Garrett's Blessing

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Yesterday was Garrett's blessing. It was such a wonderful day for our little family! We knew it was going to be great when Garrett slept through the whole night and we actually had to wake him up in order to get him ready to go. Like all parents, we were worried he would fuss during the actual blessing, but he was absolutely perfect and didn't make a peep. The blessing was so sweet and truly something we will remember and cherish forever. Greg and I were so touched by all of our awesome family and friends who joined us for the blessing. We had a wonderful dinner after with lots of delicious food. (Thanks so much to everyone for all the hard work in helping us with the dinner!) It was a beautiful Spring day with lots of sunshine and we were even able to be outside. We had so much fun visiting and catching up with family and friends. Garrett was such a sweetheart and loved being held and passed around. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people who love us and our little boy. Thanks to everyone who helped make this day so special for us. We love you!

Happy Birthday Princess!

Yesterday was our niece Brooklyn's 4 year old birthday! We can't believe how much she has grown and that she is already four. Thanks for being such a good cousin to Garrett and for sharing your special day with him. We love you!

Pay it Forward

Pay it Forward
Here's how it works; you simply make a comment to this post in the next week and on Saturday, May 3, I will put your name in a drawing and the three people I draw out will get something free from me! I will send it to you in the mail. Winners will be posted no later than Sunday, May4. If you win, be prepared to pay it forward! Woo-Hoo!

(I won this contest on another blog and now am "Paying it Forward"--This is not my original idea! I'm not nearly creative enough to come up with something like this!)

Phillips Family Party

We had so much fun visiting Grandpa and Grandma Phillips this weekend. They even threw a big party for Garrett to meet his uncles, aunts, and cousins. Thanks for such a great time and to everyone who worked so hard to make us feel special.

We love you!

And the Saga Continues...

So you know my cousins I've been writing about--the ones with all the bad luck? Well, they woke up this morning and their house was freezing cold! You guessed it...their furnace was broken! On top of that, their washer started making a weird sound and they think it is also going out. I mean, honestly, what are the chances? I think my cousin Lisa said it best, "They need to catch a freakin break!"

On a happy note, this is what I found tonight when I got out of the shower...

Such Fun!

Today was a fun day! We started off by visiting the "sick and afflicted." Janalee is home from the hospital and doing okay. Not "sensational", but okay. Kami is healing and seems to be getting stronger, but she is definitely tired and beat up.

My cousin Tara came to visit from Boise and brought little Guillermo. He is the cutest little guy you've ever seen and has a laugh that just melts your heart.

So many babies! It's funny because it seems like this side of the family went FOREVER without having any kids, and now in the last few months it seems like there are more babies than people to hold them. They are all so much fun!

Uncle Chad came to visit us tonight and as you can see by the picture, Garrett was absolutely thrilled! I think I have a new favorite picture of my little man.

Roommate Reunion

I had the amazing opportunity of having a reunion with my roommates from BYU this week. I can't believe it's almost been eight years since we first met each other in 235 Whitney Hall! I have so many wonderful and crazy memories of these gals. Our college days were full of fun (and a lot of drama)! It was so great to get back together again. We are scattered all across the country these days, so we were lucky to get us together. We missed our "Party Hardy" and her cute kids, but are looking forward to another shindig when she visits this summer. I love you girls!

When It Rains...

Wow! It's been a crazy couple of weeks for my uncle, aunt, and cousins. First off, my darling cousin Janalee had been having neck pain and went in for an MRI. Her neck ended up being okay, but the doctors discovered a cancerous growth on her thyroid. She just had surgery yesterday to have the growth removed and is waiting for pathology reports to see what kind of treament she will have.

When Jan found this out, her family had already planned a trip to Mexico and were leaving just a week after her diagnosis. The doctor told her she should go ahead with her vacation and just have the surgery when she returned. So, the family left for Mexico. While they were gone, their son Tyler, who was unable to go on the trip because he had to work, discovered he has a hernia and will also need to have surgery. (He is on the waiting list for next Monday to have his surgery.)

