the Rothe's

Trip to Sacramento

2011-10-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

Sometime around June or July Erin called me to tell me that Southwest was having a huge discount on tickets and that I should bring Brooklyn out to visit her. I decided that I would do it as a birthday present to myself and go out over the weekend of my birthday. I am not sure how smart that was but I did have a good time. Mike would have liked to have been able to celebrate with us. Also, we found our new home and closed the week I was leaving. Mike ended up moving lots while I was gone. Also, after booking the tickets I found out that Ned would be at Mom and Dad's on our birthday. We were able to have a video chat that made up for not being at the celebration at Mom and Dad's. It all worked out and I had a good birthday. Camille Palfreyman Reed came over to Erin's for the celebration. It was really nice to see her.

I flew into Sacramento on Thursday night and stayed until the next Wednesday. It was Brooklyn's first time flying on an airplane. She did very well. Some people even commented that it was the best baby airplane experience they had ever had. There were some issues but we were able to survive them. First off just before I got on the plane my flip flop broke and I didn't have any other shoes with me. I had to hobble around with just one shoe and then bought some when I got to Erin's. Also, on the way back I decided to get some apple juice for Brooklyn. That was a mistake because it ended up all over our laps. Well, better luck next time. Thanks Erin for a fun week. Here are some pictures of the week.

We went to the Gourd Festival one of the first days, got Italian Ice drinks, and went on a tractor ride.

On Sunday I wanted a picture of all the girls in their pretty dresses.

Brianna and I played her new princess game and had fun dressing up and putting all the jewelry on.
Erin made a nice dinner for my birthday and baked me a cake. I was joking that I wanted chicken courd on blue but she made it anyways. It tasted really good.
One of the last days I was there we went to the Children's Museum. They have a lot of fun things to play with. You could play house, paint, dress up and many other things. I think that one of these days we will have to go up to Salt Lake and go to the Children's Museum at the Gateway.

Our Big Move

2011-10-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

We recently bought a twin home in Springville, UT. Our first home and largest purchase. We were sad to leave our comfortable apartment and awesome neighbors but glad to be expanding our living area. We just had too much stuff to fit into our apartment. We found our home pretty quickly and were able to close on it about a month and a half later. Some of you might be wondering what a twin home is. Basically it is a town home where we share one wall with our neighbor. Our new home has four bedrooms, two and a half baths, a garage and our favorite a dish washer. It was built in 2006. We love the new space we have. Just after we were able to close I went on vacation to visit Erin and Chad. This left Mike home to move a lot of our stuff and work with our painter. I didn't plan this trip just so I didn't have to help out. It was planned even before we found a home. We thought it would be a great idea to get the place painted while I was gone. We found a painter and had him give us a bid. It seemed too high so we almost opted to not have him paint. We decided to have him only paint the main areas and our master bedroom. He was eager to get the job and brought the payment down quite a bit. He told us that he would be able to get it done by the day after I returned. We had told our landlords that we would be out of the place by that weekend. It happened that the painter was not really true to his word and didn't finish until Sunday morning when he kept saying he would be done by Thursday or Friday. We ended up piling everything in our garage and sleeping at our parents house for two days until we could get in. We have been at our place for about three weeks now and are really liking the place. We have most of our boxes unpacked and are still working on decorating and painting bathrooms and bedrooms. Here are two pictures of the outside of our house. I will post more when we get things a little more in order inside.

Erin's first time meeting Brooklyn

2011-05-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

This past February Erin came to visit with her two girls. They were able to meet Brooklyn for the first time. Erin being the great photographer she is was able to tons of cute pictures of Brooklyn. I am very grateful for the pictures. Here are a few of them.

Christmas Morning

2011-02-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

We woke up bright and early Christmas morning to open a couple of presents at home before heading back over to Mom and Dad Gardner's. Brooklyn decided to sleep through the opening of her presents but have enjoyed most of them since then. Once we got to Mom and Dad Gardner's we had a nice breakfast and then took the famous picture up on the stairs. we then opened presents. Because Dad had gotten hearing aids Ned decided to give us our own kind of hearing aid. I have a couple of pictures of those presents. One of my favorite gifts was a running stroller but it was delayed so I didn't receive it by Christmas. It still hasn't come but we ended up canceling the order and ordering it from another place. It should arrive sometime tomorrow. My favorite gift that Brooklyn got was a floor gym. She loves grabbing the hanging toys.

Christmas Eve

2011-02-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

This past year we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Lindsay's family. On Christmas Eve we had pizza for dinner instead of the assortment of h'ordeurves. It was a change but it was satisfying for all. Afterward we had a talent show where most of the kids and a couple of the adults performed for us. Maddie shared her violin skill, Morgan did some crazy dancing, Kayla and Lexi sang a song, Mark played the guitar, the return of the Ned and Matt Duo and much more. It was a great night of talented people.

Photo Shoot

2010-12-13T17:40:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn is sure one spoiled little girl. Mike's sisters are constantly giving us clothes for her. Laura send us this beautiful dress. I just had to take some pictures of how cute she looked. I even got one of her notorious smiles. The other picture is just one of my favorites.

