Happy Birthday, Hayley!!!

It's my wonderful wife's 30th birthday today!!! You should go here and wish her a happy birthday. Or I'll kill you.

Hayley, I sure hope you have the happiest birthday ever! You make me so happy. I love how much fun we have together, no matter what it is we're doing. We could be at dinner, the movies, or just sitting around at home, and we’ll always find something to laugh at. It's SU-per awesome. :)


You make me smile every time I see you. I feel so loved by you and love you so much in return! I could never have imagined loving someone as much as I love you. I miss you as soon as I leave in the morning, and can’t wait to see you as soon as I get back home. I love how sassy you are, I love your strong convictions, I love how much you love kids--especially nieces and nephews. I love how great a teacher you are, and how devoted you are to family. I only feel like I’ve accomplished something for the day if I’ve made you smile.

I feel so lucky and so blessed to have found you! Have a very happy birthday. Here’s to many more years together.

Love you, Grandpa

Last week, my grandpa passed away at the ripe old age of 86. He was quite an amazing man. As long as I can remember, he's always been a big, strong guy. As a kid, we would go camping and he was always the expert. At everything. He could cook in a dutch oven, fish, snowmobile, build a fire, sharpen a knife, and pitch a tent. One of my favorite things he would do for the grand kids when we were camping was helping us ride the pine trees. For those of you that have read other blog posts referencing this, basically, my grandpa would grab the top of a small tree, put a kid in the branches, and let go and let us fly. It was pretty dang fun. Here's a couple of pictures.

The pictures are kinda dark, but you get the idea.

My favorite memories, though, are of Grandpa and Grandma at the condo in Island Park Village. I remember being pulled behind the snowmobiles in tubes, and watching grandpa get pulled on skis sometimes. I'm sure others tried it, but Grandpa is the only one I remember to ever do that.

I'm pretty sure that's me and McKay sitting on the back of the snowmobile.

Every time I think of the condo, I actually think of Grandpa and Grandma. They were such a huge part of those trips, that most camping, especially Yellowstone, makes me think of them.


I thought Grandma was especially brave to go snowmobiling with Grandpa, because he was so crazy on a snowmobile sometimes!

This may be my favorite picture of my grandpa and grandma.

I don't think he ever did anything that really scared her, though. He loved her so much and always told us how lucky he felt that she had said yes to such a shy guy as himself.

They also had this camper that they took on almost every camping trip I can remember. You had to hand crank it so the top would come up. I helped a few times and it was always enough to tire me pretty quick. I'd have to switch hands and take breaks. But Grandpa would get a kick out of putting us grandkids on the top of it before he started cranking, and up we would go. A few times, I remember jumping off before it got too high for me to even attempt it.


As Grandpa and Grandma got older, we didn't go camping quite as often, but still had a great time with them. He really loved having such a great legacy in his children and grandchildren, and wanted to make sure they understood how important family was. On several occasions, I was asked when I would bless Grandma and Grandpa with more great-grandchildren. Only after asking that did they then bug me about getting married. I always got a kick out of that.

Grandpa would tell us stories about growing up poor in Idaho--going huckleberry picking, catching a flying squirrel, kicking a badger in the butt as it chased a rabbit, riding horses, and taking care of cows--and even told stories about being in Germany in World War II. I remember him telling us about a camera he found once while in the Army. He said he liberated it from the Germans, so kept it and took a few pictures. He sent a few of those back home to Grandma.

I was lucky enough to get to read his war stories and even put them all together in a book for one of my senior projects in college. If you click that link, you'll really get a feel for what my grandpa was like. You'll also find out that he was one of the only survivors in his battalion in the Battle of the Bulge.

Grandpa kept giving us new stories as the years went on. It was usually at some family gathering, especially at Christmas. Our Christmas presents from Grandpa and Grandma for the last few years were stories that he had written down and copied for all of us.

