ex anymore! Hope she will leave him alone.

This pretty much sums up our July. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer.

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH!

This 4th of July was a long weekend adventure for us. Friday the 1st we went to the hill at my moms house in DayBreak and caught a show of the fireworks around the valley. I love going there for that. On Saturday we had a lunch with my Aunt who was in town and we also celebrated my mother-in-laws birthday. On the 4th we went out to lunch with Pauls family then had a BBQ with my side. We also decided to go to the West Jordan firework show. It was really cool. I love fireworks. I also loved having an extra day off from work! I took a few videos of the fireworks and can't figure out how to get them on my computer right now so i'll use them as photos. Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Family Fun

2011-07-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures
Taken at the BBQ we had at Rhett and Becky's.

Random shots of our fun.

The last weekend of June, we had some of our family from Texas in town. Unfortuantely, Paul actually had some plans that weekend and missed the visit. He had a good weekend out with the guys. At least I was able to go out and play too. We met our cousins for lunch on Friday then went to see Cars 2. I gotta tell ya that is a great movie. Later that night we went bowling and out for icecream. Saturday I met little Eli for the first time. Rhett and Becky hosted a BBQ at their house. Jill took a lot of fun pictures. I love the ones of me and my sisters-in-law. Then we added Lynette too. Notice the missing guys? Josh and Rhett were the only husbands there that night. We had so much fun though. I love when we have family come to visit. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Kelcis Update

2011-06-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update for whats been going on with me as far as having been sick for awhile. I ended up in the ER last week for what I thought had something to do with my gallbladder but it ended up being kidney stones. I have been sick the last couple of weekends but havn't wanted to do anything about it. I just thought it was stress and what not. Plus it would always go away and it only came on the weekends. I found that odd, especially when I can go and have a good week and work and stuff. It was just stomach pain and what not. I finally decided to go to InstaCare only to be told it was the flu. I knew it wasn't. I had sharp bursts of pain in my chest and ribcage and it made it hard to breath. You can only imagine my frustration when all the tests and labs came back normal. Then they found blood in my urine and determined with what I was facing that it was small kidney stones. They havn't passed yet, and I'm nervous about what i'll be facing. I just hope it happens soon. I'm sick of being sick over my weekend. I want to get out and have fun. I did yesterday and today I feel like I've over done it, especially since I have more pain today. I want to thank my amazing husband for all he did with all the craziness of last week. He never left my side and he put up with me be onery. I love him and couldn't have asked for a better husband. His patience is amazing and I don't know what I would do without him.

Fridays and Summertime

2011-06-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

I am SO HAPPY that its finally summer time around here! I've had a couple of great weekends along with some of the bad and scary stuff. I have officially decided that I love having Friday afternoons off, especially this time of year. Last Friday after work I went over to visit my brothers and mom. My sister and her kids were over there too. We had a fun and relaxing afternoon. My mom, sister, and I did some shopping. DayBreak has an amazing bakery so my brother and I took my niece and went and got some dessert. We also took time to play in the water. I didn't get pictures of me, but I got some cute ones of the two of them. Halle was wearing a dress and was standing right over one when it went off. That was funny. As I took my turn the wind shifted a little and got me soaked. I guess you can say that was pretty funny too. We also went and played at the park with some of my brothers friends. My favorite thing was kayaking on the lake. You can always find something to do at DayBreak. I love spending time with my family. I also love being able just to hang out and have a great day. Its a great way to start off the weekend!

CJ's Graduation and My Birthday

2011-06-05T13:25:00.001-07:00

Congrats CJ!!!

CJ Graduated from Herriman High this year. His graduation happened to be on my birthday so we had a busy day. My dad and his GF Jody came out and we had fun visiting and getting to know each other. They all went downtown on Tues. while I was at work. Josh and Meghan also came out to visit on the way to Missouri. It was fun to have everyone at our house.

On Wednesday we had a birthday/graduation lunch at Joe's Crabshack. We also celebrated Nowers b day too and they had us get up and do a Mexican Hat dance around the sombrero. Very embarrassing for me. I know the others liked it, I have to admit it was a fun lunch though.

After graduation and pictures we went back to my moms house for dessert. It was a good day. I love celebrating with my family. I'm very proud of CJ too. Hope everyone has a good June and enjoy your summer!

My personal transformation

2011-06-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

For those of you who didn't know I've been on a diet for the past five weeks. I had been feeling down about myself and decided to do something about it. I want to have good health. I want to be a young mom and have energy for children. I found a clinic that was able to help me. The diet was hard. I found that my 3rd day into it that I was craving things I wasn't allowed to eat. There were also a couple of lemonade detoxes through out the five weeks to help cleanse my body of candida. With the program I also had an appt. each week to go exercise with oxygen, do the sauna, and have a body wrap, all of which helped me to lose inches too. It was hard but i'm very proud to say I didn't cheat at all. The first pic is Easter, the day before I started and the 2nd one is at CJ's graduation the day after I was done. I lost a total of 18 lbs and 15 in on my body. I'm happy with the improvement and now that I'm aware of a lot of things I hope to continue it but also not have to have such a strict diet. It has also helped me with my happiness and also helped to boost my confidence. It really worked!

Moms Birthday

2011-06-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

This year we had a lot of things going on the last week of May and first week of June. To jump start all of the celebrations my grandma came in a couple day before my mom's birthday and my moms birthday pretty much kicked everything off. We had a birthday, Memorial weekend, my dad coming to town, my birthday, and my brothers graduation. It sure kept us busy but it was very fun. We went out to dinner for my moms birthday. It was a lot of fun even though I couldn't eat. I only had three days left on my diet and I refused to eat. These are pictures of all of us.

May 2011

2011-05-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

It seems like I should have a lot of catching up to do since its been awhile, but this month has been just another month. Some of Mays highlights in our family would include...

~ Paul finished Spring semester at the U. He finished with a 3.8 or 3.9. He had two weeks off and as of last week started summer semester. He found out he can be done by next spring so he is trying to finish up. He was also told that if he can keep his grades this high he will graduate with honors.
~ I'm actually looking forward to being able to move or have some type of adventure in our life.
~ Paul is getting ready to register for GRE and apply to grad schools. '
~ Work is going good for us. Its the time of year where things kind of slow down since we see only our DR. patients so I'll have some time off. I like it, but at the same time feel like I need more hours. I think I'll look for something part time to help with that but allowing me to keep my job. I'll see what happens, so don't quote me on that.
~ I restarted my Mary Kay business. I hope to get it going at a steady pace. It is nice to have a little more income. I had a debut and it went good.
~ With the knowledge that we are moving next year I just keep thinking we need to start saving. I'm 95% sure we will move. Paul is applying out of state. We need all we can get. He needs more than just one school for his degree. There really isn't another school here, but if he doesn't get accepted anywhere but the U we will go there just so he can finish. I'm proud of him and his hard work.
~ I have been trying to get healthier and stay healthy and tried a candida diet. It was interesting. More on that to come.
~ I think one of my favorite things this month was being able to see some very good friends of ours. They moved to South Carolina last year and I miss them tons. I miss our date nights. I also miss the kids. It was fun to spend some time with them while they were here.
Thats about all for now. Hope everyone had a good May. I'm so looking forward to good weather here. I can't wait for Spring/Summer.

Easter 2011

2011-04-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

Easter with the Clarks

Paul and I with Aunt Norma and Uncle Ray. Two of our favorite people.

Cousin Time

CHANGES

2011-04-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

About four weeks ago I started a 90-Day Transformation program with Allison Lamar. This program is for self businesses and how to become successful and many other things. For me though, this became more than something to help my Mary Kay business, this has helped me to go ahead with changes I have wanted to make in my life. For the last few months I've been thinking that at my age, I'm not quite where I planned on being. Growing up, my goals were to get married and to start a family. I wanted to have 2 by the time I was 25. I wanted to be done with my family by the time I was 30. I wanted to be a young mom. I wanted to marry somebody older than me by two years and him have an education and be done with school. Somebody who can provide for us and live happily ever after. For knowing what I want I feel i'm pretty close, but things weren't how I planned. I found my prince. We have not been able to have a family pretty easily. It still frustrates me, but I know things will work out and will also happen on the Lords time. I will become a mother no matter how my children come to me. I have an amazing husband who is currently in school and will be for a little bit. I can't wait til the day comes when I will have my marriage without school. He will and does provide but education will be a good few years. I will have my happily ever after but it will come in time. The point is I know what I wanted and even though not all has happened yet I know it will. I don't have to just sit around and wait though, I can make things happen and prepare for things. I have to admit I have been feeling a little down lately, especially when I've realized I havn't gotten everything I wanted. I don't mean to sound like a brat or anything, but there is a way I've pictured my life. I have most of it, but not all. I want to have it all. I can have a positive attitude and make things happen. I want to be able to set goals and to reach them. This is where the transformation program comes in. One of my goals is to get my Mary Kay business going again and to be able to build clientel. Allison Lamar is a wonderful example of somebody I would like to be. She joined MK at the age of 26 with a lot of debt and she went all the way and made it to the highest position you can hold within 2 1/2 years. She retired from the company at age 31 and is now a motivational speaker for women, not only those in MK but to all who owns businesses and is in direct sales and whatever else. Anyways her first week was about Goals and the 8 lanes of life. I've realized that her whole lecture that day not only related to my business but to my life. It made me really think about what and where I want to be. It talks about Spiritual life, personal life, professional life,physical life, etc. That whole lecture is what inspired me and this post. I've realized I've made a lot of changes and i'm about to make more. I don't want negativity in my life. I don't want people who don't respect marriage and friendship in my life. At the risk of sounding like a brat again I will get rid of people and things that make me feel uncomfortable and won't put up with things that bring me down. I mentioned earlier that I have felt down, to get rid of it I've found a program that will help me detox the body of candida, lose weight and keep it off, and get more energy. I'll need the energy to keep up with kids. I hope this program works. I officially start Monday, but I haven't had any pop in a week in a half. Thats good for me. This transformation has caused me to really look into my goals more and has given me the chance to fix things so I can be happy. I'm really looking forward to it.

