Photos in the Grass

Jen gets fitted for her Bride's Maid dress for my sister's wedding. Isnt Jen a hottie?

Abby goes bowling with me. This was my only strike all game.

Jen and Abby at the house her family rented during Abby's temple sealing.

Jen and her brothers, Brent and Kevin.

The Monster in the Crib

Staying Alive

Matt has been working on his disco dancing and secured a new job; he will star in Paramount Pictures' 30th anniversary reproduction of Saturday Night Fever.

Abby on the Webcam

Abby shows off her favorite toys.
Turn your volume up to hear this better

Politics

So how about that presidential race? What a selection--a young inexperienced charmer relying upon affirmative action sympathizers vs. a pessimistic grumpy old man who, quite frankly, terrifies me. I don't know what do to. I sure don't trust either one of them. I've got lots of conflicting allegiances:

I'm Mormon = morally conservative (+1 republicans);
I'm an academic (+1 democrats);
I'm fiscally liberal (+1 democrats);
I support the War in Iraq (+1 republicans);
I can't rationalize war expenditures when I see extreme domestic poverty (+1 democrats);
Health care is my greatest concern (+1 democrats);

What to do?

I think it comes down to two basic philosophies. (1) Do you fear change and advocate for the status quo (conservativism/republicans), or (2) do you believe we should risk making blunders and try to change things (democrats)? I guess it really comes down to this--are you a pessimist or an optimist?

I choose to be an optimist. Sure, democrats have plenty of odd fixations and dumb blunders, but I choose to try and make things better. How about you?

School Resumed

We're back in school and things are moving smoothly. I am teaching HST 109 - the first half of US history. I've got about 170 students (two classes), and I'm getting sick of all the stupid emails. "Professor Garrett, the bookstore is out of books" No, they are not. "Professor Garrett, what are the assigned readings for tomorrow." Read the Syllabus. "Professor Garrett, will there be a quiz on Wednesday?" Good Grief kiddies! Its like I'm teaching 8th grade again!

Jen is also teaching. She is the director for Womens Chorus, and is leading a community choir (Arizona Deseret Choir), the church choir, and Sunday she was asked to organize a major musical production. She is also wrapping up two courses so she is pretty busy.

Abby is Abby. She laughs a lot and loves to be part of the action. She can play by herself for a few minutes, but then needs to be moved someplace else. She rolls pretty frequently, and is starting to pull up on her hands and knees (but does not yet go anywhere). She's getting over another cold but seems pretty good. She still is tiny--only about 12.5 lbs. She is still off the chart for wieght (below 3%) and height for her age, but she is developmentally fine. She is a happy healthy little girl.

All the family visiting last week is gone now, except Jen's mom. She is helping with Abby and doing little projects and reading. Jen and I have scheduling conflicts so we're glad Karen is here to help.

Fight For Kisses

I found this awesome commercial and had to post it.

Sealing at the Temple

Today we took Abby to the temple where she was sealed to us for time and eternity.

Many of our friends and family came out to support us.

Abby's First Feeding

Property Taxes

My advice for the week: Pay attention to your mortgage payment. Ours just jumped up $85/month (which is a lot for a couple of poor students) and I spent the last few weeks discussing it, repeatedly, with our mortgage company (Wells Fargo), my title company, Maricopa county treasurer's office, the Maricopa land parcel office (or something like that), and my neighbor. Long story short, I just made (or, really, earned back) $2400! Whoo-hoo. Basically, when we bought the house somehow we were billed for the past year of property taxes and on top of that our mortgage company paid additional taxes on some other property (from our account). The county didn't care, as long as they got paid, and the bank blindly passed out checks from my escrow account whenever anybody wanted some. It took a lot of work, but finally we're getting our money back and our payments are dropping back down. Whoo-hoo. So the moral of the story is to closely manage your cash because if you don't others will.

Its Final!

Today our lawyer met the judge in Utah and finalized our adoption of Abigail. She is now ours, legally, for life. Next week we'll take her to the temple and seal her to us for eternity. We're so excited!