I know this isn't my best blog post ever. I may not have been eloquent in what I've said, but I don't care. Mostly I miss my grandpa and I just wanted to share a few of my own stories and memories of him. I know where he is and I know they haven't had a hard worker like him in a while. I know I'll see him again. But I do miss him. I'll miss his smiling face and his great stories. Love you, Grandpa.

If you want to read my grandpa's obituary, you can click here. From that link, you can check out photos of my grandpa, and even view the video that played at his viewing. You can also read the guest book from the obituary posted in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News at those links. If you knew him, feel free to leave a little message.

What about MY needs?

My college buddies, Jason, Katey, and Haley have all done this post and I think it sounds fun so here it goes!

Google the phrase (including the quotes) "[your first name] needs" and write down the first 10 results. My own witty banter is provided in parentheses after each need. :)

Garrett needs to go to the hospital immediately-right this minute. (Yikes! I hope I'm ok...)
Garrett needs to get Barber going. (I guess this had something to do with the Dallas Cowboys...)
Garrett needs help to find Cobra! (... reference to the G.I. Joe movie coming out this summer, perhaps?)
Garrett needs to go.
Garrett needs at least two more years to mature as a coordinator. (Huh. My work title is Proposal Coordinator...)
Garrett needs #'s.
Garrett needs more iron in his diet. (Probably true... I'll start taking multi-vitamins in the morning again, I promise.)
Garrett needs help. (That depends on who you talk to.)
Garrett needs love. (Yep. I've got it, too. :) )
Garrett needs to say something. (I've always got something to say, so guess this is just a warning to all y'all.)

Fun. Maybe everyone should give this a try!

Help! I'm snoring and I can't shut up!

I don't usually blog at work, but I need some help...

Those of you that know me well are aware that I snore. And that it's pretty loud. While it's been an annoyance for my roommates, it hasn't been a huge problem for me before, because I still sleep through it, and the roommates that I've had were either heavy sleepers, or found some other way to deal with it--closing doors, ear plugs, falling asleep before me, etc.

Well, now I've got someone trying to sleep next to me, whose sleep is actually important to me. Not that I didn't care about my roommates... I just didn't care enough to do much about it before. Poor Hayley has tried everything, but some nights it just isn't enough to let her sleep. I feel horrible that I keep her up, so does anyone have any suggestions or snoring remedies that will help? I'm using Breathe Right Strips right now and I stay awake reading so Hayley can try to fall asleep before me. Hayley is also using ear plugs, but those make her ears hurt the rest of the day. From the little bit of research I've done this morning, I am going sleep with just the curvy pillow that Hayley already had and keep my head in the correct position to keep my breathing passage open, and I might try to sleep with an under-bite because of this, but does anyone know of anything that really works? If you do, please let me know! Hayley will be thankful and I'll feel better knowing I'm not keeping her up all night long.

Oh, as a post script, I'm going to be working on losing weight again... that seems to be the best remedy for snoring. When I weigh less, I snore less. So no more free soda at work, no more sneaking treats from the secret stash in the finance office, and only fruit from work on Treat Friday. (Holy crap, my workplace is probably making me gain 5 pounds a week!!!) But if you have suggestions that will work in less time than it takes me to lose 20-30 pounds, I'd appreciate them.

Heads up

Do you like my new header?? I think it's pretty rad. Thanks to Holly of Holly O'Keefe Creative for makin' it! I've even added her site to my links list. :)

I'm still messing with the layout, though... anyone know of any sites to get free blogger layouts that don't look like scrap books or the cutest blog on the block? I don't need race cars or beer bottles, just something sleek and stylish to go with my super cool header. Preferably something orange with black, grey, and/or brown.

Thanks again, Holly!

Thank you!!!

I wish that was all I needed to do...

I'm putting together the thank yous for all the lovely gifts we got for our wedding. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely appreciative of all the thoughtful gifts that we got. I'm just wishing at this moment that I could just put a giant "Thanks!" out on my blog in cyberspace and have that be sufficient.

