Fun With Cousins

A couple weeks ago my cousins Keli and Shawndie drove up to Provo from Ephraim to spend Saturday with me and Michael. Keli, Shawndie, and I volunteered at Friends in Need Animal Rescue in Eagle Mountain. We had a ton of fun with the pigs, emus, ducks, and brushing out the horses.

Keli and Shawndie feeding the pygmy goats

Bonnie the Emu

Shawndie and Keli brushing Ray.

After working hard on the "ranch" we went to Porter's Place in Lehi for some GOOD food! It was one of the most entertaining meals of my life. But we'll save that story for another blog. ;)

After lunch/dinner we went back to Provo to see Michael. The four of us went to Classic Skating for some bouncy house and roller skating fun. Just take a look for yourself.

Keli climbing the wall to get to the slides.

Shawndie balancing on the "mushroom" . It's  a lot harder than it looks.

Keli had mad skills to be able to stand up.

Michael and Shawndie fighting over the "mushrom".

Keli lost her leg.

Michael back-crawling through  a tunnel.

Shawndie coming down the T-Rex slide.

Shawndie and the big T-Rex tooth.

Michael relaxing

Skating!!

We all had a lot of fun!

Our Trip to San Diego

Okay, so I haven't been very good at keeping the world up to date on the adventures of the Gardner Family of Provo, UT. I guess it's time to play a little game of catch up...again. So here's what we've been up to since my last post:

September 8-11
Michael and I flew into San Diego, CA. on Thursday for Michael's brother John's wedding. We were so excited to see the family, go to Sea World, be in the San Diego Temple for John and Amy's Sealing, and dance the night away at their reception. Boy, were we in for an adventure! 30 minutes after we landed, while picking up our rental car, all of San Diego, Orange County, parts of AZ and NM experienced a massive power outage. Gas stations, fast food restaurants, and even the Wal-Marts were closed. All the traffic lights were out and the freeway was packed in both directions as people tried to get out of the city. It honestly felt like we were in the beginning of a natural disaster or zombie apocalypse movie. We weren't able to check in at our hotel because of the power outage but, luckily, Michael's parents had already checked in at their hotel but were going to be a day late. We were able to stay the night in his parents' room. We found a small whole-in-the-wall pizza place that had a wood burning stove. By a small miracle I had $20 in cash in my wallet (I NEVER carry cash) so we were able to eat dinner. People were being turned away because they only had checks and credit cards. I will always carry cash with me from now on. The hotel room was unbelievably hot because of the lack of air conditioning. We were so happy when the power and the air came on at 3:00 am.

Here are some pictures of Michael and Bella hanging out in the hotel parking lot waiting/hoping to check in. I'm not gonna lie, the picture in the middle makes me excited to have children with this man. ;)

We went to Sea World with David, Melissa, and the kids on Friday. I LOVE Sea World!! We had such a great time seeing all the "sharks", as my nephew Ryan calls the whales and dolphins. Even though it was uncomfortably hot, I was in heaven! Orcas and dolphins are 2 of my favorite animals!! 

After Sea World we went to dinner with the whole family then rehearsed the ring ceremony. The brothers rehearsed the song they were going to sing at the reception.

Saturday was the Big Day!! We woke up with the sun and made our way to the beautiful San Diego Temple for John and Amy's Sealing. The Sealing was beautiful!

My sister-in-law Melissa and my adorable niece Bella.

My  dashing nephews Dylan and Ryan.

My Mother-in-law

David and Melissa's cute little family.

Michael and Ryan

Amy and John Gardner!

David and his adorable kids Ryan and Bella

Michael playing with Ryan

On our way to the reception David and Melissa's car go a flat tire. The boys (David and Michael) attempted to change the tire in their tuxes. Unfortunately, the tools they had didn't fit in the hubcap. Luckily there was a tire store nearby. David and Melissa took their car to get fitted with new tires and we took Ryan with us to the reception.

David's first attempt at changing the tire.

Michael stepped in to attempt .

This is Michael explaining to David that there's a size difference between the  hubcap and the tool.

David and Michael gave it one more "go".

Michael putting the tools away because they couldn't change the tire.

The Gardner Brothers singing to Amy at the reception.

After the reception we went to Sea World again with David and Melissa (and kids), Michael's parents, and his little brother Daniel.

Beluga Whale!

Feeding time!

Michael and Me with the Shamumobile.

The Shamu Show!!! I LOVE Orcas!! I want to be a trainer at Sea World some day. :)

We had to get up early Sunday morning to catch our plane back to Salt Lake. Unfortunately we over estimated the amount of time we would need and wound up waiting an hour to board our plane. The San Diego Airport had an area with rocking chairs for passengers to wait in. 

Despite the rocky start, we had a ton of fun in San Diego with the family!!

Date Night

With Michael working from 5:30-midnight every night, we haven't had many date nights in the 5 months that we've been married. We've been able to have a couple "Date Days" where we ran errands together or spent the entire day at the Temple, window shopping, having lunch and dinner out, and seeing a movie so I don't feel too terribly deprived. However, as stated in my previous blog entry, I am super excited that Michael is now working 11:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. or 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m because it gives us the ability to do things together in the evening. Not only do I get to go on dates with my husband, I also have a gym partner again. :)

Monday (Aug. 29th) was Michael's first day working in his new department and he loved it! He is so happy to have made the transfer from Customer/Tech Support to Customer Retention. Not to brag or anything but, he's pretty dang good at his job. I think I smell a promotion in the future...(Positive thinking!) To celebrate Michael's promotion and our newly freed up weeknights, I decided to take him on a date. I packed the fabulous Bed, Bath, & Beyond picnic basket my aunt gave us for our wedding, packed our sweatshirts and a blanket, and took him to watch TRON (one of his favorite movies) on the huge blowup screen the city uses to host movies in the park during the summer. It was a great fun and inexpensive date that we plan on repeating! :)

Where Has the Time Gone?

Time seems to be flying by. I honestly think I blinked and July 2nd became August 29th. In the last almost two months Michael and I have kept pretty busy. Michael and I both found ourselves taking summer classes and, between work and school, we realized we weren't getting out much. Michael's schedule was mostly to blame but my school work load contributed. Luckily, Michael just transferred to a new department so he won't be working nights anymore. I'm only slightly excited by this fact, and by slightly I mean extremely! I see a date night in my near future...

Aug 26th marked our fifth month of marriage. Once again I find myself saying: Time is flying by! We're having fun building our relationship day by day and look forward to what the future holds for our little family. We have some really exciting plans for next year and can't wait to see how everything unfolds. We'll keep you updated as our plans are set in motion. If everything goes according to plan, there will be some very exciting adventures for you to read about in the not so distant future. Wish us luck! :)

The Temple Challenge: Salt Lake

Michael and I spent a day in Salt Lake. Along with seeing Transformers 3, eating lunch at at Red Lobster, and going dancing at The Westerner, we did a session in the Salt Lake Temple. One of the many things that makes the Salt Lake Temple so special is that it is one of only 2 temples that does live sessions. It was extremely interesting and exciting to experience a live Endowment Session. I also loved how beautiful the temple is inside. The intricate hand carved molding on the ceilings and walls and the AMAZING murals in the Creation, Garden, and Telestial rooms had me mesmerized.Oh, and the Celestial room is a history lover's dream come true!

The Salt Lake Temple

The Veil

One of the beautiful sealing rooms

The Telestial Room

The Garden Room

The Celestial Room

The Creation Room

The Celestial Room

A cut away model of the Salt Lake Temple