Thanksgiving weekend

Playing with cousins



Mark and Shiloh sideways. Figures, we are hardly represented and we are sideways in the one we are in. (hehehe) We are having fun starting off Christmas with a bang. A very cold, fun, bang.


Kids in the leaves while waiting for dinner. Thanks to the Johnson kids Garrett learned all the fun of jumping in and throwing those leaves.

Getting free food at the "lighting of the square" to kick off Christmas. Aren't those cousins cute

Grand-Marme and her amazing smile with Molly having a snuggle in all the Thanksgiving crazies.

Making the last few fixins before we eat

Garrett in a box. He found my Christmas present stash, took the present out and started playing with the box. This is probably a foreshadowing of things to come on Christmas.

Daddy and Garrett sharing one of the rare snuggle times

Yes Dude yes!

For any of you who were around at the time, when mark and I just met we always said yes dude yes. In fact this is how I said yes when Mark asked me to marry him. Anyway Yesterday I was asking Garrett to come with me to play something so I said, "come on dude" he pooped out with an echo of "dude" I thought it was so funny. Then when telling Mark the funny story he popped out a "dude" again so I grabbed the camera. So this is Garrett's "ya dude ya!"

The Halloween Experience

Garrett loves his pumpkins so much he often asked to "hold it" while watching a movie or just walking around with it.

Trick or treating was fun. He only got a few pieces of candy cause he would immediately sit down and eat them. We had fun as a super family.

videos

here we are all happily reading at the same time!

We had a few days of snow in Oct and Garrett is not liking the cold. At the time of this video he didn't like anything and often would say "cold" in the way that meant "hey mommy make it go away" Now he will finally use blankets and socks willingly (would you believe it took me a week to teach him the benefits)

sharing shoes

Garrett loves to put on and off shoes and shares the fun often with mommy, in this example it is my very green lawn mowing shoes.

Happy in Burley

Kids happy in Garrett's nursery

Here's my new place! I promised pics and here they are (finally)

yes that is a pool in my front room (don't worry it's not full)

My kitchen

Having so much fun at Grandma Trish's house.

At the Cabin

Bathtime with Grandma Trish and Cousins
Other highlights include nature walks picking wild flowers, marshmellows, multilevel children trying to sleep (or trying to stay awake), river rafting and yummy food.

Staying At Grandma Reynolds

Here is Garrett getting lipstick on him from a kiss from Grandma.

like my hat?

Garrett finally learned to smile on purpose

Nice tower kids!

Thanks to Grandma Reynolds for letting us crash her place. We felt so cozy!

Saying Goodbye to Yuma

Garrett playing in empty cubords the day we moved, Going away party, and friends.

Thanks to all of our friends who helped us move and were in all ways awsome!

Sorry this took so long to get up.

Grateful

I wanted to take the opportunity to say thanks . . .to my family and friends for being so supportive, for love and prayers, encouragement, and places to crash. You all have such big hearts and it really helps when we are feeling a bit in the air. THANKS!

Random thoughtful pensiveness . . . Life is always surprising me. My philosophy is to grab on to what is now as best as you can and take one more step. It's scary, exciting, nerve wracking, and peaceful all in turns.

I promise there will be pictures soon. The camera cord is packed an will be returning in a few weeks.

My new House

Mark and I are in the closing process of buying a house. is cute and in a great location. Here's a link to see some pics

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Burley_ID_83318_1110043091

Safe at Last

Garrett and I had quite an adventure this week. Here are some highlights . . .

• Garrett's first flight out of Yuma-he loved it and giggled at all the bumps
• Flight from Phoenix to Salt Lake cancelled so we got to stay in a hotel and catch a new flight the next day (I was so scared that I had to catch a shuttle and find my way around)
• Enjoyed free hotel and free dinner and breakfast at hotel.
• Garrett makes a mess in the restaurant that I was happy to pay a tip and not clean up
• I had nothing to do after I put Garrett to bed so I took a bath and went to bed too
• so many nice people int he airport helping me through security and onto the plane with all my many "carry on's" (why do they let me have so much? probably because I needed it)
• Arriving at Mom Reynold's sooooo tired but with much to explore
• Finally in bed at 7:30-playing and finally asleep by 8:30

It was nice to have so much time just to play with Garrett. The parts where I was the responsible adult making sure we had food and got to places on time was scary but I think that I was being watched over. I crashed and slept in (thanks to Mark).