Busy Week

2011-04-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

This week has been a busy week for us. Even though I never came straight home or got a night off til Friday night I had an awesome week. It is ALWAYS fun when we have family in town and birthdays to celebrate, but I don't think you need an excuse to have fun. My Uncle Chuck and his family came into town on Monday night and were supposed to spend a couple of days with us, but it ended up being more. They had quite a trip. They saved to be able to come for Spring Break and on the way here the car breaks down. They barely made it to my moms. On top of that my cousin had a toothache and ended up going to my mom's office and the tooth was messed up and something was going on that they had to pull it. Nothing ever goes right for them. Last time one of my cousins had to get stitches while visiting.At least it doesn't get them down and ruin the trip. It was great for us though to have a few extra days with them. We had a big family dinner for a few nights and we also went to AirBorne. Airborne is a trampoline place. It was so much fun. I loved the pit. I was scared at first, but it was my favorite. I have never been the best at tricks on trampolines so my plan was to just go and jump. I didn't know I shouldn't wear my socks. I jumped to the end, didn't feel like I was high enough so I stopped (which is something I shouldn't have done) and took a couple more bounces got ready to jump in pit, lost footing and slipped. That made me go face first in the pit. It was fun though. The best part was my mom belly flopped in the pit her first time. Paul was amazing and did a flip as he lost his footing. After that was the time my brother decided to tell us its because we were wearing socks. I think we were entertainment for their friends that were there. We also celebrated JJ's 24th birthday this week. We went to Ole Spaghetti Factory. It was fun to go out with his family too. He has a great family. Sarah is very lucky. Last night I had a girls night with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. It was fun. I love when I have busy weeks, especially when they are memorable.

Six Years

2011-04-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

Six years ago last Friday I married the love of my life. Paul has been my best friend, a wonderful companion, and the most amazing guy ever! I'm so glad he is by my side and my eternal companion. We have been through a lot and I love him and am very lucky to have him. It seems like we try to out do each anniversary. Its fun, but expensive. This year we decided to stay home and have a weekend to ourselves. We turned off the phones and spent all of our time together. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Timpanyakis on Friday. Saturday we went to dinner and Desert Star Theater. We saw Beverly Hillbillies 90210. It was funny. I love just spending any time I get with him, especially lately as he is finishing school and stuff. I'm just thankful to have him in my life. I'm glad to have him Forever!

WHAT a weekend

2011-04-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend was one of the best i've had in a long time. I was able to relax, and not dread anything coming up. There is a story to that but its more for a journal than a blog. Its a good thing I love my family since we spent it mostly with them. I was able to enjoy the What A Woman Wants show with my mom and sister (and her kids) on Friday afternoon. It was fun to go with my family. They had a lot of cool stuff and I came home from a great shopping trip. I always love going to that expo when it comes to Sandy. Hopefully one day I can have a MK booth there. The rest of the weekend was pretty much spent with Pauls family. His parents took us out to dinner on Saturday. It was nice to visit and relax with them. A few weird things did happen, but I won't go into too much detail, in the end though I just could not relax. Paul and I did a movie night after dinner at home. I love relaxing with my husband. Sunday we went to Drako's blessing. Afterward Rachael and Josh had a luncheon at their home. It was fun to be with most of the family. Drako was so cute. I have had a ton on my mind lately and today has not been any different. I know this doesn't really include the weekend, but oh well. Today is my brother Hayden's 27th Birthday. He passed away 6 1/2 years ago. I miss him tons. I'm so thankful to have had a wonderful brother. It may not always have been the best, but I'm glad he was part of my life. One of the last memories I have of him is telling me He loves me and thanks for being a good sister. I will never forget that and am thankful that was one of the last conversations we had. Its a good memory to have. I love you Hayden. RIP

Always There

2011-04-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

My Wonderful Family

My AMAZING siblings with our dad

Most AMAZING husband EVER!

Paul's Wonderful family, and best in-laws ever!

Friends will come and go, but your family will always be there for you!

NO MATTER WHAT!

Even if our family is " full of nuts" they will always be there for us. I just wanted to let my family know how much I love and appreciate them. I love that I always have somebody to talk too. I'm so lucky to have found Paul and to be part of the Gardiner family. I have amazing sisters and brothers. Its amazing that with how different we all are, it works. I know they will drop whatever they are doing to come help us, usually without any questions. I'm glad that they hold the priesthood too. It was amazing to see all the guys be able to be part of the setting apart of Paul's parents for their mission last year. I'm just lucky to have the love and support I feel from them. I'm also lucky to have the most AMAZING mom ever. She is a great example. I love how close my brothers and sisters are. We have so much fun together. I love how JJ and Paul fit right into the family. JJ is amazing for Sarah and has been a wonderful husband to her and they have a beautiful family. I have to add that I have the cutest nieces and nephews on both sides. I've been stressed beyond stressed lately and have really appreciated the love coming from my family.They will never leave, even if it feels like I'm pushing them away. They have been on my mind a lot and I'm so blessed to have them in my life. I have the most amazing and supportive husband ever and wonder how I got so lucky. I can't believe we are coming up on six years of marriage this week.

March Happenings

2011-03-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it will be April in the next few days! This year has been flying by. It feels like things are still the same. Not much has changed, but I thought I would do a post with some of this months highlights. In the beginning of the month we had some friends from Washington come out for a visit. We were able to get together with a group of friends and hang out with them. I think the last time we saw them was almost 2 years ago at a wedding we went too. It was nice to visit with the Sallay family. Since then they had a child and so we got to meet Nellie. I loved her. She is one of the happiest kids i've ever seen. Paul celebrated his 26th birthday this month. Last year when we were in California, or the year before (can't remember) we watched Modern Family with my grandma. Since then we have been totally hooked. It is such a good show. Since we totally missed the first season we just bought that season and have enjoyed a Modern Family Marathon over the last couple of weekends. I was lucky and was able to enjoy a long weekend one week. I had my usual one Friday off a month deal, but to add to that I also got the following Monday off. We were planning to go in late since we only had afternoon patients and I had a text saying they cancelled and not to come in. That was a bonus for me. With the extra time off, I took a day and just pampered myself. I went and had a mani/pedi. I chose spring colors hoping to force it here earlier. :) I'm so ready for spring. I also got the opportunity to use a gift card I got for Christmas and went and did a treatment at the spa. I did a body wrap. It was awesome. I highly recommend it. This month we decided to do Sealings when we went to the temple. We had an amazing experience. There was a family being sealed and they needed witnesses. There were four couples there to do sealings so they asked us all to come in. It was amazing to see this family sealed to their parents and then the siblings sealed together. They also sealed their mother to her parents. I've seen it within my family, but to be there for a family you don't even know was just as exciting and special. I'm grateful for the experience and for the reminder of eternal families. I'm so grateful that Paul and I are together for eternity. We also enjoyed some other things together this month. We went bowling and that is something we havn't done in forever. Paul kicked my butt, but it was fun. I finally learned since I can't really keep my wrist straight and I turn is as I bowl that a smaller ball does the trick for me. Paul had spring break. I don't think it was much of a break cuz of work, but atleast he wasn't married to his books for that week. We made some home made pizza. It was good to me cuz I figured out how to make a chicken alfredo pizza. It was yummy. I have spent a couple Friday afternoons with my sister, niece, and nephew. We have gone shopping and out to lunch. I love seeing them. Now we are just looking forward to Spring weather.

WE SURVIVED!

2011-03-22T21:27:00.001-07:00

I'm excited to say that we actually survived Paul's birthday week! I'm telling you I wasn't really looking forward to it. This was a huge week for him as far as school went and so we had to celebrate at the end of the week. He had a test the day before his birthday and two the day after, So he was pretty much studying on his birthday. Not that studying is anything new to him. I'm impressed with how hard he has been working this semester to keep up his grades, even if I do get upset sometimes. I just can't wait for school to be done.

Paul turned 26 this year. For his birthday we went to Hines Mansion. It is a Bed and Breakfast in Provo. We stayed in the Lodge. It was amazing. I've decided we need to get a king bed. They are huge! His sister and her husband came down with us and we had fun going shopping, eating, and hanging out. Paul and Ryan also went to a movie that night.We ate at GOODWOOD BBQ. The food was awesome and huge. I had a picture of Ryan with his food too. He got a 16 oz ( I think) steak and Paul got the ribs. I think between the four of us we could've gotten full off of two meals shared. It was yummy though.

I've taken some fun pictures of our cat and decided since she is part of our family I should post a little about her too. I have come to love this little booger.

She is very entertaining.
We have finally settled on a name. She has gone by so many, but her name is SKITTLES.
She has a love/hate relationship with water. She hates the bath, but is very curious with running water.
She loves to try to fit in any boxes or bags.
I love that she always keeps us laughing, especially when it gets too quiet around here.

That pretty much sums up our life right now! Happy 1st day of Spring!

Will it ever go away?

2011-03-14T21:41:00.000-07:00

Have you ever asked Why Me? Why is it one thing after another?

That has been the main thing on my mind lately. Just when things look like they are starting to look up something else comes along and its usually not so great. I know life isn't supposed to be easy and that things work out in the end for the best, but I'm sick of it. The biggest thing for me lately is I'm just sick of being sick. I'm really not trying to complain but this last month hasn't been the best. I immediately thought once something good happened, most good would come for the next bit. Not really the case. That's ok though. We are learning a lot along the way. I'm sick of being sick. It seems like since Paul finished his big tests last month he immediately got sick with pink eye and the illnesses just keep coming. Its not all him, its been me. I've been sick this past week and I'm one to refuse to get sick. Life is busy I have things I have to get done. Usually when I'm sick its just like a 24 hr thing. Its been over a week and I hate feeling blah. Being sick and not being able to get things done totally overwhelms me. On top of that I've had a lot on my mind on things I'm trying to sort out and I feel like its making it worst. I know things will get better, but I want it all to happen now. I'm not the most patient person. I want to actually have a good week. I want to have a positive attitude and make the best of things. I'm so grateful for the support from my husband, family, and friends along the way. I hope you all have a Happy March. I'm so looking forward to SPRING!

