Angelic Aliya!

These are the pictures of my beautiful new niece Aliya!!! We are so excited to have her in the family! We are praying for her while she is in NICU.

Forever Friends

It was about 10:30 am when I pulled into the driveway of a quaint little pink house in Provo, Utah. With tears streaming down my face, I knocked on the door. "Is Audrey here?" I asked. She wasn't. Her sister Nora was quickly summoned and I was ushered into Nora's bedroom where she promptly handed me a box of kleenex and a glass of water. "Do you want some ice cream? I have chocolates!" I smiled through my tears. Leave it to a Hunter sister to make me feel at home.

I sat down in her room and started crying again and telling her the story of how frustrated I am with everything going on in my life right now. My financial aid hasn't gone through and school starts on Tuesday, I needed to finish cleaning out Mom and Dad's house that they sold (just some touch-up stuff), stress about organizing my own apartment, work, school, getting sick, etc...

After I vented and cried for a good half hour, she took me to school to help me with the financial aid. After that, she and Audrey drove with me to Salt Lake to help clean Mom and Dad's house. And to top it all off, Audrey came home with me and did my hair and helped me feel so beautiful!

At the end of the day as I read my scriptures, my eyes again filled with tears. This time though, they were tears of gratitude for the relationships Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

Lava lavas (man skirts!)

Dr. Mike, Emilie and Darin!

A Snapshot of Hawaii!

My Mom and I are currently in Hawaii!!!!!! My favorite part thus far was Sacrament meeting. Mom and I walked into a small room with folding chairs (for anyone who reads this from my old Riv ward, it was almost as big as room 710 in the Marriott building). The first thing I noticed was when the opening hymn began, I was humbled by all the people singing. There were as many people in the room as there are in a small branch and the music was sung louder than it is in a full-sized ward. It was so beautiful!! Off-key though it was, it sounded beautiful.

The second thing I noticed were all the people. I know I know! It seems a little backwards, but I am a music major! :) The men walked in wearing lava lavas (man skirts) and the women walked in with leis, flower headbands and gorgeous, long, flowing hair. There were men and women from all different countries; China, Korea, Japan, Fiji, America, Africa, Tonga, Croatia, Samoa and countries of which I have never heard.

The talks were beautiful and heartfelt. The most touching part of the meeting for me was when there was a special musical number. Two Hawaiians stood up and they began singing a cappella. Both voices were shaky and they were very nervous. Then another Hawaiian came in from the back of the room and began singing with them. After that, a couple came up from the audience and began singing. And finally, several priesthood leaders who were sitting at the front stood up and sang with the group. It was such a beautiful number. And so different than the ones we usually hear on the mainland. There will be pictures to come!!!

I did it!!

For the last three weeks my friend has wanted to hike up to Cascade Ridge in Provo Canyon. It's not a bad hike... ten miles. However, I rarely go hiking! I enjoy the short pleasant hikes that are 1, 2 or 3 miles long. The longest hike I've ever been on was to the Timpanogos Caves and that was only 3 miles. The longest walk I've ever been on was from Nauvoo to Carthage and I think that was 23 miles (correct me if any of my Nauvoo-ers read this!) :). The walk to Carthage was tough!!!!!!!!!!!! I kept putting off the hike, and putting off the hike and he kept wanting to go and wanting to go until finally I conceded.

We went to the store and he usually just brings one bottle of water, but I had him buy three bottles a piece. We loaded the waters into a backpack (the backpack happened to be on HIS back :) ) and began our journey.

Now, I seem to have this large fear of wild animals, or maybe just a fear of large wild animals... :) I don't know, but I wanted to make sure I knew what to do if a bear showed up, or a snake, or a deer, or a large, possessed bird, etc... so in between huffing and puffing, I asked him what we would do. He wasn't afraid of bears. He said the only animals he worried about were cougars and moose. He worried about cougars because they hunt people and moose are grumpy and huge and giant and scary and they charge!!!!! Anyway, that seemed to be much of our conversation on the way up. :)

I had a really hard time going up. The first 3 1/2 miles were great. I was feeling strong and I felt like I could do it. All of a sudden, we got to the steep part. I fell down twice because it was really steep. At one point, my body felt so weak I said a prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would help me up the mountain. Right after I finished the prayer, my friend turned around and gave me a walking stick that he had found on the trail. Coincidence? I think not! It helped a lot, and I had a bit more energy to get to the top.