Brooklyn's Blessing

2010-12-13T16:53:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn was given a name and a blessing by Mike on November 28th in Mike's parents ward. Mike's dad is the Branch President of the Lakeview Manor Branch and we thought it would be nice for him to be able to sign the blessing certificate. Mom Gardner had purchased the blessing dress for Brooklyn to wear on this special day in her life. It is interesting what we go through for her to wear for just a short time. She looked beautiful in her dress. We decided to have our brothers and brother-in-law to join in the circle. There were many who came to support us in this joyous occasion. All of Mike's family came and even some of his extended family. All those immediate family members in my family came and also Wendy. Afterward we gathered at Mom and Dad Gardner's house to have some food and take some pictures. It was a nice occasion.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T17:30:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to join Mike's family at his cousins house in Lehi. My assignment was to make rolls. I am still trying to figure out how to make things, take care of Brooklyn and not have it take all day. None the less, the rolls were a hit and we had a great time. I am really enjoying dressing up Brooklyn in holiday apparel. During the holiday break Mike's sisters were able to come out and meet Brooklyn for the first time. They sure do spoil her.

Our Little Bug

2010-11-30T17:00:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a new experience for us this year as we had an addition to dress in a costume. I really wanted to dress Brooklyn in a bug costume because she is our little "BB". I waited too long to order a costume that would fit her so I decided to make one. I decided to make her a ladybug costume. I didn't have any patterns but make a simple but very cute outfit for her. She was able to wear her costume to a ward Halloween party and over to both her grandparents houses. Little did we know that two of her cousins would also be ladybugs.

Brooklyn is such a good baby!

2010-10-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn has been home for over a week now and has been a great blessing in our lives. She is one of the world's best babies. She never cries and has only done a few times when we changed her. She did cry pretty hard when we gave her her first sponge bath and once when in the car. Other than that she doesn't cry. Not even to let me know she is hungry or needs her diaper changed. Most of the time she would even sleep through the night if not woken to be fed. These early days she needs to be woken, to give her nourishment and to make sure my milk is coming in properly. This has been kind of hard for me because she is such a sound sleeper. Sometimes I get her woken up but she falls back asleep just as we start the feeding. I was worried yesterday because I just couldn't get her to wake up. I tried lots of tactics and she just would not give in. Finally around 3 pm just as we arrived at Grandma Gardner's she decided she had been asleep long enough. She has done really well since then and has woken up long enough for me to feed her and has stayed awake for a little while. She is the most beautiful baby and we are so blessed to have her.

Brooklyn Heading Home

2010-10-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

We were excited to finally be able to take Brooklyn home. It was really great that we didn't have to travel very far to get home. As nice as it was to be in the hospital I was ready to get out of bed and relieve some of that bed soreness.

Hospital Visitors

2010-10-06T14:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning at about 9:00 am we had our first visitors. Mom Gardner, Dad Gardner, Mark and Greg were the first to see Brooklyn. Around 12:00 pm came Mom Rothe, Dad Rothe, Peter, Camille, Morgan, and Nathan. Later in the afternoon Megan and Michaela showed up. It was nice to see all of those who were able to come and share in this momentous time in our lives. Each person seemed very excited to see her and love her. Our favorite part of the whole thing was Nathan, who is 4 years old. On their way up Peter said something like, "I bet she is adorable like Mike." Nathan's reply was, "You think Mike is adorable?" Well, yes Mike can be very adorable at times. After they arrived Nathan really wanted to hold her. We finally let him sit in Peter's lap while Peter helped him. Nathan proceeded to play peek-a-boo with Brooklyn almost whacking her in the face. He then said, "Babies like this." We thought it was so funny. Little kids say the cutest things. It will be so much fun when Brooklyn can talk.