Valentine Boxes

2011-02-16T21:43:00.001-08:00

We had so much fun making our boxes this year that I just wanted to show the finishing product.

HAPPY VALENTINES

2011-02-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

I know this is a day late, but Happy Valentines Day! I hope everyone had a great day!I'm so thankful and lucky to have had my Valentine for the past 8 years. I can't believe it has actually been that long. Paul has been such a blessing in my life. I'm lucky to have him. This year we had a nice and relaxing celebration that is lasting through tonight. We went to dinner over the weekend so we can avoid the long waiting time just for dinner. Then on Monday we exchanged gifts and went to my mom's to a party my brothers were doing with our family and some friends. We made boxes and exchanged Valentines just like we were back in school. It was actually fun to get together and make the boxes though. Then most of us had chinese for dinner. Tonightwe are going out for massages. Paul needs one after all the studying and tests he has had this last week. I want Paul to know that I love him and don't need a holiday to prove it. I hope all of you had fun with your family and loved ones.

This month has been boring as usual, but I am proud to say that Paul found a job that is working with school schedule and we are finally going to have to stop worrying. For those who didn't know, the one he found in October didn't work out. We have been very lucky though. I'm in a rambling mood so I'm going to end this post now. Have a Great Day.

Rachaels Shower

2011-02-07T21:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law Sarah, and I threw a baby shower for Rachael. I hosted at my house, Lynette put the amazing food together, and Sarah pretty much did everything else. She did an amazing job. She decided to do a jungle themed shower and bought the cutest decorations and made way cute name tags for each of the desserts. I really wish I got more pics through the shower, but most of the ones above are near then end and when our hubby's came to help with the clean up and stuff like that.

Rachael got a lot of great stuff. She got a ton of cute clothes for Drako, an awesome wrap to hold the baby, and many things she needed that a baby should have. One of the best gifts came at the end. Before Aunt Carol passed away she had started a blanket she was going to give to Drako, unfortunatley she was unable to finish it. The kids noticed as they were cleaning out her stuff. Our cousin Kathy decided to finish it and gave it to Rachael at the shower. She wrote the sweetest card and every single person was in tears at the end. It was a sweet thing to do.
The guys going through the gifts before they start cleaning. :)

New Nephew

2011-02-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world Drako!

This was the biggest highlite for the month of January. Paul and I got a new nephew! Drako John Woodland was born on Jan. 14th to Josh and Rachael. Congrats you guys! He is super cute and super sweet. You guys make excellent parents. I'm excited to have a new baby in the family and can't wait to spoil him! ;)

January Happenings

2011-01-30T21:32:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to give a brief update of what Paul and I have been up to this past month. Things tend to stay the same for us around here. Paul started a new semester of school which is keeping him pretty busy. He also got a new job. We havn't had much luck with jobs around here for him since ARUP kind of messed things up in October by not being willing to work with him once a new semester began even though he was told otherwise. He now works at Auto RX and pretty much says its just another job. I'm just grateful we have it and have been able to survive the last five months. It gets stressful, but you learn to stick with budgets. I think we kind of took that part for granted. Its definitely a life lesson. Things have been the same for me. Just working. I'm also trying to get back into my Mary Kay. Hopefully that will work out for me. We were also able to celebrate a few birthdays with family members this month. I also had a scary thing happen with my Uncle. He is now in the hospital doing better, but at one point we thought we were going to lose him. I'm so grateful that he pulled through and the awesome Doctors at St. Marks have worked with him and finally diagnosed him and now there is a plan in action to get him on the road to recovery. Now that I actually think about the past month it has been pretty busy. Thats about all I can think of for now. I've enjoyed staying updated on everyone. Keep them coming!

2010

2011-01-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

2010 was an interesting year for us. It was probably one of the toughest we've had, but at the same time we had a lot of fun. I'm glad its over and welcome the new year but I thought i'd do a review of 2010. I don't think that sounds right but oh well.

January: Paul started his final semester at SLCC. We were able to go to a JAZZ game and even won a contest for seats in the lower bowl.

February: Everything was the same for us. Nothing new happened. Valentines day was about the only thing we did. Paul made it very special. I posted about it during that month.

March: Paul turned 25. We moved to South Jordan.

April: Paul was accepted in the U. We celebrated our 5th anniversary.

May: I finished school for medical transcription. Still looking for a job in that. I've been doing it at my clinic but we are now going to EMR. We also enjoyed a trip to Vegas with our friends.

June: I turned 25. Paul gave me BackStreet Boy tickets for my birthday. They were my group going up. My sister-in-law went to the concert with me. My dad came out for Fathers Day. It was the first one we got to spend with him in 16 years. While he was here we also went to an Eddie Money concert. So much fun.

July: We celebrated the 4th of July at the stadium of Fire with some friends. Carrie Underwood performed. It was great! This is when the year started getting a little tough. We lost Aunt Gayle this month. She is my mother-in-laws sister. My mom and I went to Draper Days to see Colin Raye in concert. He did awesome. I remember when Little Rock was a hit. He sang all his hits plus some new songs. It was cool. My cousin Josh and his wife were driving back to Iowa and did a side trip to visit us for a day. It was fun to meet Meghan and to see Josh. It had been a few years since i've seen him. This Century also came and did an acoustic set at my mom's house. It was fun to meet them and find a new band I like.

August: Paul quit his job in the last week of July. We felt like this was the best decision for him. He didn't feel he was going anywhere with it and was just getting depressed. We took action for that. I'm glad we live where we do because Paul wouldn't have had the chance to quit and take time looking for a job. We took a trip with my family to California. It was so much fun to have everyone there at the same time. We came back to a flood in our basement though. That was nasty. At least we got it taken care of quick enough. We saved the carpet. Just had to cut it out and dry it out. Paul also graduated from SLCC with his associates.

September: Paul found some temp jobs to do to help support us. They were small things but I was impressed with what he does to support us and grew to respect him more because of it. I don't think I wouldve done some of it. He has an amazing attitude about it.

October: I went out to see my dad for a little bit. This trip wasn't one of the best. My step mom told him right before I came that she wanted a divorce. I was there when a lot of things were happening and totally hated that part. I loved her and thought they were great together. I did enjoy seeing my family. I spent time with cousins and my grandpa and Kathy. Two weeks after I got back, my dad came here for a visit. It was fun to spend Halloween with him. Paul also got a great job offer and we took it. He was doing phlebotomy and they said they will work with his school schedule. When it came to next semester they said no way and stuff so that job didn't work out for us. Something good and better will come.

November: My little brother turned 12 and my other brother got his Eagle. We did the Court of Honor over Thanksgiving while my grandma was here with my uncle and his family. This year has been spent with a lot of family. I love my family and am thankful to have them in my life.

Dec: It really didn't seem like Christmas this year. At the beginning of the month we were offered a deal in Eagle Mt. where we would move and Paul would be a house parent. We prayed and thought a lot about it and felt it could be good for us. We met with the owner of everything and they thought we were too young. Of course I was a little disappointed cuz we are kind of deciding what we want to do as far as school and moving. We love it here but it does have its pros and cons. In the end I'm glad we didn't move. Things have happened this month that I'm glad we were around for family and stuff like that. Shortly after our family Christmas party we had another one of our aunts, another one of Lynette's sisters pass away. This was two within five months of each other. It was hard for everyone. Just like with Aunt Gayle, i'm glad Paul and I had the chance to say good bye to Aunt Carol. We also went to see the Temple lights. I love going there at Christmas time. My dad came out for Christmas. This divorce thing could be a good thing, cuz we have seen him five times this year. I have anyways and the rest of my siblings it was 4. Thats a good record for us. I hope one day he'll move out here.

I hope everyone had a good year. I'm glad it's over and I'm looking forward to new beginnings. We have already had a good January. The best news for us is Paul got another job offer. He is looking into it, but as of now it looks like he will start next week. They are just working a few details out. I hope it turns out. Keep your fingers crossed.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas 2010

Fun Times

2010-12-19T21:57:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

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

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2010-11-30T22:32:00.001-08:00

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!

2010-11-27T11:34:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-20T20:45:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Disasters

2010-08-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

What happens when you come home from a nice, relaxing, much needed vacation?

Your basement apartment is flooded!!

No JOKE! Paul and I arrived home late last night completely relaxed and ALMOST ready to get back to life and we came home to a flood. Thanks a lot storm from Wednesday night. I'm now stressed and already needing a new vacation. Welcome Home, my butt.

California Part 1

2010-08-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

I decided since I have a little bit of time right now, I will update you on whats going on with us Gardiners. The time has come where we have been finally able to take a much needed vacation this year. We have been enjoying some R and R (most of the time) in California since the 10th of this month. We usually go on vacation in May, but this year since my mom wanted the whole family there at once we waited until now, Paul was smart and took advantage of that time and did summer school, completed his Associate program, and will now be able to start the U in the fall. I didn't bring my cord to upload our pics, so they will be posted as soon as I have a chance once we are home. I'll give a brief update or at least try to of some of our highlights. We got here late Tuesday night and enjoyed being able to see grandma for a couple of hours. Wednesday we got up early and went and spent the day at NewPort Beach. Some of my cousins came with us. This trip had a lot of FIRSTS. This was my niece's first time here and it was so much fun to spend it with her. This was Halle's first trip and first visit to the beach. My cousin Aubrey loved Paul and wanted to play with him. They were out in the water forever jumping waves and just having a good time. Paul was chasing after her and got stung by a bee. That was a FIRST for him. We had a lunch and just had fun and enjoyed each others company. Thursday was DisneyLand! I loved being able to be there with Halle. We did some rides that Paul and I havn't done in years. Because we spent more of our time with the family Paul and I went back on Tuesday after my family had left. We did all of our rides and Paul finally was able to get his picture with Tigger. We also saw Aladin at California Adventures. That was one of my highlights. They put a great show together. Friday, we celebrated my cousin Porter's 4th birthday at Chuckee Cheese. They put a cool party together for the kids. Saturday was spent at Laguna Beach. The water was freakin cold. We also got to go see our cousin Katie. She is doing a lot better than earlier this summer. We were able to take a family picture and have all the grandkids and great grandkids together for the first time. My grandma loved that. We also went to Balboa for frozen bananas. They are my favorite. My family left Sunday and that left Paul and I here to have some more vacation time here. We lounged on Sunday. Monday, my grandma let us take her car and we went to Downtown Disney. Wednesday we just lounged around since we stay at DisneyLand til closing. We didn't get home til 1:30. Today we went to San Juan Capistrano mission. It is so fun to go and do that tour. Its a lot of history. This summer they had a Zorro exhibit and Paul loved it. I did too. My cousin Garrett went with us then we went to lunch at Rubys. I love coming here and spending time with my family. Its been super hot here and thats something I'm not that use too. Of course we have grandma's pool but that water is too cold. Its so fun though, i'm sad this trip is coming to an end. At least I'll be able to post the pics. Hope everyone had a good summer.