When we finally did get to the top, the view was breathtaking! I was in awe at the mountains. I absolutely LOVED the view. I could see Provo on one side, and Mount Timp on the other. Timp is only a half mile higher than we were so it was fun to be close to it. We hallooed to the mountains and heard our echos. We had a snowball fight (there is still snow on the mountains. :) It was just gorgeous.

After we rested for a bit, we began the hike back down. We were going to slide down on the snow, but thought better of it. :) After we finished the steep part ( my legs were shaking at this point), my friend stopped in his tracks and said, "Check it out!" in a hushed voice. I turned and looked and there about 20 feet off the trail was a giant, scary, huge, ginormous, with-big-antlers moose! Now, if you remember from before, my friend said that the moose was one of TWO animals he feared. That meant the moose was even higher on my list of feared animals. I was absolutely petrified. I would not move. I wanted to wait until the moose left and then continue down the mountain, but by then it would be dark and the cougars would be out. My friend finally convinced me to keep moving and just act normal. I continued down the mountain. I was shaking now not just from complete exhaustion, but from fear.

After about ten minutes, I forgot the moose and felt fine. We started joking and laughing and then my friend stiffened up. I looked where he was looking and there was another moose.... MUCH bigger than the last one about 25 feet from trail. This time... I really did not want to keep moving. HE was HUGE!!!! And there he was, just eating and looking pleasant. As I was looking at the moose, completely terrified, across the trail ran a big buck. It was beginning to be ridiculous to me!

We just kept walking down the trail --looking normal, right? :) And everything turned out fine. It started getting darker and I started to get worried about the cougars so we kind of started running down... even though my legs felt like they were going to fall off. We switched which side we were walking on depending on which side of the forest I was nervous about. :)

*sigh* needless to say, we made it safely off the mountain. We were both exhausted, but it felt so good to (can I say this?) conquer the mountain. It felt really really good. I DID IT!!!!!!! :)

Life Lessons

For the last year or so, some of my really good friends and I have gone singing every Sunday to a care center. We have walked the halls and found whatever doors were open and asked if they wanted to hear a favorite hymn. We sang to those walking in the halls. We harmonized when we could. Often, we didn't all sound great together, but the spirit was always very strong. It was my place to forget myself for the week and think about those wonderful people. The last time we went, two of my favorite people were no longer there. The nurses wouldn't tell us if they went home or if they passed on. My friend JJ called their families and found out that two of our favorite fans had passed on. I want to share with you some of my favorite memories of these two incredible men and a couple of other experiences that have really touched my heart.

I met Jake first, so I will talk about him. He was probably in his late 80's or 90's. He was often in his room with his wife and they would talk at each other all the time (I'm sure we've all met couples like that). :) Every time we came, he got so excited. He loved to talk and flirt with the girls. He always had the biggest grin on his face and he truly appreciated our music. I loved singing for him because he never wanted us to stop. He loved telling jokes and we loved to listen to them and laugh -not because the jokes were funny - but because he thought they were funny and he was old. So we laughed. He expected us every week. When we didn't show up, he was extremely disappointed and made sure we knew that the next week. It was nice to be missed. He too, will be missed.

The next humble man I want to talk about is Mike. When we met Mike, he had just had one leg amputated. He was in his 50's and had the most pure, humble spirit I think I've ever felt. He wanted to get to know each of us. He asked where we were from and what our names were. He had favorite hymns for us to sing. When we sang them, tears streamed down his face and he sang right along with us. We noticed that he had a guitar up against the wall and we asked him to play for us. He told us how awesome his hometeachers were because they bought the guitar for him to learn while he was there. He hadn't learned any songs yet. Luckily, one guy in our group, JJ, knew how to play really well and taught him a few chords. JJ asked Mike what songs he wanted to learn and over the next few weeks, every Sunday JJ gave a guitar lesson to Mike. The next time we saw Mike, his other leg was amputated. We came and sang and he told us that he wasn't able to go to church anymore and having us there made him feel like Heavenly Father still loved him. He cried and cried. He told us about his kids. His daughter was just about to go to her first prom. He always looked forward to our visits. I learned absolute humility from him. He was so humble and he cared about each of us. What a wonderful man. I feel so blessed to have known him.