Brooklyn Bonnie Rothe

2010-10-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn Bonnie Rothe was born on September 28th, 2010 at 2:37 am. She was 8 lbs and 20 inches. I never thought that it would happen the way it did. I pictured myself in the middle of the night to start having contractions and going into labor. I would sit up all night timing the contractions. I would then let Mike know that it was time to go to the hospital. Well, that is not what happened. Here is the story. I woke up bright (well, not so bright) and early Monday morning, the 27th, at about 4:30 am. When I went to the bathroom I noticed a lot of bright red blood. My first thought was this is the "bloody show" I have been waiting for. Not that I really new what the "bloody show" consisted of. I cleaned things up and then decided to look up what the "bloody show" consisted of. As I read it said pink in color. This was definitely more than pink. Then it said if you see bright red blood to contact your doctor. I then called the after hours number and the lady on the phone said she wasn't sure what it meant but the she could call the doctor. I was a little reluctant to call because I didn't want to cause any undo concern in the middle of the night. I tried to wake Mike up to see what he thought. He wasn't sure and we decided to call Mom and Dad to see what they thought. They said to call the doctor. I then called the doctor and he said to go to the hospital and get it checked out. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 am. They set us up in one of their labor and delivery rooms and put the baby's heart rate monitor on me and the monitor for the contractions. I was having only mild contractions and wasn't in real labor. After about an hour of monitoring they said I was still dilated to 2cm as I had been for the past two weeks. They called the doctor to see what he would have them do. They decided to have me get an ultrasound to see if the bleeding was because of the placenta detaching from the uterine wall. They were pretty busy in the imaging center so they said I would just have to wait until they were ready for me. Not long after they told me this the nurse came back in and said they would like to induce me. I was already after my due date and they thought this would be the best for me. They still couldn't explain why I was having the bleeding. They started the IV at about 11:00 am and got the Pitocin going. This started the contractions but things didn't move very fast from there. I didn't progress to 3cm until around 5:00 pm. Mike and I were able to play a game of cards and watch a movie. Mark even came and played a couple of rounds with me. At this time they asked if I wanted to start the epidural. The anesthesiologist was going into a C-section and wouldn't be available until about an hour later. I thought no I can handle the pain right now. Mike was there to let me squeeze his hands through the contractions. All my contractions were felt in my lower back. After making that decision I regretted it and was relieved that they came back and made sure that I didn't want it. I then decided to get it and it felt great. The needles going into my back were not as bad as I had imagined. During a lot of this time I had been talking to Mom and Dad letting them know what was going on. We expected that I would have the baby that day. This was not the case. I actually didn't reach 10 cm until about midnight and that is when I started to push. I pushed for 2 hours and just couldn't get her beyond the pelvis. I was so close but with each contraction I would push hard 2 times and on the third I just couldn't give it anymore. It didn't help that I was having heartburn and that third push made it really hard. I was grateful for the help that Mike gave me during this time. I just love Mike. He is the greatest! No husband compares to him. At this time the nurse decided to call the doctor and see what he wanted us to do. He decided it was time to come over and try getting her out with the vacuum. After resting for a little bit the doctor arrived. He told me I was going to have to do a lot in pushing to help get Brooklyn out. If the vacuum didn't work I was going to have a C-Section. Well, after just four strong pushes I was able to push her out. I was glad to have that over with. She is such a good baby and I was so happy to have her enter this world.

Our Plentiful Garden

2010-09-23T18:59:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to do a community garden. We decided to plant sunflowers again this year because of how well they did last year. To my disappointment they didn't do so well. That is okay though and I will try again this year. I just love how big they get. We also planted lots of tomato plants (large and Roma) and peppers (jalapenos, green and Anaheim). Our tomato plants have grown so big and overcrowded. But we have had a great harvest. Next year we won't plant so many and plant them far away. It is fun to be learning from trial and error. When we finally have gone out to pick we have so much to make tons of salsa which we have thoroughly enjoyed. The picture doesn't do justice to how much we have gained this year. We had so much more this last time of picking. Our next pick will probably be the last as it is starting to cool down. Especially at night. We have been so blessed to have had a bounteous amount of crop this year and to be able to share in it with our neighbors.

Brooklyn's Due Date

2010-09-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

The due date for Brooklyn is just two days away. I have been anticipating this day for a long 9 months. Sometimes I can't believe it has gone so fast and yet not fast enough. I recently went in for my weekly doctors visit and I am still dilated to 2 cm. The doctor says she is probably between 7 and 8 lbs. Not much progress in the last couple of weeks but I am still holding out. Mike and I are pretty anxious for her to come. The doctor has informed me that about 80% of first mothers and 50% of all births actually come after the due date. I am learning to be patient and accept the fact that she probably won't come until next week. This is good in the fact that Mike has two tests this weekend and one on Monday. He will be able to finish his tests and not have to worry about them while I am going into labor and afterward. Maybe that is why she is holding out. I am trying to keep myself busy reading books and finding things to do around the house. Hopefully she will come in time for Mom to have at least one week to help me before she goes to Washington for Grady's blessing (Derek and Jill's newest arrival). I am happy that she will have a cousin her age. It will be so much fun when the family gets together for reunions and the like. My next post will probably be pictures of our newest arrival. We already love her so much. The picture I have included isn't the greatest but it is the best we have to show how big I have gotten.

Baby Shower

2010-09-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

We had the baby shower on September 2. It was a lot of fun. I am glad so many people were able to make it. I had family, past roommates, friendly neighbors and great friends make it to support me. I am so grateful to my sister Megan, sister-in-law Camille, and Mother for arranging this special night. It was so nice of Camille and Peter to let us use their backyard for the event. The food was great and I got a lot of great presents from everyone. Brooklyn is going to be one spoiled little girl. I am grateful to Mom Gardner for making her quilt and baby blanket. Also, for the sweet blessing dress she bought me. I am also grateful for the baby book I was given to record all the special events and details of Brooklyn's first years of life. All the gifts are wonderful and will definitely be of good use for years and months to come. Again thank you all for coming and supporting me and Brooklyn.