So, Tyler contacted his family in Mexico and let them know about his hernia. We were all dying thinking about Jan and Tyler both having surgery in the same week and were trying to figure out what the point was of Tyler having a hernia the same time Jan was diagnosed with cancer. (It's kind of like my Grandma dying a few days before my brother Brian's wedding or me going into labor the same morning of Gracie's blessing.) Honestly! Little did we know what was to come...
Yep! As they were driving home from Mexico, they were involved in a terrible accident in which the truck pulling the camp trailer rolled THREE times! My uncle Ric and cousins Kami and Marijka were in the truck and all of them were pretty beat up, but miraculously, they all survived. (You can visit Sean and Em's blog for a better play-by-play of the accident.)

Despite all of the craziness, our family has been so blessed and have truly witnessed many miracles. Just to name a few...

1. Jan's cancer was discovered. She was experiencing virtually no symptoms of the cancer and it most likely would have spread even more if she hadn't had the MRI on her neck.

2. Everybody survived the accident. Kami just happened to have her seat reclined and was told she most likely wouldn't be with us today if she had been sitting up.

3. My brother Brett and his wife Chelsea were at Brianhead for a mission reunion and their car broke down. Ric, Paula and family just happened to be passing through, so they gave them a ride home. Brett and Chelsea were originally going to ride in the truck, but ended up riding in the van with Paula at the last minute. If they had been in the truck, they would have been in the back seat, which means Kami's seat most likely wouldn't have been reclined, and we can only imagine how different the outcome of the accident would have been.

4. Brett and Chelsea were with Paula's family and were able to provide much-needed support and assistance.

And finally, the biggest miracle of all....I stayed with Kami today while Paula was at the hospital with Jan and did two things I swore I would never do...First, I touched their blasted dog! (He was crawling all over Kami's hurt knees and I had to get him off.) Second, I cleaned up dog #$%^ off the carpet!

Seriously though, I could go on forever about the many blessings we've experienced over the past few days. We are so grateful everyone is going to be okay and our prayers are with Jan as she recovers from her surgery.

Happy Birthday Pops!

Happy "Burfday" to our wonderful dad and grandpa.

We love you!

Champion Smiler

I am sad to announce that Garrett's title as Champion Sleeper has been revoked. It was definitely a one-time deal! Despite the sleepless nights, we've decided to still keep him because he just started smiling and it is the sweetest thing we've ever seen. Here are some pictures of our little smiler. (The lighting isn't the best on some of them, but he's still pretty cute!)

And he's done smiling!

So Handsome!

Garrett had his first professional pictures taken today. In the words of Brooklyn, "It was not sensational!" Let's just say I got a glimpse of what it is going to be like to raise a stubborn little red-headed boy! Miraculously, we did manage to get a few cute pictures out of the whole experience.

P.S. We especially like the one where he's flipping the bird. This is classic because Greg is always trying to teach swear words to everybody else's kids!

This One's For You, Mayne's World!

My brother-in-law Sean was feeling highly "betrayed" because there wasn't a picture of him and Garrett in the latest slideshow. With the exception of Greg's brother Mike (who lives in Wisconsin), he was the only uncle who was left out. We sincerely apologize to Seandogg and hope this helps his "ruined feelings" recover! We love you!

Champion Sleeper!

Guess who slept for five consecutive hours last night??? Way to go, Garrett! Garrett comes from champion sleeping genes and I have just been anxiously waiting for them to kick in. I know better than to think it's going to happen again anytime soon, but it sure was a nice little treat!

And I Thought My 6th Period Class of 35 Eighth Graders was Tough!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

I'm sorry for all of the corny Smileboxes, but it's just the easiest way for me to post a whole bunch of pictures. I can't believe how crazy it is just trying to take care of one baby! I'm used to managing large groups of kids, but teaching junior high is nothing compared to taking care of a newborn. I've tried to post several times in the past week, but somehow I always seem to get sidetracked and never get it done. Here are a whole bunch of pictures from Garrett's first month of life. Enjoy! We hope you think he's as wonderful as we do.