THE INFAMOUS "TOUR de FRANCE"

The Tour de France started July 2nd and ended July 24th. It is a crazy-awesome bike race consisting of 22 teams and 198 riders pedaling about 2,143 miles with only 2 rest days!

HOLY CRAPOLA! 

They bike in rain and shine! 

I mean, it is seriously INSANE! 

For the past few weeks this tour has been on our TV constantly. Every morning before work we would turn it on and every night before bed we would turn it on. There wasn't much else that we watched or did besides the "Tour". It is always exciting to see the cyclists and their teams bike hundreds of miles in a day, day after day, to win the race around France. There were some pretty nasty falls this year that took out some cyclists, and then there were some pretty awesome stage wins! 

I am totally unsure about this year's outcome of Tour de France! 

Although I don't really mind Cadel Evans, winner in yellow, I much would have preferred Andy or Frank Schlek, the brothers who took second and third. However, anyone that beats Contador, a not so friendly cyclist or person, is a winner in my book! Overall it was another great race and I can't wait for it to start again next year!

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.  

SEVEN - POINT - FOUR

Last week I took my sweet namesake niece Julia on a hike up to Dog Lake in Millcreek Canyon.
It was such a beautiful day and it felt great to get into cooler weather and do some exploring!
We packed a little lunch equipped with PB&J sandwiches, fruit snacks, fiber one bars, string cheese and lots of water and headed out on our big adventure. We even packed a little lunch for our sidekicks Tahoe and Callie.  

After a few wrong turns later, we finally made it to the top! It took us about 2.3 miles longer to summit because I was not paying attention, but it was so pretty that we didn't even mind. Once we arrived at Dog Lake we sat down and ate our lunch while the dogs cooled off. They swam and ran all around the lake and had so much fun playing fetch in the cold water.  

After another wrong turn we finally made it down the mountain. I seriously don't know what my problem was. I have done that hike a gazillion times so how I missed the trail TWICE is beyond me!
We ended up hiking 7.4 miles and it was well worth it.
Thanks Jules for the awesome day hiking! 

IT IS ONLY A GAME, FOCKER!

This is what I told Sweets after he beat a tree trunk with his pitching wedge while mumbling profanities under his breath during his horrible round of golf!

The Story:
We had to head up to Morgan for some Church business last week and we decided we would make some good use out of the long drive. Yes, it is a long drive from where we reside! We packed the car with our golf clubs and hit up the course only playing 9 holes due to the lack of sunlight and our obligations to get home to our 2 boys. After the much proclaimed 'game of his life' a week prior at the Gardner Reunion scoring in the upper 80's, Sweets was quickly humbled on the 1st hole...and the 2nd hole...and the 3rd hole...and so on until the 8th hole! Now, I am not just talking about 1 or 2 duffs, but rather scores like 8 and 9 and then refusing to count strokes because the numbers went to high. A few lost balls or sunken balls in the pond later Sweets finally managed to pull it together at the end of the 8th and for the 9th hole. Better late than never I guess.
I on the other hand, had the most amazing golf game! I scored 3 pars (and they were legit) and the rest of my strokes were 1-2 over. I loved it. I felt horrible about Sweets, but I felt even better knowing that once again I BEAT him!
The valley was beautiful in Morgan and the rivers were flowing so high. They were over flowing into the streets in some areas.



It was a wonderful night of golf and scenery with my Sweets!
  

BONDURANT

Last week Sweets and I, along with my parents and our friends John and Kara, went to Wyoming for a few days! We spent a lot of the time working on putting the cabin back together after our flood in the winter. We fixed up the yard, hung all the paintings, organized everything into bins and designated spots and hand washed tons and tons of dishes.

The remaining time we spent having fun! We cruised into Jackson for dinner and shopping and found some great finds. (i love sales). Sweets went downhill biking in Wilson with John and Kara and had an awesome few runs. We also shot pot guts in our yard with the .22 rifle equipped with a deer scope.  

The cabin turned out great and we are so excited to head back up soon and enjoy the great outdoors! 

GET UP, STAND UP...

Stand up for your right!
Don't you just love Bob Marley?
 I do.
Summertime is the best for listening to Reggae music. I don't really know why, but I also seem to have it playing in the warm summer months. 



This year, the 4th of July was a low-key Holiday. Sweets and I spent the weekend up in Midway with both our families hanging out, reading our books, horse riding, eating, watching fireworks, swimming and playing games. Life has been busy lately, so it felt good to just relax.
I was in charge of the 'snack' table so I made up some bunches of licorice tied with scrap book paper, dipped pretzels in chocolate and added sprinkles, made confetti cupcakes with red and blue frosting (sorry no pic), and put together some fun Holiday decorations to top it off. Oh and I also set out some sparklers and snaps for the kids. They loved it!
Overall, it was a great weekend and we are so lucky to have the freedoms that we have and we honor those you have gone before us and who are now fighting for our rights of Independence!   

LIKE ALL OF YOU!

Everyone posts about the "stats" of their children, so I thought I would join in on all the fun and post the "stats" of our furry kids. 

I am the proud mother of 2 beautiful fluffy boys and all I want to do is run to my porch like Rafiki in The Lion King holding them up to the neighborhood and proclaim their awesomeness! So here it is on the scale... 

