gardner family

Pioneer Trek

2011-06-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our stake held a Pioneer Trek the first week of June. LeeAnn and Bethany were both participants on the trek. They went up on the Mogollon Rim near Forest Lakes, were divided into companys and families, just like the original Mormon pioneers did when they crossed the plains. The trek lasted for three days and they walked a total of 24 miles. Pushing and pulling handcarts along trails. Here are a few pictures from their trek.

Bethany is hard to see in this picture, but she is third from the right.

LeeAnn's family, she is near the front.

Bethany's "trek" brother was carrying her in the three legged race.

The stake asked Dave if he would be head cook. So he rounded up all his cook trailers and finished a new one - the water trailer, and they headed on up to the rim country.
Dave and his staff cooked for a group of 400 people. They ate broth and bread the first night, but were rewarded with pulled pork sandwiches, corn, macaroni salad and cobbler the last night.

From the archives:
Do you see anyone in this photo that you know?

This is from the Pioneer Trek that I took thirty-some years ago, held near Spanish Fork, Utah.
I just had to pull out some of my old pictures to show the girls. (sorry these aren't the best quality of pictures.)

After they all came home on Saturday night, tired, sweaty and more tired, I asked the girls how they liked the trek. They said it was hard but they liked it. There were many times when they felt like quitting. They learned that they could do hard things. They met new people and made new friends, but most of all they strengthened their testimonies.

This Old House . . .

2011-04-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

. . . is for Sale!

Before Remodel

After Remodel

My Dad and Mom's house in Springville, Utah is for sale. Since they have both passed away we decided it was time to sell it. Over the last few years my brother Harold has been working very hard to remodel and fix it up. He has put on new siding and windows, and completely remodeled both kitchens and bathrooms. They have painted and put in new flooring. It is now shined up and ready to sell.

Now this is not the house that my brothers and I grew up in. That house was in Montana. But I did live in this house for about a year after my mission while I was finishing college. So it does have a few memories for me. We had lots of fun times here with family and with friends.

My parents bought the house in 1984 after they had retired and moved to Utah. They chose Springville because it was a quiet little town. They bought this house because it has a basement apartment, which they rented out to help their income. They have had a long list of renters through the years, both to couples and single individuals. Mom and Dad were very courteous and friendly landlords, giving them Mom's homemade bread, cookies, sometimes meals and of course their friendship. They became quite attached to some renters.

When grandkids came to visit, the house had lots of little quirky places to play, like down the basement playing "McDonalds" through the unfinished window in the laundry room. Or outside in the little "phone booth" (I don't know where Dad got that from) or driving the VW bus. Dad's old green truck was a permanent lawn ornament in the backyard. The backyard is big and had a fruit trees, berries, and usually a vegetable garden.

A couple of years after my Mom died, Harold and Verla convinced Dad it was time to move out of the house and into their "inlaw" apartment in Provo. After that Harold worked hard to remodel and fix it up. Soon he had renters upstairs as well as downstairs.

The first time I saw the "newly remodeled" upstairs kitchen I thought, "Oh, I wish my Mom could have lived in it while it was this nice." She would have loved it.

If you notice the first picture, it has a ramp leading from the porch down to the lawn. My brother's built that a year before my mom passed away, as she was confined to a wheelchair. Harold also adapted the bathroom so she would be able to manuver in there with her wheelchair. I am thankful that he did that so that Mom would be able to spend her last few months at home instead of in a nursing home.

This house has experienced much life, laughter and love. It has also experienced it's fair share of sad times. But that is what life is all about.

Good-Bye Old House! Good-Bye my former HOME!

To take a look at other pictures of this house on the real estate listing click here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHELLE!!

2011-03-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Today is Michelle's birthday. She would have been 29 years old today if she were still living on this earth. We love you Michelle and still miss you very much.

High School Graduation party

BYU days

Early High School picture

Michelle and Katie take a break from their work at Nielsen's

Horseback riding in Montana.

Michelle & Katie

Michelle was a very special person. She had many talents and wasn't afraid to share them with others. She was self-driven and motivated like no other young person I have met. She set the example for her younger brothers and sisters in so many ways. One example of that was when she went to work for Nielsen's Frozen Custard. Little did she know almost all her younger sisters and brothers would follow her trail and work their too. (LeeAnn is the 6th Gardner to work there.) She was always very busy in good causes. I remember her senior year after she had already completed her Young Women's medallion that she planned and orchestrated a full musical fireside to include many youth from her stake.

We can only imagine what kind of work she is involved in now, up there in heaven. Without any physical limitations she must be working marvelous wonders there. Maybe she is dancing, or singing, laughing, or teaching. Whatever Michelle is doing, I feel in my heart that she is happy.

A February Anniversary

2011-02-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here it is the last day of February and I am finally taking time to blog about our special anniversary this year. (I posted on Facebook, but forgot about our blog.)

On February 2nd Dave and I celebrated our 20th Wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe it has been twenty years since Dave and I tied the knot. We were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple for time and all eternity. I remember that day well. Here are a few pictures from that special day 20 years ago. (My scanner has been giving me issues so these are all the photos that I have scanned from our album so far.

Coming out of the temple. My roommate later told me that "my eyes shown like light bulbs."
Yes I was happy. I know Dave was too.

Dave & I in front of the Mesa Temple.

At the reception.

Cutting the cake.

Hey Teacher !

2011-01-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

This fall I decided to start substitute teaching again. After several hurdles (ie. getting my substitute teacher certificate from the state, replacing my Social Security card, getting fingerprinted, then waiting for the card, and getting re- immunized for MMR - since who has their immunization records from the 60's ??), I finally turned in my packet to the local school district. I went to the next scheduled orientation class and then was officially signed up in their system.

I waited and waited for that first call to come. The thing about substitutes is that you never know when you are going to get a call to sub. In our district, they are all computer generated. They could come the evening before, 5:00 a.m on the morning of, or 15 minutes after you were supposed to be there. So for the first few mornings I woke up early - earlier than 5:00 am, and wondered if I was going to get the call. After a few morning of lost sleep, I thought, it probably won't be coming for awhile.

Well, after waiting for several weeks, I finally did get a call. At a decent hour (the evening prior) so I had time to prepare. My first assignment was for a junior high English class. That next morning, I was so excited, I got there a half hour before I was assigned. I walked into school with my head held high and conviction in my step. It had been 22 years since I had been a paid professional in the classroom. There is something about walking the halls of a school that invigorates me. I felt an air of confidence that I hadn't felt in a long while.The students were kind and courteous. The lesson plans left by the teacher were complete and precise. I stood in front of the class and conducted with authority. The class responded. The day went well. YEAH! I LOVE THIS. I love to teach.

After the first day, I started to receive more calls, gradually and then more often. I have signed up to sub at all grade levels, but not all subjects (NO PHYSICS please!) I've taught kindergarten all the way up to High School. I even subbed one day at an "alternative High School" which turned out better than I expected.