Here is an experience I will never forget. We walked into one woman's room last Sunday and there was opera music blaring on her CD player. She was conducting the music and singing right along to it. When we tried to ask her questions, she stared off into space. We turned off the CD and started singing "Where Can I Turn For Peace?". Immediately she started sobbing and singing with us. We held her hands and kept singing a couple more hymns. As I looked around her room, there were pictures of her family and awards she had won and a picture with her and her husband with the President of the US. What was her life like?

I know this sounds cliche, but I really feel like when I go to sing to those people, it's more therapeutic for me than it is for them. I need that time to forget myself and think about other people. They have so much love. They have lived so much more life than me. What can I learn from them even for just a couple minutes a week? I have learned humility, enthusiasm, and how to feel.

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see ."

Corrie Ten Boom

Laughing Baby

This makes me smile every time I watch it. Enjoy!!!

21 REASONS WHY THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS HARD TO LEARN
(for all you linguists out there)

The bandage was wound around the wound.
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
We must polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

The Way The Cookie Crumbles

A friend of mine, returning to South Africa from a long stay in Europe found herself with some time to spare at London's Heathrow Airport. Buying a cup of coffee and a small package of cookies, she staggered, laden with luggage, to an unoccupied table. She was reading the morning paper when she became aware of someone rustling at her table. From behind her paper she was flabbergasted to see a neatly dressed young man helping himself to her cookies. She did not want to make a scene, so she leaned across and took a cookie for herself. A minute or so passed. More rustling. He was helping himself to another cookie.

By the time they were down to the last cookie in the package, she was very angry but still could not bring herself to say anything. Then the young man broke the remaining cookie in two, pushed half across to her, ate the other half and left.

Some time later, when the public-address system called for her to present her ticket, she was still fuming. Imagining her embarrassment when she opened her handbag and she was confronted by her package of cookies. She had been eating his. - Anonymous

Girls and Curls!

A couple weeks ago, Caitie and I were at my brother Dave's house for Sunday. We decided to have some fun with their girls and curl their hair. Aren't they adorable!!! I love these girls!!!

Shoot 'em up!

I've gone shooting before. I've shot rifles and shotguns, but a couple weeks ago, I shot a pistol for the first time. It was great!

My friend Brennan, and me
Showing me the ropes... er... guns!
The best feeling ever is when the soda can explode
Yes! I'm awesome! :)
Travis showing off.

It was so much fun!! I definitely want to go again... now I just need a gun!!!

Wake Up!!

I went wake boarding the other weekend with Sara, Caitie, and a couple guy friends! It was so much fun!! I got up the first time and I had a couple of really good runs. I seriously loved it. I want to get a lot better by the end of summer. I highly recommend wake boarding.. :)

Do you Espeako Espanish?

When I was young, my parents tried to incorporate Spanish into our daily routines whenever they could. There was a small time when we tried speaking only Spanish at the dinner table (that lasted for the first five minutes of the first dinner). We also read scriptures in Spanish for a couple of months while Mom and Dad tried to brush up on theirs. Mom and Dad also bought these language tapes with helpful Spanish songs on them like, " La Arana" (The Spider) and "Somos parta de la misma familia" (We are part of the same family) I think I spelled it correctly! I still remember some of the songs! :) I think a couple of my older brothers took Spanish in highschool and I started reading a Spanish textbook as part of my studies in homeschool, but I didn't keep up with it.

Unfortunately, I only remember a very small part of what I was brought up with. If I took Spanish here at BYU, I would probably pick it up fairly quickly, but I haven't made it a priority. This summer, I wish I had!

Caitie and I have decided to move to an apartment complex called the Glenwood. It's located right next to the English Language Center(ELC). Foreign students go there to study English before they go to BYU. As a result of living right next to the ELC, Caitie and I have two foreign roommates; one from Chile and one from Brazil. The girl from Brazil speaks English and Portuguese, but only speaks very little Spanish. The girl from Chile speaks Spanish and only a very very tiny bit of English. Caitie and I only know a tiny tiny TINY bit of Spanish. It has been an interesting summer so far. We speak very slowly and use many gestures to communicate with everyone. :) They are wonderful girls. I'm glad they live with us... I just wish I had learned Spanish better when I had the chance! I suppose now is as good a chance as any to begin again what my parents tried to start many years ago!

