Gymnastics and Birthday Fun

It seems very strange that another year has passed! Time goes so quickly--it seems to be speeding up I think. Wednesday was my birthday and I got to spend the whole day with one of my very favorite people--Abby! We went to gymnastics in the morning and after class her teacher said that she thinks Abby should take the next level class that learns skills and the parents are not in the room. So next week we will be out of town for that class, but she will try the class out the next week and see how it goes. I do not worry about her skill level--I just hope she will sit and listen to the teacher and wait her turn. I am a little afraid that I will see her running across the mat to try something else all by herself! But I am excited to see her do a class all by herself! She is such a big girl now!

After gymnastics we played and did "school time" the rest of the day until we needed to go to the Church to help the Young Women learn some music and a scout court of honor. On our way we even went out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant close to our house.
I really wanted to go to the temple for my birthday and so we went Friday night! Grandpa Roger came and picked up Abby at the LA Temple and then Matt and I did initiatories and a session--it was so nice. Then we drove to Grandma's and Grandpa's for yummy pizza. We were pretty tired driving home though!
On Thursday morning this week a great group of sisters from our new ward got together for breakfast. Abby had some pancakes that looked like Mickey Mouse and then we ran to go visiting teaching. We also had the missionaries over for dinner that night. It's been a great week!
This is a sweater that Aunt Tiff let us borrow and I thought she might want to see that Abby loves to wear it!

Education

Recently Matt and I were asked to speak at a Young Single Adult Fireside. We were a bit surprised by the request until we heard the topic: Educational Goals. I guess we have a little bit of experience on this subject! So we both prepared and last Sunday were able to share our thoughts. Looking back on my 11 years of formal education truly brought back memories. I am so grateful for countless opportunities and experiences, amazing friends, professors and colleagues, the chance to fulfill some of my dreams, and also the challenges. It is on those challenges that my thoughts dwell this evening.

During my years at BYU a friend gave me one of the new Harry Potter books and wrote a letter on the inside. He said that if he had a magic wand and could wave away trials, he would not wave mine away. I thought this was strange at first, but over the years I've come to realize the wisdom in his comments. The challenges I've faced, although sometimes overwhelming, have truly shaped me into the person I am today, provided me so much appreciation for life, have given me greater ability to listen and understand, and have helped me to learn to love as my Savior loves (although I still have so far to go in all of these categories).

In regards to my Mom's new challenges, a friend said, "Why does life have to be this difficult?" I've thought about that a lot and I believe that trials happen for a reason. I believe, as many do that we are supposed to learn something, supposed to grow and gain strength. I also believe that Heavenly Father shows a great amount of trust in us when he gives us a trial or challenge. He places something in our path and knows that we CAN endure well. Part of that enduring, I believe, is turning to Him. I think some of my trials have come simply to remind me to turn to Him and that I need Him ("every hour" as one of my favorite hymns expresses). My talk for the fireside ended with a quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks. It reads: “We may have to struggle to achieve our goals, but our struggles may yield as much growth as our learning. The strengths we develop in overcoming challenges will be with us in the eternities to come. The stuff of growth was never made of ease, and persons who have it easy will need to experience their growth with other sacrifices or forego the advancement that is the purpose of life.”

I do believe that growth and sacrifice are part of our mortal journey here and hope and pray that I have and will be able to handle my growth well. I know that my Mom is facing a lot of this now and hope she knows that I wish I could be there to hold her hand, or just to make her smile. But since I am not, I hope that she knows I am always with her in spirit as she always has been for me. How thankful I am to have the gospel in my life and to know that we are never alone.

My Amazing Mom!

There are so many people that know my wonderful mother [Jen's mother Karen]. Most people think of her as one of the most caring people they have ever known. I think she spends her days thinking of what she can do for all of the people she loves and even those she just comes in contact with. Just last week we found out some sad news regarding my Mom and since many friends read the blog, I thought I should let you know. She has been having health problems for a while now and has confused and baffled doctors. Finally, she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma or cancer or the bone marrow. It is in stage 2, which is somewhat good news, but it has spread throughout much of her body. She will begin chemo and steroids very soon and I thought that any thoughts and prayers you could send her way would be much appreciated. I've seen the power of prayer and fasting in my life and want the same miracles for her and my family.
I hope she knows just how much we love her and want to help in any way that we can. She is one of the greatest examples in my life and we need her to be around for a very long time! We need her strength, example and love. Thank you Mom for your amazing example and willingness to fight. We love you more than you know.

Disneyland Again!

I know there have been a few Disneyland pictures already, but we had to go one more time before Matt started school and Abby turns 3! We had a blast! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for letting us always stay at your wonderful house.

The only thing Abby could talk about was wanting to hug Mickey Mouse!
Abby plays with Goofy and Goofy's piano in Disneyland (look at me play the piano Grandpa--some day I will be as good as you maybe!)

Jen and Abby waiting to see the Aladdin show--Abby's first live theatre!
Abby with Buzz Lightyear
All of us on the Astro Blaster ride
Abby finds Woody and Jessie
The carousel in California Adventure
California Adventure has a really fun area for kids to play complete with slides, logs to crawl through and plenty of things to climb. We let Abby play as long as she wanted!
Abby and Pluto
We all pose with Goofy and Minnie in CA Adventure
The Mickey Ferris Wheel in CA Adventure
We just love to be together and we had soooooooooooooooo much fun in Disneyland and California Adventure!

Second day of gymnastics and other fun!

Abby and I built a fort with our dining room table last Friday and we had "school time" inside the fort. We had so much fun!

Last Saturday evening I braided Abby's hair in small braids after her bath and then we took it out for Church. She looked pretty cute!