Tahoe:

(t-hoe, taj, dorkface, big guy, luffer, buddy)

4 years and 6 days

81.1 pounds

golden fur

Tahoe no longer has his double ear infection. Poor guy would scratch all day and night trying to get some sort of relief but to no avail. When I took him to get checked out last month they told me to wash his ears out every 3 days with a special soap, administer ear drops daily and give him pills morning and night. The cause of the ear infections were from his allergies (hmmm, he must get that from me)! We have followed this regiment religiously and I am happy to report that he is doing AWESOME now. The vet doctor cleared him yesterday and said he no longer needs the ear cleaning or drops. The pills, she suggested, keep them going because they will help control his allergies. 

Also, he has lost 4 pounds and he is doing better with his weight. He is no longer in the "concerned" weight category. 

He loves sleeping on Sweets side of the bed, or on our bed at night. 

He sleeps through the night.

He can sit, lay down, come and shake.

(we are still working on him rolling over)

He knows and will do 'get in the car', 'get the leash' and treats.

He has the most infectious personality and makes us laugh constantly! 

Telly:

(shi-thead, lil' guy, rascal, runny-aroundy-thingy, satan's child)

3 months and 5 days

25.8 pounds

blonde fur

Our sweet new addition is doing fabulous! After his vet doctor appointment, he has gained almost 5 pounds since last month and is growing up beautifully. He received his second round of shots and a little benadryl to help ease the pain. His check up went well and he has nothing cautious to report. 

He sleeps on my side of the bed. 

He does not sleep through the night waking about twice for whiz time and play time.

He sits and lays down on his own and not by command.

He rolls over unintentionally.

     He loves going on walks and holding Tahoe's leash in his mouth. 

He has fangs as sharp as blades and chews on everything, especially Tahoe!

He gets really really ornery when he is tired and you try to touch him. 

He is our lil' guy and we love him dearly. He is so much fun and adds a whole new flair in our home!

NUTHIN" BUT A "G" THANG!

No, I am not quoting Snoop Dogg or Dr. Dre! The "G" as in GARDNER! I am actually posting about the mega-awesome Gardner Reunion we had 2 weeks ago! I seriously love family traditions and I was raised to honor them. Every two years, the entire Gardner clan get together for a reunion and this year it happened to be in Midway. It was held from July 1st to the 2nd.

This was one hellava non-stop party complete with:
fine grilling eats thanks to Uncle Dan and Aunt nancy,
train rides,
horse rides,
a spectacular firework show arranged by 'the pyro', my Mom,
a Lincoln & Phyllis Gardner Tribute Program put together by Aunt Suzanne, 

line dancing and other sorts of dancing thanks to the great DJ Dan, 

an amazing UTAH RED (captain Uncle Greg) against BYU BLUE (captain Uncle Scott) golf tournament at Solider Hollow, 

matching family t-shirts,

great conversations, laughs, and stories made through family bonding,

smores and campfire songs around the bonfire,

boxing matches, 

running races, 

camping, 

kid-friendly games, 

and over 200 people to share the weekend with!

This was such a blast to celebrate the 100 years of Lincoln B. Gardner with his posterity. There are so many of us and our family just keeps growing! Thank you to all those who helped make this such a special family reunion. 

The sons and daughters: 

Gary, Kem, Suzanne, Dan, Phil, Greg, Scott, Rulon and Sally

p.s.

the UTAH RED team won in golf by 2 strokes! 

Way to go Sweets for the Victory!!!

HIP HIP HOORAY ...

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

We love you Tahoe!

Happy 4th Birthday!!!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Quite literally! 

Where does time go?

Time is not infinite!

Case in point of me not blogging for the past while. There is just no time. It seemingly has flown out the window and got lost. 

Not really, but I don't seem to have enough of it. 

Every night Sweets checks the clock and sighs. He complains that there is never enough time in the day to get things done. I couldn't agree more with him.

Until I find 'time' and lasso it under control to download all the gazillions of photos I have and share with you some of my 4th of July extravaganzas, here are some fun facts about where time does in fact go.

If you take 2 minutes in the morning and 2 minutes in the evening to brush your teeth, in a week that is 28 minutes. In a year it adds up to over 24 hours. That is an entire DAY devoted to brushing your teeth! 1 out of 365 days is lost to brushing your teeth! 

Imagine brushing your teeth nonstop for over 24 hours...could you do it?

Here are some other examples about where time goes...

30 minute TV show once per week = 26 hours (1+ days)

60 minute TV show once per week = 52 hours (2+ days)

10 minute shower everyday = 60 hours (2 1/2 + days)

Ask yourself: "Could I sit down and watch 26 hours straight of TV?" My answer is yes, if there were reruns of Keeping up with The Kardashians and The Real Housewives of ... (any of them will do. I love them all)! Just joking! My honest answer is NO! I couldn't do it!

It is just crazy how fast time flies and how we decide to use the time we have! 

 I am convinced that if we just prioritize better, stop procrastinating, and cut back on wasting time, then we will have more minutes in a day that add up to more days in a year to get the things done! 

For instance, if I read less this week, cleaned less this week, worked less this week, attended to my pups less this week, cooked less this week, exercised less this week, drove less this week, beautified myself less this week, and slept less this week, I could have blogged about the holiday to all of you!