Sad Day

I have been in the BYU Women's Chorus for almost three years now. I have absolutely loved my experience with them! Next year however, I was hoping for a new experience. I decided to audition for Concert Choir (which is SATB). I haven't sung with guys for a while! I thought it would be fun. :) When I auditioned for Sister Hall yesterday, I was totally disappointed with my singing. I am pretty sure I did not make callbacks. I haven't sung since Women's Chorus let out Winter Semester and my range hasn't been as great as it was before then. Yesterday when I went in to audition, I felt like I couldn't hear the notes she played. My breath support was terrible. I was very nervous. I actually stopped at one point and asked if I could start again and she said that would be a good idea. :P The second time was only marginally better than the first. Oh goodness...

If I do end up making callbacks, I will be extremely surprised. But I still hope I do!!

The Provo Police

A few months ago, I was late to a dance routine that I was in charge of. I raced to a stop sign, pulled a California stop (more stop than California though!) and proceeded to turn right. Immediately, I saw lights flashing in my rearview mirror. Of course it happened when I was late for something!! The officer came up to the window and apologized and said he didn't want to be mean.... but I did not complete my stop at the stop sign (welcome to Provo!!! This is what keeps the Provo police busy...). After he apologized several times, he handed me a ticket and told me to have a nice day. Riiiiiiight...

A few weeks later, Caitie and I were driving somewhere (Caitie at the wheel) and we went through the same intersection. Now... not only did Caitie not stop... she seemed to gun through the stop sign after I told her to be careful because they are watching that intersection. Immediately, the lights came on and again the officer came to her window. He asked her what happened and she said she forgot there was a stop sign and didn't even slow down. He started laughing and said that since she was about 1 in 10 people who were honest about how she didn't stop, he would let her off with a warning. What the heck??!?!?!? I was pretty upset.

A few weeks later (notice a pattern?), Caitie bought a new car and the first day driving it, she got a ticket for speeding (serves her right!!! jk Caitie!! :)). Anyway, last night Caitie and I decided to go to traffic school together for family night. Good times... good times... It was actually really funny.

Since going to that class I've decided that I think that cops are the kids that got in trouble all the time when they were younger and still want to do crazy things and not get caught now that they're adults! This officer told us a story about how they went to the train tracks one day and there were two kids with just their heads popped up out of the ground on either side of the train tracks. The cops yelled at the kids and asked them why they did that. The kids said that they wanted to be the first ones to keep their heads there the whole time the train passed. The cops let them off with a warning. Next thing you know... here are two cop heads popping up on either side of the train tracks. They kept their heads there the whole time. The cop then said, "try explaining to your boss that you can't come into work for two weeks because you can't hear anything." It was hilarious. We seriously had a great time. The officer made it fun. And anything is more fun with family!!!

P.S. Feel free to add any police stories you think of!

No more school!! No more books!! No more teachers...

Can I just tell you how amazing it is to not be in school right now? I feel so less stressed! I have time to work out and eat real meals (rather than on-the-go food!). I even have time to go see a movie if I feel like it!! There isn't any homework on the back of my mind. I can just go and have a good time. The first couple of weeks out of school were strange for me. There was one day I decided to take a nap because I was completely exhausted. I couldn't fall asleep because I felt like there was something I HAD to get done. I was going through my head trying to figure out what it was and I realized I just felt like I must have a paper due or something. When I figured out what it was, I was able to sleep peacefully. :)



I am still pretty busy, but it's so nice because when I'm done with my day, I'm done. No papers due, no tests, no presentations... it really feels heavenly.



Because of this new-found freedom, I've made a list of goals that I'm getting more excited about! Caitie and I both have time to work out and we have worked on an incentive program-ish thing. :) For my birthday this year, Caitie and Nathaniel bought me a really awesome spa-day gift certificate and my coworker also bought me another gift certificate to another spa place and we've decided that after we work out for 10 days straight (excluding Sundays!) we can use one of the gift certificates together. I'm so excited!! It's even more fun to have Caitie doing it with me. Also, after running the 5K in April with Mom, Matt, and Britt, Caitie and I decided to run a 10K at the end of summer. We're starting to train now and it feels so good.



