A Big Question

Here's a little sampling of the dialogue between Brooklyn (my 4 year old niece) and I as I'm tucking her into bed:

Brooklyn: "Nat, I have a big question for you."
Me: "What?" (I'm a little nervous thinking how I really don't want to be the one to explain the birds and the bees to her at the tender age of 4...)
Brooklyn: "Do you have any college training?"
Me: (Ironically, my college training made it possible for me to not burst out laughing.) "Yes, I do."
Brooklyn: "Oh good. By the way, what is college training?"

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

As could be expected, Garrett's first Christmas has been a delight! It's been full of family, yummy food, parties, fun, and lots of laughter and memories. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Greg's family and Christmas afternoon and night with my family. Garrett loved the lights, wrapping paper, ribbon, and lots of new and willing people to feed him the good stuff while mom wasn't looking. Merry Christmas to all!

WICKED

So once again I'm only a week behind posting this. December is CRAZY (but in a good way)!

I must be nuts...Why else would I wake up at 5 in the AM and stand in line in downtown SLC in the freezing cold??? It was a crazy experience, but if all is well that ends well, then I’m in luck, because I’m going to WICKED!!! YEEHAW!!!

Thanks to the brilliant efforts of Sparky (my dad), my cousin Jan, sister-in-law Mal, and yours truly, we were able to secure the coveted seats!!! We attended the MOTAB Christmas concert last Thursday night (AMAZING!) and then stayed over night at my bro Brian and sis-in-law Sher’s house Thursday night. We went to bed at about 1 and woke up before 5 so we could head downtown to stand in line. Tickets were going on sale at 7:00 AM at the Capitol Theater, so we figured we’d be in great shape if we got there at 5. HA! Apparently we forgot to account for the 600 CRAZIES ahead of us in line who camped out in the freezing cold. It’s a good show and all, but seriously??? We had been in line about 5 minutes when the folks behind us started talking about how unlikely our chances were of getting tickets standing in that line. Tickets were going on sale at a few other locations, over the phone, and online beginning at 10, so we realized our chances might be better of getting tickets at Abravanel Hall. Mal Pal and I headed over to Abravanel Hall and took our spots as the sixth and seventh persons in line, while Jan and Sparky stayed in the crazy line at the Capitol Theater. Despite the freezing cold and insanity of the whole situation, we actually managed to have a good time. Mal and I made some new BFFs and enjoyed witnessing the people in front of us fighting over letting others in line. Our new friends held our spots while we walked across the street to JB’s for some hot chocolate, muffins, and cinnamon rolls. When the clock struck 10, we marched our way right in to Abravanel Hall and successfully secured our blasted tickets, all while Jan and Sparky were standing patiently in line at the Capitol, likely hours away from the ticket window. We are BRILLIANT!

Notice our sweet spots in line...Mal is standing by the girl wrapped in the blanket.

Mal Pal and I (Did I mention it was really cold?)

Sadly, we didn't get any pictures of Sparky and Jan. They did have a Ferris Bueller moment, though. Jan had a doctor's appointment later in the day in SLC and had taken a sick day to miss work. It just so happened that the news reporter was standing right next to Sparky and Jan while they were filming and the secretary at Jan's school called her on her cell phone (while they were standing in line) to tell her they had seen her on TV. (OOPS!!!)

It was a crazy, but really fun morning. Definitely one for the history books. (Thanks to Sparky for coming along--he knows nothing about the play and wasn't even planning on going to it, but said he would come with us to stand in line. Father of the Year material, don't you think???)

Gordy's Good Ole Family Christmas Party

Every year we look forward to the Phillips family Christmas party in Helper (it's by Price--I'd never heard of the place until I met Greg). Greg's Uncle Gordy, who passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, had the idea to get the family together at Christmastime for a party at the bowling alley. Since Gordy has been gone, we have kept the party going to honor his memory and enjoy being together as a family. It was a long day in the car for us--three hours to Helper, a few hours at the bowling alley, and three hours home--but worth every minute.

Good food + Family + Bowling = FUN!

Garrett even enjoyed a nice little pony ride. I love his smile in this video!