Today we went to our second gymnastics class and Abby did really well. After she did a flip on the bar with great ease (with the help of her teacher) and tried to do it again by herself, one of the mother's said, "Is this the second time she's been in a gymnastics class?" I said, "No, this is only her second class!" She looked quite amazed. I think we might need to find her a more difficult class--we will see because we really like Miss Sarah! Here is a video of her adventures today.

Abby's First Day at Gymnastics

For quite some time I've been meaning to sign Abby up for a gymnastics class. I thought she would enjoy it and thought it would be a good way to use her overflow of energy! Today was our first class. We decided on a "Just U and Me" class where the parents are required to be present. Plus the next class is for 3-5 year old kids that are completely potty trained. Ever since our Christmas travels she has been less consistent with that, so this class seemed the way to go. Fortunately, she LOVED it! She was independent, coordinated, confident, and awesome! Okay, maybe I'm her Mom and a bit biased, but afterward the teacher (Miss Sarah) talked to me about having her do this a few weeks and then do a 2 1/2 year old class that learns more skills. When the teacher first came up to me while Abby was on the trampoline she said, "Okay, she jumps like she's 4, but how old is she?" Abby did well at all of the things she was supposed to do and enjoyed racing like a speed demon down the tumbling track and jumping in the pit of "blocks" as she called them. Many parents commented on her speed and asked if she is difficult to keep track of! I had to say yes!

Abby waiting outside the class.Stretching with Miss Sarah.
The pit.
The trampoline.
The beam.
Here is one extra picture from New Year's of Brandon, Dex and Abby. I just had to throw it in!
Here are a few pictures and a short video. I didn't take video of them doing things in the class, but more during free time. She looked even better during the class!

Garrett Family Pictures

One more post for 2010! I am turning our 2010 blog into a book and need to include the Garrett family photos taken by Kara Rush Photography that we took at Thanksgiving. The pictures include: Grandpa Roger, Grandma Barbara, Great Grandma Ruth, Brandon, Heather, Dexter, Matt, Jen and Abby.

Videos of Abby

It's been too long since I posted any videos of Abby. So here is a conglomeration of video clips. You should get some laughs!

Happy New Year!

2011. . . . that will take me a little getting use to! We had a pretty eventful New Year's Eve. But first let's finish up our adventures in Washington. Christmas night we had a great time with my sister Tiff and her family. It began with a little basketball between Jeremiah and Matt up in the game room and turned into a dance fest with the Wii. Abby had so much fun dancing with the girls. It was a pretty good work out!

Here is a picture of the four girls on Sunday after Church.
On Monday, the 27th we all went down to Olympia and stopped at my parents house. They made a lot of changes to their home a while ago and I had not been able to see it. It looks great. Abby and I hung out with Grandma Karen while Matt went and played football. We wanted to go and I wanted to play too, but it was so wet, cold and muddy that we kept Abby at Grandma's. Here is a picture of Abby playing the drums at Grandma's.After the game Matt walked back in the door completely soaked and exclaimed: "That was so fun!" Here are some funny football pics.
Uncle Brent and Abbs after the football game.
After the boys showered we all went up to my Aunt Christie and Uncle Jerry's for an incredibly good dinner. Jerry slaved over some clam chowder and there was so much other good food. It was so fun to have so many together (we missed you Kevin). Growing up we spent so much time together--I mean a lot of time! Now we are all so spread out and so we treasure any time we have together.
Eating the yummy food.
Doug and Hailey
Doug and Hailey tickle Abbs.
Hailey and Abby.
Caleb, Christie, Tiff, Brynley.
Christie and Jerry play with Abby and Caleb.
Jen, Mandy, Tiff.
Jeremiah, Brynley, Mandy, Russell waiting to play a game. We played Turbo Cranium and unfortunately the boys won!
Matt and Karen.
Kylee and Abby watching a movie downstairs.
Everyone takes a picture before having to say good-bye. We love you all!
The girls saying good-bye on Tuesday the 27th. They were so wonderful to Abby and she misses them so much.
Our drive home was full of adventure. Matt woke up feeling pretty lousy so I drove. We had trouble with the pass after Ashland, Oregon and ended up having to buy chains and wait until the pass opened. Then it was slow going as the semis had not chained up and then got driving and decided they did need chains. So instead of pulling over to the side they simply stopped wherever they felt like it and we were left to go around them like a maze. We left Washington at 10 a.m. and arrived at my brother's in Vacaville at 1:45 a.m. I've never driven that far before! We also have a broken stereo system and so we did not have any music to listen to. I prayed the whole time to stay awake and alert and we did it! The next day we woke up and drove the 5 hours to home. We all walked in the door and just collapsed on the floor for a while!

So back to New Year's Eve! We invited Matt's family up for a grand New Year's Eve party and it ended up that poor cousin Dexter was quite sick. We ate Matt's fabulous chili on baked potatoes kind of early so we could have good munchies later. Then we played a game. Just before we got out all of the appetizer type stuff they decided to take Dexter to urgent care/ER because of his fever and cough. So Matt, Heather, Brandon and Dex left around 8:30 p.m. Barbara and I got all of the food together and put a lot of it outside since it was really chilly (the frig was overflowing). Dexter had an x-ray and a breathing treatment and they finally said it was a virus! Abby fell asleep on Grandma around 10:30 after a long day of playing and no nap. We ended up celebrating the New Year following their return after 1 a.m.! We were eating food at 1:30 a.m.! We didn't get to "ring in" the New Year quite like I planned but the unexpected is fun and will always be remembered! I am just glad everyone could be here and little Dexter is going to be okay.
Here is a picture of the table waiting for everyone to return.
Abby and Grandma reading books while we waited.
They made it home!Dex feels better.
We still let off a few "poppers" at 1:30!
Happy New Year!