Birthday Bash....

So i finally started feeling better and celebrated my birthday on Saturday night at my friend Monika's house (she has an amazing deck/backyard). Anyways, it was a BBQ with good eats and good times. Megan and monika
my friend devon, mike, and i (telling a story apparently)
todd, nate, and mark from the gym
nice close up david, courtney and nathan almost have the same pose
joe, tina, and devon

me and mona just hanging out on the deck eating burgers
katie, mona and cristina
devon and i
courtney and cristina...having fun in the kitchenmona and trevor hanging out...notice the pirate stash, nice trevor (p.s. i couldn't upload the bday video, sad)

then, it was time to hit the club and go out dancing in true birthday form
here we are all ready to dance...katie, courtney, cristina, me and monika

having fun roomies
the crew plus fellow nurse jeanne...don't worry, she just has a purple wig on
towards the end i was getting tired, so to wake me up the girls did a nice little dance
such good friends i have....

all in all it was a good way to end the week of the illness....

best birthday present ever

so i got the illness for my birthday. yep, strep throat again. (i think it is time for my tonsils to come out). so i'm just trying to sleep to get stronger. today, i went back to the doctor to get some numbing stuff, so that i could numb my tonsils, so i could actually swallow. that's good because i lost 4lbs from yesterday afternoon until the morning. luckily i have the backup of my roommate who if i really need to can put an iv in me and get me some fluids. oh to be a nurse.

i'm already feeling better this afternoon now that i could start drinking again.

sorry this is kind of a downer post, but i figured i would share how the birthday went. it should be better on saturdya for my bday party. also, sorry to those who i haven't texted back or called back. i've been out of it.

Weekend Activities...

This last weekend I went to Jack's First birthday. Jack is my friend, Kim's kiddo...He is so freaking adorable. He had a great time with the birthday cake and getting down and dirty. What a way to start his next year.

unsure of what to do

getting down and dirty...(ignore the knife in the picture, they were getting ready to cuut pieces of the cake out)
then, some girlfriends from work went out dancing at bettie ford. It made for a great time.me, cristina, crystal, and katie
dancing the night away
katie and i
the end of the night after we closed out the bar

Another kickball game today. Unfortunately Team Zossi lost 5-7. It was a close game. We will get it next time. Cristina and I ended up staying and playing for another team who needed more female players.

Here is a pic of cristina getting ready to kick.

At the end of the day....it was certainly a hot day
Good weekend. Looking forward to next weekend. Hope you guys had fun in the sun!

Deschutes....here we come

40 people of the Gartner Family went white water rafting on the Deschutes River. I have never been and it was so much fun, scary at first. Mom and Dad excited for rafting

My Aunt Jen and cousin Hunter

family on one side

family on the other side
my sister and brother's boat

my dad and mom's boat (my dad is front left)
my mom is in the back on the right
my boat going down a class IV rapid (i'm in the middle left)
so fun....i think this is after we hit a huge hole
scary, but fun

it was a blast...i need to go again soon

Hiking in Bend

Some of us went hiking at Paulina's plunge/lake. Part of this park included an old lava flow. It was fun and beautiful. I could see Mt. Hood pretty clearly, which was awesome. the obsidian rock

there was still snow...just a little cold
Paulina's lake and the tops of Mt. Hood and the South sister
my cousin sarah in the snow
the family without me

Review of Gartner Family Reunion

So i have been busy for a long time and haven't been able to update about the reunion until now. (also, my camera broke, so it took me a little while to fix it and get pictures.) it was a hell of a time. i went hiking in the snow, white water rafting, ate lots of delicious (german) food, and probably drank way too much bud light. all in all it was great to see family that i haven't seen in like 5-10 years. the siblings
all of the cousins on the reinke side (minus 2)

my cousins katie and megan matching cowboy hats....you know you are from north dakota when you buy a cowboy hat
my dad and hsi sister barb (i supposedly look the most like her)

cousin steph, me, and my brother scott my cousin sarah at paulina lake
nicole and i with steph's boyfriend kyle
cousin hudson, such a freaking cutie! (this is probably what my kids will look like one day, in the very distant future)
aunt naomi, uncle bob, and aunt mary

scott with cousins hunter and hudson (cool shirts)
all of the Reinke's
all of the second cousins at the reunion

my dad's brother and sisters. back row- tracey and my dad, second row- barb and naomi, front row- mary, bob, and cam baby cousins hudson and lexi....how cute