Sparky's Christmas Lights

As many of you may know, my dad's nickname is "Sparky." We gave him this nickname when I was just a kid and it kind of stuck--big time! Even my friends called him Sparky and many of them didn't (and probably still don't) know his real name. (In high school one of my friends said, "I was going to call you last night, but I couldn't find a Sparky Petersen in the phone book.") He earned the title of Sparky because of his deep and abiding love of Christmas lights. (Those of you who have seen "Christmas Vacation" may know what I'm talking about.) Hanging the lights becomes a family affair and you have to be "certified" by Sparky before he entrusts you with his precious lights. Chelsea began training on her certification this year and Sparky said she is coming along quite nicely. Sher is still working on becoming certified--we still laugh about the year she tried to help and Sparky tore down everything she did and re-did it because it just didn't quite meet his standards.

Brooklyn is also working on her certification. I'm sure you can imagine what a BIG helper she was. At least she came dressed for the occasion.


Gracie and Garrett are dreaming of the days they can "certify." Trying to keep the two of them away from the window was pretty much impossible. Thank heavens for Windex and tiny hands!

Em and I ran to town to do some Christmas shopping and left the kids asleep with my mom babysitting. Of course, they woke up shortly after we left and had what we like to call "a double meltdown." My mom had to call Brett in to help and here's what happened. (I'm very impressed my mom was able to take this picture with my camera. She's the only person I know who still uses a camera with film. Love ya, Suzy!)

Ta-Da! The finished product is well worth the work. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but it's absolutely gorgeous and we appreciate Sparky's efforts!

Turkey Day!

I'm a little slow getting this posted, but thought I should provide some documentation of our Thanksgiving. Sadly enough, I was so busy eating turkey and enjoying myself that I forgot to take pictures. I only took a few pictures the whole day, and only one of them even has Garrett in it. OOPS! (Let's just say he was well-cared for by many adoring aunts, uncles, and cousins and I only saw him for about 5 minutes the whole day.) :)

We had dinner at my cousins Kami and Marlee's house, which used to be my Grandma Ila's house before she died. It was so wonderful to be back in her house enjoying Thanksgiving together as a family. It brought back so many fun memories of Thanksgivings with Grandma. I remember her wearing her old-school aprons and housedresses and making rolls. I used to love to have a sleepover the night before Thanksgiving, so I could be there to help with the rolls in the morning. I LOVED making rolls with my Grandma. She would roll them out with a Coke can, brush some butter in the middle and on top with her fingers, and then fold them just so. I would always ask her for a "doughie" and, like a good grandma, she would let me eat the dough. I would usually be full of dough by dinnertime, but the food was always so good.

This Thanksgiving was just as fabulous as the ones from my childhood. Here are the few pics I took of the day:

Most people just have a slice of pie....Not my Greg! My assignment was to make the cream pies, so I made chocolate, banana and coconut cream pies. At least Greg liked my concoctions! (Take a good look at his attire--He said he strategically planned his outfit to show things he's grateful for. I expected him to walk out with a t-shirt with me on it or something!)

Garrett with his Jan (his BFF). You may notice how much his hair is coming in lately. Don't worry--still RED!

This is how the menfolk spent most of the day. One of the stations was having a Godfather marathon and I think Greg watched all 9 hours (or however long those blasted movies are).

A little bit of the gang...

And now for the main event...there's never a dull moment with this girl around. (FYI--Emily had her dressed up in a darling little jeans/sweater combo and Brooklyn disappeared into Kami's room and came out wearing this little masterpiece ready to perform.)

The End of the World as We Know It...and First Shiner!

It's official...our little stinkerbug is a full-fledged crawler. It was hilarious because he had the idea down several weeks ago, but just couldn't get his arms and legs to move at the same time and would usually end up with a nice face plant right into the carpet. Last week while I was at the concert, Greg worked his magic and Garrett was an old pro by the time I got home. He's been crawling like a mad man ever since and it only took him about 5 minutes of exploring to figure out how to pull himself up to furniture. (The nurses in the hospital when he was born told us he was STRONG, and they weren't kidding!) Let's just say life as we know it is OVER! He LOVES electrical cords (lovely thing to play with) and will find a way to get to them (and everything else he shouldn't) at all costs. Let's just say I'm currently trying to decide if we should even put up a Christmas tree. Do any of you seasoned mothers have any advice about kids and Christmas trees?


Here's some footage for your viewing pleasure...



The picture isn't great, but Garrett has had a few setbacks on his quest to discover the world and is currently sporting a high quality bruise on his cheek and a very nice shiner! Greg asked me at church if I was worried about somebody turning us in to social services. (We felt much better to see Garrett's buddy Kaleb with a black and blue forehead...compliments of falling down the stairs at the Aggie game.) Tis the season for bumps and bruises!