Brooklyn's Baby Room

2010-09-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago I had been wondering what I was going to do to decorate the baby's bedroom. Mom suggested that we make the bedroom set and she would be willing to make the baby quilt for the bedroom. We decided to make a patchwork quilt and Mom and I went shopping for fabric. We found some precut fabric squares bundled together that we really liked in Springville. We found some more of the same fabric at a store just around the corner from my house at the Fabric Mill. Not long after, I started getting anxious and wanted to get to the sewing. Mom didn't have a lot of time and then went out of town to Ireland for ten days. My impatience got the best of me and I started sewing. I ended up making the diaper stacker, the valance, the crib skirt and the bumper pads. I was on a roll and had the sewing fever. I don't think it has gone away. I decided that I liked the choices of fabrics at the Fabric Mill so I went out and bought some more to make receiving blankets and burp pads. I had a lady do the hemp stitching so it would be easier to crochet around them. Mom said she would be willing to crochet around a set of them and I took the task of doing a blanket stitch around the rest of them. It took a while but I finally finished. I have been working on putting the nursery together. Mike and I were able to get a crib, changing table, and dresser, with the help of our parents. Thank you so much! I painted some block letters and attached ribbon to them to put Brooklyn's name on the wall, thanks to Erin for the idea, and also spray painted a frame that I had. Here are some of the pictures I took of the almost final product.

Summer Vacations

2010-08-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

At our last Stake Conference, our Stake President issued a challenge to do something extraordinary in regards to the temple. Mike came up with a great idea. He suggested that we visit each temple in Utah and do a endowment session. I thought this was a great idea. Mike and I decided to make these trips our summer vacations. Our first temple to visit was the Salt Lake temple. It was over Spring Break for Mike. We met our good friends Allison and Brad there to do a live session. After the session we went out to dinner at the Garden Restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was really good food. When dinner was finished Brad and Allison headed home and Mike and I went to stay the night at the Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Mississippi Serenade room. It was really quite fun and it even had a waterfall in the shower. The next day we went shopping, had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and saw a movie all at the Gateway. It was nice to get away.

We spent almost every other weekend traveling to one of the Utah Temples. We did take pictures at each temple but there are probably too many to put on here. We decided to have Mike try and take the picture of the two of us because his arms are much longer. You will see it was not an easy task. I am kind of short and he kept cutting off my head. We would eventually get a good shot and call it good. I will share only a couple of them because there are so many.
In April we visited the Bountiful Temple and the Ogden temple and in May we visited the Logan Temple and the Jordan River. When we went to Logan Mike's grandma was very kind to let us stay the night with her.

In the beginning of June, we were able to go to the Monticello Temple. On our way down we stopped at Arches National Park in Moab and walked around to some of the different arches. When we arrived in Monticello we checked in our hotel room and as we were leaving our room we ran into Uncle Norman and Aunt Becky (Mom's brother and sister-in-law). Of all places to see them. We didn't get to talk much because they were in a hurry but it was great to see them. We wonder if they were doing the same thing we were (in seeing all the temples in Utah). They are in our Stake and were given the same challenge to do something extraordinary in regards to the temple.

At the end of June, we were able to take a trip down to St. George. We ended up staying the night at Mike's Aunt Sandra and Uncle Arlo's place. We were a little disappointed to find that they were not going to be there for the weekend. We were able to attend the play Tarzan at the famous outdoor Tuacahn theater. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The next morning we went to the temple and then headed home.

In July we went to the Draper Temple and the Vernal Temple and our last temple we went to was the Manti Temple. The Manti Temple would be our last Utah Temple to visit. We had already been to the Provo and Mt. Timp Temples before the challenge was issued so we didn't get them fit in. We had hoped to finish our quest before the baby came and we made it. It was a great opportunity to take the time to visit each temple and feel of the Spirit. We liked the fact that we had started with a live endowment session and ended with a live endowment session.

Pregnancy Photo shoot

2010-08-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July we had lots of family members come into town. This included Matt, Emily, Erin and Chad and their little girls. While Erin and Chad were in town Erin did a pregnancy photo shoot with me. I was almost 7 months by then and Erin said she usually did the photo shoot later in the pregnancy. That way you could show more of the pregnant belly. We did it anyway because she was only going to be in town for the weekend and would not be here again before the pregnancy was over. Here are a couple of pictures from the photo shoot. Thanks Erin for the fun times. This really has been a good pregnancy for me. I have not been throwing up or had any complications. The only things that I have been experiencing are heartburn, carpal tunnel syndrome, and numbing and tingling in my legs. This makes it hard to sleep but with some Prevacid, a cold rice bag and a wonderful husband, to massage my legs before going to bed, it has been a little easier to sleep. Only 7 1/2 weeks until my due date. I just can't wait for Brooklyn to get here. I have been sewing and getting ready for her. I will post pictures later when the room is ready. Mike and I are taking a prenatal class which is once a week for 4 weeks. We have gone over all the basics and have even seen the birthing video with 4 different scenarios. I am a little nervous about it but I know the outcome is all worth it.