Goodbye SLCC, Hello U

2010-08-10T09:45:00.000-07:00

CONGRATS PAUL!

Paul has officially graduated with 2 Associates and is FINALLY done with SLCC. YAY!!! I'm glad we can finally say that. We were a little worried this semester as he was finishing statistics. That class officially kicked his butt. I'm proud of him for enduring it and passing it. He has studied very hard this summer and has literally had no free time. I've been super bored with that. Congrats Paul. I'm excited that we can move on to the next part and that you can start the U in the fall. We finally have time to enjoy some of our summer. So whats next for us???.... A trip to CALIFORNIA!!

New Look

2010-08-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

This is my new look. I recently put more blonde in my hair and am loving it. Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law Becky!

Surprise Visit

2010-07-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of days before the 24th we got an email from my cousin Josh saying that he and his wife Meghan were driving back to Iowa and wanted to come see us. This was a fun surprise. It had been a few years since i've seen him. Josh got married on the 17th and I was bummed to miss his wedding. Josh and Meghan made a quick visit over the weekend. It was fun to see them. These are just some quick pics of their visit.

We spent the day hanging out at my moms. We had a nice BBQ over there. We took the dogs for a walk and went to the park. It was fun to meet Meghan and to just catch up. I love how they decorated their trailer.

Even though the visit was short it was fun to see them. We hope to see you guys soon.

JULY 24th

2010-07-31T09:49:00.001-07:00

For the 24th of July weekend we had a family BBQ at our house with the Gardiner side. We also celebrated Grandma Gardiner's 85th Birthday. It was extra fun to have Duane and Trudy here from Texas. IT was a great day! Very hot too!

These pictures are from the BBQ and birthday party of just everybody hanging out and visiting. We don't have pics of the food but it was all very yummy! Uncle Duane did handled the BBQ.

We had a guest a few days before and the air matress was still up. The kids loved it. My favorite pic is of Aunt Sarah, Aunt Rachael, and Uncle Paul with Presley. Pres loved bouncing on it.

I bought the each of the older nieces and nephews their own seal for when they come over and go swimming. I gave Payton and MaClain theres at the BBQ. I think they had more fun with them in the yard than in the pool. They raced them and just hung out. It was cute.

New Toy

2010-07-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

New Summer Toy

The next couple of posts are going to be fun things that have happened this summer. They may be out of order, but thats ok. I'm still trying to get all my pictures uploaded. Mary and Ryan decided to buy a pool this summer. This is where i've spent a lot of my weekends. We have already enjoyed family bbq's and swimming parties. I don't have many pics. but these are just a couple. The first one is of me with Halle and Jack. I love spending time with them. Jack is finally starting to like the water. At least now he will be ready for Cali. The other one is of Me with my brothers and friend Nowers. We were all kind of just messing around. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and staying cool... we sure are!

This Century

2010-07-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

This Century

Last Wednesday, July 14th I was lucky enough to enjoy a concert with my family. I am now in love with the group This Century. My brother was able to set up an acoustic set by them at my moms house. This Century is a light punk music group. Right now they are traveling with the Maine. I'm really into country, so I'm not sure who all the groups are that my brothers are into, but this group is AMAZING. They do home shows on their off days. This was a fun opportunity for us. I love their music. I wish I could post a few recordings but I can't figure out how. If you want to listen to them you can find them on facebook and myspace. These are some of the pics I took. They are really nice guys. They came and hung out at my moms and had a bbq with us and then did a set for us. After that they hung out and signed autographs and also took pics with all of us. It was such a fun night. Thanks mom for letting CJ have the show there.

Joel Kanitz-Vocals

Sean Silverman-Guitar (I really hope I got the brothers right)

Alex Silverman - Bass

Hunter and Jack chilin to the music

The Performance

Me with the group. Ryan Gose is also a member of the group. He's the drummer so he didn't perform. They are all great guys!

CJ and the band

They really liked Halle and Jack. This pic is too cute to pass up. Too bad Jack wasn't looking.

This is a group picture of most everyone who came. It was such a fun night! Yay for new music!

Family, Love, and Laughter

2010-07-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

This last week Heaven took one of the very Best back home. This post is in rememberance of my loving Aunt Gayle.

I feel very blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. I'm also thankful for the opportunity I had to know Aunt Gayle, my mother-in-law's sister. Gayle is has one of the MOST positive attitudes. She was always looking on the bright side and always made the worst situation into something good. No matter what trials she was going through she was always positive. She will truly be missed. I'm glad Paul and I had the opportunity to say our goodbye, its a good memory even if it is Bittersweet.

Aunt Gayle's death did bring more family together. I was finally able to meet the Aunt Norma, the Arizona sister. It was fun to get to see cousins and family that we havn't seen for awhile. It's too bad it was under these circumstances. We did take advantage of having family in town and did a girls lunch. It was fun. It was for my mother-in-law sisters and their girls. There were about 20 of us for something put together last minute and it was fun getting to know the cousins better. We went to Archibalds in Gardner Village. It was yummy, Good Food, Company, LOVE, and Laughter is the best recipe for happiness. These are a few pics of the lunch.

Sisterly Love

Lynette, Aunt Norma, and Aunt Carol

Robbie, Jeanna, and Michelle

Me and Cindy

Stacy and Sarah

Becky and Maco

Lorena and Ileah

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

2010-07-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

I probably say this every year, but this year was one of the best 4th of July holidays ever! Since it happened to fall over the weekend we had a 3 day celebration. On Saturday we were able to go to Stadium of Fire with some of our friends. Carrie Underwood was amazing! I'm so glad Danny was able to get tickets for us. When I thought about going it was already sold out. Not only did Carrie Underwood perform, but there was also a few other groups. It seems like the others were kind of rushed so Carrie can do an actual concert, but honestly i'm glad, because I was there to see Carrie Underwood since she's not scheduled here on her tour. The 5 Browns performed a song. They are a local family who are amazing pianists. They did a good job. We also heard a song from Jenny Baker, she plays the violin. The Osmond 2nd Generation did one song but it was a medley. The medley was pretty much dedicated to the scouts who just earned their eagles. There was a fly by from the airforce. I'm still trying to decide which was better, Carrie or the Fireworks. Stadium of Fire is known for the firework show! It was amazing!

Sunday the 4th we had a dinner with my mom and family. We had a bonfire that night and made yummy s'mores. We also did a few fireworks. It was funny, my 8th month old nephew loved the fireworks and my 3 1/2 year old niece was scared. I think the noise scared her most. It was fun doing them with my brothers and sister.

I really wish I had pictures of that night. Oh well.

Monday my sister-in-law, Mary and her hubby Ryan hosted a family bbq at the house. We went swimming and had a yummy dinner. I was still fried from Friday so I didn't really get in the pool this time, but it was still fun. Great food, family, and fireworks. I love holidays! Hope everyone has a good July!

Our Life

2010-06-29T17:02:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

I thought this would be something fun and different to post. I got a deal off of facebook for a free photobook from shutterfly. I only had to pay shipping, so I totally took advantage of it. Since I was new to it I just took a whole bunch of pictures from the first 5 years of our life together. These are just some things we've done. Most of these are just last year, but a few of them date back from 2007. Feel free to look through this. It kind of got addicting so I'm hoping I can put a DisneyLand one together of all of our trips there.

Best Birthday Present Ever!

2010-06-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

So I officially have the BEST Husband ever! I mentioned in my birthday post that Paul got me concert tickets, but I didn't say to who. Now that it has come and gone I wanted to post about it. He got me tickets to the BACKSTREET BOYS! It was one of the best concerts ever! I was totally in love with them growing up. My room was all BSB. I got every teen magazine and posters that I could. I had them all over my walls and even on my ceilings. I fell asleep to their music most nights. I have been to all of their concerts here and I'm still a fan. I still love to listen to them. I'm not obsessed like when I was younger but they will always be amazing and special to me. Getting ready for this concert brought back many memories and some highlights of concerts before. All the girls in my ward growing up loved them. We all got tickets to the first concert here. The only problem to us was that Oakcrest was the same week they came. Our YW leader told us all if we went through Thursday that she would come pick us up first thing Thursday morning and take us home to get ready. I think thats really all we could think about all week. Their first concert here was my first concert ever. My mom was 8 months pregnant with my little bro and was a great sport and went with us. The second one we had the tornado that hit SLC the day the tickets were supposed to go on sale. They postponed the tickets but not the concert, Thanksgoodness! Luckily they didn't cancel the concert. The Delta Center was hit during the tornado. This last concert is special to me because my husband was kind enough to get the tickets and to even think about going with me. Unfortunately for me he couldn't get work off, thats ok though cuz I went with Rachael, my sister-in-law, who is also a fan so I'm sure she enjoyed it more than Paul would've. They opened with Backstreets Back and oh man could they dance. I loved it. I loved the dancing more. Thanks Paul for the tickets! I love you!

Best Fathers Day Ever!