So Thankful

As I have been preparing for Thanksgiving today, I remembered what was happening in our lives one year ago at this time. I was pregnant with Garrett and absolutely thrilled. Greg and I had prayed for a couple of years to be blessed with a baby, and we had just found out we were expecting a little boy. I have never been more excited about anything in my entire life and bought more BLUE in all its shades than I would care to admit.

One day after school, I was listening to the messages on my phone and had a message from my doctor. He said he needed to talk to me and asked me to call him back. I didn't think a whole lot of it and called back, but he was unavailable. I called my sister (who was also expecting a baby and had the same doctor) and mentioned to her that the doctor had called and asked her if he had ever called her. She was trying to act nonchalant about it, but I could tell she was concerned about the fact that the doctor himself had called to talk to me. Of course, I started getting worried and called back to talk to him, but he was still busy. I kept my phone with me the whole night, but the doctor never called. Greg and I were trying to be positive, but everything is scary for new parents-to-be! I kept reassuring myself that if something was seriously wrong he definitely would have called me back as soon as possible.

I didn't sleep much that night, and of course, I called the doctor first thing in the morning, and of course, he was busy! (You would think the man had nothing to do besides sit around and wait for my phone calls.) I explained to the receptionist that I had received a call from him and was really worried and asked if he could please call me as soon as possible. I remember getting up and walking out of a meeting at school when my phone rang and it was finally him! Doctors are pros at downplaying and being calm, so he just explained that they needed me to come back in for another ultrasound. I asked him if everything was okay and he answered by telling me they needed to get a better look at some things they saw from my previous ultrasound. He also mentioned it would be a good idea to have my husband come with me. My heart sank. I remember calling Greg and both of us trying hard to be tough, but we were scared.

The next few days were hard ones. I had just started to show a tiny bit and I could feel the baby moving inside me. I was so proud of this little guy and I couldn't stand the thought of something being wrong with him. At first, I prayed fervently that our baby would be totally healthy and not have any problems. But then I thought of all the families I knew whose lives had been blessed by special needs children and I realized that blessings come in all shapes and sizes. I changed my prayers and pleaded to just have a baby we could bring home and raise. We had wanted this baby so badly, and it seemed so awful to think of losing him now. We knew, however, that this was a possibility, so ultimately we prayed to choose to have the faith to accept whatever the Lord's plan was for our little family.

After a few agonizingly long days, we went back in to meet with the doctor. He explained to us that the ultrasound tech had noticed a cyst on his brain. (Talk about a good actress---I had no idea anything was wrong!) He explained that the cyst could have just developed from fluid from the spinal cord (or something like that) and could have gone away, or it could be an indicator of a much bigger problem. Often times, children with a Trisomy condition similar to Down's Syndrome have these cysts. If the cyst was still there, he would be sending us on to specialists for further testing. He took us in to do the ultrasound, and of course, Garrett didn't want to move in the right direction, so it took him several minutes to finally find the right spot. We were so relieved when he looked at the brain from several different angles and could find no evidence of a cyst anywhere.

It was just a few days before Thanksgiving, and I can honestly say I have never been more grateful for anything in my life. Thanksgiving had a special meaning for us last year and we were so full of gratitude. Now, one year later, I look at Garrett crawling around and I am so grateful to have this little redhead in our home. I'm not sure why the Lord blessed us with Garrett when he did, when so many others are suffering. I have been so touched and humbled as I have read other people's blogs and seen the tragedy and heartache so many are experiencing. I know trials are a part of life and our family will be blessed with our fair share, but regardless of what life brings, I am hoping we will choose to always be grateful for the good things in life.



When I saw these Thanksgiving jammies, I knew Garrett had to have them. They sum up his little life quite perfectly!

How You Know Your Baby Is Ready for a New Bed...

