While I was gone...here's what happened.

10 Year Reunion

Jared and I went to his 10 year reunion which I was afraid would be a complete bore for me, but to my surprise it was actually very enjoyable. It was interesting to see where people Jared's same age were at in life. Most of Jared's good friends were girls (no surprise right?) and only one of them had more than one child. I guess none of them were LDS, but it was just interesting that they only had one and that's all they wanted. I'm glad we went to the reunion and I am already looking forward to mine. 5 more years...

Ward Campout

Then we went to our ward campout up in Pine at Camp LoMia. We thought it would be a good way to get to know the members of our new ward. It was so much fun even if it was short - we were there less than 24 hours. We roomed in the same cabin as three other small families and each of us had a little one sleeping in a play pen. Nice a cozy! We discovered that this ward is full of YW that love to babysit! We had mentioned in passing that we wanted to go to the temple that afternoon after getting back from the campout. One of the YW said, "Oh, I don't charge when you go to the temple or other church activities." She was hired! It was so nice to go to the temple together. Garrett already loves his new little babysitter although I think he weighs about half of what she does. She's tiny! Anyway, here are a few pictures of just some of the YW battling for his affections.

Then Jared found a worm and was showing it to Garrett. Garrett picked it up and was making this funny face as it squirmed between his fingers. Then he wanted to use both hands and about pulled the worm apart. That's when we took it away. He's definitely a boy!

I'm Back...

Okay so I was totally excited to really get into this blogging thing when I started a month ago. And then our dial-up service took a major nose-dive! I mean, it was slow before, but for the last three weeks it would take at least 25 minutes to upload a page and even then 90% of the time it would say "This webpage cannot be displayed." I can't even begin tell you how frustrating it was especially now that I pay most of our bills online and do online banking. One particular day I attempted to get through to our email for 45 minutes straight, but to no avail. When I finally gave up and disconnected the Earthlink Accelerator window popped up and said "Estimated time saved this session - 12 minutes." Saved? I just laughed. But that was enough to convince me that paying an extra $20 a month was TOTALLY worth it to have fast and reliable internet. So, we've got Cox High Speed now and I am in LOVE! I can get to any website in seconds, I can upload pictures so I can finally get some printed (I haven't printed any pictures since Garrett was 2 months old), etc.

White Gravy... please?

So, Jared and I went out to dinner Saturday at the Cracker Barrel. I'd never been there before, but Jared had been on business once. Anyway, what an experience it was. We were seated immediately and our waiter approached to ask us for drink requests. Immediately it was apparent that he didn't have the usual confidence and poise of an experienced waiter. Five minutes went by and the manager came by to ask us if we'd been helped... yes. Jared decided to order Country Fried Shrimp with Mashed Potatoes & white gravy, fried ochra, and coleslaw. I ordered Chicken Fried Chicken with , Mashed Potatoes & white gravy, a tossed salad with ranch on the side, and applesauce (for Garrett). The waiter asked us to repeat our orders two times because he just couldn't remember - even though he was writing things down. The waiter asked us about three additional times what kind of gravy we had requested in those few moments while writing down our order. He left, then came back a few minutes later to verify once again what kind of gravy...

When our meals were brought mine was correct, except I had brown gravy on my potatoes. Jared's was all incorrect except for his fried ochra. They brought him Chicken Fried Steak (instead of shrimp), brown gravy on potatoes, and a dollop of coleslaw - seriously a one inch scoop. Fifteen minutes later, they brought Jared his corrected plate again with brown gravy and this time with no coleslaw! The manager came by to apologize and mentioned that we could order dessert for free. He noticed that no dipping sauce had been provided for Jared's shrimp and asked if he'd like some cocktail sauce. The manager seemed to finish the job of serving and refilling drinks - he brought corrected potatoes with white gravy, a side of coleslaw for Jared, etc. Jared's meal ended up being complimentary along with our Apple Dumpling dessert. So for all of that food we only paid $10 - what a deal! Luckily we were able to see the humor in the situation while we were there and just laughed the whole way through.

It became even more obvious toward the end that this must have been one of our waiter's first nights on the job. The "regular" waiters had their names stitched on their aprons... ours said "Rising Star." As we were waiting for our check I saw him approach a couple that had recently sat down to give them a glass of Dr. Pepper. The woman looked up at him and said, "We haven't ordered drinks yet." I busted up laughing. I hope he finds more success soon or is able to find something that better suits him.

My Little Man...

Considering Garrett is my first child, I haven't taken nearly enough pictures. I already regret it, but I'm sure as he gets older I'll be even more sad about it. These little ones change so quickly it's hard to keep up. I've been meaning to take "real" pictures of Garrett for some time, but intentions not acted upon simply remain intentions. Here are a few pictures of him from the last six months.

Feb. 2, At the Temple in his adorable suit

Mar. 5, Taking time to smell (or taste) the flowers

Mar. 17, At the Tucson Zoo - sunburned and oh so hot!

Apr. 14, First camping trip - it got down to 27 degrees at night! Brr...

May 1, Swimming for the first time - he didn't particularly like the cold pool water, but didn't mind the shallow and warmer water in the hot tub (not turned on)

May 4, Grandma Stapley giving him snuggles

May 28, Garrett often woke up with this eye sealed shut. We're hoping that his tear duct opens on its own very shortly.

June 12, One of his last days with the pacifier. He got a really stuffy nose and couldn't suck on it even if he wanted to for at least a week. I seized the opportunity to wean him from it before the next baby comes.

July 1, Garrett learned how to crawl just as he turned 7 months old. Time to babyproof!

July 15, At the piano. He loves to reach up and play along.

Hopefully, more pictures to come soon.

We bought our first house!

Yep, we're finally through renting - although I couldn't have asked for a better renting situation. We didn't share any walls, we had covered parking, a washer/dryer, the greatest neighbors, etc. Even though it was only a 1 bed/1 bath, the layout made the 700 sq ft seem bigger and made it all too easy to stay for 4 years - that is until we found out we were expecting #2. Anyway, we consider it a great blessing to have lived in that apartment and an even greater blessing to have found a house to buy as great as this. I think that part of my subconcious self was sold from the get-go because of it's street appeal. It resembles so closely the look of my childhood home, blue with red brick on the bottom. The backyard is spacious and grassy and just begging for a good shade tree or two. It's a 3 bed/2 bath with an added all-purpose room and laundry room equipped with cupboards and counterspace. If I had my wish I'd decorate and furnish it all at once... but month by month and year by year I'll eventually fill up the empty plant shelves, rooms, and cupboards. For now I am so grateful to have space and a home for my growing family.

My little family...

that's not staying little for long. It's hard to believe that Jared and I have been married for over four years now. We were married in the Mesa, AZ temple July 10, 2003 and have lived in Mesa ever since. We have both since graduated from ASU - he with a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology and me a BA in Secondary Education Math. I taught for almost a year at Highland HS in Gilbert, AZ and Jared currently works for Cube Technology. Garrett was born almost 10 months ago on October 29 and his little brother is due to come November 10 of this year! We're glad it's another boy and can't wait until we've decided on a name. This picture was taken on Garrett's blessing day - think we ought to get a new one before the next one comes?

Okay, here goes...

I'm going to join the world of blogging. Truthfully, I've been wanting to for months, but I think I finally found some motivation to follow through. All of my sisters and friends have their own blog... except me. Even my little sis who is a full time student at BYU and working has found the time. I'm hoping this will act as a personal journal to keep track of my comings and goings as well as keep the rest of you up to date on my very exciting life all at once - pictures and all. So, here we go.