In mid November I was referred by a friend to teacher that was preparing to take a 5 week leave for surgery. She liked me and so I was soon teaching 4th graders in an elementary school near here. I was lucky, I got to slide into the assignment, as she had a student teacher there the first week and 1/2 finishing her assignment. So for the first few days there, I got to observe the college student and learn the names of the 30 students in the room. This job was wonderful. I loved being in that classroom so much. I was able to help them learn long division, how to write mysteries, and about early American Explorers. I even got to go on a field trip with them to the Goldfield Ghost town. Of course I got to grade a lot of papers and do a lot of paperwork that most subs don't do. I got attached to this class and all to soon, my time there came to and end just in time for Christmas.

It was nice to have a break over Christmas and now it has started all over again. Teaching. 5th grade one day and 9th grade the next. Which do I like the best? That is hard to say. I earned a Secondary Ed certificate years ago and was prepared for the older group, but now that I am older I think I enjoy teaching the elementary grades the most.

So why the picture up above? My family teases me about being the mean or stern sub. It's true I am strict at times. Better to run a tight ship when you are subbing, or you might sink.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We hope this has been a good year for your family.

We have been blessed in many ways during the year 2010. We have been blessed with a wonderful family. Our children are all doing well in their various careers or schooling.

This year, we have been blessed to experience grandparenthood. We have little Taycee (Amy & Seth's) now 1 year old, Victoria (2 1/2) and Christian (4 months) both of whom are foster children of Katie and Robert. We have enjoyed the times we have had the little ones at our house with their beautiful smiles.

We have been blessed with opportunities to travel this country. In July, the kids and I traveled to Montana for a 100th anniversary Jackson family reunion. Along the way, we stopped in Utah for a few days to sort through and divide my parents estate. We also stopped in beautiful Yellowstone Park, on the road to Cooke City, Montana. Dave stayed home and worked hard to pay for our trip.

LeeAnn was blessed to reinforce her history lessons as she participated in a school sponsored tour to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia PA.

We have been blessed with music in our home as John is learning to play the string bass in the grade school orchestra. LeeAnn and Bethany continue to play the piano.

This year Bonnie was blessed to go back to school, as a substitute teacher. She has enjoyed the many experiences thus far from elementary school to high school levels of teaching. She even landed a 4 1/2 week long term job in a 4th grade near here, which kept her busy up until Christmas time.

Dave loves to cook for big groups and use his cook trailers. His new love is smoking meats, which he has done several times this fall to provide smoked pork for weddings and a local restaurant.

We have a new tradition in our house, and that is making tamales at Christmas time. Dave smoked the pork and then seasoned it to go in the tamales. The family all participated in making the tamales.

Then for Christmas Eve, all the older kids and their families were here to enjoy eating tamales.

On Christmas Day, we veered from tradition abit and went and flew rockets with our Bates cousins. John had fun launching the rockets that we brought out of storage and prepped for the day.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

This year we had three days to celebrate our nation's independence, July 3, July 4, and July 5th. Mesa put on a Celebration of Independence event downtown area on Friday and Saturday nights. We went down on Friday night and enjoyed it so much that we decided to go back again Saturday to see the events and to watch the fireworks.

Our American Heritage was displayed on Center Street. Here is a blow-up replica of the Washington Monument.
That is HERITAGE ACADEMY in the background, the school that LeeAnn and Bethany attend during the school year.

The National Capitol.

Here is Independence Hall. You could actually walk inside it to see various
history posters on the walls.

I am posing with a character "Caesar Rodney" who was the last one to sign the Declaration of Independence. (You might notice that he is really a she.)

They had a monster truck that John was excited to examine close up.
An old-fashioned watermelon eating contest. John finished last. But hey he got to eat some free watermelon which was so refreshing in the 90* ++ heat.
They had a wide variety of games for kids. On Friday night the crowd was light and there were very short lines. Best of all, it was FREE!

We returned Saturday night to see the fireworks. They were great. (Sorry, no pictures) The
Thank you City of Mesa, for putting on a wonderful 4th of July celebration.

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Saturday afternoon we hosted the Gardner Family Swim and BBQ. We had quite a few people here. At one point I counted 20 people in our pool! And that's not all that swam that day. Dave grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and we ate a yummy dinner after our swim.

Our grand baby - TAYCEE !!

Spring has sprung, and summer is almost here.

2010-05-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been meaning to blog for some time, but just haven't taken the time to do it. We Gardner's in Mesa are all doing fine and have enjoyed the nice mild weather Arizona has had this spring. We enjoyed seeing a green desert on our annual spring break hike in March. We went to the "JESUS THE CHRIST" EASTER PAGEANT in April. Of course there was school and work. As the school year has drawn near to the end we enjoyed attending concert and musicals. John is playing the bass in the advanced orchestra at his school. Bethany starred in a musical called "We the People" about the United States Constitution. LeeAnn was one of the student directors for that production. LeeAnn went to the Prom this spring. Chris has spent the last four months at Army Basic Training Camp in Ft. Benning, Georgia and graduated on May 20th. We're happy to have him back in Mesa. Well, that's it in a nutshell. There are pictures below that show these happenings.

Arizona - Superstition Mountain, Hierogylphic trail

The view from the top of the canyon
Bethany, LeeAnn and Shannon

Bethany and cousin Anne sing with the Heritage Academy choir, during outdoor concert

John prepares to be a "Blues Brother" with his Bass.

John plays the "Firebird Blues" at Franklin orchestra concert

Heritage musical - "We the People". LeeAnn is controlling the soundboard. Bethany sang, danced and had solo parts.

LeeAnn prepares for the prom

LeeAnn and her date, Bryce

Chris with his Infantry group at his Army Basic Training Graduation.

Chris and his girlfriend, Cassandra.

Cousins Sukiyaki Party

2010-03-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

We had a Japanese sukiyaki dinner party with some of Bonnie's cousins on the Wagstaff side. My cousin Dorothy and her husband Blaine were in town on business, so I gathered together the Bates brothers (Larry & Shannon, Dan & Malena, Arlo and Gaylene) and Morgan and Jean with a special guest, Aunt Kate and had a dinner where we cooked at the table.

We sure had fun eating and visiting together. Eating with chopsticks is a challenge for those that are new at it, but I don't think anyone went away hungry. Our kids and niece Shannon had their own table with an electric sukiyaki skillet and ate out in Dave's office away from the grown ups.

Shannon dressed up in a Japanese kimono and greeted our guests as they arrived.

Dave prepares the trays of vegetables and later added the beef. Our table has three burners in the middle so we were able to cook our sukiyaki right at the table. It is a cook as you eat type of meal.

Shannon helps Bethany cut up snow peas.

Looking at the pan up close with various vegetables, beef, tofu and glass noodles.

MY DAD

2010-02-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

A very important man in my life died last week. My Dad. Victor Rex Jackson. He passed away peacefully on January 24, 2010 at the ripe old age of 97 1/2 . I am thankful that I was able to be with him there in Provo the last week of his life.

Gone is the main man who has been in my life since the day I was born. Who loved me and encouraged me as I was growing up, who cheered me on through my many pursuits in High School and college. He pushed me to try a little harder. He was the one who drove me to college in his big truck, and who with mom wrote letters of encouragement while I was away from home. He is the one who insisted on coming to Arizona (while I was single)when I had ear surgery. He stayed there in the hospital thru it all. This man flew all the way to Japan so he could be there after I had my first baby (LeeAnn). He came from Montana one summer to help me while Dave was away right before Bethany was born. This man is my Dad and he was always there for me.