So I'm kind of embarassed to admit this, but Garrett is almost 9 months old and for many reasons has still been sleeping in our room in the little cradle he used as a newborn. Last Sunday I was telling my sister how we really need to get him a crib, but he's okay for now because I just wrap him up really tight in the "burrito wrap" and he doesn't move around that much while he sleeps (mostly because there's really nowhere to go.) Just a few nights after that, Garrett started making noises in the night and I was drifting in and out of sleep, but could tell he was awake and playing. He usually sleeps through the night, so I didn't get up to get him and figured he'd go back to sleep. I dozed back off, and a few minutes later Greg nudged me and told me to look at Garrett. He was sitting straight up and looking over the edge of his bed at us with a great big grin on his face. I about died! He was probably about 10 seconds from falling straight out on his head. Needless to say, he spent the rest of the night in bed with us and is currently sleeping in a "pack and play" I borrowed until we can find a crib we like at a good price.

Carrie Concert

Last night I attended the Carrie Underwood concert with my sister Emily, sisters-in-law Mallory and Chelsea, friends Karen, Karlie and Heidi, and cousins Kami, Jan, Marlee, and Marijka and it was so much fun!

We started the night off with a little dinner at Red Robin. (I would highly recommend the tortilla soup.) Our waiter was a cute kid and was kind of flirty with my friend Karlie. He brought a birthday dessert (even though it wasn't her birthday). We all enjoyed the free dessert and none of us complained!

Crazy Mal made them pose for a picture and then left a note for the waiter with Karlie's number on it. The best part was when he texted Karlie a few minutes later. We were all in the car screaming and acting like total morons while Karlie was freaking out. She texted him back and he was very disappointed to learn she didn't live in Salt Lake. He said, "And I was hoping to take you to dinner and a movie." It was very cute! (Karlie was so funny and deleted all the messages from her phone so her mom wouldn't read them.) I kept telling her I would drop her off at his place and just tell her parents I left her with the waiter in Salt Lake.

Next we headed to the concert and waited patiently...

TA-DA! There she is! I have been a Carrie Underwood fan from the first moment I saw her on American Idol and absolutely love her! She is beautiful and talented and an excellent perfomer. She was actually really funny and had a cute personality.

She talked about being from Shecotah, Oklahoma (Population: 3500) and sang her cute song, "I Ain't in Shecotah Anymore." Here's a little clip for your viewing pleasure!

And the highlight of the evening...Buying gas for $1.83 on the way home!

P.S. Greg and Garrett had a super time together while I was gone! Both daddy and baby were sleeping soundly when I got home.

Cute Pic

I love this sweet picture of Garrett and my mom.

Happy Birthday Jan!

Happy Birthday Jan! Today is Greg's mom birthday and because she is a faithful reader of our blog, we wanted to wish her a very happy special day and let her know how much we love her. You will notice all of these pictures have one thing in common....a great big, beautiful smile! Jan is such a sweet person and is always happy and serving others. (For example, I had to call her tonight and tell her she didn't need to plan her own birthday party! She asked me if I wanted her to bake a cake. Who bakes their own birthday cake??? What a sweetheart!) She is a wonderful mom and has taught her children to be great people. We love you, Jan!

Family Pics

We got our family pictures back today and I couldn't be more thrilled! My sister-in-law Sher's sister, Carrie, took them for us and I think they are fabulous. There are about a billion photos, so I just went through quickly and chose a few of my faves to share. We had originally planned to do them several weeks ago, but it hit right in the middle of Garrett's sickness, so we had to postpone. I'm so glad we finally got them done! I'll be honest--we had to keep giving Garrett pieces of a sugar cookie to keep him happy through the ordeal, but it all worked out in the end! Thanks to my good pal Karlie for making a fool of herself to make the little guy smile. Enjoy!

Thankful "Tag"

DISCLAIMER: So let's be honest...I've always thought the whole blog "tagging" thing is a bit silly, so don't make fun of me for doing this!

With Thanksgiving approaching, I've started a list on the side of my blog of things I'm thankful for. My goal is to add new things to that list every day, and I'm even going to TRY to get Greg to contribute. (I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about all of the dead animals he is most grateful for.) :)

Here goes...I "tag" everyone who reads this post to make his/her own "Thankful" list and try to add to it as much as you can until Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to reading your lists!

Go Ags!

Little G and I attended the Aggie football game today with Sparky and a miracle happened...they won! We are definitely good luck!

