Happily Ever After Girl's Camp 2011

(Sorry this is so long but this is my journal and it's the only way I can remember everything that happened!)

This week I got to go to Girl's Camp with my ward and see how they do things here in the Draper Stake. It was both a BLAST and a totally great experience for our girls and for me. I love our group of YW because they all get along and there are no "clicks". Everyone just hangs out with everyone else. Even the new little beehives hung out with the older girls. This made for an absolutely drama-free time, which is what I'm all about, so it was great! It was also fun to get to know the girls in a new environment and spend time talking to each of them. We had some serious fun! The first day we arrived to camp and began setting up our tents (yes, they use tents in Utah, not the great cabins he had in our Stake growing up). The girls were very good at setting up their own tents and clearing the weeds so they weren't sleeping on big lumps. I was very impressed. We then headed down to the stake meeting to sing some good ol' camp songs. Only one problem though--I had no idea what they were singing. Utah camp songs are so different from California camp songs. I mean, they didn't even know Granny in the Cellar!! Can you believe it?! I couldn't. There was no Malo, Malo, Malo either. It was a shame. But I did learn some of their funny songs, so it was still okay I guess. We then had a special speaker, Caralyn Buehner, talk to the girls about being happy even when live doesn't feel like you are a princess and you can still have your "Happily Ever After" even if you aren't a princess. She is the author of Fanny's Dream and other children's stories. She talked about how she came up with the story of Fanny's Dream and how it has impacted her life. It was a wonderful talk and inspired me to work harder and to "be useful" as she puts it. Back at the camp we played some pretty fun Minute-to-Win-it games. Let's just say those are way harder than I thought they'd be. Some of them were pretty easy but some I couldn't do no matter how long you gave me! haha. For dinner, we had Lasagna cooked in the Dutch oven and even won the Dutch Oven cookoff and our ward won a brand new dutch oven!! I was impressed with the prize!! It was pretty awesome. That night we had a stake meeting where the theme was introduced with fun games and obstacles. It started raining that night though so we left early and ran to our campsites to be in our tents or under the canopy to keep dry. It rained hard that night, which was a bummer, but at least it kept the girls in then tents so we new where they were! Haha! The leaders all stayed in their own tent and we were up talking later than all the girls. There is just something about getting a bunch of girls together that makes for a fun, late night, no matter what your age is!!

Wednesday we had to get up early to eat breakfast before we headed to the stake meeting where our Stake YW Counselor talked to us about overcoming trials and choosing to be happy. It was pretty cool because she actually knew Elizabeth Smart's mother and so she had Elizabeth Smart write a letter to the girls. I think that was very memorable for the girls and so it was awesome. The other thing she said that impressed me was, "A day is just a day. It is what you put in it that counts." We can always choose to be happy no matter what is going on in our lives! After this we split up and did some certification. I'm amazed at how much has stayed the same over the years. They still have the same camp book and go over the same poisonous plants and identify the same clouds. After 6 years of going, however, I still cannot do any of these things! haha. Oh well, that is why I married and Eagle Scout, right? After a review of all the plants we can eat and those we can't even touch, we headed over to welcome the 4th years back from their 4th year hike! Every year the 4th years go on a overnight backpacking hike and then hike into the camp, welcomed and congratulated by the rest of the camp. (I know what you are thinking: there is no way we could ever get the girls from Cypress Stake to go on this kind of hike. It was painful enough to hear all their whining and crying from walking the 0.2 miles to the lake every year!) But our girls are tough!!! We welcomed them with some delicous sandwiches for lunch and some fun crafts! There is nothing that says "girl's camp" more than some good girly crafts! We made adorable block letters of our initials that we painted and put cute scrapbook paper on it. They turned out really cute! After this it was Lake Time!! There are rumors that there are leeches all over the lake so I was pretty leary to go swimming. I opted for a nice canoe ride on the water and it was a miracle that we didn't get tipped over by all the little girls swimming in the lake. But I just couldn't resist when I saw how much fun the zip line over the water looked. I forgot about the leeches for a while and went sailing over the water with some of the young women. It was really fun and really cold but it was nice to get all the dirty and stink off me. I actually felt clean by the end. As we were leaving, however, I spotted some leeches just hanging out on the dock and I was totally grossed out! Like 10 of them just sitting on the dock! I thought it was all just rumors but apparently it was true! I was glad that I hadn't seen them before I got in the lake because it really was pretty fun! All the girls and I went back to camp and washed our hair in the freezing cold pump water that made our heads go numb. It was worth it though because of how clean I felt after. (In case you couldn't tell, we felt really gross without showering the whole time we were there.) After dinner we went to our skit night with the stake where our girls put on a cute little skit about choice and accountability and they made me crack up with their funny New Jersey accents and funny hair! After skits we headed back to camp to have delicious scones as our dessert. It reminded me of New Years Day at Gma Donna's and since I haven't been there for a couple of years now, it was very needed! The girls planned their skipe hunt for the new beehives. (If you don't know what skipe hunting is, I strongly urge you to go to girl's camp and find out! It's a blast! You should have seen the beehives faces! I wish I got a picture of them in pure shock It was comical!) That night we had some pretty funny times in the leader's tent. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants! I just love the young women leaders I serve with. They are great people spiritually, but man are they absolutely hilarious too! Love them! As we were laying in bed laughing and ready to go to sleep, one of our girls gets out of the tent and totally throws up. Apparently she had one too many scones that night (can you blame her though, they are so good!) That one girl being sick quickly turned into three girls being sick so we just made everyone go to sleep and by the morning, they were all fine! Sleep really can cure anything!

