THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My In-Law's had a Pre-Thanksgiving dinner this year. Like always it was supper good food, way nice set up, and fun fun fun for all! Nancy always puts the best parties together.

The set up!

Only at the Gardner's could you have a table set for 36 of us.

Grandma, and Grandpa Gardner at the head of the table.

It was so nice to get everyone together. We missed Tim, Jodi, and their family in St. George.

Dessert! Yummy!

Everyone brought their favorite pie.

We always have plenty of rough housing. Grandpa bought pillows for the kids to have a pillow fight, and they loved every minute of it!

All the cousins!

For Thanksgiving day we went to a church in Copperton, with my moms sisters, and cousins. My aunt Sherrie set up the church for our Thanksgiving dinner, and she did a fabulous job. We played a little basket ball, games, and had crafts for all the kids to make. We then went back to my house for more food, pie, games and an early start with our holiday shopping.

My cute niece Mikell!

Paisley eating a little turkey, with her uncle Tom!

My Momma!

My Sisters!

We had 3 computers set up for early Black Friday shopping. We got all our shopping done by midnight, in the comfort of our home. What could be better!

HALLOWEEN!

For Halloween this year we went to Olive Garden to eat dinner with all of my family, and then headed up to my house for games, and trick or treating!

The girls picked out their costumes this year. Ellie was a flower child, Addie was Frankinstine's wife, and Paisley was a Care Bear.

Addie with her cute cousin, Kennedi!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JEFF

At the end of October for Jeff, and our good friend Maddison's birthday. We took a vacation to Destin Florida. We had 3 couples go. The Neff's, Gallands, and Jeff and I. This was the perfect birthday gift for Jeff, considering that we both love to travel. We had 7 days of beach, spa, working out, shopping, and eating.

Good times!!

How cute! Hanging out together!

Destin was beautiful, with it's white sandy beaches, and green water!

This was the view from the balcony in our Pint House. The condo was sick!

We took a boat out in the bay for the afternoon. Chilly but fun! I only got scared a few time when the waves were GIGANTIC. It made the waves in a wind storm on Ut. Lake, look like ripples. Thank goodness we had an experienced boat driver, who was used to driving on the ocean.

We tried paddle boarding. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

For Maddison's Birthday we went to a supper good place to eat. (I cant remember the name of it.) We ate the best desserts ever. They were huge, and Yummy!

We were able to show our skills with a little bowling.

We had a full spa day at the Hilton, and it still wasn't enough. We ended up talking the guys into getting a pedicure, after a long day of shopping. They loved it!

The boys rented surf boards, and hit the waves.

The girls!

Me, Courtney, and Kesley

We had such a good time thanks to the fun couples we were able to go and play with.

ZOO TIME!

Addison's class went on their first field trip to Hogal Zoo. What a cute group of kids. It was fun to watch how excited they were to go through the Zoo. When we arrived at the Zoo, Addie's teacher gave each group a paper with questions to fill out, as we made our way through out the Zoo. We had a lot of fun learning about all the different animals.

Addie's 1st grade Class

The day was a little chilly and rainy, but it didn't make any difference to Paisley. She was all bundled up, and ready to roll. It was a perfect field trip for me to help out with, since Paisley was able to come and participate.

It seems like every time we go to the Zoo one of the animals is doing something funny. Well this trip was no exception. We went to see the new baby elephant, and it was eating it's mommas poop. The kids were all freaking out, and laughing. Thankfully one of the workers at the Elephants saw what was going on, and came up to the children to explain why the baby was eating it's moms poop. FYI The baby eats it's moms poop every day once a day so that the baby can get bacteria in its tummy for digestion purposes. Ha ha Who knew!

Addison was in charge of taking all the pictures with my camera. She did a great job! 60 pics later. She was loving life!

What a fun day!

At The Dunes!

What can I say my family loves the Sand Dunes. Every chance we get, we head out to get a little crazy, and dirty. It's so nice that we are so close for a little get away, and family fun!

Our little rider! This girl loves the dirt!

We rented this sweet R.V. for one of our trips out to the Dunes. It was sooo nice! All I can say is I'm sold, and I want one! Maybe next year. Ha Ha

Addison loves to go with her dad for rides on the Razers. That little girl is one brave chick! Ellie was so excited that she learned how to drive the Razer this trip. WATCH OUT!!

Grandpa Schmidt doing his best work. He is one great cook!

Nothing better than sitting around, and chilling with the family.

BACK TO SCHOOL!

This year has been a little exciting for the girls.  They changed schools to American Heritage, and it has been a fun new change.  Ellie is in 4th grade this year, and Addison 1st grade.  They love School!

They have to wear uniforms which I love, but they are not to thrilled about.

It's nice that Ellie, and Addie's classes are just a hallway away, from each other.  Ellie is a great big sister looking out for Addie.