Some of my friends have said that they miss school a lot right now... not me, man! Not me!

MOTAB

Last night my brother Matt was set apart as a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Our family was invited to the setting apart in the tabernacle and it will be forever one of the most memorable experiences of my life. When we walked up to door number three in the tabernacle, I wasn't sure what to expect. We were let into the tabernacle and we sat in the audience while the choir practiced. After a few minutes, a nice woman said, "Matt Gardner's family. Please follow me." We followed her up the stairs and down the hallway to a small room with very comfortable couches and chairs. We chatted as a family for a few minutes and then "Mr. Mac" Christensen (the choir president and owner of Mr. Mac) walked into the room. He had Matt introduce the family to him and then he talked about the room we were in. We were sitting in the Church President's room! That room is where ever prophet of the Church since Brigham Young sits before and after conference and every time they are in the tabernacle. What a humbling experience! Mr. Mac then talked about how much the Lord loves the choir and how President Monson is the advisor for the choir. Matt was then set apart and Mr. Mac asked him to bear his testimony.

The spirit was very strong. It was very humbling to be part of Matt's very special experience. It was also neat that he was set apart as a musical missionary for the Church. As Matt bore his testimony he commented on how neat it was that he could serve as a musical missionary again with my brother Josh (also in the choir) and his wife Melodie (in the orchestra at temple square) like they did in Nauvoo when they were performing missionaries together there. What an incredible experience. How grateful I am for music!

Gardner Reunion 2008

I really have the best family in the world! This week was the Stan Gardner reunion for the year 2008. The first day everyone settled in and unpacked and then we played games that night. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of catching up. The next day, we went to this little kids waterpark in Lehi. It was so much fun!!! We played watertag and helped the kids learn how to swim.






Sunday night was the most hilarious night we had! We have an old sleeping bag that Nathaniel laid down in and then everyone grabbed sides of it and we started throwing him into the air and catching him in the blanket. We proceeded to do that with all of the adults in our family--including Mom and Dad! With my brother Matt, we got so high, we couldn't keep him in the camera!

We then showed off our acrobatics to each other (well at least the boys did!). The girls then tried to be as cool by showing off how flexible we are. Melodie took the cake on that one!


On Sunday we had a family Sacrament meeting (with permission from our Bishop) and it was one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had in my life. Everyone who had been on a mission talked about their missions and then the little kids sang "I am a Child of God". Mom and Dad spoke to all of us and then Nathaniel got up to speak. He bore a testimony about how he hadn't felt like he had the strength to go on his mission until this meeting. There were many tears and the spirit was very strong. I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!


That night we had a fireside given by Grandma and Grandpa Gardner. They came and talked about our geneology because they had just finished a trip to Scotland to learn about our ancestors. It was so awesome!!! I'm a direct descendent from Old King Cole!!! I'm also related to King Henry I (Hopefully not King Henry VIII!!) :) Anyway, it was such an awesome fireside!!



The rest of the time we've had various activities, games, laughter and a TON of food! Tonight we are going to watch my 4-year-old nephew give a cello recital. I am so grateful for my family!! We missed Joel and Heather a ton... (You better be here next time!!!!! It just wasn't the same without you guys!!)

Throughout the reunion, my heart was completely full. I was so full of gratitude for my family and for how much we love each other. I told my Heavenly Father I was grateful for eternal families and I'm excited to be with mine for eternity. When my Mom spoke on Sunday, she talked about the missionaries who knocked on her door when she was 14 years old. I too, am grateful for those missionaries who have made it possible for us to be together.

Finals

It's Finals week.... 'nuff said.

General Conference!

This year was amazing for Women's Chorus! Can you tell I'm excited about it?? :) The BYU Choirs had the awesome opportunity to sing in General Conference this year. Which meant that there was at least one Gardner singing in every session because I have two brothers in The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. :) Anyway, my favorite part of singing was actually the congregational hymn. Very few people have the chance to hear 20,000+ people sing a hymn at them. It truly was a beautiful experience. What a blessing to be able to share my testimony through song with the entire Church.

My good friend, Cade, and me

Also a good friend, Kadee, and me! :)