Thursday morning we got to sleep in a little bit later (much needed) and started breakfast at around 830. We had french toast, bacon, and some buttermilk syrup that could kick magelby's butt! (and I don't take that lightly!) We then headed to our morning devotional with the stake where we heard from a lady who is a paraplegic. She talked about being happy through all your trials. One thing she said that I really loved was this: Even though we can't hug or kiss our Heavenly Father like we can our earthly father, we can still blow him a KISS every day (Keep the commandments, Indivuality: love yourself for who you are, Sing daily, Smile). These things will show our Heavenly Father that we love him until one day we actually can give him a hug and kiss when we make it back to him. She was an inspiration and I think the girls learned a lot from her. After the devotional we had the rest of the day pretty much to ourselves as a ward. We went back to camp and had another craft day where we made cute plaques that said, "Princess, Daughter of a Heavenly King." They turned out way cute! After lunch and some more Minute-to-Win-it games, we had our lake time again. This time it was pretty overcast so none of the girls got in the water but we went canoeing again and just relaxed. It really was beautiful there. We got back to camp in time to finish making dinner and for the Bishopric to arrive for the evening festivities! We had pot roast, carrots, and cheese potatoes made in the crock pot for dinner. Our camp director is the bomb at making camping food, let me tell you!!! We headed to our last nightly devotional with the stake where they talked about going through life making the right choices so we can have our own Happily Ever After. We then went back to our camp and made a campfire, sang camp fires, and made s'mores (complete with a reese's peanut butter cup in the middle!) After we were nice and full, we began our testimony meeting. It was a great meeting and the spirit was there. I'm so grateful for the girls in our ward. They have such strong testimonies and are such good girls! I'm so grateful to serve in the YW with these wonderful girls and leaders!

Caroline, Angela, Me at camp. (Angela is going to marry Jeff, just fyi. haha)

Me, Makaylee, and Nicki hanging out at camp

Me "camping" (if you call getting a backrub camping!!) and getting my hair done by Makenna so I can look like a "hippy," as Ryan calls it!

Here is the leech-filled lake. (We are on the orange canoe.)

Jenga!

We had a fun night with Brian & Rachael (the newlyweds!) of games and wonderful ice cream cake! We started off playing Banana-grams where I actually kicked all three of their butts (first time ever that I actually won in my life!) We played the longest game of Jenga I have ever played in my life! Seriously, I thought it was going to fall over and then 10 rounds later we were still going! Unfortunately, I lost and made the whole thing come tumbling down but that just moved us on to the next round of fun: ice cream cake so really, I won!

It was a great night of welcoming Brian and Rach into the married club!! :D

Happy 24th Birthday to ME!!

Oh my, I cannot believe I am 24 already! Where is the time going?! This is just crazy.

Anyway, this year I had an amazing birthday. You see, I was supposed to work on my birthday but my friend at work was kind enough to take my shift so I wouldn't have to! Oh, it was wonderful because that meant NOT getting up at 5 in the morning on my birthday.