My dad had told me he was going to the game and I had been thinking off and on about going, but when it was time to go, Garrett was sleeping, my house was a mess, and I was still in my pajamas and hadn't showered yet. (TMI--I know!) I thought about everything I had to do and decided I would just stay home, let Garrett sleep, and clean my house, so I called my dad and told him I wasn't coming. A few minutes after that, I started thinking about my friend Karen whose father passsed away unexpectedly earlier this week. It occurred to me that life is about family, football games with my dad, and having fun, not about spotless houses and babies on a perfect sleeping schedule. So I threw Garrett in his carseat and my hair in a ponytail and off we went! My dad was thrilled when we showed up and thanked me several times for coming and bringing Garrett. He took Garrett "shopping" and bought him a darling hat. Thanks Pops!

While Garrett and I were off having fun, Greg and his dad were home working at the garage. (This seems to be the general trend of our life...Greg works, I play...sometimes I love being a woman!) :) Thanks to Willy for coming up to help and Greg for always working so hard!

Happy Halloween!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

As could be expected, Garrett's first Halloween was a smashing success! We started the festivities on Tuesday with the First Ever Phillips Halloween Party. (I think we should make this a yearly tradition!) Greg's Aunt Mainie makes the best White Chicken Chili EVER and I ate way too much...it was soooo good! Greg's cousins made these chocolate cupcakes that looked like brains and I can't even describe in words how YUMMY they were. We had a wonderful time just visiting, enjoying being together, and watching video clips on the Internet. (No trip to the Phillips casa would be complete without some YouTube viewing.) Of course, Garrett was the life of the party in his horse costume and hopefully a good time was had by all!

We attended the Annual Anderson Halloween Fiesta in Wellsville on Halloween night. Every year for as long as I can remember My Uncle Ric and Aunt Paula have served chili, cinnamon rolls, and homemade root beer on Halloween. It's been several years since I attended their party, so I was really looking forward to it and they did not disappoint. My Uncle Ric's dutch oven chili was SUPER and the cinnamon twists were awesome. (Again, I ate way too much. I'm noticing a trend here...) The kids loved making the "Witch's Potion" (homemade root beer) and we even got a little trick-or-treating in. My cousin's friend Leah was there with her little guy Porter and he was so cute. He was dressed up as an allosaurus...he informed me I could call him "Al" for short. He loved answering the door for trick or treaters and passing out the goods. He'd come back and say, "We only sold three that time." It was so funny! Brooklyn was a "very scary witch" (Greg told her she was a pretty princess...big mistake!) and Gracie made a darling Tinkerbell.

I used to love Halloween as a kid, but to be completely honest, I haven't had much interest in it the past several years. However, this Halloween was so fun and I have a newfound love for Halloween. There's just something about kids in costumes...

Humbled Again

One of my very dear friend's father passed away today. One minute he was driving his tractor in his field, the next he was gone. They think he suffered a massive heart attack. Of course, I was deeply saddened to hear this news and my heart aches for my friend and her family. It reminded me again how precious and fragile life truly is and how important it is for us to always be the very best people we can be. It is so easy to get caught up in the miniscule problems of life and forget that what really matters is who we love and how we show it. My own dad stopped by tonight for a minute and I hugged him extra tight and told him how much I loved him. I need to do that more often.

Garrett was in such a happy mood tonight and rolled all over the floor, laughing and cooing. Every time I looked at him he would just giggle and flap his little arms in the air. His smile always warms me to the deepest part of my heart, but tonight it was even more special. It's amazing to me that bundled up inside that little body is a whole person, full of potential and life. I was reminded again that the good Lord giveth and taketh away. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that families are eternal and that this life is just a small part of a much bigger plan our Heavenly Father has for us. All we have to do is the very best we can, and He will one day bless us with more than we can possibly imagine.

Saturday

Greg stayed to help clean up deer camp on Saturday, so I headed down to Provo to catch the BYU game with Greg's siblings. It was a blast! Greg's brother Mike came to the game with us, and was definitely the highlight of the afternoon. Not only is he by far the funniest of the Phillips Family but he's also the second best looking (behind his mother of course). Just to paint a picture he is definitely the tall, dark, and handsome type; but he also has the personality which just captivates any room that he enters. Any woman lucky enough to become his eternal companion will be amazing I'm sure. (I bet you can't guess which portion of this Mike wrote himself.)

This is what we like to call the "Trilogy."

The highlight of the game was when these two guys sitting by us got in a fight. I managed to snap a quick photo before they were broken up by the guys around them. I was trying to be discreet, so it's not the best pic, but you get the idea.

We decided to wait out traffic after the game and headed to the Macaroni Grill for a little grub. Mal and I are trying our hardest to help Eric in his true QUEST at BYU to find a Mrs., so we left a little message on the table for any interested takers.

