Mother's Testimony

After attending Fast and Testimony meeting today, and thinking of all my many blessings, I felt that I wanted to let my family know just how much you all mean to me, and also of my love for the gospel and for our Savior. When I think that I was blessed with seven wonderful children I can sometimes hardly believe it. And then added to you seven, your spouses and children and grandchild, all of whom hold a special place in my heart. I think of you all, individually by name, and you are each wonderful to me. I enjoy the perspective of where I'm at now--looking back over my life thus far. The blessings are just immeasurable! When Dad and I were first dating, I felt that he was a very special person and had qualities that I would come to admire. He hasn't disappointed me! Listening to him today during the 5th Sunday 3rd hour, I was truly in awe of his abilities and his testimony. Of course, we all know the history, but as each of you children came into our family, we were that much more enriched as a family. And that process will continue to grow. Last week a lady asked me if all of my children were active in the church, and I proudly said YES! I didn't feel boastful, but just grateful--grateful that all of you have kept your covenants and continue to do so--that you're teaching the next generation also to do what is right and to love the Lord. Thank you to ALL OF YOU for the privilege and blessing of being your mother. Of course, none of the above would be possible if it weren't for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My gratitude knows no bounds for the blessings of the gospel that I've had all my life. From my earliest memories, I can remember loving to go to church, going with mother as she fulfilled her assignments in Relief Society, always performing acts of service. My life was truly blessed and influenced by loving parents and siblings. Just know, when things get hard, that Heavenly Father is aware of each of you, and that you are all in my prayers every day. Love forever, Mom

Dad's Blogs

Isn't it ironic that Dad complained about his fellow '58 classmates not being able to use computers and then was himself unable to click the large orange "PUBLISH POST" button in order to get his blogs on the net? I found that funny.

As for Dad's comments about the Runnin' Rebels, the coach is a straight shooter. Three players were either kicked off the team or left the team because of character issues - which Lon Krueger, the coach, does not put up with. So the team is not on probation. Also, our players' wives' don't cuss at and assault opposing teams' fans unlike Lee Cummard's stupid wife.

Corbin and Kenz will be in town this weekend which should be really fun. We haven't seen Wyatt in a while so it will be fun to see how he has grown. We'll probably play airsoft and go shooting.

Byeeee

Egg Hunt @ Carson's

Summer Externship

First of all, that is a great pic of Garrett! He looks like a natural. I just had an interview with a law clerk for a judge to do somework over the summer. I hope that I get it because I am the only one he is interviewing so that means if I don't get it, he will have thought that having no one is better than having me:( But I feel good about it. My work will entail writing memos for the judge and handling motions. I hope I am up to it - it will be really good experience for me!

P.S. I farted

MORE FROM G&G

Ok, so I hit enter at the wrong time and lost my blog. Thanks to Andrea it was found. Mom and I did the walk again tonight. She is really doing good. She is walking faster and with fewer rests. The father and sons trip is taking shape. We are headed to San Francisco because Greg's time is limited. Arrive August 8th in the evening and leave August 12th. I can't believe they charge $49.00 a day to park. We may stay in a Motel 6 in South San Francisco and take the BART. It looks like the Dodgers will be playing the Giants on August 9th in the evening and we are working on tickets for that. We will probably just eat and hang out and go to the zoo and tease the tigers. We are headed to Andrea's and Grant's over General Conference weekend. It will be a nice break in our busy schedules.

Love Dad & Mom

Tiger Who?

"I'd like to trade this hunter inspired orange number in for a nice green blazer please. Agusta watch out here I come. There is a new feline Master in town." Here is little G with his favorite thing, a golf club. Of course, his sister's toothbrush is a close second. He could walk around with that thing all day, nap with it, ride in the car... sanitary wouldn't you say? Especially delicious was the time he put it in his mouth while full of chewed cracker. Yum! What Isabella doesn't know won't hurt her :)

Greg Garrett Family in Provo Weekend

So my family was in town this weekend and I really enjoyed seein them.  Mason and my dad had a lacrosse tournament (it was JV so tanner wasn't involved) so they came up on thurs and my mom, sadie, and tanner came friday. I showed them the great stuff in provo, like J-dogs (the hotdog stand by campus), smart cookie, Plato's Closet, and much much more i can't even describe.  Grandpa's retirement dinner was really fun and a lot of the family got to meet Ryan (jaylon's dad).  He was way cool and nice and was surprisingly good at remembering everyone's name.  He seems like a cool guy and i'm excited to have him in the family (this summer yes?) Well that is that, fun weekend with fam, not much new!!