However, it WAS fast Sunday and I had to teach the lesson in Young Women's! (I know, total bust of a birthday kind of, but what do you do.) Because it was fast Sunday, that meant no breakfast in bed (totally stinks!) but it's okay because I got blessings, right? Haha. I pretty much spent the morning planning my lesson and waiting for my hubby to get up until I realized it was 11 and he was still asleep!! *gasp. So I had to go wake him up to remind him that it was my birthday and he was sleeping through it! Anyway, I then got ready, went to church, and taught my lesson. Then the partying began.

Ryan planned an amazing BBQ for me and it was really fun. Nate, Brooke, Gav, Lynne, Dave, Owen, Laura (Ry's aunt), and my friend Laura from nursing school and her hubby and little girl all came over for the event. We had hamburgers, bratwursts, watermelon, and most importantly a home-made ice cream cake!! Lynne really outdid herself on this one. It was so amazing!! Gotta love an ice cream cake!! After the party we played some games and I finally got Gavin to like me! (Best present ever!! haha) I had a great day! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with me!!

Yes, that really is 24 candles on that cake!!!

Dibs on top of the cake!!! So delicious!!

Rachael's Wedding

Rachael finally did it! She tied the knot! She is now Rachael Pearce! Her wedding day was perfect and she really looked gorgeous! I couldn't be happier for her! Congrats Rach!! Welcome to the Married people club!

I love when the groom can't stop looking at the bride as they walk out of the temple together. I think Ryan and I have this same picture of when we walked out of the temple! The one on the right is just a close up of her dress so you can see how gorgeous it was!

Rachael's hair was so beautiful. It was so her and so perfect with her dress and everything. Hot stuff, Rach!

The reception: First dance and Brian going for the garter. He is too shy to really go get it as you can tell by his face! What a funny boy!

Rach and I before she left! I always feel ugly standing next to gorgeous brides. She looks so pretty!

Leaving the reception with a walkway of sparklers! Congrats Rach!

California

What do you get when Andrea has 3 days off in a row? CALIFORNIA!!!

This week I had three days off in the middle of the week so my mom and I decided this would be an excellent time for me to come home and visit. It is during the week so Ryan will be at work all day and he would hardly even miss me! Especially with all the golf he had to distract him!

Tuesday morning my plane took off at 6:45 am. It was a Jetblue flight so I watched tv the whole time and the flight went by really quickly so that was nice. My mom picked me up from the airport and we headed home to have some delicious waffles. All those who have had the privilege of staying at the Whitaker Residence have tasted the delicacies that are my mom's waffles. Delicious! Then Kelli brought the kiddos over and so we all hung out at my mom's house all day. We watched Cameron walk and Cadence swing in the backyard, played in the "sandbox" that my mom has out back, and most importantly basked in the California sun! My mom and I then went to get all the equipment we needed to make jam the next day and then headed over to Cypress. We had dinner with the whole fam! Kelli, Bri, Cade, Cam, the Nance, Auntie Di, Tara, Gma Donna, Mom, and I went to my favorite restaurant: CPK. After a delicious dinner my mom and I headed home to watch whatever was on the DVR (turned out to be some chick flick that I can't even remember haha!) and have some good ole Thrifty's Cookies and Cream (one of the best parts of being in California, if you ask me!)
Wednesday was my sleep in day since I had been getting up at 5 the last 4 days and it was really wearing on me! So I slept till 9 and then up we were. We got ready and headed to Gma Donna's to make jam. Mmmm... I love making jam. Really, I love eating it but making it is fun too! We got busy smashing the berries and laughing at Grandma as she figured out her system and burned herself like a hundred times. Half way through making jam Collette brought her kiddos over and Kelli brought hers over and so it was time for a swim break. I left Gma and Mom to finish up the jam making (which they did so well) and hopped in the pool with Cade, Charlotte, and Mason. Mason is crazy, in case you didn't know, haha, and Cade just wanted me to leave her alone in her "boat". Those kids just crack me up. Tara came a little later and rescued me from my duties of pool guardian so I could lay out and again, soak up the California sun! It was a blast!
The kids went down for a nap and so I hurried over to my favorite nail salon to get a pedicure and manicure. The massages they give there are just the best and it is like 10 bucks cheaper in CA than UT. I don't get it, but whatever! After the primping we picked up some food at Portillo's (yum!) and headed home to, guess what? Watch a chick flick and eat Thrifty's ice cream. This time we watched Did You Hear About the Morgans? Which was neither awful nor wonderful. At about 10 I hit the sack so we could get a good early start the next morning shopping our hearts out! :D
Thursday we hit the road early (relatively speaking) and got to the mall basically right when it opened. Oh how I love South Coast Plaza. I miss having every store you could possibly want right there at your fingertips. We had a very successful day at Nordstrom and put a dent in the Nordstrom credit card, but that's okay, it was mother/daughter bonding time! At least that is what I tell my husband! haha. I bought some fun summer clothes and new swim suit so I was one happy girl. We headed home happy and ready to eat my Portillo's leftovers! However, we got home and discovered someone had eaten my leftovers so what did we do? We went to Portillo's again! Haha. We are such dorks. After another delicious meal, I packed and got ready to head back to poopy Utah. Brian and Kelli drove me to the airport on their way to the Temple and the flight back was really the fastest flight ever. When they told us to put our electronics away (I was listening to my IPOD the whole time) I was like, What? Why?, only to realize that we were landing. I'm a dork.
So here I am back in Utah and totally jamless (you can't carry jam on a plane-dumb TSA). It was so much fun being back in California and my only regret is that I didn't have one more day to visit the beach. I miss you beach! I'll catch you next time, which hopefully won't be in too long!
(Sorry I took no pictures while I was home so I had to resort to stealing some from Kelli's facebook page. That is why these aren't the best quality!)