I love that he was able to travel even through the last year of his life. He would come to visit us once or twice a year and stay for 3 or 4 weeks. He loved playing with his grandchildren. When my kids were little, he would play hide and go seek with them. He read them stories and laughed and teased them. And of course he loved to get them caught in his bear trap. (Bear Trap is holding them tight between your knees and ankles) Then for awhile, he took on the role of the tooth fairy. He liked to put dollar bills under their pillows, even without a tooth to take. He'd put one under his pillow too and say, "Look what the tooth fairy brought me." then the kids would dash off to look under their own pillows.

When LeeAnn was very little she used to call him Grandpa Haha. I think that was started from the little saying he would chant when he had them caught in his bear trap.

Grandpa has you caught in a bear trap
You can't get away, Hahaha!

He loved to go places with us - for rides out into the desert or trip to the zoo.

He loved to go grocery shopping with me and always wanted to pay for the groceries. I let him help a little bit. As he got older and less mobile, he started riding the electric grocery carts. This was true FREEDOM for him. I did have to watch him though, as he ran into a few things in the aisle. One time shopping we picked up a package of "Depends" - adult briefs. As we were paying at the check out and they bagged the Depends, my Dad said in a loud voice for all to hear, " The man that invented Depends deserves a Gold medal ! ! !"

I will never forget the endearing way that he referred to my as his Favorite daughter. (I am his only daughter.) Almost everytime he said goodbye on the phone or said goodnight in person, he would say, "I love you Bonnie! You're my favorite daughter!" Even though I knew I was the only daughter, it still made me feel special. He called me regularly from Provo, and if I wasn't there he would leave a nice message on our answering machine. I have tried to save those messages knowing that someday he wouldn't be around to call me anymore. Right now there is just one left on the machine that I can listen to on the days when I want to hear my dad's voice again. "Hello Bonnie, this is your old Dad calling. How's my favorite daughter today? Sorry I missed you."

Yes Dad, I am missing you too!!

love,
Bonnie

If you would like to read more about my Dad and his obituary, click here.

Taycee

2009-12-13T11:37:00.000-08:00

Amy & Seth had their baby girl, Taycee Elizabeth Adair, on December 1, 2009.
We are so happy for them and for the new addition to our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN ! !

2009-11-30T11:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was John's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday John. We love you and think you are great. We will be celebrating again tonight with a special dinner featuring ham puffs with the his older siblings here as guests.

Here are TEN Reasons that we think John is great.

1. He has a good name
2. Fun personality
3. Loves to laugh
4. Learning to play the Bass in the orchestra
5. Loves football
6. Beautiful blue eyes
7. Has a mind for facts and figures
8. Thoughtful of others
9. Loves animals
10. Super Cub Scout

Halloween Feast

2009-10-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

Our Gardner family tradition is to have a Halloween Dinner sometime the week of Halloween. We started this fun tradition about 10 years ago. We find recipes for spooky and gross food that is fit for a Halloween gathering. Some years we have invited another family to join us and we give them the challenge to bring some Halloween fare. Here is a collage of pictures from this years feast and some of our dinners from years past.

Halloween Dinner - October 2009

Our family at the table, John, LeeAnn, Chris & Alli

Alli, Amy, & Seth dish up

LeeAnn and Alli

A sample plate

Tape Worm Sandwiches

Bread Heads

Spookghetti and Meatballs

Creepy Insect Cakes

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Halloween 2006

Our guests, the Musgraves brought this witches hair and goblin guts

Can you believe that we drank that?

Yes, somethings are plain disgusting

Halloween 2005

Some disgusting salad - sorry I forgot the name. (It tasted great actually)

Roasted rats

Chocolate Covered Mice on Cake

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Halloween 2004

Monkey Heads

Witch's Eyeballs

We don't have pictures from all the years to show you. Nor all the dishes we made. I remember the first year though we served witches fingers (baked chicken tenders with slivered black olives for fingernails.) We have also served Chucky's Upchuck stew, and a platter of Dead Doughboy. It has been fun to watch everyone's creativity as we have thought and planned our Halloween feast. Some of the food looked disgusting or gross and tasted disgusting. But most of the dishes were quite delicious. So we Gardners may be a bit "goofy" at times, but we have a lot of fun.

Grand Canyon Trip - October 2009

2009-10-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

This year the kids got a whole week off for October break. We decided it was time to take them on a trip to see Arizona, specifically , the Grand Canyon.

We decided to see a bit of our beautiful Arizona on our trip to Flagstaff, so we made a detour and stopped in Sedona for a picnic and a hike. Sedona has beautiful red rocks and formations.

We hiked along a trail through the trees and along the river. There was one tree that I felt was a picture taking tree so we just had to get a few shots of it.

Sedona has many beautiful panoramic shots. The city is fun too with lots of tourist shops, but we avoided that diversion. Next it was up a beautiful canyon were the fall colors were just starting to come out. We saw beautiful shades of yellow with an occasional red leafed tree. The road up the canyon climbs up some switch backs until we are at the top and we stopped at the lookout point and saw this scene.

The we drove on to Flagstaff and spent the night there in a motel. Here we are chilling after a long day at the Galaxy Diner. The food there was out of this world.

The next day we drove up to the Grand Canyon.

After we returned home I started reminiscing about my first trip to the Grand Canyon over 36 years ago. My family lived in Montana, and we were headed to Mesa, Arizona for the wedding of my older brother Harold to his bride Verla. My dad loaded the whole family in our our Chevy and we drove to Arizona. But along the way we made several stops, including Zion's National park in Utah and the Grand Canyon. We stopped at the North Rim on our way down and the South Rim on our way home from Mesa. We saw lots of other beautiful parts of Arizona and southern Utah too. Anyway, I started digging through my old photos and found this.

Grand Canyon Then - first trip April 1973 (Yes, that really is the Grand Canyon, although the photo is kinda old to tell.

Compare that to our most recent trip photo.
Grand Canyon Now - 5th trip October 2009

Minnesota vacation

2009-07-16T08:38:00.001-07:00

LeeAnn and I went to Minnesota to visit our cousins for about a week. We went to Mall of America, Wisconsin, bowling, and to a lake. Here are some of the pictures.

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SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!

2009-05-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school. It is a happy day for all of us. John left the 3rd grade behind having read a bunch of books this year, including all 7 Harry Potter books. Bethany, a 6th grader, left Franklin Elementary for the last time. Yesterday, she was awarded the "Outstanding 6th grader award" from the principal. Dave and I went to the school to see her receive this award. (See picture below) Next year, Bethany will be heading off to Heritage Academy to join her sister LeeAnn and cousins Anne Durfee and Shannon Jackson. LeeAnn has enjoyed her year at Heritage Academy as a 9th grader. She is learning new skills and developing talents. She helped with the school musical this spring. She has been taking Kenpo and recently earned her Purple belt.