HANGING WITH GRANDPA AND GRANDMA

OK THIS IS ANDREA I AM POSTING THIS BLOG FOR MOM AND DAD CAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY LOST IT, BUT THE BLOG IS ALL POWERFUL AND IT AUTOMATICALLY SAVES DRAFTS-SO IT LOOKS LIKE THIS POST ENDS ABRUPTLY-SO THAT'S WHY. Mom and I are back from our walk. Two days in a row we are really cooking. Now to our third day of the same leftovers from having the elders for dinner on Monday. The weather is nice and the hills are green. It is a great time to be in Paso Robles. My high school class if trying to put together a 50 year reunion so since I don't have enough to do and since I am the only one who has maintained any kind of address list I am trying to gather email addresses. Hello class of 1958 do you know how to say computer. One of my classmates says he can't open an Excel spreadsheet. I think we are in big trouble. I called one of my old friends and asked if I had the correct number. He asked me how many people did I know with a name like his. I told him there were three of him on Yahoo people search so I figured he was the one living in Salem, UT. Who else would live in Salem, UT. Work is going fine. It will be nice to have a break. We get Good Friday off thanks to our Catholic owners. I bought the book 1776 which Mom is reading first. She says it is really a good book. It is about the beginning of our nation, the revolutionary war, how our nation overcame incredible odds to beat the Brits. Hooray for the colonies. All I can say about the Runnin Rebels is that they will probably be on probation soon for recruiting violations, or are the still on probation because of Tark the Shark.

Lost discussion

Ok so Lost....Michael? Did he lose his memory or was he just acting weird cause the guy was right there? Well we know that Sun is the last of the 6 right? Are we up to 6? So what was up with that flash forward? Was it a simultaneous flashback with Jin-or did he get his memory erased and they told Sun he's dead? We know they can erase memories because remember the skinny bearded dude? When they showed his flash forward a few weeks ago he was crying when the plane was discovered and he didn't know why? And Penelope's dad? whoa crazy. We're moving in like a month-I'm excited. I guess out new ward is super young-young Bishopric, 3 nurserys, huge primary-so i'm guessing it will be like a married ward at BYU. Ca;'s crying gotta go Andrea

Go Rebels!!!

What an amazing job by the 2008 Mountain West Conference Tournament Champion Runnin' Rebels of UNLV!!! They overcame the Cougars of BYU by dominating them, 76 to 61. Let's just remember that UNLV's tallest player is 6'7" But also hats off to the Cougars who are a good team. Funny, of Mom and Dad's 4 college graduates, 1 is a Cougar, 1 is a Ute, and 2 - yes 2 are Rebels! Also, Michelle K, Alison, and Andrea have told me on seperate occasions that they wished that they had gone to UNLV. Keep it up, Rebs!

P.S. The players in this picture are not grabbing their privates.

I can breathe now...Yipee!

Well, I made it through the week. I'm glad it's over. It was actually kind of fun. I enjoyed being around the youth and hearing their testimonies. Now we have basketball starting this week and none of us (the leaders) know the rules in basketball and we are supposed to ref. Say what! Adam's mustache looks so awesome I want to grow one. And what's up with those hearts coming out of the tree onto Andrea's pictures?

Natalie

Sunday duck feeding with friends

'STACHE-TACULAR!!!

I preface this post with the suggestion that you read it (or think it) with the voice of Will Ferrell's character, Ron Burgandy from Anchorman (who, coincidently, also had a 'stache).

There comes a time in every man's life when he really needs to just 'stache it for a while - something that Dad, Unlce Bruce, Uncle Mike, and others know all about. Some 'stache it for a little too long (Bruce), others get out of the 'stache game right at their peak (good job, Dad), and some look to the future, hoping that there will one day be a thick, classy, bushy, curly 'stache on their upper lip (me). Nothing brings a smile to my face quicker than when I think about one of Dad's sweet stories about the many good ol' days of stachin' . . . It's a good thing Mom tied the knot with Dad in his pre-'stache days because if Dad had still been single when his awesome patch of sweetness grew in - watch out, Dad! - there's a lady-storm rollin' in!