Later that night, Mike was eating some cinnamon bears and Matt asked him for some. Before Matt could grab them, Mike shoved the last half of the bag in his mouth so he wouldn't have to share. He about choked trying to get them down, which definitely served him right. Poor Matt--being the youngest of 6 kids definitely is not an easy job!

Deer Camp

Thursday night, Emily and I took the kids and headed up the canyon to the infamous DEER CAMP. The Petersen Family Deer Camp is in a league of its own when it comes to camping. Let's just say they don't exactly know the meaning of "roughing it" and there is much more emphasis on the CAMPING than the HUNTING. The camp consists of two huge canvas Outfitters tents, one for cooking and one for sleeping. The cook tent consists of a huge grill, two camp chefs, picnic tables, propane heater, and a portable pantry. The sleeping tent is lined with cots and even has a heater complete with a thermostat. Recently, the men have even added a shower to their camp and there is even a commode tent down the way. The food is always WONDERFUL and the best part of all is that the men do all the cooking and dishes! I used to LOVE going to deer camp with my dad, siblings, grandpa, uncles, and cousins when I was a kid. Of course, Grandpa Claude is greatly missed and I found myself thinking about him a lot while I was up there. I know he would have just loved having Em's gals and Garrett up there.

Friday morning I headed back up to camp with Greg's brothers, Eric and Mike. We had a great time and enjoyed riding horses, playing with Garrett and having fun. They both looked great in bright orange and we're hoping they will decide to visit deer camp again!

Humbled

So I had one of those humbling/put-life-in-perspective experiences yesterday that made me feel about two inches tall.

I pulled into a convenience store yesterday and was TOTALLY ANNOYED when a car had double-parked and taken up the two parking spots right in front of the store. I think my irritability was heightened by the fact that it was FREEZING cold, but I am in my winter rebellion phase and was definitely not dressed for the weather. Anyways, I grabbed what I needed and walked up to the counter to pay. I looked over and was thrilled to see a wonderful lady I met last summer. Her hospital room was right across the hall from my grandpa's and they were both diagnosed with Stage 4, extremely aggressive cancer on the same day. I happened to be staying with my grandpa late that night and she had come over looking for a friend. Her husband died young and all of her children lived out of town, so she was totally alone to receive such a horrible diagnosis. Our two families went through a lot together over the next few days. My grandpa only lived just over a month after he was diagnosed, but she is still alive and fighting her cancer. While we were at the counter paying, she told me she has good days and bad days, but she said over and over again how grateful she is to be alive and how each day she has to spend with her children and grandchildren is such a gift. In fact, she was on her way to Salt Lake to buy a new wig to "perk her up" and had just stopped in to get a drink. I was so humbled as I walked out the door and all I could think was, "And I was worried about a front row parking spot."

My Kind of Priesthood Meeting

Check out Garrett's new trick. All the things you learn while you should be at church... (Thanks Uncle Mike!)

My Kind of Sunday School

This kind of reminded me of the time when we came home from church to find Matt, his Sunday School TEACHER, and a few members of their class playing the Wii when they should have been at Priesthood.

Doing Much Better!

This is how Garrett spent the rest of his week...



Looking out the front of a shopping cart!

After his miraculous recovery at the doctor on Wednesday, I did what any good mother would do...take him on a 3 day shopping extravaganza to Park City! Every year I go to Park City during the UEA break with my mom, sister, aunts, cousins, and some close friends. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to go this year after Garrett had been so sick, but he was doing better Wednesday, so I decided to go. Usually I try to be a good teacher and go to the UEA Convention, but since I only have just a few weeks of school left until my "retirement," I decided to just spend my time shopping instead. (Good choice, right?) I happen to be an EXCELLENT shopper and can find a bargain like you've never seen. Thankfully, my aunt and cousins volunteered to watch Garrett most of the time, so I was really able to get some good shopping in. As always, we ate LOTS of yummy food, shopped too much, laughed a bunch, and came home exhausted!



Guilty Confession: I was going to buy this shopping cart cover/play thing at TJ Maxx, so I took it out and used it while we were shopping. When I was done, I decided it wasn't that great, so I put it back in the box and didn't buy it. I still feel guilty about it.



Poor Gracie: This is what you call SHOP TIL YOU DROP!