This last month of school (MAY) has been hot, hot, with temperatures at 100 or better for 14 days in a row. But wouldn't you know it that today, the last day of school, it was only 87 degrees, overcast and raining at times. Bethany and the 6th grade had an all day swim party at a local pool. She said it was still fun. It was raining this evening though as several local High Schools held their graduation ceremonies outside in the rain. Here in Mesa, Arizona we only get rain a few days out of the year,(and we love it) but WHY did it have to rain today?

Bethany and Mrs. Householder

Bethany also received the silver medallion for her reading efforts.

LeeAnn with her new purple belt in Kenpo.

Miscellaneous

2009-05-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I have posted anything here on the Blog. I am combining all the little things that have happened here in the last little while into one blog entry.

Puppies
Amy brought over some of her puppies for a visit the other night. They are pure breed Miniature Dachshunds. These cute puppies were a litter of five. They had fun playing in our backyard with the kids. "Does anyone want to buy a puppy?"

Mother's Day.

Every year Dave and the kids fix me a nice gourmet meal for Mother's Day. This year was no exception. We ate Asian tofu salad and grilled chicken with some special sauce over bowtie pasta. YUMMY! Homemade Lemon sorbet was dessert. It was all a surprise and I wasn't even allowed in the kitchen. Thank-you Dave!

DAD's BIRTHDAY

My Dad was here for three weeks in April & May. While he was here we celebrated his birthday. He turned 97 years old on May 7th. He does very well for a man that age. He still gets around well with the use of a cane. His beverage of choice is MILK and sometimes Rootbeer. We had a birthday dinner and party here and invited relatives and some friends. Notice there are no pictures of him blowing out 97 candles on a birthday cake. The fire marshall wouldn't approve. We opted instead to serve blueberry pie and homemade strawberry ice cream (two of his favorites.)

Here are a few pictures from his birthday.

Victor Rex Jackson
May 7, 2009
97 years old

Dad and Bonnie

Morgan, Dad, and Bonnie

Mavis Petersen (Jean's mom from Minnesota), Morgan, Jean and Dad

Chris and Jenny Robinson and family with Grandpa. (Mackay, Haley, Grant & Jack)

Look out World!

LeeAnn is starting to drive! She got her learner's permit in April and has been driving her mother crazy. Oh, I mean, driving her all over town. She loves to drive and drives her Mom whenever she can. Dave even let her drive his truck, with him of course, up to Payson and back. Seriously, LeeAnn is a good little driver and puts up with alot of "Backseat driver" instructions from her mom.

CHORES

While my Dad was here, John discovered a new, easier way to take out the garbage. Grandpa's wheelchair - "It makes any chore a breeze."

LeeAnn and Bethany

I asked LeeAnn and Bethany to pose for me in front of the rose bushes. The roses were so pretty a month ago. They are actually standing in the neighbors yard so you can see our house in the background.

Our neighbor friends, Shaylin and Alicia relax on the couch with Bethany and LeeAnn.

Pinewood Derby

2009-04-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Last week was the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby. John and Dave made a race car out of pine wood. John designed the car and put a driver in it with a clear dome on top. He raced the car Thursday night with the Cub Scouts and won two of the four races he was in.

John and his car.

Sorry, a lot of these photos are a bit blurry.

Our Cub Scout Pack with their cars.

On Friday night, our ward sponsored a "Open Class - anything goes" Pinewood Derby. John raced last years car there, and Dave raced a pure lead car. Everyone had a ton of fun.

Mountain Man Rendezvous

2009-03-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

During spring break, Dave and I went to the Mountain Man Rendezvous, a Mesa District Varsity Scout event held every 2 years. Dave has been going for years and was even the Booshway (head guy in charge) there 8 years ago. This year he was the head cook, cooking for a crew (the event staff) of 250. This was my second time attending, and this year I was in the kitchen along with his cook staff of 11 other men.

The Rendezvous is a three day encampment where the Varsity age scouts (14 &15 year olds) come with their teams and leaders and participate in events that are mostly from the Mountain Man era ( early 1800's.) These events include black powder rifle shooting, knife and hawk throwing, primitive fires (flint and steel, bow and drill and just drill), leather crafts - making medicine bags (these are like necklaces with a small pouch that the MM wore.) There was also archery, bullet casting, repelling, and many others. There were over 30 events for the boys to choose from and rotate to. The boys come in teams of 2 -10 boys with 2 leaders and visit and participate in events for two days, where they learn new skills and practice them. Then on the last day they participate in a competition event, called the Colter Run. This event is named after the famous Mountain Man John Colter who had to run away from the Indians across Montana prairie, "buck naked" for seven days before arriving at a trading post. (A little history lesson there - I could go on, but you've probably already scrolled down to the pictures by now.) For the Colter run, the team of boys run to ten different events, do the required skill, run to the next event, and lastly run up the long hill. They are timed and the team with the best time won a nice prize.

Several of the men gather round the main camp. The long jackets they are wearing are called "Capotes."

A view of the upper camp, with all the primitive tents.

Primitive Camp

Russ and Trent Durfee in front of the Chuckwagon Trading Post. "Chuckwagon" is Russ's Mountain man name.

Trent plays the Indian flute.

Primitive fires using flint and steel. "Firebird" Laurie is getting ready to time the boys. Two years ago, I was at this outpost helping teach boys to start fires.

Dan prepares something in the dutch ovens.

One of the more popular events - bull riding (no its not too primitive).

The women folk. All of us women (about 20 in a field of 1000 men) got to stay in one of the nicer cabins, where we got in some good girl talk and bonding time before bedtime.

Larry stirs up a a big pot of chili, while Dave seasons the meat in the background.

The guys made the yummiest pancakes.

We had a whole family of brothers there at the Rendezvous. Five of the Riggs (Ray, Wes, Ken, Wayne, Larry) brothers cooked in the kitchen and the other brother, Charl, was camping with his team of boys.

My main responsibility was to take tickets at all the meals. Dave told me to give them a hard time if they didn't bring their ticket, but I ended up sneaking in several tired mountain men who just happened to forget their ticket back at their outpost (event station.) I received the Mountain Man name "Ticket" while I was there this year.

Laurie and Bonnie - friends for over 18 years! She's an awesome firestarting lady and has many primitive skills under belt.

More wedding Pictures

2009-03-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't had time to write about Alli and Brendon's wedding since they got married one month ago. Life hasn't slowed down much since then, so I haven't had time to blog. Thanks to LeeAnn we got a few pictures posted earlier, but no narrative. So here's just a quick recap of the wedding day.
Alli and Brendon got married in the Mesa Arizona Temple on February 28. Dave and I were there in the temple to witness this sacred ceremony as were many other family members and friends. After the ceremony we took pictures in front of the temple and on the temple grounds. We went to a wedding lunch later, hosted by Brendon's family. Then the reception was held that evening in our home (backyard actually.) The reception was from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. After it turned dark, all the twinkly lights bordering the yard and around the trees came on, lighting the backyard up. The pool lights were on, with the waterfall flowing, all together made a beautiful site. Dave's sister Karen and husband Russ catered the wedding for us. Karen made the beautiful wedding cake. Russ made and arranged all the beautiful and delicious food. Several friends helped in the kitchen. Thanks to everyone's help everything turned out great.

Here are a few pictures from the day.

Brendon and Alli

Family group in front of the temple.

