THE COLORS OF FALL

Sweets and I took a scenic drive up American Fork Canyon and through the Alpine Loop into Midway over conference weekend. We listened to the wonderful and inspiring messages of our Leaders while looking at all the beauty that was created by Him.

We truly are blessed to live at this time that we do. The beauty that surrounds us is incredible and we are lucky enough to enjoy it on a daily basis. Not to mention, we have a living prophet and counselors to guide us and speak to us about the truths of our Gospel.

I love Fall and all the colors that it brings. It is happiness and watching/listening to Conference during this time makes Fall even better! 

ONE LOOOOONG PARTAY!

Last week was a full blown "Gardner" week! Between the baby blessing of my nephew Samuel, babysitting and crafting with my 3 nieces all day, a birthday celebration for my sister Kimberly, girls night out to Cheesecake Factory and shopping at Nordstrom with a combo birthday bash for my cousin Abby, family dinner at CPK and watching the Harry Potter: part 2 movie, the temple sealing of Samuel with lunch afterwards at Blue Lemon, and finally another birthday celebration for my Mother at Ruth's Chris in Park City!
WHEW!
Along with all those events, we had work everyday and we still managed to pack up and head out of town Friday. The recap of last week goes at follows:

Handsome Samuel was blessed at home in fabulous style. My sister and her husband catered the whole event with scrumptious food from Gin's Bakery and it was delicious. In total, there were about 75 people there to show support and participate in the blessing. It was such a long-awaited wonderful evening! 

My nieces and I were put in charge of the centerpieces, so the day before we headed out the stores and came up with a cute idea. We decided we would make balloon topiaries. We took galvanized buckets from Hobby lobby and filled them with foam. We then spray painted wooden sticks black and attached a foam ball on top. After pinning all the balloons into the foam (just like the Birthday Balloon Wreath that I made) we stuck it into the bucket and covered the top with orange paper shavings. The girls had fun making these and I had fun spending time with them! All in all, we made 7 topiaries! 

Please excuse the poor quality photo, it was taken with my phone. Nonetheless this awesome chick cuz turned the big 2-0 on Tuesday! Woot! Woot! All of us girls in the fam took her out to dinner followed by a little sale shopping. It was such a fun evening. We laughed, shared stories and did exactly what girls do best! This was my purchase for the evening and they are the bomb-diggity! I freakin' love them

  
Although I do not have any photos of the dinner-&-movie night, it was still a blast! Sweets and I have not been to a movie for so long. It felt good to just relax and be entertained by Harry for the last time.  

  

The Temple sealing was so amazing! Our good family friend Elder Steve Snow performed the sealing and he did an incredible job. I have never seen an actual family sealed before, so it was pretty neat. But the greatest part was that my sweet sister Kimberly asked if I would participate in the Sealing. I was so honored. I was able to hold Samuel and be at the alter with the whole family for the sealing. It was such a neat experience for me to be apart of such an important ordinance, but it was also an awesome experience for the 3 sisters of Samuel to be apart of it as well. They got to see things that children their age don't get to see. How lucky...

My sister Kimberly turned one year younger, yet again, on the 18th. We celebrated her as family and friends with cake, ice cream and cupcakes at her house. It was a great day and she deserved a great one too!

My youthful Mother also had a birthday last week on the 21st! She is an incredible Mother and I am so blessed by her example and her friendship. For her big day we headed up to Ruth's Chris in Park City for a wonderful dinner. This is an annual thing for my family and we all look forward to this occasion every year. 
Happy Birthday!


All in all, it was a perfect week! I have so much to be thankful for and I am grateful to my darling Sweets, my 2 furry - stinky kids, my awesome kick-A family, and for the gospel in my life. Without those things, I would have nothing and be nothing.  

LEARNING TO TRUST

"This life is an experience in profound trust--trust in Jesus Christ, trust in His teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5-7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience.

"To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you.

That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that comes from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love." 

- Richard G. Scott

TIMING IS EVERYTHING...

AND THEN SOME! 

TIming is good, bad, slow, fast, long, short, tearful, happy, sad, joyful, frustrating, exciting, nerve-racking, thrilling, stressful, stress-free, patient and stupid!

This is where I am right now!

I am trying to have faith in His Timing but it is beginning to take a toll on me. This is something that I have been struggling with for quite sometime now. Although I have learned this rule of thumb since I was little and am reminded of it every Sunday at Church, I somehow think that there should be an exception to His Timing, and that I could be that exception. Sadly, as time goes on, I realize that I am not!

So, after many days, weeks and months I am left here in the same place as I was before all this started... 

broken, tired, emotional and stressed!

WHY?

I have no idea, but I sure hope that I find out soon. In the meantime, I will continue on practicing my faith that He knows what truly is best for me and that He will take care of my needs at His right Timing!

VITAMIN D

Sweets and I spent the last few days with some of my family soaking up the UV Rays in Laguna California. And boy was it DELIGHTFUL! 