Rachael's Bridal Shower

Rachael is getting married!!! This weekend we had her bridal shower. It was so much fun to throw this party together (in case you didn't know, I LOVE all things wedding!) Her friend Janet lives in the Regency in Provo and they just redid their lounge so we decided to hold it there since it was so cute and we didn't have any other place to do it. Haha. It turned out so cute though. I did all the food and party planning and Janet did the decorating. She did such a good job at decorating the place with real flowers, fun pink pom poms, and pictures of Brian and Rachael on all the walls. It was so cute, I was totally impressed!
We started off with eating all the delicious food. I made Mexican Chicken Salad that is so essential for any type of party, since that is the only time I ever make it. It was a total hit and I realized that whenever I make this I should just bring copies of the recipe because everyone wants it! I also brought watermelon, strawberries, and cantaloupe. Also, mom's homemade Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies for appetizers. Delish!!!
I'm not very in to playing games at bridal showers, but we did end up playing 2 games. One was where we had a jar of chocolate kisses that we had everyone guess how many were in it. Two people tied so they had to split the 54 kisses in the jar. The second one was the infamous "ask the groom questions about himself and quiz the bride" game. There were some funny questions and overall Rachael did really well. Every time she missed a question, she had to chew a piece of BubbleYum. She only had to chew 4 pieces of gum, so I told her I guess she could marry Brian! We talked about some funny Brian and Rachael moments and it was good to get to know how they came to be! haha
After the games we had some "better than sex cake" to top off the evening. It was pretty darn good!!! Then Rachael opened all her presents, which you can see was a BLAST!! She got some pretty good stuff so that was fun! Lastly, everyone got to take home our fun Cake Bites that Lynne, Rachael, and I made the night before! They turned out so darn cute! I was so proud that we actually made these crafty things! Maybe there is some creativity deep down inside of me!
All in all, I think our party was a HUGE success! I am so excited for Rachael and Brian to get married. I just know Rachael is going to love being married because it is really is that best. Congrats Best Wishes to you Rach! Love you so much!!!