I'm so glad that both my girls wanted me to walk them to class.  I was sad to have them go back to school.  It's crazy how much I miss having them around!

Addison has been doing great with all day school.  She loves eating lunch at school, and has made many new friends.  I'm also excited that I get to be the Party room mom for Addie's class.  Fun fun fun! I love to plan parties!

Of course Addison picked the front, and center desk.  Her teacher said she's glad that she did, so she can help Addie stay focused.  This girl is to smart for her own good, and a ball full of energy.

THE TOUGHEST GIRL EVER!

We pierced Paisley's ears.  I know I'm the meanest mom ever.  Actually Paisley begged me to get them done.  I wanted to wait until she was a little older, but she wasn't having it.  Her older sisters influence didn't help.  Trying to change her mind, I let her watch a little girl get hers done.  Did it scare her out of it, when she saw her crying?  Nope!  Paisley was one tough girl!

Braces for Ellie!

Holly crap my little girl got braces!   She was a champ after getting an expander, spacers, and having her mouth pried open.

Not the best picture!

Open wide!

The free ice cream shakes from Purple Turtle definitely helped with the pain!

Lake Powell!

We have a family tradition to go to Powell, with the Gardner side of the family each year.  Fun, Fun, Fun!   There was a rule this year of no kids under 8yr's old, which ment we only took Ellie this year.  It was fun just having Ellie to hang out with, and spending some quality time.  

We had a sweet boat, that was so nice.  The trip was a hit!

The boat we stayed on was so nice.  5 bed room, 6 bath, two kitchens, a theater room, and even a helicopter landing pad.  AWESOME!

Jeff doing a little surfing.  This was the first trip I really tried surfing, and I'm hooked!  

Doing a little wake boarding!

We all hiked to the top of ice cream mountain, and we sweat our brains out!

My hot lover! 

Hanging out with the cousins!

I may have beat clay my nephew in a wrestling match, but I promise he didn't feel it the next day like his old aunt! 

Spending a little time as a family!

Bo went fishing off the side of the boat with the kids, and they caught a bunch of fish!

Our Powell trip was a hit! Good food, good company, and a lot of playing! 

PASSING TIME IN CALI!

We had a lot of fun hanging out in Cali!  Here are some of the adventures we went on.

DISNEYLAND

Jordanna came with our family to Disney Land, to spend the day in the greatest place on earth!

Paisley loved the Disney characters!  It was fun to watch how excited she was to see them.

While we were waiting with the stroller pass for the big kids to ride, we would see all the characters!  It worked out perfect for everyone.

We had reservations at club 33, a 5 star restaurant in Disneyland.  

One of the perks of eating at club 33 is that we were able to get into the park for free. (Nice)

 Lunch was a little stressful, with Paisley going crazy.  She only through one piece of fine china on the floor! Oops

 The restaurant was sooo nice.  Once Paisley finally crashed in my arms, we were able to enjoy the great seafood buffet!

Thanks to Nate, Jeff's cousin for hooking us up!

Look at that cute family!

We had a long, hot, fun day at Disneyland!

LOTS OF BIKE RIDES TO THE BEACH!

We loved to take the bikes down to the beach and ride the board walk.  The rides got a little long sometimes so we put Addie, and Paisley in the bike trailer.

We would ride to the different playgrounds on the beach to let the girls play!

PALM SPRINGS!

Hot Hot Hot!  the temp in the truck got up to 120 deg. on the way out to the dessert.  The only way to stay cool was stay in the water!

We were able to go on a date night to see Frank Caliendo, the comedian.  He was so funny!  We had a great night!

Staying Cool!

COLOR ME MINE!

The big girls, and I went with Jordanna and Alex, to Color Me Mine to paint a little craft.  It took us about 3 1/2 hours of painting to finish our master pieces.  This was one of the girls favorite things to do.

All of our creations!

SEA WORLD!

This was the first time Jeff, and I had taken the girls to Sea World.  The girls loved to watch all of the shows.   I think the Shamu show was one of the favorites!

We feed the Dolphins, and Sting rays!

We loved Sea World!

LONG BEACH AQUARIUM!

We didn't get enough fish at sea world, so we went back for seconds.

We were able to touch all the sea creatures. 

RUBY'S ON THE PIER!

We ate at Ruby's on the end of Huntington pier about once a week.  It was fun to eat out on the water, and the girls loved the food!

The last week of the vacation, my sis Vaniece, and her family came out to hang with us.  It was a nice change, and my kids had so much fun with their cousins.  It was nice for me to have my sis around too!

Before we all came home I left Paisley with Jeff, and Vaniece and I took all the kids to 6 Flags for the day!  It was Hot!!!   We road rides until we were all sick!

What a great month!!