Seth & Amy, LeeAnn, Chris, Alli & Brendon, John, Bethany, Katie and Robert

They were all smiles.

How the backyard looked before the reception started.

Alli checks out the backyard.

Alli and her bridesmaids, Melissa, Katie and Amy

Wedding cake made by Karen

Russ prepares the food table.

Even the pool got some decorations, we had a string of bride and groom duckies going across the pool. (Sorry, you can only see the bride duck in this shot.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE !

2009-03-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

TODAY IS DAVE'S 50th BIRTHDAY. What a landmark - 50 years! ! I want to wish my favorite man a very happy day.

Dave in his new office.

Getting ready to weld. This is one of Dave's favorite things to do.

Dave welding.

Dave is a one of a kind guy. I guess I'm kind of partial to this guy, but I think he is a super talented man. Here just a sampler:
1. He's a computer expert.
2. He's a great cook, a creative cook, and can cook for hundreds with his cook trailer.
3. He's great working with puzzles and has quite a collection. "CONUNDRUM" is his Mountain Man name.
4. He's funny. He makes light of bad situations and can make puns of just about everything.
5. He's a welder. He has welded cook trailers, shade structures, and even the light hangy things he put by the trees for Alli's reception.
6. He's a woodworker. He made beautiful shelves for our dining room, along with the dining room table (welding involved there too), and the corner shelf, and other things in the past.
7. A great scout leader - Many scouts and other leaders have benefited from his passion and dedication to the scouting program.
8. etc, etc.

I could go on but you get the idea. Pardon me for bragging about my husband. But I feel since it's his 50th birthday I have a license to brag. I love this man very much, and am thankful to be a part of his life.

Happy Birthday DAVE!

love,
Bonnie

Hurtado Wedding

2009-03-02T17:13:00.001-08:00

Family pictures

2009-02-06T19:48:00.001-08:00

In December we had family pictures taken by Marie Renard, a photographer who lives in our ward.

This is our backyard.

On the rock waterfall & slide structure above our pool.

Bonnie & Dave
Bethany, LeeAnn, & John

Bonnie & Dave

Bethany, Bonnie, & LeeAnn

Sisters - Bethany & LeeAnn

LeeAnn was the only one that wanted solo photo shots that day.

Garage Party

2009-01-26T20:01:00.000-08:00

Dave hosted a Garage Party here on Friday night to celebrate the finishing of his garage. The long awaited garage doors were finally installed the first week of January. He invited a bunch of friends and relatives over and we put out some good food to eat. Here are some pics to show our event.

LeeAnn serving up the cheese.

Dave, in the background, is as happy as can be.

We caught our hired help in the kitchen slurping from the ladle.

Remembering December

2009-01-11T16:43:00.000-08:00

December has passed and along with it the wonderful Christmas season. It is hard for me to let go of the Christmas lights, music, and decorations. I wanted to leave our tree up until the end of January, but I got outvoted. With every nativity, ornament or Nutcracker that we put away, I cringed, thinking "Why can't this season last longer?" " Why don't we leave the nativity sets up all year long? After all we think of Jesus all year long, right?" This year, we have chosen one simple nativity to leave up the year round. It is a simple one piece ceramic of Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

Now that everything (well almost everything ) is packed up and put away, we have time to write about the highlights of our Christmas season.

Here is the story of our Christmas.

Start with a tree. This may not look like the most beautiful tree in the world, but it was beautiful in our eyes. We chose to put up a real tree this year, a Grand Fir. It smelled so good and lasted well.

Now, after dark and when all the house lights were dimmed, it took on a magical glow.

This year we put a new ornament on the tree - Pink Ballet Slippers in honor of Michelle.

We put up our nativity sets,

The kids decorated a Gingerbread house,

Made snowflakes for the doors,

and put up the wooden Nutcracker soldiers.

On Christmas Eve the family gathered. Our numbers total twelve these days, with our future son-in-law Brendon included. We enjoyed being together.

We opened a few gifts.

Some were special gifts. This is a memory quilt that Katie, Amy, Alli & Chris made using some of Michelle's old t-shirts. The older kids made two quilts, one for Dave and me and one for their mother, Debbie. Most of the t-shirts represent an event or group Michelle was involved in. Michelle was involved in so many things that there were plenty of t-shirts for two quilts. Click on the photo to enlarge it to see the individual panels.

This couple was hiding a special secret all evening long.

Later, after the others had left Amy and Seth came back in with another gift. In it was this picture frame. (scroll down)

YES! Amy and Seth are expecting a baby! That means that Dave will finally get to be a grandpa and I a grandma. Their expected arrival date is in early August. Hurray!

A Christmas Poem from Michelle

2008-12-21T13:23:00.000-08:00

Michelle wrote several poems during her life. Many were poems about Christmas. We'd like to share one with you this Christmas Season.

Children of Christmas
by Michelle Gardner

Looking through the window
I see the snow upon the ground;
And all the children playing,
As Christmas swims the town.

Quietly I watch them,
And wonder if they know
The story of that day gone by,
Before the Christmas snow.

I see the lowly mother,
Ill and heavy with child;
And watch as poor old Joseph
Cares for the mother so mild.

I see the innkeepers turn them away,
And wonder if they'd known,
Just what they could have done that day,
And what they might have shown.

When the star appeared above them,
Did they somehow wonder then
If there was more they could have done,
Or more they might have been?

Did the shepherds ever question
As they followed that bright light?
If the angels hadn't come,
Would they have traveled still that night?

The questions fill my mind
As I replay that Christmas night;
And see within myself
A piece of that holy light.

I picture the babe in the manger,
Wrapped in swaddling clothes;
And think of His life before Him,
And the example He still shows.

My eyes travel back to the children,
So pure and innocent,
Singing songs of Christmas,
With faces of content.

Somehow, it seemed they knew
The story of that night,
As I watched them hug each other,
Wrapped in Christmas light.

Exciting News!

2008-12-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

Guess what, Alli is engaged!

Last night Brendon Hurtado proposed to Alli and she said yes! She has a beautiful heart shaped diamond ring to show for it.

We are all very excited for her. Of course Alli is pretty
happy right now too!

Alli and and Brendon met at work - Jamba Juice. She is attending college at ASU this semester and Brendon attends MCC.

They are planning a wedding in late February.

Happy Birthday John

2008-11-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

November 29th was John's 9th birthday. He's one year older and smarter too.

Happy Birthday to John. Here are a few pictures to show you the many sides of John.

John the mud boy

John the hunter

John the fisherman

John the repairman
He really "gets into his work"

John the cool, handsome boy

John and Dad on his baptism day, last year in December.

Concerts, Plays and Other Events

2008-11-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

This last week and a half we have had a bunch of cultural events to attend. I like going to plays and concerts so have loved every minute. I'm sorry I have no pictures to document them. But here are my mini -reviews.

To start off with a week ago Friday, we attended the play "It's a Wonderful Life" at LeeAnn's School - Heritage Academy. This was a stage rendition of the famous movie. It followed the story fairly closely although they replace Clarence the angel with Clara, and no dance floor opening up into a swimming pool. (ahh) Each of the actors and actresses did a great job with their characters. We were delighted to see our 5 yr old niece, Angelique S., play the part of Zuzu Bailey. She said her lines very clearly, and of course that touching phrase at the end , "Look, Daddy a bell rang. Teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings!" I must confess, I got a little teary then.