It's a Girl!!!

2010-05-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

I am excited to finally know what I am having and that the baby is still alive in me. I thought I felt her move but not really sure. Hopefully soon. I never thought today would come when the doctor told me that it would be five weeks until my ultrasound. It actually went really fast. Mike was able to come with me and find out. I definitely wanted to find out what the gender would be. Mike was hoping for a boy to carry on the family name. He is the only one right now that can carry on the name until his brother gets married. Mike was happy to find out that it was a girl. Maybe our next children will be twin boys. That will definitely help carry on the name. Mike's parents are especially excited to be having their first grandchild. I really did want to have a girl but would have been happy no matter what we got. It is just a blessing and miracle to be able to get pregnant and bring a spirit child of our Heavenly Father into the home.

Not all of today was great and exciting as I thought it would be. Not long after I returned to work I felt dizzy and thought I was going to throw up. To my dismay it happened about 2 hours later and I have thrown up 2 more times since. I don't think that it is pregnancy related because I didn't throw up during the beginning of the pregnancy. It is also late to be getting that kind of sickness. Hopefully I can get better soon and be able to teach my lesson in preschool tomorrow.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

2009-10-23T17:52:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon in about January. I didn't spend time training for it and wasn't sure I was actually going to run it. A couple of weeks before the race I decided that I should run it because I had paid for it. Therefore I wasn't really prepared to run it. Mike and I needed to find a place to stay and most of the places still open were not very close to the race line. After looking for a while we ended up finding a place called the Grand Staircase Inn. The only room available had two king size beds but we were willing to pay for it so we could be a little closer. We didn't realize the city of Cannonville was so small. When we got there we found out that the end of the race was just a block away. I got up early the next morning and took a bus to the start line. Most of the race was downhill which made it easier to run even though I was not really prepared. To my surprise I did better than I thought I was going to do. I could have done better but with five miles left I had to stop and go to the bathroom. That slowed me down and made it harder get going again. Mike woke up half an hour before the race, got ready and walked over to see me finish. He almost missed me but got there in just the time. After the race and taking a nap we decided to go into the park of Bryce Canyon and see all the really cool rock formations.

Fourth of July Festivities

2009-10-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

On the morning of the Fourth of July, I went to see the balloon festival with Megan's family and Peter's family. Mike decided to stay home and sleep in.

Later in the morning we all went to see the Fourth of July parade.

In the evening, Mike and I went over to his cousin Stephanie's house for a dinner and then over to Thanksgiving Point to watch the fireworks with my family.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

2009-10-23T17:09:00.000-07:00

Mike and I attended the open house for the temple at the end of June. It was a great experience and it is so beautiful as all temples are. I love that feeling of being in the temple.

Gardner Family Reunion Continued

2009-10-11T16:06:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday evening we decided to have a family talent show. Some of us played instruments, some of the younger ones sang songs, some told jokes, and some did skits. Mike and I decided to change the words to the familiar song Armies of Helaman. We used the names of the family members present and also had a picture of them that they could hold up when they heard their name. We sang the song and I think everyone enjoyed singing it. It was a lot of fun to be a part of the talent show. Our family has a lot of great talent. Afterwards we had smores and took family pictures.

On Wednesday we all decided to drive to Yellowstone National Park and see Old Faithful. We ate our lunch there and then split off to walk around and see the gysiers. Afterwards some decided to drive more around the park looking for bears and others decided to go see a movie about Yellowstone.

Thursday was the day we prepared to leave. On our way home most of us decided to stop just outside of Island Park at Mesa Falls. I am curious why I never did go see the falls when I was going to school at BYU-Idaho.

Gardner Family Reunion Island Park Idaho June 2009

2009-10-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Gardner side of our family decided to have a family reunion in Island Park Idaho back in June. The park is on the eastern side of Idaho and was about six hours away. We left on a Monday morning and headed home on Thursday. Mike and I decided to drive by ourselves so we could stop at the Idaho Falls temple and the Rexburg Temple. After stopping at the Idaho Falls temple we went over and met up Matt, Mark, Emily, Ned, and Aunt Wendy for lunch. Then we stopped and took a picture of me standing by the street sign Lindsay Blvd. I had planned on taking a picture years ago while going to school at BYU-Idaho but never took the chance. Then Mike and I stopped in Rexburg on our way to see the temple and show Mike some of the places I lived while going to school there.

Dad and Mom found a large cabin for all of us to stay in for the week. This cabin had lots of bedrooms and plenty of space for all of us to sleep. We were right on the lake and had a dock of our own to enjoy time out on the lake.

Erin and Chad were able to have there little girl Miranda blessed there at the cabin. It was nice to have most of the family there to be a part of it. I say most of the family because on the way up JT developed hives that were all over his body. Wendy and Megan left that night to go to the hospital to get him checked out.

On Tuesday we got up and went for a hike to a fish hatchery about 20 minutes away from the cabin. The water was so clear and we were able to feed the fish. We also saw a muskrat swimming by the fish. We all stopped by the hatchery to eat lunch and then headed back to the cabin.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the lake swimming, rafting and jet skiing. The water was pretty cold but it was a lot of fun.