Garrett and the Squirrel

I missed most of the funny situation, but Garrett and a squirrel were chasing each other around a tree for a few turns, I caught the last one and the flight of the squirrel

This is us at a sprinkler park sliding down the whale.

Dancing

This is a new talent for my little Garrett. I had to catch it on camra. It takes a while for him to start dancing, but he does and it is sooo cute. He even got sad when I turned off the music.

San Diego Fun

They had this cute little kid ship

We got to go to a museum of ships and look around. Garrett had fun because he was able to touch everything in sight (they were very kid proof). His little monkey friend on his back kept him safe with a long tail holding firmly to the nearest adult. One nice sailor even let Garrett sweep the deck. He would make a cute cabin boy eh?

Daddy kicking back at the play place.

Here we are at a play place in Sea world. The first day we spent having so much fun that I forgot to pull my camra out. We watched dolphins (Garrett sat still the whole show!) and walked under some sharks. Garrett was a bit scared but as long as he had mommy or daddy close he watched in wonder.

Here are the puffins!

These are our friends Brian and Jennifer

They made this whole trip fun and relaxing. With four on one Garrett always had tonz of attention and love.

look at me

Here is his royal cuteness all ready to go to the pool on a hot Feburary day. Hehe it is getting hot here. I love his little swim trunks. the water was just a bit cold and Garrett mostly liked watching mommy splashing around while he sat with daddy all warm in the sunshine.

While eating tonight Mark, inbetween offering bits of pizza, was dancing and playing with Garrett. Then fabulously Garrett was copying Mark. They danced and ate and giggled. These are the moments we live for.

Birthday Fun

Their sideways but oh, so cute and fun. He loved his cake so much . . .
there is usually some crumbs after he eats, but not this time. He even cried when he was all done and couldn't have more.

Garrett plays with a new toy while his pants fall down.

Mommy and B-day boy share a snuggly moment before the party. I can't believe it has been a year, but it is so much fun to have my little boy who looks so much like his daddy.

cute singing and dancing

These are the moments we live for and I'm glad that I was able to capture it.

Visit to Utah

Having fun playing in the Johnson house.

Here are my good friends and their new little one. This was such a neat experience. It made me realize how lucky I am to have my family and the promise that they will always me connected to me.

helping out

Look how cute he is trying to help mommy out. Oddly the broom is one of the "special" items that will calm him down anytime he is fussy, just give hime some leaves to sweep and he is a happy little guy.

words words words

Hey, ever notice how everything on my blog is about Garrett. Sorry, I know he is sooooooo cute-at least I think so-but it is time to have something about Mark and Me.

I am really starting to feel comfortable with my day to day role. At first I felt like I worried about knowing how to take care of Garrett, now though, I think I know how to take care of anything that guy dishes out.

I absolutly love it in the sunshine here! Sometimes I grab a blanket and lay outside under my tree outside and almost fully relax-I do have a little one trying to eat rocks around me. I have a walking buddy and I'm enjoying the energy I get from staying in shape (I am looking for advice on how to firm up my tummy, I can't tell if I too lazy or if there are some tricks I don't know yet)

I'm on the 7th book in the Wheel of Time. I have to say all of the many charactors are confusing me, but I can't put it down cause I have to find out what happens next.

Mark is learning the ins and outs of teaching. He is a wiz at putting together lessons and tests. He was nominated for a new teacher of the year award. I'm so proud of him.

He is currantly teaching the track team and looking forward to the baseball team in a bit.

He is way into Harry Potter. We just read all the books, that is him reading in the background of Garrett's walking video. He is rereading them for himself again to catch things he missed the first time, and not to mention enjoying the videos. I'm sure we will be there opening week for the new movie.

Hopefully these tidbits have been fun. I love all you guys and hope you are well.

Garrett is Walking!!!

It is amazing to watch him go from just a few steps to walking across the room. Watch out world here comes the Garrett!

life is good

Life with this little boy has been helping me to see the fun/good in everyday. Garrett has learned that he can scream. He loves the AHhhh sound and will have shouting time with mommy or daddy or whoever is willing. He has helped me have fun with rocks, trucks, puppies, and just being outside. He is the sunshine in my life.

Here is the other funshine in my life. . .look at that great goatie he grew just cause I wanted to see what it looked like. I like it . . .

I've perfected the picture of myself taking. I like it that we both look like we are so happy.

We got to play in Daddy's classroom. Garrett ran around in the open and enjoyed the basketball hoop.