We next went to the same school's Choir Concert on Tuesday night. I tell you this school has a lot of talented kids. They sang with such clear harmony and volume. Heritage Academy had three groups of singers, the Women's choir, the Men's choir, and the Select Choir. Our niece Shannon J. was in the Women's Choir and they sang songs of love. The Men's group although young, sang with gusto songs of adventure. The select choir sang songs from the Baroque era, many of them they sang acappella. There were a few featured soloists that totally amazed me with their voices. I was feeling tingly on my arms it sounded so good. This concert was extra special because it was the last concert for the choir director, Mrs. Campbell, as she is retiring to stay home and have a baby (in December.) They sang their best for her! I heard another parent (my cousin) say it was probably the best concert he had ever heard at Heritage.

Wednesday night was Evening in Excellence hosted by the Young Women. I forgot to bring my camera there (the only place of all these events where a camera was allowed). We as parents were served a nice dinner and then watched our daughters perform in a talent show. Each class performed a skit and also the girls displayed projects they had worked on for Personal Progress. LeeAnn wrote the skit for her Mia Maids class and was so funny. Bethany and the Beehives were fun to watch too. The leaders pulled off synronized swimming on stage.

On Thursday we went to Heritage's Dance Concert held in the Mesa Arts Center. The concert was titled "After Neverland" and all the many dances performed were telling the story of Peter Pan. LeeAnn is taking Ballroom Dance this year and performed two numbers with her group. Shannon also performed several times with the Dance I group. Two of my favorite pieces of the evening were "Mermaid Vanity" and "Aware of the Crocodiles." They all did a great job. It made me think if Michelle, her love of dancing, and the many performances she made.

So there you have it. We enjoy getting cultured, and don't do it nearly often enough. I just may go to Heritage's Orchestra Concert on Tuesday night (even though we don't have any kids or relatives in it.) We'll see what comes next.

Veterans Day

2008-11-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

We'd like to say Thank-you to all the American Veterans out there that have served and fought for the freedoms of our country. To those who are currently serving we pray for your safety and thank you for defending our liberty.

I want to make mention of my favorite veteran, my dad.

Victor Rex Jackson
US ARMY - World War II

Served: 7 May 1942- 2 Sep 1945

Rex served in the European front in the countries of France, Germany, Italy, and North Africa. He was part of the army that made the invasion on Normandy beach in France on June 6, 1945. During the three long years over there he had to endure living in harsh conditions and was constantly in danger. Although he had a couple of close calls, Rex's life was preserved and he came home without any injuries.

Today Rex is still living at 96 years of age, and resides in Provo, Utah.

Sukiyaki Dinner

2008-11-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

We had a sukiyaki dinner to celebrate Alli's birthday on Sunday night. Her birthday is actually Oct. 21st, but she was in Hawaii on her birthday so we postponed the celebration. As you can see we cook right at the table. There are three gas burners under the sukiyaki pans. Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish with beef and vegetables cooked in special sauce. We all used our chopsticks to stir the food a bit while it cooks and then we take out what we want to eat. We served rice in our bowls. This is a fun way to eat dinner - cook and eat as you go.

I tried to get a close up of the food here. The grapes don't go in the sukiyaki! And yes the pile of red is raw beef - ice cold. (As you can see, I still need help in the photography area. I didn't get the close-up that I wanted, but this will have to do.

Here's Alli with her boyfriend, Brendon

Brendon and Alli

Amy and her puppies. Miniature Dachshunds. Want to buy a puppy?

Here's a picture from another night when she brought the whole litter. They are so cute, and so fun to watch them play.

Scout-O-Rama

2008-11-04T10:17:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Scout-O-Rama in Tempe, a statewide event full of scouting exhibits, games, and other activities. Our Cub Scout Pack went together and helped at our Stake Booth. Our booth displayed the many uses of solar energy. I volunteer in Cub Scouts as a leader and John is a Wolf (his first year in cub scouts). Here is some of what we did. Note: We did solar energy at our booth last year and had a challenge getting our chocolate chip cookies baked in 4 hours, so this year we decided to try something simpler. Grated cheese on Nachos. Surely the sun can melt the cheese in a speedy manner and melt s'mores. We made our solar ovens out of pizza boxes. We also had a few other solar ovens there.

Our booth

Getting set up.

Propping up the pizza box ovens. The lid has aluminum foil to reflect the sun.

Cool Hand Race watches over the nachos

The chocolate is starting to melt in this oven, while the marshmallows try to melt in another oven. Then we put them together to eat. Yum yum. (we found out you don't have to wait until they're melted all the way to eat them.)

The funnest part for the boys was starting fires with a magnifying glass and burning dots on the wood. Here a boy tries to start a marshmallow on fire with the magnifying glass. It didn't work.

Working the magnifying glass.

When we finished our turn working the booth, we were free to go around the rest of the park to participate in other events and see other booths. Here John gets ready for a soapbox car ride.

Next, John went over to the monkey bridge to walk it. There were four different monkey bridges there. This one wasn't as taut as it should be. It is harder to walk than it looks.

Race is going over another monkey bridge at the same time.

Playing a game.

Shooting gallery. Rubber band guns that shot ping pong balls. See the targets on the next picture.

Shooting gallery. Look at the the fun target that this Pack made. Click on image to enlarge and then notice the Barbie doll in the lower right corner. She is sitting on a platform above a bucket of water. There is a round target to the left of her. It's a home-made dunk tank. How cool is that? By the way, while I was there, no one sent the barbie into the tank.

My Trip to California

2008-10-21T18:43:00.000-07:00

This year I signed up for the Southern California Science trip at school. There was a huge waiting list. I was second on it, and was able to get in. We visited many places and I had lots of cool experiences. One of the highlight of my trip, was going to Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island. We got to go kayaking, snorkeling, and learned about the animals around there.

Another place we got to go to was Medieval Times, we all sat around in this huge stadium, and cheered for our knight (the yellow one) while we were served food (which we had to eat with our fingers).

We also spent a day at Sea World. I loved seeing the dolphins, they are so cute! I didn't get any pictures of Samu because I was in the front row, and I really didn't want to get my digital camera soaking wet!

At Hollywood

The last night, at a Mexican restaurant (I don't remember the name, we were all really tired).

Progress on the "Garage"

2008-10-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

So it's been a couple of months and we've made some progress on the garage. All of the massive holes required for the new water and sewer lines have been filled and the front yard is getting back to normal. Here is some of what else has been happening:

The new garage was framed. My best friend Mario and hos crew came and framed the entire structure in four days. The structure shares half of one wall with the house ("attached") and on the back side has a small office and a bathroom. Smoe of the back angles were a little tricky but Mario and his crew did a great job.

Here is the inside view after framing. The electricians and plumbers were in and did their rough-ins. The mechanical guy also came and put in the a/c and cooler ducting. Everything passed on our framing/rough-in inspection - Yahoo!