So here is my salute to that special time in a man's life:

Yes, that's a real, albeit weak, 'stache with the hair neatly parted on the left.

Enrique Iglesias went his school and people were always confusing them. In a funny twist of fate Enrique got his mole removed a few years ago and now people are confusing them more than ever.

Our Blog's Family Picture

When did Grant have that giant mole on his left cheek removed??

Adam & Michelle Update

Right now Michelle is in Hartford, CT to watch her brother Jake perform. He is graduating this year as a theater major and finally has a lead role, but I can't remember the name of the play.

Michelle and I are likely going to buy a house. We made an offer with a KB Home community which they rejected. However, they just called us yesterday and told us that they dropped the base price of the home to $201,990 (that was a $27,000 drop and FYI this time last year the same home was $252,000). I say base price because we will need to upgrade a lot of things since KB Homes builds houses made out of crap if you don't upgrade. So, the final cost will probably be between $230k and $869k depending on the upgrades. With all that said, we are really excited about it because we really like this model and we will get to have our own input on a lot of the features. If you want to look at it, go to www.kbhome.com and navigate to the Las Vegas communities. The community is Sunset Ridge (community #20) and the model is the Sundown (I'm not sure that that's the name, so it's also the smallest model in that community).

This afternoon I will be speaking to the summer externship (same as internship - don't know why we can't just come together and use one name for it) coordinator to figure out where I will be working free-of-charge this summer. By "where" I mean which job in Las Vegas. I will get school credit for it plus some really valuable experience.

I am so jealous that Kyle gets to spend the summer in Nebraska aka paradise. But seriously, that's awesome, Kyle!!! Que tengas buena suerte con tu viaje a la tierra que huele de mierda!

And to Michelle K, they say that 45 is the best age for braces! "They" being other 45-year-olds with braces, but that's pretty awesome. How long do they have to be on?

Make sure to vote on the poll question! Instead of "other" I should have put the Jazz because I don't think there is any other team that stands a chance against the teams already listed.

Bom, so isso por enquanto.

6th move in 2 years!!!!

Well we're moving again-I'm pretty happy about this move. We're going back to the house we bought 2 yrs ago in Rancho Cordova. Our renters can no longer pay rent because on of them can't work anymore due to health issues. We knew this was a possibility about a month ago and I was secretly hoping that they wouldn't be able to pay so we could move back in (their lease wasn't up until July). I'm SO sick of being in this house that I can't decorate-plus I hate that "temporary" feeling. Gabrielle is excited about her "clubhouse" under the stairs. (as I'm typing this-I think I might polish off a whole sleeve of thin mints). We'll miss our ward, but I'll still do Bunco and girl's night dinners, gym, pre-school and Luke will still work here. Our house is kind of far away from lots of stuff so since we'd have to drive 15 minutes to get all the places we need to go-we'll just come out here which is about 15 min away. I've started de-cluttering and asking myself-Do I love this? Is it worth moving? (thx flylady). I love getting rid of stuff it's so cathartic. Cal climbed out of his crib today and cracked the humidifier on the way down-ahh sad. adios Andrea

Well it's official... I'm off to Nebraska this summer!

Well it's official...after working at the orthodontist's for a year I now (as of yesterday) have braces! It's weird but hopefully it won't be longer than a year. I just have to figure out how to eat again. Ryan and Maggie get here this weekend and Ryan has a job interview with the beer distributor up here on Monday. Hopefully they will have a place to live. The apartment has still given them a for sure. As soon as they move Jaylon's crib, etc. out of my house I'm turning his room into an office/craft/sewing/Primary room. It's one of the perks of having your kids move out. That's all the news. Congrats Kyle and Tanner.

Busy Bee

That cat picture is awesome! Congrats to Kyle and Tanner. You get to share a room again. Yeah! My week is CRAZY - working 45 hours, temple 4 1/2 hours, mutual I am in charge of this Wednesday, Youth Conference Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night and oh yeah I am speaking in church on Sunday because our ward boundaries were changed last week and we lost two YW leaders so I have to take their place. I guess being busy is not a bad thing. On Lost - I think Desmond looks good with short hair. It just looks a little weird because it's a wig. Come on! Eric & Kate's baby is so cute. I'm happy for them. I started tearing up when I read the story about the sealing. That must have been hard on the biological mom. How brave of her. I wonder if Hillary will win Ohio or Texas. I hope so because I am so scared if Obama is our next President. Not that I want Hillary, obviously, but she would be better than Obama.