St. George Weekend

Remember when I said I love vacations, big or small? Well I really do. This weekend was the perfect chance to do a mini-vacation. I actually had the holiday off (crazy, I know!) and it was Ry's birthday so I thought it would be fun to go somewhere. Looking at the weather report, it was supposed to rain all weekend in Draper and supposed to be sunny and warm in good old St. George! Well, that convinced me. It took a little more to convince Ryan to go--but golfing got him in! We convinced Lynne, Dave, and Owen to tag along too and we had such a fun weekend! While we were there I couldn't help but think about little Jeffrey walking around the streets of St. George as a missionary. It would have been fun if he was still there, and maybe we could catch a glimpse of him, but I'm glad he is loving it in Brazil right now instead!
I had to work Friday, so Lynne, Dave, Owen, and Ryan drove down to pick me up right after work so we could get on the road quick. I was totally worried the traffic was gonna be horrific but it ended up being totally fine! We took one car which was a little crowded but totally worth it! We had so much fun that the 4 hours to St. George just flew by! I think 3 of those 4 hours were quizing each other about Gilmore Girls. It was hard to stump Lynne but we did actually end up stumping her with a couple of questions. She is a Gilmore Girl fanatic! By the time we made it to the hotel, it was late, so we ended up just going straight to bed.
Saturday morning Ryan and I got up early and headed over to the St. George temple to do a session. I'd never been to the St. George temple so I was excited to see inside. It is such a beautiful temple. I can't believe they built that beautiful temple in 1877. My favorite part was off the celestial room there is a sealing room. I think being sealed right there next to the celestial room would be amazing. I even asked to see the bride's room after we did our session and it was so pretty too. I love looking at bride's rooms, perhaps because I love weddings so much!After the temple, the boys headed out to their golfing trip out in mesquite. They did 18 holes so they were gone from like 10:30-5. While the boys were gone, Lynne, Owen, and I went to the hotel's swimming pool. It was so crowded with all the little kids running around, but it was just so amazing to lay there in 85 degree weather! I was loving every minute of it. Owen had fun swimming in the pool, although he was very wary of it at first.
He was so cute in his little swimming suit. Loved it! We layed outside just relaxing and chatting for like 3 hours until we got hungry, which is when we decided to walk over and get food from the local Iggy's. Just something small to tide us over until the boys got home so we could go on a fun "Happy Birthday Dinner" for Ryan. Us girls got all cleaned up so when the boys got back from their golf trip they could hurry and shower and off we went. On our way to one steak house we passed Outback, which we decided was a better option so we turned around and ended up having dinner there. It was so delicious! Ryan got this huge steak and shrimp, which made him feel like he was royalty so it turned out to be a good birthday dinner! After dinner we walked around the shops for a little, buying baby clothes and clothes for the boys. For dessert we visited Nielsen's which is a frozen custard place there in St. George. It was pretty good, but not as good as Ted Drew's! By that time we were full to the brim and headed home to sleep it off! While Lynne put Owen to sleep Ryan and I wandered around the hotel and went and put our feet int he hottub. It felt so good. It was the perfect temperature and a great way to end a wonderful day!
Sunday was Ryan's BIRTHDAY!!! I figured it kinda stinks to have a birthday on a Sunday because you can't go out to breakfast or out to dinner, etc. So the day before I bought some cinnamon rolls so he could have "breakfast in bed!" They were no home-made cinnamon rolls but they did the job! After breakfast we leisurely got ready and checked out of the hotel and headed to a local church. I've never seen so many old people in one ward in my life. It wasn't really the number of old people that shocked me but the fact that there were ONLY old people. No young women's, no young men's, no primary, nothing! Then I realized that it is because we were in a retirement home community ward. They all lived in a retirement community. It was a pretty interesting. I felt like I was back in the single's ward with how quiet it was during the sacrament. Owen was not even being loud but I'm sure the whole meeting heard him. Oh well! After church we headed off to Parowan to see the rest of the family.

We met Grandma & Grandpa, KC & Debra, Kris & Bjorn and their children, and Jay and Paige for a delicious early dinner at KC & Debra's new house in Parowan. That night Ryan and I took a drive with KC, Debra, and Kris up to Brianhead to see all the snow. It was freezing and the ski resorts looked like they could be open with all the snow that was up there. We were in 85 degree weather the day before and there were were in 26 degree weather. Crazy!!

(It was really windy!)
We had some delicious pie made by my friend Marie Callendar and sang Happy Birthday to Ryan to remind him he is now a whole year older!
That night we stayed at the Day's Inn in Parowan that I was scared to take a shower in because I thought I might catch some sort of disease. Needless to say we were out of there as fast as we could the next day. We ate breakfast at the hotel the next morning and then the boys were off for another 18 holes of golf! The girls hung out, walked around main street, watched a lot of Tangled, and waited for the boys to return. After the boys got back, we had a BBQ with hamburgers and corn and then Kris took me out on the 4 wheelers. We went up the canyon and then went to a cool track place where you can basically just play around on all the hills and trails. Afterwards Ryan and I went out and played at the track for awhile until we got too cold and headed back in. It was so much fun! I love those things! It made me want to go buy myself one of those! haha. By this time, it was time to head home so we packed everything in the car and had another Gilmore Girl Trivia drive home. (Didn't end up stumping Lynne on the way home!)
We had so much fun in St. George and in Parowan with all the family. I just love our mini vacations, but needless to say we were really excited to get back home and sleep in our own bed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN! I love you so much and hope your birthday was something to remember!!

If You Really Knew Me...