Zions National Park

2009-08-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend Mike and I decided to head down to St. George for a quick vacation.

We left on Friday and stayed at Mike's Aunt and Uncles place. On Saturday we ended up going into Zion's National Park. We rode the bus up to Weeping Rock first.

Next we hiked up to Angel's Landing. We hiked most of the way going up all the switch backs. When we got to a landing area we stopped there. There was no way I was going to take the rest of the hike over a narrow crossing and straight up to the top. It was also getting a little late. Someday I might get brave and take the hike up to the top. Mike would have done it but felt that it was getting late.

On Sunday we attended a local ward just around the corner from where we stayed. After Church we decided to walk around the St. George Temple. It is a beautiful temple. See if you can find Lindsay in the last picture above.

While at the temple we hear a lady talking about a statue of a Robert Gardner Jr. over by the tabernacle. We decided to head over there and see it. We found out that Robert Gardner Jr. was one the first Mayor of St. George. They had a dedicatory meeting to dedicate the statue earlier in the month. There were hundreds of Gardner ancestors in the tabernacle. It would have been great to have been there. Robert Gardner Jr. is my Great-Great Grandfather.

On Monday we ended up hiking the narrows for about 4 hours. We had to hike through the water a lot of the way. Some parts of the water was almost waist deep for me and knee deep for Mike. In most places it was hard to see how deep the water was or what size of rocks we would be walking on. We were able to cross back and forth over the river onto dry ground so we were not always in the water. It was a great hike and really beautiful. It was probably the highlight of the trip.

On our way home we decided to stop and take a short hike in Kolob Canyon. The view was spectacular and we were able to see the northern rim of the Grand Canyon.

One of Mike's family's traditions when he was younger was stopping at the Cheese Factory in Beaver and getting some ice cream. Mike decided that it was much cooler when he was young.

Happy Birthday Mike

2009-07-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

For Mike's birthday this year I got him the game MarioKart. We had recently bought a Wii and this was one of the games we definitely wanted to get. This is what Mike wanted for his birthday. I also made him a German chocolate cake which is one of his favorites.

Rascal Flatts

2009-07-02T21:50:00.001-07:00

At the end of February Mike and I attended the Rascal Flatts concert at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake. I had always wanted to go to a Rascal Flatts concert. Mike and I had a lot of fun at the concert and I definitely would want to go again someday.

Draper Temple Open House

2009-07-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

In February Mike and I had the opportunity to attend the Draper Temple open house. It was a great opportunity to have been able to participate in such a spiritual experience.

Woodbadge

2009-07-01T17:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks before I came home from my mission, my dad wrote in his weekly letter that there was a calling waiting for me. That calling was one of the best, if not the best, I've ever had. I was called as an Assistant Scoutmaster. A few weeks into the calling I realized how important the scouting program is to a young man. Since then, I've done what I could to better train myself as a leader. The summer before Lindsay and I were married, I attended several training courses. One of which was Woodbadge. This is one of the highest level of training camps that leaders can go to. And this past February, I finally received my Woodbadge beads!! Woot!!

Trip to visit Grandpa Ivanick in Los Angeles, California

2009-07-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of January Mike and I drove down to Los Angeles, California with his parents to visit his Grandpa Ivanick. One the way down we stopped at some outlets and went shopping.

We stayed with Dad Rothe's brother Bruce for a couple of days.

During our stay we went down to the Santa Monica Pier with his Mom's brother and two of his cousins.

One of the nights we celebrated his Grandpa's 93rd birthday. The family got together and had a dinner. This may have been that last time we will see Grandpa Ivanick.

Before we drove back to Utah we stopped at the Los Angeles temple to take a walk around it.

St. George Half Marathon

2009-07-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mike and I traveled once again to St. George this time for me to run in a half marathon. My friends Sharon and Dawnee came with us to participate too. It was a really fun race and I loved the matching shirts that Dawnee created!

August to December 2008 Wrap Up

2009-07-01T12:17:00.001-07:00

Mike and I at his annual work party at Lagoon. With the help of Mike I won a large Care Bear.

Our first ward campout and activity with our new ward.

For my birthday in September Mike bought me a new sweater and undershirt. How many husbands can shop for their wives and get it right. Mike did a great job!

St. George Marathon, one of the hardest races I have done so far. Next time I will be more prepared.

I dressed up as a hippie for work. We went over to Mom and Dads to see the nieces and nephews costumes. Mike gave in and dressed up just for the family. His costume is Glucose. What a scientist!

We spent our first Christmas at Mom and Dad Gardner's house. Mike decided to make fireplace for us to hang our stockings here in our apartment. He used a box from the screen tv his parents had just bought. Wow isn't he creative!