Laguna California 

The weather was absolutely perfect! The highs were in the mid 80's with clear sunny skies.

walk path at the Montage

We sat out in the sun and read our books all day. We were so totally lazy but that's what make it a vacation, right? I don't feel guilty, I got tons of reading done and we even found the time to burn! YIKES!

reading our books

We had some great laughs together from exercising, reading, cheering about Osama, eating wonderful meals, movies, shopping, Trader Joes etc. and it couldn't have been better. 

christian and marie

the parentals

We spent one morning at Rogers Garden and I was seriously in heaven! It was beautiful and everything smelled so good. I might have done a little damage to the CC but I am not sure. I can't remember...

decor inside one of the buildings

a tiny section of flowers among the whole massive gardens 

this place was incredible

We visited the temple and it was gorgeous. I love how it blends right in with the area and is a pink(ish) color. My dad explained to me that pretty much 99% of all the temples have a water fountain on the grounds and told me to look for this one. After a few moments of searching I told him I couldn't see it said he was bluffing. Then he pulled out his spirit-doctrine speech that always leaves me in awe and said it was the Living Christ, and that it represents the spirit of Christ flowing out of the temple to all the people in the land. His version took a good 30 minutes but you get the point. I never knew that but I am glad he told me...

newport temple with the fountain

I can't wait for the next time that we are able to go back to Laguna. It was the most perfect trip and I can't thank my parents enough for such a fun time! It truly was paradise! 

bird of paradise

EXTRAVAGANZA

It was quite the extravaganza at our home yesterday. We had twenty-two family members from both sides over for Easter dinner. It was so fun to get together with our families and enjoy such a special day with one another. 

I started off with making name cards for the place settings. Technically they aren't 'cards' but everyone had a specific seat. This is what they looked like - 

Basically, I took rolled tin foil into a ball, covered it with sculpey clay, stamped the names, baked them in the oven and then colored them in with a fine-tip pen. They all turned out SO cute! 

The Easter menu was so fun to put together. I worked hard the last couple of days to get everything prepped and ready and it all came together nicely. The menu consisted of:

- Honey Baked Ham with sweet honey mustard sauce

- Citrus Salad with Lemon vinaigrette 

- Tossed Salad with Red onion dressing

- Roasted asparagus with stemmed carrots 

- Sweet potatoes and Yams

- Rolls

- Raspberry-Lemon layered cake- Brownies- Cupcakes- Mixed Fruit - Lemon-lime water 

My very first scratch made cake EVER! It was uberly yummy.

Happy Easter. How tweet it is. Bunny cupcakes for the kiddies

Everything was really tasty and I was really happy how it all turned out. A big shout out goes to Sweets for doing so much to help get everything ready. He was a huge life-savor and I couldn't have pulled out all the cooking/cleaning/baking/setting up/gifts/decorations/etc with out him!

SPRINGTIME ANNIVERSARY

When I was little, I never loved celebrating Easter. I didn't understand it. A holiday about eggs and bunnies? And Jesus' death mixed in the middle?

WHAT?!? I mean, I wasted no time searching for the hidden decorative eggs, eating all the candy and checking out what was inside my Easter basket, but I never fully understood what Easter meant. With growing up and getting more wisdom with age (I hope) I have found a new place for Easter in my heart. Easter is not the celebration of my Savior's death like I used to think, but rather of His Resurrection. The mere fact that he was able to overcome death is the greatest gift, for He gave us our Resurrection.

 

I am so excited to celebrate Easter this year with my Sweets to reflect on our Savior, His Resurrection and the Atonement. I have been planning many fun things for the up-coming HOLYDAY (holiday) to make it special for us. Our tummies and hearts will be full by the end of the day! 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" john 3:16

S T A T I S T I C S

Sad as it is, it definitely happened and it is definitely true.
(i know this is long, but it is worth the read. I promise)

OK, so hold on to you belly (laughing uncontrollably makes it more fun when you hold your belly like Santa) and cover your mouth (partly for the gasp effect and partly for the burst-out-loud noise it will make when reading this post), because this story is funny! Slightly embarrassing actually! But still funny!

Last night our ward was to do sealings at the Draper Temple at 7. Sweets called me at 6:20 saying he was running late from work and would need to meet me there. I quickly finished getting ready, fed Tahoe, grabbed both our bags and hopped in the car.  

MISTAKE 1- I was running frantically to get out the door and to get there on time thus elevating my anxiety levels...

Just as I was coming around the corner to the temple entrance, Sweets calls me in a panic and asks if I somehow remembered to bring his pants that were hanging in the laundry room and NOT neatly folded in his temple bag. (How was I supposed to know.) My response was no. He called the temple super quick and they mentioned that had an emergency pair for him.

MISTAKE 2- I felt responsible and felt the need to fix the problem so in the mean time of his calling I was worrying about whether or not I should go back to the house and get the pants, and if I did go back, would I make it back again to the temple in time. Furthermore, this caused a heightened anxiety level which further depleted the only remaining sugar I had left in my body.  