2010-06-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

This summer has been super busy, but really fun. I just wanted to share one of my favorite things that happened this month. My dad came back for a visit. The best part was that he came for a long weekend over Fathers Day! That was very special to not only me, but to my brothers and sister because this was the first one we all got to spend with him in 16 years. When my parents divorced we went back to visit in summers but it was usually July by then. We had such a good time with him. He got here late Wednesday night and stayed til Tues. morning. It was fun to just be able to hang out and relax with him. We also went shopping and out to eat. One of my favorite things we did was go to the Eddie Money Concert. It was really fun. Fathers Day was a relaxing day for us, but it was great to spend it with dad. We spent some of the time taking pictures with him at the lake. Here are a few of my favorites that we took with my camera. He has the better ones and will hopefully send them soon. I'm glad some of them turned out. It was a very windy day and you can totally tell.

All of us kids

Pappa Joe with Halle and Jackson

Me with my 2 Most FAVORITE guys

Family Pics Daybreak 2010

2010-06-22T13:59:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

I'm

2010-06-18T08:59:00.000-07:00

BLONDE!

This may be a very random post, but I just thought i'd let everyone know that I now have blonde highlights now. It's really not news since I did it over a month ago, but I find it very funny that people are still shocked when they find out. I guess I didn't spread the news. Oh well. Its just been funny since we've had a lot of company this past month from out of town and they see me the first time. I like it and will continue to put more in for as long as I can with out getting bored of it.

WEEK LONG BIRTHDAY

2010-06-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

Week Long Birthday... Now thats something I could totally live with. I had an amazing birthday this year thanks to my wonderful friends and family and especially my amazing husband. I come from a family who loves to drag birthdays out as long as they can. Personally, I was never really into it, but I can see where its fun to celebrate for a week or however long you can get away with dragging it on. This past week was way fun for me, and I loved that there was something going on most everynight/day in celebration for my birthday. My husband SPOILED me and I loved it. Its nice to be spoiled. We started out with dinner with my husband's side of the family on Sat. night, where it kind of turned in a celebration of mine and my niece's birthday. We share the same birthday and she just turned one! HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESLEY! Sunday night my mom had the family birthday dinner. I was spoiled by my sister and brothers. and my mom too! Monday was Labor Day and my hubby took me shopping then we went to Anniversary Inn that night. We stayed in the Twilight Meadows room. It was awesome. I love that place. I'm slowly but surely getting rooms crossed off my list. On Tuesday, My actual birthday my sister-in-law and brother-in-law took me out to dinner. Then we hung out and watched a movie and my husband surprised me by bringing home a coldstone icecream cake. He also gave me some great gifts too. I had to go back to work on Wednesday, kind of sad since I had a 5 day weekend so I guess I shouldn't complain. I went to work and found a bag with a nice water bottle and visa gift card and was also suprised with a box of chocolate covered strawberries. I went to visit my mom in law and sister in law on Friday and my sister in law surprised me with a season of Punky Brewster! I was so excited. I've been wanting to find that show. I loved it when I was younger. Totally 80's but so fun. Saturday we went to 7 Peaks water park! I love water parks. We went as a birthday thing for me and met up with some of our friends there. It was an amazing week! I feel so blessed and lucky to have such wonderful people in my life. I'm so lucky to have Paul. He's an amazing husband and I'm so thankful to have him in my life. He's also great at spoiling me! Doesn't hurt. Hope everyone has an AMAZING Summer!

VEGAS

2010-05-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

May Happenings

2010-05-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

My next couple of posts are out of order. Sorry. I havn't done that great with keeping up this month. No worries though, not too much is going on. It has been an interesting month though. Here are a couple highlights of our month.

We spent Mother's day with both of our moms. We went to church with my mom and spent the afternoon with her before heading over to my mother in laws for dinner. It was actually great weather that day too.

The week after school got out we took a trip to Vegas with our friends. It was so much fun. Since I'm just displaying pics here are a few highlights from our trip. We stayed at the Tahiti right off of the strip. We shared a 2 bedroom suite with some friends. Danny cooked dinner and breakfast for us most of the time we were there. We did a lot of walking and shopping and sightseeing. Paul had never been to Vegas so this was a first for him. Paul and Danny went on the New York New York rollercoaster. We also went to the shark reef aquarium, M&M store, and Coca-Cola factory. Besides going on vacation with some great friends, my favorite part was going to see the Blue Man show. It was amazing!

I've also enjoyed some time getting together with an old friend for lunch one day. We seriously took 2 1/2 hours just for lunch. It was way fun though.

I'm so looking forward to this week, even if the week started off with crappy weather. Can you believe its snowing in May? It sucks. Anyways my uncle is here for training this week. He came in last night and brought an awesome surprise. My grandma came with him! Nobody knew and so when we got there last night they had her hiding in the bathroom. My mom asked me to go grab a candle and as I opened the door my grandma was standing right there. It totally scared me, but its a great surprise. It's fun too cuz she will be here for my mom's birthday.

I hope everyone is having a great May!

School Update

2010-05-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to announce that I'm OFFICIALLY done with school! I will be able to register to take the state test in the next couple of days. I have to wait til I get authorization back to actually go take it so it will be a couple of weeks, but I can't tell you how much relief has been lifted off my shoulders to just have completed school.

Paul is also coming to the end of the semester. He has 2 finals down and one more to go. He is listed as a graduate for the commencement for this Friday May 7th and has decided not to walk. He wants to wait til he has his Doctorate to actually walk. He is graduating with two associates, one in Psychology and the other in Sociology. He will be completing his last two classes during summer semester then off to a new chapter in our lives.

This is the big and exciting news in our lives right now. We are actually going to to to VEGAS next week to celebrate! YAY for Spring and finishing school! :)

Paul's Big News!

2010-04-23T09:40:00.000-07:00

This fall Paul will start his Bachelor program at the University of Utah. It seems like we have been waiting for this forever. I'm so excited for him! It also means he is one step closer to being done with school. Thats still a long time coming but whatever. I'm proud of him and happy we are moving on to the next step. He is definitely a hard worker. CONGRATULATIONS!

CELEBRATIONS

2010-04-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

I just want to say that I had an amazing weekend. It started off just right with going out to lunch with a friend that I've only seen a couple of times since middle school. I love getting together and catching up with old friends.
Saturday Paul and I went to Logan to celebrate our anniversary. I just have to say that I have the most amazing husband ever and am so grateful to have found him. We got a room at Anniversary Inn. That is one of our favorite places to go when we need a quick get away. We stayed in the La Hacienda. It was huge, colorful, and quiet. The room had a intelli Gel king size bed. I don't think i've ever slept better. We also had a nice tub and huge shower. The jets in the bath had a light show. It was cool. We also went to the Blue Bird for dinner. We love that place. We were sad to go home, but we had one more thing to celebrate. We had a birthday dinner for my Brother-in-law at my moms house. His actual birthday is today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JJ! I'm glad you are part of our family. Thanks for making Sarah happy and for being such a great father to your children. Life is great and I'm glad that we were able to have a fun weekend.

5 years...

2010-04-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY PAUL!

I love you! Thanks for being an amazing husband. I look forward to the rest of ETERNITY with you. Thanks for making me happy.

Remembering Hayden

2010-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

A little over 5 1/2 years ago my brother, Hayden, passed away. Every year for his birthday, April 12th, my family gets together and does a little something to celebrate and remember him. This year I wasn't so sure on how it would turn out or if it would even happen with everybody just because of the changes that have happened this past year. I'm so glad that dad still got us all together and we were able to take time and celebrate his birthday. We usually do something kind of different every year, but the one thing that has stayed constant is our balloon thing. My dad buys a lot of balloons and we usually write little messages and just send them off to heaven. We've had some interesting ones thats for sure. This year it was pouring as we sent them off. I figured it wouldn't work, but its the thought that counts right? Anyways not all of them took off and by the time Paul and I left we counted 7 balloons that didn't even clear the street behind my parents. It was still nice though. One year we were expecting them to go the same way they have previous years and all of a sudden the wind shifted and took them another way, but it was fun to see how that transition happened. We didn't have much time but dad had cake and ice cream and invited some of his friends too. We all just kind of shared memories and my sister played a slide show then we did our balloons. Hayden was a great brother and I miss him. I'm glad we can do something to remember him by. RIP Hayden.

THANK YOU

2010-03-30T09:35:00.000-07:00

I can finally say we are in our new home. I'm so happy. Paul and I have the BEST family and friends in the world! I just want to thank you all so much for helping us move this weekend. We really appreciate your help and want to express how grateful we are for each of you in our lives. Everything you did for us has not gone unnoticed and you guys all helped to make the move go by quickly. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We love you all.

Moving Day

2010-03-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

It's finally here! Moving day is upon us and now I have mixed emotions. This has been my home for 5 years. It's been a great apartment for us, but I need change, we both do. I'm getting a little nervous though. Its nice to get a fresh start and meet new neighbors and people, but its also a little nerve wrecking. I can't tell you how excited I am though. I just hate the process. I hate packing and trying to have things organized. Its a chaotic organization. I'm interested to find out what the future holds for us. Its one step closer to our goals and dreams.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!

2010-03-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

This year is Paul's 25th birthday and I wanted to do something special. Paul woke up Tuesday morning to find a birthday bear with some concert tickets.

Unfortunately Paul had to work that day, but it totally paid off in the end. This is what he came home too.

These are some of the gifts I gave him. Included in his card and another card were certificates I made that were good to spend one night at Anniversary Inn and a show at Desert Star. As you can probably tell from the picture we went to In N Out after he got home from work. This is Paul's birthday picture. Isn't he spoiled?

So with this year being the big 2 5, I wanted to do something special and different for him. We usually go out and do something he wants to do, but its never anything too big. I think that 25 is a big birthday, so I had some planning to do. I also wanted to show Paul that I love and appreciate him. He is an amazing husband and does so much for me. Sometimes I think I take it for granted. I had asked him in advance to take off Friday the week of his birthday, so as part of his gift I booked a room for Anniversary Inn.
This weekend we celebrated his birthday. We went and stayed in Treasure Island. That is a way fun room. We also went to see the new pirate show at Desert Star. Its kind of funny that I had the room before the tickets and didn't realize that it was opening weekend of the new show, so in the end there was a theme to the celebration. He also chose to have dinner at Timpanyakis, no complaint there, cuz that is one of my favorite places. Anyways we had a fun weekend. Thank you Paul for being a great husband and for choosing me to spend eternity with. I love you.