Honeymoon in Lincoln City, Oregon Day 5

2009-07-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

Friday was our day to pack up and head back to Portland to catch our plan. We took some pictures of the place we stayed at. It was a really nice place to stay we would definitely stay there again. Before we left Lincoln City I wanted to go down to the beach. This day was by far the foggiest day we had. You can see that we could barely even see the beach. When we arrived back in Portland we decided to go and walk around the temple grounds. It was so beautiful.

Honeymoon in Lincoln City, Oregon Day 4

2009-06-30T17:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday was by far the best day for us to go whale watching. It was Mike's first time going and the sky was clear. We had a lot of fun and saw a couple of whale's backs. We then headed back to Lincoln city to walk on the beach.

Honeymoon in Lincoln City, Oregon Day 3

2009-06-30T16:54:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we decided to head up north to the Tillamook cheese factory. We were able to look through large windows and see the process they went through to make the cheese and package it. Afterwards we went to the beach. As you can see we had fun with the sand. The footprints are both Mike's and mine. Can you guess who feet are whose? It was a little windy but we did wade in the ocean. I actually got swept off my feet a couple of times by the waves. We then headed back to our condo. For dinner we had some amazing Mexican food. We also were able to get some beautiful pictures of the sunset even though it was a little cloudy.

Honeymoon in Lincoln City, Oregon Day 2

2009-06-30T16:33:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday we wanted to go whale watching but it was too foggy. We decided to head south and go to the Sea Lion Caves. On the way down we stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse which is the tallest light house in Oregon. Next we ended up at the caves. This is the largest Sea Cave in the world.

Honeymoon in Lincoln City, Oregon Day 1

2009-03-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

We decided to spend our honeymoon in Lincoln City, Oregon. It is located in the middle of the state on the coast. We found a great little condo to stay in that was only a few blocks away from the beach. We had to get up bright and early to go to the airport because Chad and Erin were leaving early. We didn't want to make dad have to make two trips. We then spent a couple of hours waiting for our flight. While waiting we decided to get some breakfast.

We flew into Portland, Oregon and rented a car from there. Our first stop was to see the newest member of the Derek Gardner family. Jill was not able to come to the wedding because of just giving birth to Blakely. It gave us a chance to meet Blakely and also have Mike meet Jill. We were glad we had the opportunity to visit with them. Afterwards we drove about two hours to Lincoln City. We checked into our condo and then went for a walk along the beach. After walking for a while we noticed the clouds rolling in and it was hard to see out into the ocean. We found some nice crab remains (claw and exoskeloton) and they are currently sitting on our shelf in the second bedroom.

Opening Wedding Presents

2009-03-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

We headed up to Salt Lake for our wedding night. We ended up staying After the reception we hat the Hotel Monaco. In the morning we went to Church and then headed back home to open our wedding presents. We ended up opening our presents in our new apartment. We got so many great gifts that have come in handy over the past seven months. We also got a lot of cash that helped us as we were just starting out.

The Wedding Reception-Decoration of the Car

2009-03-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Mike really didn't want anybody to decorate the car so he tried to hide it. His brother drove by when he was hiding it but he thought he would be okay. Well, as you can tell it wasn't hidden very well. Chad, Erin's husband and Mike's brother decided to decorate the car. The pictures show what they did. Inside the car they also had double bubble, twinkies and star confetti. When I finally decided to clean the car it took quite a while. We decided for Chad's birthday to send him all of the confetti and bubble gum as a present.

The Wedding Reception-Dancing On the Balcony

2009-03-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love dancing and always wanted to have dancing at my reception. I had a friend of mine make a CD for some dancing music for the reception. I also put together some music for a daddy-daughter dance and a special dance with Mike. There were lots of people that came to our wedding reception and the time for us to dance was almost over. We decided to just have one special dance with Mike and I. I looked up and saw that there was a balcony for us to dance on that would be so great and romantic. We did just that and it was the perfect song for us to dance to. The song was "I Could Not Ask For More" by Sara Evans.

The Wedding Reception-Rain, Rain, Go Away

2009-02-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

One of our biggest worries was that it would rain during our wedding reception. We kept looking at the weather reports and they kept saying different things. The last thing we saw was that the weather was going to be good. I really wanted to have an outdoor wedding reception and that is what I was going to have. It didn't start raining until just a little bit into our reception. We were lucky to have a great morning at the temple and then good weather taking pictures before the reception. You could see the clouds rolling and we got worried. When it started to rain we moved the line inside and others stayed outside to dry the chairs. It eventually stopped raining and we were able to come back outside. It really makes for a fun story.

The Wedding Reception-Many dear friends

2009-02-10T16:28:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of people who came to our wedding. It was nice to see old friends whom we had not seen for quite some time.

The Wedding Reception-Extended Family

2009-02-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

The pictures are some of our extended family members who were able to attend the reception.

The Wedding Reception-Decorating

2009-02-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

I always wanted an outdoor wedding reception and I wanted to use pastel colors. Mom and Aunt Dee Dee helped come up with the decorations. I was able to help choose the colors and pictures to use on the tables. I was very pleased with the outcome of how it all looked.