Natalie

News from Paso
It's beautiful here now with the green hills and the trees all in bloom. Adam, your pics of your hikes were nice. Somehow you don't think of las vegas looking like that. Kyle and Tanner--way to go! to both of you. We're excited and happy for you. Grandpa Weston called and told us that he is officially retired. I can't imagine what he'll do with his time. Kyle, maybe you can think of something for him to do. Except for golf he really doesn't have any interests. Dad said that he should do genealogy. We enjoyed the movie 'Vantage Point'. It was good--pretty intense. Next week we will be going south for a board meeting. Normally we stay with Alison but this time we're staying at a hotel in San Juan Capistrano where the board mtg. is being held. That's all from here! Love you all, Mom

This cat is super excited about Kyle & Tanner's accomplishments

Congratulations Kyle!!!! That's awesome. Congrats to Tanner too!

Woo hoo!!!! Andrea

Success!!

So I found out via e-mail that I was accepted into the dental summer program at the university of Texas in Houston.  I am EXTREMELY excited about it! I am still waiting to see which other schools I applied to for the program accept me before I chose one. Also funny story, I took audrey's car home because she fell asleep and grandma somehow didn't see it parked off to the side of the road and backed into it trying to avoid the trash can... So there is a hole in the bumper cover and I'm NOT EXTREMELY excited about that! Grandma did say she will pay for it to get fixed so all is well and I'm working my hardest to make it as cheap as possible for grandma.  Anyway again congrats to Tanner for getting into BYU, that's no easy or small task. We will be roomin together here at grandma's and it'll be a good time... ok that's really it for now...

Kylie's sealing

Edge-good photos. Why do you have a Long's sweatshirt? I just got sucked in to an infomercial and I ordered some orthodics for Luke and I-I'll let you know how they turn out. Luke and I attended our friend's sealing to their adopted daughter Kylie today. So neat-such a happy day for them. They send pics to the birth parents periodically and talk once in a while. This morning before the sealing they met with the birth parents-with Kylie. Kate said the birth mom gave Kylie a little kiss and said goodbye-oogh-I get teary eyed typing this! The whole thing was really cool-the sealer talked about how we never know what out family will be or how it will come together. They're blessing her tomorrow. Have a good weekend! American Idol picks:David Archuletta/Michael Johns Sayesha/Brooke. Lost thoughts:Desmond is the only male on earth who is significantly less attractive when he's clean cut.

Adam + Red Rock = Love

Okay, so I already love living in Las Vegas - let me just put that out there. And, because I will be going on Corbin's epic hike/camping trip at the end of the summer, I have been hiking once a week for the past 6 or 7 weeks in Red Rock Park. It is a very beautiful place - I love having a place so beautiful near us. Here are some pics:

I took the above picture on a hike to La Madre Springs with Natalie.

The above picture was taken on a hike to Turtle Head Peak. You can see the trail that goes all the way down between those cream-colored rocks in the middle of the photo. Natalie and I didn't even make it to the top because it was rediculously strenuous (Nat definitely could have made it, it was me who couldn't finish) - after we already hiked 2 miles, we got to a part where we had to do some actual climbing because it was so steep. Also, this was only the second time I went hiking so I probably should not have selected one of the hardest hikes in the park. Mini-P.S. This picture was taken after we had already come down a ways.

I took this picture this morning on my solo hike. This is a really cool waterfall. I will post some more pics later when Michelle and I go and take some pictures with her super nice camera.

This is one of my favorite hiking outfits. I know, you're thinking, "Adam, where are the short khaki shorts, boots with calf-length, non-matching wool socks, and military-green patagonia t-shirt?!" Well, that is not my style. I prefer the awesome ensemble pictured above. Is that just a plain white tee? No sir, you know it's the Garrett Family Reunion shirt. Plus that sweet sweat-shirt that's fashionably tied around my waist is a Longs Drugs (Hello!! - Awesome!!!!) shirt.

P.S. I know some of you may be tempted to one-up me by talking about how beautiful Sedona is or Moab or Zion's or the rocky shores of Lake Michigan or anywhre else. Just don't do that - we've all been to those places and we know, okay? Okay. Just enjoy. . . .

Congrats to Tanner for getting into BYU!
Love, MG & Adam