FRIENDSHIP

2010-03-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Paul and I have been spending a lot of time with friends lately so friendship has been on my mind. I am so grateful to those friends we have in our life. Friendship is very important to me. It reminds me that i'm never alone. I know we have our families, but it's also nice to have people to call up out of the blue, to laugh with, cry with, hang out with, and the list can go on and on. With friendship being heavily on my mind lately, i've been thinking about friendships i've had through out my life. I've had so many fun memories. People come and go in our lives but I will always cherish their friendship and memories I have made with them. It's been kind of fun with little things I can think of. If I started listing some of my favorites the list can go on and on so I won't do that, but I do want to thank everyone who has been a part of my life and made me who I am today.

I have had a wonderful year making new memories with new friends.

So, with friendship being on my mind, i've been looking through quotes and pictures. I found some that have stood out to me. I thought it would be fun to add them to this post. I'm just glad to know that i'm never alone and that I will always have someboday around. I'm also thankful that I met my best friend and can spend every day of my life with him. He is so good to me. I love you Paul. I also want to wish you a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today. Thanks for being such a wonderful hubby! I'm glad to have you and to be able to spend eternity with you.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."- Anais Nin

Changes

2010-03-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! So I just wanted to update on the changes in our family. Paul and I are finally going to be able to move! I'm way excited. We are going back to South Jordan. It's about time. I would love to say we will be in our very first house that we own, but not yet... it is a house though so that will be extremely nice. It will be nice to be in a new area and get a new start. We have been married for almost five years and are still working on some of our goals. Mine being to start a family soon, now with the move it will put us a step closer. It will also be nice to have some type of change. I have been getting frusterated with our apartment and with our neighborhood. I'm ready to get out and make new friends and be in a more stable ward. Life is great and busy, but sometimes you just need some type of change and this will be ours. I'm excited for this new adventure.

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

I know its a few days late, but Happy Valentines Day. I hope everyone had a good one. I had a good one. This is the first time since we've been together that we were actually able to celebrate on the actual day. This year Paul was actually scheming a little get away. He tried to keep it a surprise but it fell through. We have some friends who have a timeshare in Midway who were kind enough to let us use it, if they could get it that weekend. Unfortuantely, that didn't work out. Thats ok though. It kind of happened last minute, so Paul came up with a great idea. He brought the hotel to me. It was sweet and romantic. We actually celebrated on Saturday. We went minature golfing. That has always been one of our favorite dates. We decided the weather was actually nice enough. It was fun. We played both courses and had the whole place to ourselves. It did start to sprinkle in the end, we figure we always get caught in the rain. Last time we were at the same golf course it started pouring. It was fun though. Paul is so sweet to me. Anyways after golfing we went to Timpanyakis (not sure of spelling). That is my favorite place to eat. They have the best fried noodles. We also went to Gardner Village just to walk around and go in some shops. When we got home, I walked in and found the house straightened up, roses on the table, and a check in greeting welcoming me to Casa De Amour. It was sweet. It was an itineray of things we would be doing and having breakfast in bed and stuff like that. He bought my favorite treats for a movie night and even let me pick the movie. Of course it was a chick flick. He is such a good sport about that, most of the time. It was a fun, sweet, and romantic Valentines. Thanks Paul for being such a great husband and for making this such a fun holiday. I'm very lucky to have you, there is never really a dull moment. I love that.

We were also lucky to have a visit from my Aunt that weekend. She was here visiting from California with some of her girlfriends and came to stay at my moms for a night. We met up with her Saturday morning, and got to go out to a fun lunch with the family. It was fun just to see her even if it was for a couple of hours.

On Sunday, we had a Valentines/Feb. birthday dinner at the in-laws. Most of the Gardiner birthdays are in the middle of Feb and go throgh the middle of March. So we got together and had a fun dinner. Its always fun to get together with the family. We got loaded with a lot of Valentines goodies. It was a fun day altogether. I hope your celebrations were fun.

I love just the feeling of being loved. It doesn't matter who from. Its nice to know that Love exists. I've got to quit rambling now. Happy Valentines!

SuperBowl 2010

2010-02-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

This year Paul and I were invited to my sister-in-law and brother-in-laws home for a small get together. We had a great time. They planned fun food, games, and company. Even though most of us were going for the Colts, me included, I was happy for the Saints. They have a great story. Overall, It was a fun game to watch.

I'm sure if they could, They would open their home to everyone. They are just those type of people, but They are kind of in the same boat as Paul and I, we just don't have enough room in our home to have a bunch of people over. We can't even fit our t whole family. This is a picture of the guests who attended.

Paul and I posing for a quick snap shot. Paul was having fun goofing off for the camera. Rachael has one of those pics on her blog.

I'm just realizing I didn't put these pictures in the order I wanted to, but this one is of Sarah. Her and Rachael planned the party for us. Sarah came up with a fun bingo game we played through out the game. She also brought a delicious Cold Stone Icecream cake.

This should have been the first picture. They didn't get any of pics of them while we were there, but this is the wonderful couple who hosted the party. Thanks Rachael and Josh for a fun time. We look forward to the next one!
I'm bummed I didn't have my camera. Thanks Rach for letting me steal some pics. They turned out great.

Legends and Traditions of Valentine's Day

2010-02-11T16:20:00.000-08:00

I found this article about Valentines Day and its history and legends and thought it would be appropriate for this time of year. I think its interesting how it came about and the many legends that Valentines Day has to offer.

A History of Valentine's Day

There are many differing sources as to the origin of Valentine's Day.

The oldest history is that St Valentine's Day falls on the Eve of Lupercalia, the Pagan Roman festival of fertility. The holiday was not dedicated to a particular god. Augustan writers speculated it might belong to a number of gods: Faunus (the Roman Pan), Inuus (the "Goer-in") and Augustus, in a fit of reform, decided it was meant to honor the god "Lupercus".

The 14th of February was the day specially set aside for love lotteries in Pagan Rome. This holiday was devoted to Juno, Queen of the Gods, and patroness of marriage, the 14th was also the day on which young girls' names were written on slips of paper and thrown into jars to be picked out by the boys. Chooser and chosen would then be partnered for the duration of the Lupercalia festival. These arbitrary pairings often resulted in lasting relationships. Later the Catholic Church substituted the names of dead saints in place of those of flesh-and-blood girls to subvert the lusty Pagan practice.

The Lupercalia began on the 15th of February with animal sacrifice and ritual flagellation. After slaughtering a goat and dog in the sacred grotto of the she-wolf who suckled the legendary founders of Rome, the young men would run through the streets whipping women and crops with the flayed hide of the goat to promote fertility. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Lupercalia, far from being restricted to Rome, was practised in other cities in Italy and Gaul.

Dating from remotest antiquity, the Lupercalia was celebrated until as late as the reign of Anastasius I in 491-518 CE. At the end of the 5th century in 498 CE Pope Galesius decided to dedicate the Eve of Lupercalia to the long-dead priest St Valentine. The lottery system was then banned as being un-Christian and the Pope did his best to make people forget about other un-Christian ideas such as fertility.

Pope Galesius choose Saint Valentine because he was martyred for refusing to give up his Christian beliefs and since he died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries; he thought this was a fitting way to turn the pagans away from celebrating Lupercalia.

Legends also state that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine".

Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him in 496 A.D. Thus, Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine.

However, the Pagan principles of the people proved irrepressible. Memories of the Roman Lupercalia combined with folkloric legends, in Britain and France, that the 14th of February marks the beginning of the mating season amongst birds allowed the people to continue celebrating Valentines Day as a day of love. The reason for this assumption is somewhat clouded, but may be related to the fact that the first songbirds in Europe which traditionally warble after a blustery winter tend to debut in mid-February. One of the earliest written examples of this belief was penned by Geoffrey Chaucer (1340/45-1400), an English poet and vintner, in his "Parliament of Fowls," the literal meaning of which is "Meeting of Birds." Chaucer's poem was penned to honor the grand wedding of Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia, which took place in January of 1382.

"For this was sent on Seynt Valentyne's day
When every foul cometh ther to choose his mate."
--Chaucer--

This custom was also recorded by Michael Drayton (1563-1631), an English poet from Warwickshire, in his poem entitled "To His Valentine" and again by Robert Herrick (1591-1674), generally considered to be the greatest of the Cavalier poets.

"Each little bird this tide
Doth chose her beloved peer,
Which constantly abide
In wedlock all the year."
--Drayton--

"Oft have I heard both youth and virgin say
Birds choose their mates, and couples too, this day;
But by their flight I never can divine,
When I shall couple with my Valentine."
--Herrick--

The oldest Valentine message in existence is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415 to his wife. He had good reason to write: he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after being captured at the Battle of Agincourt.

Je suis desja d'amour tanné
Ma tres doulce Valentinée…

--Duke of Orleans--

Valentines day messages then became a popular idea and some years later it is believed that Henry V hired John Lydgate to compose a Valentine missive to Catherine of Valois.

Over time, February 14 became the day for exchanging love letters and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers, because the Catholic Church was still attempting to eradicate all reminders of the Roman pagan holiday. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gathering or a ball.

In Great Britain during the 1700s, a very popular custom on the Eve of Valentine's Day, was for ladies to pin five bay leaves sprinkled with rose water on there pillows...one leaf pinnned to the center and one to each corner. Eggs with salt replacing the removed yokes were then consumed before retiring for the evening. Before going to sleep, the lady would recite the following little prayer:

"Good valentine, be kind to me; In dreams, let me my true love see."

If this charm worked, she would see her future husband in her dreams. English children would dress up as adults and go singing from home to home. One such verse was:

"Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine--
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine."

Another custom was for people to call out,

"Good morning, 'tis St. Valentine's Day."

The person who was succesful as saying this first was expected to receive a present.