So basically, you see where this is going. Sweets borrows an emergency pair of pants from the temple, we get dressed and start the sealing. There were a few peeps there so it was long, or at least it felt long to me. When it was our turn, Sweets made a comment of how he passed out last time to the room so we were to be on guard. As funny as that was, I looked at him and said I may be the one passing out! A few minutes later, literally about 2 minutes later, I PASSED OUT!!! I couldn't even believe it. I was overcome with sweat and heat and turned ghostly white. Before I new it I was hunched over still holding Sweets hand so I wouldn't fall backwards on the floor. He carried me to the side and a lady went and grabbed me some apple juice. While I was regaining consciousness, still shaking, she was pressure pointing my hands trying to get my blood flowing faster.

MISTAKE 3- I was a little depressed about the way my eating and dieting has gone lately that I decided to go back on the 5 day 5 ingredient challenge. So, not having too much food in my system, and still managing to exercise running 2 hours earlier, I was not adequately prepared with food for the temple. 

Once I felt better, they started back up with a new couple and believe it or not, SHE PASSED OUT!!! In the same exact spot and at the same time mind you! The room was halted again and laughter started breaking through the silence. She was carried back to the chairs and drank her apple juice. At that moment, I whispered to Sweets that it was time to go and that I needed to get some food. We broke away from the group and headed down the stairs. As I was leaving I saw the Sister who passed out after I did and she mentioned to me, "I don't know if it was not getting enough sleep, or not eating enough that made me pass out, but that has never happened before. Maybe it was watching you pass out that made me pass out"! I couldn't believe that I was, in a round about way, a potential cause of her passing out. I honestly couldn't help but chuckle at how random this all was.

MISTAKE 4- Apparently I am just so dang awesome and amazing that all people want to be like me! I never should have been a 'leader' last night and maybe then the domino effect might not have taken place. I sure hope whoever the couple was trying to get married actually did get married, because I sure as heck don't want to be yelled at on the other side! (J/K)

So you see, I became another STATISTIC last night at the Draper Temple last night!  

JUST WORDS

STRESS : a wide range of phenomena, from mild irritation to drastic dysfunction.

It comes in three steps. 

Step 1 ALARM - We were asked to speak in church this Sunday! When we got the phone call from the the 2nd counselor in the Bishopric, both our stomachs dropped to the floor. All that was left was an empty pit. We scrambled our thoughts and tried to comprehend what had just happened to us. After a sleepless night we still we in complete shock.

Step 2 RESISTANCE - We tried to come up with as many excuses as possible, but came up empty handed. A vacation, an appointment, food poisoning and a family reunion all made the list, but unfortunately, we are no good at lying. For the last year, we have managed to dodge the bullet of speaking in church, and now, it has finally caught up to us.

Step 3 EXHAUSTION - We can't run forever and we can't keep finding reasons as to why we won't be able to speak. It is truly tiresome and takes away our positive healthy energy. We are bound to speak at some point and this Sunday just so happens to be that lucky day. Our guards have been let down and our white flag is raised!  

FEAR : the ability to recognize danger and flee from it or fight. 

It is known as the Fight or Flight response.

We were both able to see the danger in speaking in church. For Sweets, it is the idea of expounding in detail and B.S.'ing long enough to cover the 15 minutes we were each given. For me, it is knowing that within the first 2 minutes, my once full-of-life body would then be lying on the floor covered in sweat and vomit. As Sweets gave in to the fight, I was still holding out for flight. Realizing that I had no where to go and no where to hide, I submitted myself and followed his example.   

ANXIETY : created feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness and dread.

Knowing that I suffer from this, I also know that I am doing the right thing. Sweets always tells me "Sometimes in life you have to do things that you just don't want to do", and he is absolutely correct. Although these definitions are "just words", so is my talk. I wrote "words" down on paper, mixed and matched them, rearranged them and twisted them into something more powerful than these words. They read something that I am proud of, and that I believe in. So why wouldn't I, or couldn't I share them with my ward family? 

This year is a new year. It is time for me to tear down my own walls with my own bare hands. I actually can't wait to speak on sunday, for I know that I will rock the pulpit! And the best part of it is, I have my best friend, husband and the love of my life there to do it with me! 

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS...

Right down Santa Claus Lane!

Sweets and I finally got some of our Christmas decorations up and we are loving it! We picked out our 11 foot tree down the street from our home on Saturday and put it together in no time. We couldn't hardly wait to get in the door before we started putting lights on it. Thanks to Sweets and his love for manly things like ladders, he hung the lights while I did the ornaments. 

I can't wait for Christmas and the joy that it brings. 

FOR ALL ETERNITY...

This morning we had the chance to witness the most beautiful and sacred thing...a wedding sealing for our great friends Eric and Kerstin in the sl temple. The ceremony was amazing and they just looked so happy and so in love.

We wish you all the best of luck and Congratulations!!

Spiritual Confirmation

What a testament of the truthfulness of our Gospel and the blessing that come from reading and studying the Book of Mormon.