If you really knew me, you'd know these little facts about me:

1. I absolutely LOVE the sun. Laying out at the beach, the pool, the backyard. Walking down the street with the warm sun shining down on me. It's a beautiful thing, really? I often wonder why I live in such a sun-less state... time for a move maybe?
2. I really love BYU. I love the cougars. I LOVED my time in college at BYU. Such a fun place to play learn. :) I made such good friends there and even found Ryan. How bout that?!
3. I have a secret desire to learn how to play the piano--well.
4. I love eating gyros. They are so delicious and I could eat them pretty much any time. Ever since I first discovered them (which I cannot even remember my very first gyro) I have been hooked! These are so good that I even had them at my pre-wedding dinner. And let me tell you, YUM!
5. I absolutely LOVE going to weddings. I love to go to people's receptions and see how everything is decorated, their cake, their flowers, their centerpieces, their dress, their bridesmaid's dresses, their hair, their jewelry, their ring, should I go on? I love wedding planning. I love looking for wedding dresses. I pretty much love all things wedding! Perhaps I should consider a career in this area.
6. My dream job is to stay home with children. I really went to nursing school so I could be a better mother. I wanted to know what to do when the fevers, bumps, and bruises come along. I was so glad that I was a nurse when we had Olivia. I liked knowing what was going on and what our options were. I feel strongly that my education was very important for my family, but I don't necessarily want to work in the hospital forever.
7. I love shoes
8. I really hate the rain. I mean loathe. I'd actually rather have it snow than rain *gasp!* I hate having to have an umbrella, have my hair poof up all crazy, and getting my feet wet. The only time I've actually not cared about the rain was on my wedding day. Ironic, huh?
9. I would love to go to the Greek Isles. I want to take a trip and go around to each of the islands for a couple of days, experience the culture, eat some delicious food (see #4), ride scooters around, etc. The only thing that keeps me from going is that I'm kinda scared that I have made it sound so glorious that it will actually let me down. I'm scared the water will be way too cold, the sun won't shine enough (see #1) and I won't be able to find all the fun culture stuff!
10. I love Nordstrom--I also notice everytime someone calls it NordstromS. I don't correct people because that might make it sound like I'm OCD but it does actually bug me.
11. I love babies. Newborns are the best.
12. I like to read and I'm always looking for a new book to read.
13. I still have dreams (nightmares?) about high school and forgetting to do my homework or not being able to find my class so I can turn in my homework. I also find it weird that I am more stressed about high school in my subconcious than college.
14. I make cookies solely for the cookie dough. Rarely do I eat more than a couple of actual cookies. I end up making about 2 dozen and freezing the rest of the cookie dough to eat later. It's a great treat!
15. I love vacations. Big or small.
16. I love laying in bed in the morning, not having to get up for anything, but just laying there awake having a nice conversation. (I also love doing this at night before I go to bed)
17. I love chick flicks.
18. I wish I could be blonde. Even when I dye my hair blonde, it never turns out the color I envision in my head. One day, maybe but until then, I'll have to settle with being brunette.
19. I love playing games and I am highly competitive.
20. Family is the most important thing to me. It comes before pretty much everything else.
21. I'm obsessed with Gilmore Girls. I've probably seen every episode somewhere between 20-30 times each. I know, I'm obsessed, but every time I watch it, it just keeps getting better and better!

For those of you who really know me, what else am I missing? Anything on my list surprise you?

Logan

Ryan and I went to Logan this weekend for his cousin's wedding at the Logan Temple. I had never been inside the Logan Temple so I was very excited. It was gorgeous inside and out. I loved it. They had beautiful tulips outside the temple that were the definition of Spring. We had so much fun hanging out with Ryan's family and being in the pretty weather.

This is a cool house that Ryan loved. We found it on Main St. in Logan. It was a historic house--the house of someone that I can't remember now. Perhaps Eccles? Don't remember. But look at the cool vines growing on the house. Gorgeous!

Owen

More on this later. Just thought you'd enjoy this adorable little man!

Welcome Newest Gardner

Welcome
Cael Daniel Gardner

We are so happy for Ben and Shalon to have this beautiful little boy in their lives! Congrats!!
(Now it is time to move to Utah so this little boy actually knows who we are!!)

What is Going On?!