In Wales, wooden love spoons would be carved and given as gifts. Favored decorations for the spoons were hearts, keys and keyholes...the decorations meaning "You unlock my heart!

All over Europe it was also believed that if a woman noticed a Robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If a sparrow, she would marry a poor man, but be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, it was said that her husband would be a man of great wealth.

In "The Golden Bough" written by Sir James Frazer, it is written that during a pre-Lenten celebration in the town of Épinal in the Vosges region of France, bonfires were lit and young towns folk went from door-to-door pairing-up couples who were then forced to participate in a mock marriage. Later they were required to walk arm-in-arm around the fire, these couples had to exchange gifts intended as ransom or redemption. These gifts were known as féchenots and féchenottes...or Valentines.

Gardiner Family News....

2010-02-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

IT'S OFFICIAL! My in-laws have been called to serve in a Salt Lake inner-city mission. They were officially set apart tonight. A few weeks ago at a family dinner, they announced they were wanting to serve a service mission for our church. From there, everything has happened so fast. We got the call on Saturday saying they have been called, they won't officially have the calling until Saturday when they go to the first training. They also asked if we would be able to come to see them set apart tonight. I knew I could make it. What I didn't know is if Paul could. Thats the bad part about having to work at night. Luckily, somethings still had to be taken care of so his manager was staying late so he let Paul leave for a little bit to come be part of this.
As the family gathered in the bishops office tonight, there was an overwhelming feeling of the spirit with us. To me personally, it was amazing to see all of the family together minus the grandkids for this experience for their parents. I love knowing that Families Are Forever. Sitting there tonight, I realized how lucky and thankful I am to be a part of this wonderful family. I'm thankful for the examples my in-laws are being. I can't wait for Paul and I to be able to serve a mission in the future. It was awesome that when they asked everyone who holds the priesthood and is worthy to be able to help set them apart. Every Male in our family stood up and participated.That to me, was amazing to see. I'm glad Paul was able to be there for that. I'm thankful for what Paul is to me. He is my best friend and my partner for Eternity. I'm so happy that he was able to take me through the temple. I'm anxious to be able to raise a family with him and to share Eternity with him. Experiences like tonight make you sit back and count your blessings. The Gardiner family has been a huge blessing in my life and I'm proud and happy to be a member of their family.

Silly Love Quotes...

2010-02-08T19:25:00.000-08:00

I consider myself a romantic and always have. When I was younger I use to dream about who I would date, who I would marry, what dating and love would be like, and many other things. I just loved love stories and happy endings. I always dreamed of my happily ever after. So I was looking through a journal of mine the other day and found some quotes I had put in there. These are quotes that I liked or meant something to me at the time. With Valentines Day coming up, and with it being February and the month of love, I thought I'd share some of these.

If I never met you, I wouldn't like you. If I didn't like you, I wouldn't love you. If I didn't love you, I wouldn't miss you. But I did, I do, and I will.
-- Author Unknown

Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.
-- Franklin P. Jones

Love is like an eternal flame, once it is lit, it will continue to burn for all time.
-- Kamila

Once in awhile, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale.
-- Author Unknown

This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.
-- Author Unknown

True love is like a pair of socks you gotta have two and they've gotta match.
-- Author Unknown

When you smiled you had my undivided attention. When you laughed you had my urge to laugh with you. When you cried you had my urge to hold you. When you said you loved me, you had my heart forever.
-- Author Unknown

Dance as though no one is watching you. Love as though you have never been hurt before. Sing as though no one can hear you. Live as though heaven is on earth.
-- Author Unknown

There are many more, but I'll just leave it at that. Hope all of you have a wonderful February!

2009... The good and the bad

2010-02-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

I really hope I'm not too late for this post. I saw this on my sister-in-laws blog and really liked the idea of reviewing 2009, so I'm stealing her idea. Thanks Rachael :) Anyways 2009 was quite eventful. Some things I would totally love to happen again, but some things i'm glad they are done and over with and won't happen. Here is an inside scoop to our life in 2009.

January: I totally love the start of a new year. My grandma was in town so we had a few family dinners and family get togethers. They are always fun. I didn't start this year out the best though. I had car trouble. My car was old and pretty much died on me and didn't pass safety and emissions. That was the bad news. The good news I got a new car. I now have a Honda CRV and am totally loving it. We also went to Desert Star with some really good friends of ours. We love doing date nights with Gen and Adrian. We continued to have many fun nights through out the year.

February and March: These 2 months usually go together for us. I love celebrating Valentines with Paul, but that is pretty much the only highlight of our month this year. The most eventful thing is the birthday celebrations for the Gardiner side. Most of the family have February and March birthdays. We had fun celebrating everyone's birth days. Paul's birthday is in March. We had fun going out to celebrate. This year I gave him a skydiving trip, which has yet to be used. We are planning on it for this current year. We had a lot of things happening that we were unable to go during the right season. In the beginning of February Paul did surprise me with a weekend getaway to Hines Mansion. Its a bed and breakfast in Provo. It was way fun and romantic. I love get aways with him.

April: Paul finished a semester of school. Almost done with SLCC. Yea! We also celebrated our 4th anniversary. 4 down Eternity to go! We went to Ruby Rivers for the first time. Awesome Steak!

May: We took our annual trip to California. This year we went with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. It was way fun. It was Joshs' first time at DisneyLand. It was fun to be there with them. We stayed with my grandma and went to the San Juan Capistrano mission, Balboa, more beaches, and just spent time with some of my family there. California is always a great trip.

Now for the summer months. This summer was the summer of weddings. It was fun, but kinda got exhausting. Most of them were for family members.

June: We celebrated my birthday, my brothers graduation, and 2 of my sisters got married. Three of these things happened in the first week of June. My dad came a day before my birthday which was a nice surprise for me. We went out to lunch and just got to spend the day together. I also got a new niece on my birthday. Becky and Rhett welcomed the 1st grand-daughter on the Gardiner side. My brother graduated a few days later, 2 days after that my sister got married. I was in the wedding. The next week one of my other sisters got married. June was a month full of family events. Oquirrh Temple opened. It's beautiful. We also got to have my Grandpa and Kathy stay with us for my sisters wedding. I liked having the time to get to know Kathy better. Its fun seeing her make my grandpa laugh. They are cute together and she makes him happy.

July: Mary and Ryan got married! They went through Draper Temple. It was my first time there since we missed the open house. It's beautiful and has amazing views. There sealing rooms are beautiful. We spent the 4 of July with my Aunt at her house, then we all went to Riverton to do the rides and games they had there. I think that was the first time Paul had funnel cake. Fireworks were awesome.

August: One of Paul's best friends got married in Idaho. I had only been to Idaho one other time for EFY years ago. We left early day of the wedding, and met up with some friends in Malad for lunch. We went to a ma and pa diner (forgot name) and they had the best scones. Because we got to visiting we barely made it to the temple. They got married in Idaho Falls temple. We got there a few minutes late and they still let us in. Luckily though we weren't the very last ones and they let somebody in like 15 min. after us. I didn't feel too bad. We went to the luncheon after at Katie's family's house. It was fun. The reception wasn't til the next day. We didn't know if we wanted to stay or not. They were coming a few weeks later to South Jordan so we were planning on that one. We just didn't know what we would do with our time the next day. Some other friends had decided to stay and invited us to go to Yellowstone with them. So Saturday, before the reception we went to Yellowstone. It was our first time there. Luckily, we made it on time to see Ol Faithful and get back. We also went to the melting pots and took some fun pictures. It was just a fun day altogether. We also went to the reception in South Jordan.

September: Back to school. This month I decided I wanted to go back to. I'm doing a medical transcription program and will be done in April. I can see the end coming. I have enjoyed my classes. Since Sept. Paul has finished a semester and had all A's. I'm very proud of him. He still has awhile, but it will be so worth it in the end.

October: Holidays start. I love when Halloween comes around for a couple of reasons. Paul gets very excited. Next to Christmas Halloween is his favorite. He has so much fun with it. I love when he gets all excited. And its the start of the holiday season. We had some friends over for Halloween and we learned a new game, Bang the Bullet. I highly recommend this game. Its fun with a big group. Paul and I went out and bought it and its fun but not with 2 people.

November: We did Thanksgiving with Pauls family. We went and saw New Moon. Sarah and JJ welcomed baby Jackson into the family. He is my first nephew on my side of the family. Paul and I are lucky to now have 3 nephews and 2 nieces. They are all so much fun to be around.

December: In N Out opened here in Utah. We also got together with some friends and did a holiday dinner. Danny did most of the cooking. He's in culinary school and thats awesome, cause everyone knows how much I don't like to cook. In my defense though, I do cook and I try. I'm getting better, but I still don't like it. My grandma came out for Christmas. I love when she is in town. She came for a couple of weeks. I just hope she can actually have a normal trip out here some time. While she was here, my mom had to move. Her house wasn't quite ready so she moved in with my sister for what was supposed to be a couple of weeks at most. It ended up being a month. But luckily her house is done and its beautiful. Another fun thing for me was that my stepmom gave my dad his Christmas gift early. That was a ticket to come out and spend Christmas with us this year. This was the first time he has been to Utah for christmas. We usually go see them. The last time I spent Christmas with him was my Jr. year of HS. We missed you Stacy, but thanks for sending him our way for Christmas. We also went to the Allred Christmas party this year. It was fun. I love this time of year to be able to catch up with everyone. We ended the year by having a New Years Eve party at our place. We rented the club house and played games and ate food all night. It was fun. Happy 2010 everyone!

Thats pretty much 2009 for us. I just want to say that I think we have the best family and friends ever! Thank you for being part of our lives and for all the fun times we've had with you. If I actually had the patience and time I know this post couldve been longer. Paul and I just like living life. We love spending time with our family. They are the best support group when needed. I know this year hasn't been easy and all good things, but i'm glad we don't dwell on it and look forward to the future. We love being able to go out and have fun with our friends. We enjoyed plenty of date nights alone and with friends this year too. We love you all.