The Wedding Reception-Delicious Food

2009-02-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this food look delicious? We were able to get a good friend of Mom Gardner's to do the catering at a good price. We sure were lucky.

The Wedding-Reception Cake

2009-02-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

We were really lucky to have Mike's adopted grandma, Bonnie Smith, to make our wedding cake. As you can see she did a wonderful job! Mike and I also had a lot of fun cutting the cake and feeding each other. Can you guess who did the better job of feeding the other?

The Wedding Day-Family Pictures

2009-02-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

All I ever wanted was to have a outside wedding. I really wanted to have a pastel wedding and that is what you can see here. I found the shirts the girls are wearing and Mom and I picked out the fabric for my nieces dresses. Mom then spent a lot of time making the dresses for all of the nieces. I am grateful for the time she took to make the dresses. We then found ties for all of the guys to wear.

Family Pictures-Spouses and Siblings

2009-02-06T20:05:00.001-08:00

After we had the luncheon on our wedding day we decided to have family pictures. We also decided to only have Mom, Dad, siblings and spouses. The grandchildren all stayed at home with a babysitter.

Happy Birthday Mother

2009-02-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

The day of our wedding was also Mom Gardner's birthday. I was grateful that she allowed us to get married on her birthday. The best birthday present that we got her was bringing all of her kids home for the special day. We decided that we needed to celebrate her birthday on that day at some point. We decided to surprise her with a cake during the reception. Mike actually walked up too close to her and it really did surprise her.

The Wedding Day-Luncheon

2009-02-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

We had our wedding luncheon at the Church building just down the street from my parents house. Mike's family are the ones who planned the luncheon. They decided to get catering from Magelby's. It was incredible food. Definitely the place to have catering from.

The Wedding Day-Temple Family and Friends

2009-02-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

The first two pictures are my family and the third and fourth are of Mike's family. The friend picture is of Netti, Kaylene and her husband Jared, and Mike's friend Matt who was also our videographer. We are grateful for all those who came to support us.

The Wedding Day-Temple The Happy Couple

2009-01-18T16:02:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken just after the temple ceremony. As you can see we got some really good pictures. Our photographer, Amanda Peterson, did a great job. Erin was also able to take some pictures and we have at least 400 pictures. We are so blessed.

Bridal Extravaganza

2009-01-18T15:38:00.001-08:00

In July, Erin and Chad came up for the second time. This time Erin was able to do my bridal pictures. We ended up going over to the park behind the mental hospital in Provo. It was a lot of fun. I was glad to have Mom with us so she could help Erin with straightening my dress and to be there for the fun of picture taking. After we got the pictures uploaded on mom's computer Mike kept trying to look at the pictures but I threatened him with my life. As you can tell all is well because he is still here and we are married.

Perfect Wedding Announcement

2009-01-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

After several failed attempts in making our Wedding Announcement, my brother Peter came to our rescue and used his expertise in creating the perfect announcement for us. Thanks Peter for saving us and making all involved very happy with the outcome.

Engagement Fun

2009-01-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

Once we got engaged we decided to ask Erin to do our engagement pictures and bridals. Erin and Chad made three trips that year from California and were able to to be of much help. We took our pictures down in the Riverbottoms in the Orem/Provo area. As you can tell we had a lot of fun with our pictures. Erin did a wonderful job.

The Engagement

2009-01-13T18:36:00.000-08:00

It was May 10th when Mike asked me to marry him. We had decided about three weeks prior to get married. The next week we went ring shopping and about two weeks later we were engaged. I was at home babysitting for Peter and Camille. Mike came over to help. When he got to my house he said he had something for the kids outside and I couldn't come with them. Then each of the kids came inside holding a purple rose. I just love purple roses. Mike was the last one to come in and he brought the last rose. Mike then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. How romantic!

Mike and Lindsay Before Marriage

2009-01-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Mike and I met in the singles ward in Orem. It was a year after I moved in that Mike decided to ask me out. We started dating in November of 2007. This picture was taken at the Joseph Memorial Building. We had gone up to Temple Square that evening to see the lights.

This blanket is one that Mike gave me for Christmas. Little did he know that I was doing the same thing for him.

Mike and I spent New Year's Eve at a friends house playing games and eating lots of food.

This was at a bishops ball that we had with our ward. Mike is the one who decided to rent a tux and wear pink. You can tell that he really liked me because that is not something he would do for just anybody.

We occasionally got together with other couples from our ward. Some of them were married or engaged already. We had many couples get married from our ward. Here we are playing Rock Band. As we were leaving they said for us to send them an invitation to our wedding reception. We were not even engaged at that time but it did happen not long after.

These are just random pictures of us when we were dating before we got married.

Lindsay and Mike

2008-05-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

So, here is my new blog. I decided that since I am getting married that I should create a new blog for the both of us. I wanted to change the site to have both our names. I hope that this doesn't create any problems for any of the current viewers of my last blog site. I am going to make it cuter and more fun for me to want to blog. I know I will make many of my family members happy that I will be blogging more than once or twice a year.