**UPDATE** Thanks to all your insights. The feeling has passed. I just needed to vent and get it out of my system!

Growing up, I absolutely hated when I would go into someone's house only to have a huge furry dog come up to me and licking my hand. There would be hair everywhere and the tail would whip you in the legs. They annoyed me to no end. There was poop in the backyard that you had to avoid. You always had to make sure to not let the dog out. It would sit when you wanted it to come. It would run when you wanted it to stay. I really didn't like them.
Then Uncle KC and Aunt Deborah's dog had puppies and we all wanted my Gma and Gpa to have a puppy because man, they were so cute! So we had a puppy at our house for a couple of months until they came home from their mission. It was fun for awhile but then it would bark in the middle of the night and pee in places it shouldn't pee. I was ready to not have the dog live with us any more. And now, even though Fred is great, I do not want to live with him. I'm fine with visiting every couple of months.

But now, after all this non-dog liking, I find myself looking at puppies on sale on ksl.com. They are so cute! I love the black and yellow labs. I love golden retriever puppies. I love them. They are soo darn cute. So, would someone talk some sense into me before I go out and buy myself one. Please?!

More Videos

We had so much fun this weekend. I especially loved hanging out with all the family. Having all our nieces and nephews here was so much fun. We wish they all lived closer! Here are some awesome videos of Owen, Cade, and Cam. Too bad I didn't catch one of Gavin! Oh well, maybe next time. Enjoy!!

Owen in his bouncer. He is so cute in this thing. He LOVES it so much. He'll just scream and bounce up and down! Love this little boy!


Cadence's Birthday Party. We tried really hard to have her understand it was her birthday and she was turning 2! She only got that she got to eat cake and "blow out the candles." Pardon the singing twice; in case you were wondering, she is the center of attention. :D



This little guy is so cute. So little and he loves to laugh!

Coming Up...

...General Conference.
...Because of General Conference we get to see so many family members. Ryan's parents are coming all the way from Illinois (really just to see Gavin, but we like to think it is for us too). Jason and Jenna are driving down from Idaho to join the fun too. I love when the Gardners are in town because that means some great game playing. Its a good time. My parents are also coming into town along with my brother, sister in law, and two adorable little ones! Its always fun seeing Cameron and Owen together because they are only like 2 weeks apart and yet, they are so different. I just love it!
...Brock coming into town. (I mean Becca). haha. Becca (who I still refer to as my roommate even though its been 2 1/2 years since we've actually lived together) is stopping through Utah on her way home to AZ and I am seriously SO excited! You see her evil husband got into this evil school named Ohio State and took her far far away. (He really isn't evil but the school still is, right Ryan?) But now she gets to spend like 3 whole days here, so we are way excited. Days of holding her baby boy who I've never met! (evil Ohio!), shopping, watching Gilmore, getting our nails done, eating in and eating out, etc. Can't WAIT!
...Ben and Shalon's baby boy is on his way (almost). April 30th is the big day as long as the little boy can wait that long! We wish we were gonna be there to see him in the hospital. Hopefully this summer we'll get to see him!

If anyone else wants to make the list, we are accepting visitors at any time and donations for mini-vacations too! We're excited for all that we get to do in April!

Prepare to be Jealous

It is really hard to just pick a few pictures to put up on the blog since we can't really post all 200 pictures we took (that would just be ridiculous). But I had to choose some and although there are still a ton on here, let's just say there is more where that came from!

Hawaii was so much fun, we want to go back so badly. It was so beautiful and warm and did I mention the Beach was involved so it was perfect! Here's to hoping another trip like this comes our way soon!

Ryan getting up on the surfboard. He was totally ready for some monster waves by the end :D

SNORKELING!

Ryan on his surfboard and me on the paddle board

Our Family all in Hawaii together. While we were there we celebrated our 2 year anniversary and Olivia's 6 month Birthday. We miss her so much but feel so lucky to have had her if even for a short 37 hours.

Ry and I looking down on the Black Sand Beach on the road to Hana

Ry and I in the lushness that is Hawaii. One of the valleys on our Sunday drive.

Another amazing sunset. I'm telling you, every night was breathtaking!

This is a picture of the hotel's swimming pool. It's an infinity pool, so basically it looks like the pool just flows right into the ocean (it doesn't, but it makes for a really cool picture).

An awesome picture Ryan took with the nice camera. This was really taken at like 9 at night and yet, it looks like it was taken in the daylight. Pretty good if ya ask me.

A view from the hotel property. We had amazing sunsets every day we were there. It was great!

After an afternoon of snorkeling right near the hotel.