As you may guess, I'm putting together a list of people we need to thank, complete with their addresses. It's gonna be super awesome when we're done with this and all the thank yous are out. I'm on line 75 right now, and it was definitely time for a break. So even though I know it's not quite enough--and I'll continue to put our thank you list together--here's my cyber-thanks to everyone.

Your gift was awesome! THANKS!!!

Just so you know...

I posted more pictures.

Forgive me, Lord...

Ok, so you know how in the old Batman series, Robin would always say, "Holy evil doers, Batman!!" Or "Holy Bill of Rights, Batman!!" Don't believe me? Check this out.



Anyway, I've sorta picked up that little character trait. I'm sure I'm not the only one. For example, I'll say, "Holy tortilla strips!!" if they give me a ton of chips on my salad at Cafe Rio. And so on.

Well, that habit got me in a little trouble today. Hayley and I went to Costco to do some grocery shopping and there was a new section in the front of the store full of art and paintings. Well, lots of them were religious pictures. Featuring Jesus. So without thinking, I said, "Holy Jesus!" and Hayley hit me in the arm. Rightly so. She then proceeded to tell me that there aren't many explicit commandments, but there have been 10 specific ones that have been around for a while, and I should probably learn to keep at least those. So I'm sorry and I slipped! ...thus, the title of this post. .......but now I'm wondering if sharing the story with the whole wide interwebs because I think it is kinda funny is appropriate or not... again, forgive me, Lord.

I love my wife!!!!

We're back from the honeymoon and have even completed almost a full week back in the real world, too. I'm just loving being married. Mostly, I just love being married to Hayley. She is everything to me. She is so sweet to me, loves me so much, makes me so happy, and I love her. I love being with her, I love laughing with her, I love how much fun we have, I love making goals with her, and all the time I get to be with her now! She even picked up my clothes from the bathroom floor for me yesterday. Heaven knows I'm not the best at picking up clothes! I'm working on it, though. I tried to return the favor by putting away the dishes that were in the dish washer and putting together her lunch for school. Just those little things make me stop and catch myself and realize how awesome it is that I'm married! My wife does little things for me and I do little things for her. I have just sat in wonder at how blessed I feel, being in our home and starting our own family. It's the best. Hayley, I just love you!

If you read this blog, you probably read Hayley's, too. She has blogged a few times and posted some pictures. I know my bloggy blog has been without actual pictures for a while, so here's a few from the wedding day. I'll try not to post repeats!









There ya have it. It was a great day.

Been a little busy...

I haven't blogged in a while... can ya blame me?? I've been a little busy. Last minute changes to plans, little errands here and there (...I still don't know the difference between tights and nylons...), and general excitement about Saturday. I'm getting MARRIED on Saturday!!!!!

This weekend was pretty nice. Wedding plans are falling into place. I got to spend Sunday evening with my family and my nieces and nephew, and the ones that didn't make it to the family FHE, Hayley babysat Friday night and Saturday. It was really nice to see them all.

The highlight, though, was Sunday. We had our interviews with the Stake President. We got our sealing recommend before Christmas break, but because we were out of town, we had to schedule it after the break. But talking to the Stake President was awesome. He even got teary while talking to us. He said he could really tell that Hayley and I had the right perspective and that we are truly happy. I feel so lucky every day to have found Hayley. She's so perfect for me. I will always strive be the husband and father she deserves, and I know she'll be a great wife and mother. The Stake President reminded us about the eternal nature of families and the importance of marriage. It really hit me then how close we are to forming our very own family. I feel so lucky and so excited! I just love Hayley so much!

So that's why I haven't been blogging lately. If I'm not doing wedding-type stuff, I'm with Hayley, and I'd rather sit with her and talk, play games, watch movies, make dinner, make goals, or whatever. Blogging, Facebook, and email have suffered a little. Sue me. And I might not blog for another few weeks. But I think you'll all survive.