Next Mario (hey, this guy can do anything) painted the eves. He did such a good job we had him do it twice. No, actually the roofers used too long of nails and made the undersides look bad where they stuck out so Mario got to paint again. Here he is painting.

After the roofing the crane came in to lift the two coolers and the A/C unit up on the roof. Now that those are in place the roof is sealed and the rain can come.

After that we've (mostly mario) has been busy sheeting the inside of the garage with plywood and drywalling. They have also put up the lathing (foam & chicken wire) on the outside in preparation of the stucco.

Here is an inside view as it stands now. They are just finishing the taping of the drywall on the garage ceiling and have hung plastic in preparation for texturing and painting this week.

Here is a view inside the office. Doesn't look like much but this is the result of six days of taping, filling and sanding. It will also be textured this week.

Here is the view from the alley. The roof is finished and the lathing is close.

This far this has been taxing but fun. There is a lot to coordinate, check and recheck. I've had to uncover a few outlets and have a few things corrected but all in all it has been perfect. This week is texture, then paint and then inside electrical. Hopefully the next post will be the finished views. I'm already planning the garage warming party we'll have when it's done. For now it's closer every day. There's been a lot of names attached to it like "The Man Cave", "The Barn" and others I probably shouldn't include here in a public forum. But right now I just call it unfinished. But hey - The drinking fountain is connected and working. What more could I ask for!

Utah Peaches

2008-09-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

Utah peaches are so yummy.
This fall we bought three boxes of peaches. They were so yummy that we ate most of them fresh. Then we decided to preserve some of those precious peaches for future.

I love to can peaches. For me canning is more of an art than a chore. You place those peaches in just so so and they look beautiful. I have happy memories of learning to can all sorts of fruit with my mother when I was growing up in Montana. Then when I had my own family, my mom often made the trip to Arizona to help me can in September. (Well, and help celebrate birthdays too.) Canning with mom was an enjoyable experience. It was just fun to work together and visit while we worked. Mom had a little secret that made her peaches special. You leave the pit on one peach half. One pit in every jar. It added to the flavor or something. Well, I miss those days of canning with my mom. My peaches just don't quite turn out as nice.

THANKS MOM, for teaching me the fine art of canning, and instilling in me the love of preserving food.

Well, I have continued on the tradition and try to can something every year whether peaches, tomatoes or applesauce. Most of the time I have done it solo, or with a friend. This year, I got this bright idea. DAUGHTERS! It is time for them to learn. So I picked a Saturday to do some canning and freezing of peaches.

LeeAnn loves it, she's laughing

One slice for me, one slice for you.

Bethany and LeeAnn made quite the duo of peeling and slicing

Peeling and slicing, we've got this routine down.

There was enough left over to make a pan of peach crisp

The finished product! Now don't those jars of peaches look good enough to enter in the county fair? You know right next to Aunt Bee's pickles! What a wonderful feeling to see the finished product and know you have fruit to put away in food storage.

LeeAnn and Bethany's Photo Shoot

2008-09-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, LeeAnn had me dress up in several different outfits. She had me pose in various places around our backyard. Here are a few of the pictures.

Look what we brought back from Japan

2008-09-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

September 18, 2008

Yes, what a cute doll (baby) we brought back from Japan 15 years ago. LeeAnn was born in Tokyo, Japan 15 years ago today. She was the best present or souvenir anyone could ever ask for. LeeAnn was less than a month old when we moved back from Japan. No, she does not have Japanese citizenship. She is a true blue American, but definitely loves Japanese food.

LeeAnn enjoys many of the things most teenagers like, music, movies, and hanging out with friends. She plays the piano, loves the computer, can bake and cook most anything.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEEANN

from toddler on

Halloween costume

Posing after making a video that LeeAnn made with Cassi and Janel

Riding a horse at Cooke City, Montana

LeeAnn had a yummy lemon cake for her birthday this year. It was so lemony, that you almost can't see the cake in this picture.

Happy Birthday Bethany! September 11, 2008

2008-09-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

Today Bethany turns 12 years old.
Happy Birthday Bethany! We love you.

Turning 12 means graduating from Primary and going on to Young Women's. The YW group welcomed Bethany by heart attacking our front yard and posting the big Beehive sign in our yard. (This was secretly done during the dark of night.) Soon after we received a good rain. Now those hearts are droopy, but their message is still the same.

Here's a few other pics of Bethany from the last few years.

September 2008

practicing the piano

Bethany & friend Malina

Mom asked her to pose with the rose bushes

Christmas morning

John and Bethany before school concert - 2006

Bethany played the part of an angel in Primary

My most favorite picture of all. LeeAnn was the photographer here, in 2004!

Our Weekend In Utah

2008-08-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and LeeAnn took a trip to Utah to attend the wedding of Ben Jackson (our nephew, cousin) to Shara Richards. We flew into Salt Lake City, rented a car and decided to do some sightseeing in SLC before heading to Provo. We first went to temple square. I love the feeling of temple square. It has such a peaceful, friendly atmosphere. I don't care how many times I have been there, it is still exciting each time we visit. After lunch we drove east to "This is the Place" Monument and Heritage Park. We were enjoying the train ride at Heritage Park, when LeeAnn looked back at the end of the train and saw her cousin Trent. It was our Durfee cousins from Mesa! We were surprised to see them. We spent the next hour touring the village with them.

The rest of our trip included a family reunion dinner at Harold & Verla's house in Provo where we gathered with the Jackson family. Andrew & Linda were there from Tennessee. It was their son getting married, and graduating from BYU, I might add. Both Ben and Shara graduated from BYU on Friday in the morning, then got married in the late afternoon. The next day was the wedding in the Bountiful temple. It was a beautiful wedding. We took tons of pictures, but we won't post them all here. We also got to see my Dad, who is still doing great at 96. The rest of the time we hung out with Le & Marlene in Spanish Fork. They make great hosts. Thanks Le & Marlene for putting us up.
(narrative - Bonnie, pictures - LeeAnn)

Peggy and Marlene

Ian and Lindsay
Ben and Shara - the happy couple!

These cousins have so much fun together - Lachelle, LeeAnn, & Lindsay!
LeeAnn, Lynnsi, and Annie pulling their handcart at Heritage Village
twins Owen and Clara

LeeAnn and Lindsay were giving Ian rides on the airplane.

Rachel and Shirley

Construction, Construction, Construction

2008-08-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Well the household projects continue. This last week we had our whole side yard, driveway and front yard dug up as we replaced our water main, ran new water lines to the back yard and ran sewer from the addition to the sewer main out front. The previous owners of this house thought they knew plumbing but turns out they were clueless. Now we should be in great working order for many years to come. Yesterday we passed the city inspection so today all the trenches were filled in. Now it's all just dirt. Here are a couple of pictures. One shows what our front yard looks like now. The other shows our side yard where the new garage and my little office are going. Thus far besides the plumbing, we have finished the stem walls and it has now been graded. Next week they will poor the floors and the outside pads. As part of that they will fix the concrete in our driveway. So half the backyard looks beautiful and the other half looks like construction.

I'm also posting a picture of the BBQ. It's nearing completion but there's still a lot of final hookups to do. We are however able to use the grill now but it needs to get tuned just a little as it runs very hot.