Great Date

2010-01-26T17:57:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night, Paul called me from work and surprised me with tickets to the Jazz game the next night. We had such a fun time. The seats were front row in the upper bowl. It was pretty nice. We used our AppleBees gift card then got to the game a little early. As we were walking around we stopped at a couple of stands. One of them was the bear signing autographs. It was pretty cool, cause anybody who goes to the games knows how entertaining the bear is. Paul also noticed a contest going on to get lower bowl seats. We had to answer a trivia question by texting the answer, then they would call us at the end of the 1st quarter if we won. Well 6 min into the game Paul got the call and we won the lower bowl seats. It was so much fun. Better seats too! We also won some t-shirts that were wrapped up as cars and tickets to the motorcross nationals in May. After the game we met up with some friends who were there and went out to get dessert. It was just a way fun night. I'm so happy to have such a sweet hubby and to be able to do fun things together. Its been over a year since we went to a game together. I love doing different things for dates. Hopefully we can come up with more ideas. I'm also glad to be able to go to a game where the Jazz won! YAY for date nights!

January Happenings

2010-01-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

This year isn't starting off with anything special happening. This month so far has pretty much been the same old stuff. I just wanted to post this to keep you updated with whats going on. Nothing much, right now. Everything is still the same with work and school. Paul started back to school last week. He just has one more math class to go that he really needs before he can transfer. I guess he could've transferred earlier, but it would've required more math, and starting over. He just wants to get math done and over with. Who can really blame him? His plans are to complete this semester and take a summer math class and start at the U in fall. I hope everything works out for him.
As for me, things are the same. I'll be done with school in April, then hopefully I can start transcribing. I want to stay where i'm at and plan on it until we start our family. Then once we start a family I can work from home. Hope its sooner rather than later. I have enjoyed going back to school. Its more work but something to do at night. I've had some really great classes to prepare and one not so great. I'm just happy to be done with human anatomy and physiology.
Our families are doing good. My in-laws just put in their papers to serve an inner-city mission. I'm excited for them. My mom is preparing to move into her new house this weekend. It was supposed to be done a few weeks ago and she and my brothers have been living with my sister. My sister is amazing for having everyone stay there with them for so long. I wouldve too, but we definitely don't have the room.
I was able to spend time with my side of the family tonight to celebrate my sister's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH! We all went out to dinner tonight. She invited both her and her husband's family and we just had fun talking and visiting. JJ has an amazing family. I'm happy she found someone special to take care of her and who has a wonderful family. They have also included our family in so many things. Aren't families just the best? I'm starting to ramble. Hope everyone has a great night.

SMART Clinic

2010-01-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

Anybody who knows me knows that I really want to be a stay at home mom and not want to have to work. I have to say though, that with this economy and everything else going on I'm extremely thankful and lucky to have the job that I have. I'm a receptionist at the SMART Clinic in the Physical Therapy dept. and I totally love it. This is the first office I have worked for that I honestly don't have any complaints about. Even on my bad days I don't dread going to work. The people there are amazing and for the most part we all get along great. Most offices have the usual drama and back-stabbing and cliques, and anything else that goes on, but there is less of it at this office. I'm not saying our office is perfect, we still run into some issues, but they are solved quickly and its a fun environment to work in. I have to say this is my favorite job and the happiest i've been at my work place in a long time. Thank you everyone for making this such a fun office to work for! I've just been thinking today about how lucky anybody who has a job is and how thankful I am that I have one that I like. It's a blessing to not dread going to work and not being stressed at work. I've dealt with that and its not fun.

It's probably too late to post about our office Christmas party this year, but since I have this pic I thought I might mention that we had our party at Tuscany again in the same room we did last year. I think I may have posted about it. Anyways it was still a Christmas Card setting except for the snow was missing this year. It was still beautiful but the snow did add something. I'm just happy it didn't snow.

GLEE

2010-01-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

So I just found a new show that I fell in LOVE with. If you havn't seen Glee I highly recommend it. Its a fun show and I love the music. It's not everyday you find a great show. Thanks to my brothers for telling me about it. Even though some of it can be cheesy the stories/plots of the characters are something that people deal with in everyday life. It also has a great message for those who don't feel like they belong. Did I mention that I just love the music? Well I hope everyone has a great night!

New Year... New Beginnings

2010-01-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Paul explaining the game

Chris and Christina

Danny and Kirsten and Robert

David and Katie

Dave

The one thing I have to complain about this Holiday is deciding how to celebrate it. We had a lot of great choices to choose from. This year for New Years some of our friends came into town so we decided to celebrate with them and catch up. It was nice being able to get together and do that. I think we need to get together more and not just let the holiday bring everyone together. Anyways it was actually nice being home and not really having to go out.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope you have an amazing 2010! Can you believe that we are entering a new decade? Time really flies! Also want to wish Becky and Payton a Happy Birthday! Hope you guys are doing something special. Have a great night!

Pics with my dad

2009-12-29T17:30:00.000-08:00

These are just a few of the pics. we took before my dad had to go home. We had a great time with my dad being here. At least we have the memories.

Me, Dad, and Paul

Newest pic of just me and my dad

Dad and Paul

Papa Joe saying goodbye to baby Jack

Baby Jack
Can't believe how big he is getting

Halle and Papa Joe

One of Sarah's many faces :)

Johnson Family

Aunt Kelci and Halle

Just the boys

Dad and us Girls

Can't wait for your next visit Dad!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T17:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year, was very eventful. My family has had many changes this year, so I was unsure of how everything would turn out. I knew no matter what we would have a great Christmas and would be able to enjoy our time together with family and that everything would be great. I guess I was just a little unsure of what to expect. We had so many things happen that I wasn't sure what traditions we were keeping and what new things would come up. I love my family and I love the traditions we have. This year was very different, with my parents divorce and my mom moving, and having family in town. The whole month of December has just been very chaotic.
I'm not quite sure if we came up with new traditions but we had a great season. My brothers, sister, and I all went to the Allred Christmas party and were able to celebrate the season with them. It was nice to be able to get together with family we havn't seen forever. We all went out to eat, then went to Heber for the Christmas Talent Show/Program my family puts on. The kids all sing, read stories, or come up with a way to show their own talents, then they all dress up and grandpa reads the Christmas story and the kids are the nativity, then grandpa also has another Christmas story to top the night off. Its lots of fun and was great to see everyone.
Grandma Elms flew out early in the month to spend the holiday with us. It was fun having her here. Hopefully one day she'll have a normal trip out here. She was here when my mom had to move and she was a big help in that. My Aunt and Uncle and Cousins from Cali also took time to come here before Christmas. We were also able to get together with Pauls side and make our gingerbread houses. They were fun, but I get very impatient with it by the end. Paul ends up finishing it for us.
With my mom having to move and her house not being done we were unsure of where we would all be for Christmas. It ended up being spent at my sisters. It was a great day.
The thing to top off my Christmas was my dad came out here for a week to spend Christmas with us, thanks to my amazing step mom Stacy. This is the first Christmas he has been here and the last time we had Christmas with him, I was a JR. in highschool. He just left this morning. It was hard. I hate goodbyes, but i'm so glad he was here. That was an amazing gift Stacy. Thanks a lot.
With all my stress and worries Christmas wasn't too different at all. We spent most of Christmas Eve with my family, then went over to the live nativity in south jordan and drove around Pauls neighborhood to see the luminears. It was weird to see that most of the stake don't do it anymore, but Pauls home ward had them all out. It was pretty cool to see. We spent the night at his parents this year, so we wouldnt have to do more driving than necessary. We also were invited to my brother-in-laws family Christmas party on Christmas Eve. He has one of the best families I have ever met. His grandma went all out and did a nice dinner then we did a gift exchange with a game. It was way fun. Thanks for the invite Jage. We had Christmas breakfast with his family and exchanged gifts. Then we headed to my sisters and did gifts there then had a huge Christmas dinner. IT was a relaxing afternoon then we played games that night. It wasn't very unusual but it was way fun. I love my family and am grateful to have them in my life. I'm also lucky to have Paul and I couldn't ask for a better husband. I hope you all have a great New Years.

Family Pics 2009

2009-12-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

Gardiners

Moms Christmas Gift

No Room At The Inn...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Day 6: My Grandparents/ People I miss

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.If they last a life time they are the ones who truly love you unconditionally. They are angels sent from the heavens above. Cherish them and adore them as they do you.

CHRISTMAS SHOES

Gingerbread Houses

Its What Fun Is!

Day 5: 20 Reasons

Day 4: A Place We Have Been

Day 3: A Habit I Wish I Didn't Have

Day 2: Meaning behind the blogger name

Blogging Challenge Day 1: Meet the Gardiners, Our Story

link to pics

July's Highlights

Happy Birthday America!

Family Fun

Kelcis Update

Fridays and Summertime

CJ's Graduation and My Birthday

My personal transformation

Moms Birthday

May 2011

Easter 2011

CHANGES

Busy Week

Six Years

WHAT a weekend

Always There

March Happenings

WE SURVIVED!

Will it ever go away?

Valentine Boxes

HAPPY VALENTINES

Rachaels Shower

New Nephew

January Happenings

2010

Christmas 2010

Fun Times

Merry Christmas From Heaven Part 2

Merry Christmas From Heaven Part 2

Decembers Ups and Downs

Another Angel

Off To A Great Start

November Events

Birthday Fun 2

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Let The Holidays Begin!

Birthday Fun

Reflections/Blessings

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Birthday Tributes and Weekend Fun

Gardner Village

OCTOBER

September Happenings

Happy 18th CJ

Summer Recap

Farrells and Wahoos

California Part 2: PICTURES

Disasters

California Part 1

Goodbye SLCC, Hello U

New Look

Surprise Visit

JULY 24th

New Toy

This Century

Family, Love, and Laughter

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Our Life

Best Birthday Present Ever!

Best Fathers Day Ever!

Family Pics Daybreak 2010

I'm

WEEK LONG BIRTHDAY

VEGAS

May Happenings

School Update

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
If they last a life time they are the ones who truly love you unconditionally. They are angels sent from the heavens above. Cherish them and adore them as they do you.