Happy 5th Birthday Katie!

We were so excited to get a call from the Danleys inviting us to celebrate Katies 5th birthday on Monday night with them at Downtown Disney. We weren't able to meet up at Disney so we invited them over for cake and ice cream after dinner. We had a great time and Katie got some great gifts!

I baked a cake. I have never claimed to be a baker. For some reason I just don't think I have enough patience for it. I can never seem to wait for the cake to cool before I frost it. I always try to have good presentation for the food I make but this was the best I could do.


Little Piper got in on the balloon fun.

Katie got a really cool digital camera from Mom and Dad and it was a HUGE hit! The rest of the night consisted of "photo ops." for Katie:-)

There was special gifts for Katie hidden in the balloons so there was some poppin' going on for a while:-) Jake was so gracious to help.

(you will hear a little confusion at the end of the video for what birthday we are celebrating. Ooops!)

Happy Birthday Katie!

Christmas lights to music

There is a house a little bit down Brookhurst from us that we drive by all the time. Every time we drive by we say something like "that house is crazy" "what were they thinking with those lights?" or "That house is going to make someone have a seizure". Then the other night we drove by and Aaron made a quick u-turn and we checked the house out. There was a sign in front that said "tune to 93.1" so we did and that is when every thing started to make sense. The whole house and lights were choreographed to the music! So now we think it is really cool and we wanted to share it with you!

Aaron and Marly sing you a Christmas Song

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Where the magic all started.

Every year we celebrate the anniversary of our first date (5 years ago!) by repeating the date. I remember when Aaron asked me to go out on a date with him and I was so excited. Well, every year I get just as excited as that first time to go have dinner at Hof's Hut and then go look at Christmas lights in Torrance. Because of our busy schedules this year we postponed this date later than usual. Usually the neighborhood is pretty busy, but this year it was incredible! From the brass bands to Mr. and Mrs. Clause to the Churro stand we had a blast. Here are some pictures of the highlights.

First we had dinner at Huf's Hut then off to see the lights...


We were welcomed by a brass band playing Christmas carols.

Next we saw Mr. And Mrs. Clause greeting all the children on the streets.


There is nothing like a warm Churro on a cool night :-) (Aaron took this picture b/c he liked the Rams lamp).

Aaron posing with some Poinsettia plants (Pronunciation of that word is still under debate in our family).


This was just one of the hundreds of vehicles driving around the neighborhood. It was a huge party.


I broke out the Santa hat to be festive:-)

Not only is EVERY house decorated but EVERY tree lining the street is decorated. It is really hard to capture how beautiful it is in a picture but we tried.


No words needed :-) lol!

This is our favorite house. This was our 6th time going to visit. I secretly hope that in about 10 years it goes up for sale so we can buy it (that's probably when we could afford it).

Who knew that first date would lead to this happy married couple?
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(Okay, I did)

Great website...

Need some last min. stocking stuffers?

http://www.perpetualkid.com/

My company Christmas Party

On Tuesday all of the managers and our supervisors got together for a Christmas party.

Jane (the CEO of Tosoko) Loved the sign I got her for her office.

Jane and Stevie are my supervisors and are so much fun!

We had a gift exchange and the person I gave a gift to LOVED the Betty Boop glasses I got her. She is a HUGE fan of Betty.

This is all of the managers!

I love my book club!

These are most of the girls in my book club. We have such a good time together! We met on Saturday night to talk about the last book we read called Hunger Games. It was a great book and so was the second book Catching fire. I can't wait to read our next book.!

Bringing Norman home.

On Saturday Dec. 5th we headed out to find our Christmas Tree for this year. Since we have a new place and a lot more space, our options for the tree were much greater.

We went to the same lot that we went to last year. We like going there because they still refer to the trees as "Christmas Trees" and not "Holiday Trees". Also, they have a manger in the front of their lot. We like to support companies that keep the true meaning of Christmas alive.


We went up and down aisles of trees looking for the perfect tree. There were several runners-up but finally we found "our tree".


It is a new kind of tree for us. It's called a Nordman fir. It is in the Noble family of trees but has a couple of special traits. First it takes about 3 times as long to grow a Nordman than a regular Noble fir (which means it was a little more expensive but they gave us a good deal). Also, it has two tones of green. The top of the needles are dark green and really shiny and the underside is almost white. The needles also have rounded ends which I appreciate when decorating it.
Aaron helped strap it onto our car...
...and we were set to go!
Every tree we get we end up giving a name and this year he's Norman:-) It looks perfect in our living room and I can't wait to get all of the decorations on it (pictures to follow)! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Win a $50 gift card to Target!

My friend has a really great blog all about apartment management. It really is funny and I think you should check it out!

She is having a raffle and giving away a $50 gift card to someone that leaves a comment. So, check it out, leave a comment, and WIN!