I'll post some more construction satus pictures in a couple of weeks!

Camp Sunrise Sidekicks

2008-08-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

This year Alli, Bethany, John, and I went to Arizona's Camp Sunrise Sidekicks, which is for the siblings of those who have cancer. Michelle had been going there as a volunteer before she even new she had cancer. There were tons of fun activities to do. We plan on going back next July.

The theme was super heros, so we all dressed up as super heros for the dance. John was super man and Alli, Beth and I were the Power Puff Girls.

Pioneer Day Pool Party

2008-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Wendy wears cool sunglasses!
Paul and Thacker Jackson
LeeAnn holding Mackay Robinson
Dave hides in the cave
Shannon, Bethany, and Krystin holding Thacker
Paul and Thacker coming down the slide

Farewell to our Fine Furry Friends

2008-07-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

We bid a sad farewell to Pepper, our last guinea pig this week. She passed away earlier this week and joined her sister Salt in PET HEAVEN. Salt died earlier this year. We will miss them both. We had them with us for four (4) years. Even though some people say they are rodents, to me they look and feel like baby bunny rabbits. They are fun to hold and pet. It was fun to get them out of their pen and let them run around the family room. They would run like a train (following each other) around the perimeter of the room, rarely going into the middle. But they learned to sneak under the couch. Then it was hard to get them out.

Besides eating the guinea pig pellets, they loved to eat carrots, celery, lettuce, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables. They got smart and could hear the rustle of a bag of lettuce or carrots coming out of the fridge and they would start squealing, begging for food. They would gladly accept carrot peelings, lettuce scraps, and leftover salad parts. What will I do with the veggie scraps now? (Start a compost pile??)

The down side was cleaning out their cage every week. It got kinda stinky as you can imagine. That part we definitely will not miss.

The kids really had fun playing with them, building tunnels for them to hide in, mazes for them to navigate through, and just holding them and petting them. They even taught Salt to drive the doll house van one day. Amazing, huh!

Bye, bye Pepper and Salt.

School trip

2008-07-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry my school trip was in May, I just got the pictures. These are at sunset crater.

Mary, Naomi, Janel, Me, Kandace, and Marin

Maria and I in Sedona

Me at the Grand Canyon

Our New Backyard

2008-07-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

So after several years of looking at a dirt field (thanks to the dogs), we finally decided to do something about it. Our construction "Stage I" was the pool remodel. That has now been completed. The pool was re-plastered and we added a water feature which includes a rock slide and waterfall. We also added a "rock" around the pool equipment. A new shade canopy was erected which provides a shaded seating area and casts a shadow on parts of the pool from about 4pm on. We also added a new fence and some desert plants and rocks. Many thanks to Jenny Robinson who assisted us in the overall design and the plants. The pool has now once again become useable and is getting swimmers in it from far and wide several times a day.

Stage II was the backyard. That stage is also now nearly complete. We've added sprinklers, grass, concrete curbing, gravel borders and trees. We also painted the fence. Next to the pool we put up a gazebo and made the fence so it can open between the gazebo and the pool area. It makes it nice to sit in while people are swimming and it's become a great place to eat dinner when we want a change. This weekend I added controls for all the lights, pumps, etc. to the gazebo. The only part left now is the BBQ. It will probably be finished in the next few weeks and I'll post more about it then. Suffice it to say that it will be my outdoor cooking paradise.

We have now embarked upon Stage III which is the addition of an attached garage and office area. It's been many years in the making. Our plans were finally approved by the city a couple of weeks ago so we're off and going. This weekend we built and put up a 30 foot long rolling gate across the back fence and took down one section of the fence that it covers. Bonnie shot some video of us as we moved the giant (heavy) gate from the front yard to the back and put it up. I'll post more on Stage III as it progresses.

So stay tuned. Stage IV is the conversion of the old garage into an extended family room (you know, for all the grandkids that will be coming over), and Stage V is the kitchen. Although the first two stages moved quickly the remaining ones will no doubt require a lot more time to complete. In the meantime we do have a nice back yard now to relax in. Now if the weather would just cool down a little...

The 4th of JULY

2008-07-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

A Happy 4th of July to all of you.
Happy Birthday to America. I love America.

What a beautiful country we live in. We have beautiful mountains, forests, deserts and plains. We have the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone park and other wonders.

I love the freedoms we have here.
We can vote for who we want as president.
We can worship any way we wish.
We can choose our schools and our careers.
We voice our opinions (like on this blog.)

Happy Birthday America! I'm proud to call you my home!

Laundry Room Disaster

2008-07-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were sitting peacefully in our family room watching TV, when all of a sudden, we heard a rumbling sound. It sounded like bunch of rocks tumbling down a mountain. A LANDSLIDE? Or was it? We decide to open the door to the laundry room and were totally surprised to see our wall cabinet ( app. 7ft x 2ft) had fallen down and is now toppled over on top of the filing cabinet.

Down came all the laundry supplies, the cleaning supplies, the iron, some vases and who knows what else. There was this old rusty coffee can up there from the previous owner with something in it. I don't even know what was in it. Nails maybe, or other junk. I will have to look through the debris on the floor and my laundry pile (oops, you're not supposed to know that) . Interestingly though all the laundry soap - 2 bottles, fabric softener and bleach all landed in the open washing machine. How convenient was that?

So we have our work cut out for us. I don't know why it fell. I don't know how Dave is going to get it back up or move it out of the room. But we will pick up the pieces.

Michelle Elizabeth Gardner

2008-06-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

March 7, 1982 -
April 25, 2008

Best Friends

2008-06-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

Janel, LeeAnn, and Cassi (This was for a skit)

Me and Janel

Janel, Me, and Cassi

This is Janel dressed up for a skit we did about a crazy psychiatrist

Reptile Days

2008-06-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

In my science class , once a month we would have reptile day. On reptile day my teacher would bring in some kind of reptile for us to see and sometimes hold. These are pictures of past reptile days.That is a huge chuckwalla

Me holding a banana iguana

Gardner Reunion

2008-06-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Pool Party: Jamba Juice, Hamburgers, and Dad's Macaroni salad

Jesterz improv- Made funny skits about our family

Bethany and Annie with their balloon figures that Brian made

Gardner of the year competition:
Robert set up this little obstacle course for all the kids 12 and under to do to earn the name Gardner of the year and a cup full of candy. It was fun to watch.

Winners of Gardner of the Year: A tie between Becca and Annie
with Emma at 2nd place and Angela at 3rd.

Trenton, Cassi, Stacey, Tia, and Leon on the bean bag.

Everyone at heritage academy where we played hide and go seek

At the Diamond-backs game with our matching shirts and hats.

New Swimming Pool

2008-05-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Step #1 - Drain the pool (eww...doesn't it look ugly)
Step #2 - chip off old plaster and build cool water slide
Look at that... Swimming pool finally done.
Before picture of the side wall by the pool.
After- took out the cactus cleaned up, and put in a new fence.

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-04-26T22:29:00.001-07:00

2008-03-04T18:02:00.000-08:00

Riding horses

2008-03-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

We are new, so here are some things from this last summer of 07

LeeAnn and Bethany, at Tonto Creek