"You and Me"

Family Pictures 2009

We had such a fun time taking pictures on Saturday with Sarah and here are just a couple of the pictures that she took. We cant wait to see the rest! If you are wanting to get some pictures taken we recommend giving her a call.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Meeting baby Dean Elliot Gardiner

Today I had the privilege of meeting the newest member of the Gardiner family. Baby Dean was born late Monday and is a happy and healthy little boy. I'm pretty sure that he is smiling in the picture with me:-)

Holly was glowing and looking great! She is going to be such a great mommy.

I am looking forward to watching this little boy grow:-) My friends have the most beautiful children!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving week surprise!

New Moon, Newport Beach Temple, Primary Program....Oh My!

On Friday I got to go see New Moon with these fantastic girls. We had a great night! The movie was great and so much better than the first one (which I rented earlier that day and watched it to get ready for New Moon). I skipped going and watching Aaron's soft ball game but I think he was fine with it because it ment that he didn't have to go with me to watch it:-) I have to say that I am so excited to have so many fun girls in my ward.

The next morning, bright and early, I got together with the rest of my Primary presidency and we went to the Newport Beach Temple together. I am so greatful to be in this presidency the President is the best and the second counselor is so fun. We all get along so well and have a great time together.


I spent the rest of Saturday getting ready for the Primary Program that was happening the next day. By the end of the day Saturday I was completely burned out on preparing for it. However, all that work paid off on Sunday when the Primary children did a FANTASTIC job. All the leaders were a little stressed out because we really didn't get a chance to practice the whole program in the Chapel. But, it all came together and their sweet little spirits were shinning:-)

10 Axioms to Guide Your Life

10 Axioms to Guide Your Life
-By Elder Robert D. Hales

1. It's not the obstacle that counts, but how you overcome it.
2. Pursue your goals with all your heart, might, mind and strength. You are destined fo failure if you pursue them in a vacillating manner.
3. From a tiny spark can come a large fire. (Think well of others, don't criticize)
4. Our greatest strengths can become our greatest weaknesses.
5. Failure is one of the greatest teachers if we have the faith to learn from it.
6. It's not how you start the race or where you are during the race. It is how you cross the finish line that matters.
7. If you wish to get rich, save what you get. A fool can earn money; but it takes a wise man to save and dispose of it to his own advantage.
8. You cannot learn the Lord's will without exercising your agency and becoming accountable for your decisions.
9. The more things change, the more they stay the same. (i.e., the church does not change)
10. The temple of God is the greatest university.


I'd like to thank Emily Jones for sharing this.

Monday night I went to a concert...

Actually, it was just a practice but they sounded great! Aaron is in a men's quartet/barber shop group and they are getting ready for a Christmas concert. They will be singing 3-4 songs at the Women of note concert on December 20th. They are appropriately called Men of Note. Carla Strandberg, Aaron, Ryan, and Darrel's high school choir teacher, is the director of both choirs and she is having a great time working with them all grown up. If you are in the area you should come check them out at the concert (it's free!). Aaron and I will also be singing a duet:-)

I will post more info on the concert soon!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

We made a last minute decision to be Captain Picard and Counselor Troi for Halloween. So, we picked up the costumes at about 3pm on Halloween and then headed to the Huss's Halloween party.

I think Aaron makes a good Captain Picard! I couldn't get my hair quite puffy enough:-)

We had fun over at the Huss's party! Good food, good friends, some good ping pong games...

...and some good pictionary! I'm pretty sure my team won ;-)

We hope you had a great Halloween!

The house with the funny window.

Down the street and around the corner from us there is a house that has a large bay window in the front. We drive by this house every Sunday on our way to church and we just have to slow down to check it out (even when we are running a little late... ooops). Why? Well, every month there is a new display in their window! The theme varies but it always consists of a blond girl mannequin, and two pigs that are dressed in various outfits(depending on the month).

The other night we decided to take a walk and made our destination the house with the funny window. We took some pictures so all of you can enjoy what we get to see every Sunday (sorry they are a little dark).

A close-up of the pigs...yes, they are wearing wigs.


Oh the dedication and extra time this person has!

Fun weekend

Wow, we did a lot this weekend. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it all to be honest with you:-) Saturday started off with one of my best friend's, Holly, baby shower. It was a lovely shower and she looks beautiful! (Notice that you cant really tell that she is pregnant:-)

We played some cute baby shower games, ate good food, oooo'd and ahhhh'd over the cute baby boy clothes, and admired the cute sock monkey themed decorations.






After the shower I took a nap so that I would have enough energy to go to the Ward Halloween party. Aaron and I didn't have costumes yet so we just wore some festive Halloween colored clothes. Some of the highlights were seeing everyone in their costumes, walking into the scary trick-or-treat rooms, and stringing donuts on string and watching Aaron tease the kids with them.





It was a fun ward party. They even had a live band! We really need to come up with some costumes before this weekend!