T H E  L A U N D R Y  B A S K E T  A D V E N T U R E 

F L O R I D A

Last week Jeff was able to take some time off and we went to visit our friends down in Gainesville, where our friend Rob is doing his anesthesia residency. We met the Stokers Jeff's first year of medical school at a picnic and instantly became best of friends. We've shared some great memories and it was so nice to be able to spend some time with them since we haven't seen them in 6 months. 

The weather wasn't awesome our first day in Florida, but it did make the lines shorter.

 Our first ride was it's a small world. Garrett was in awe looking at all the little dancing figures.

 He also loved this play area. He tried to push that kid aside to get in the car, but the kid elbowed him, haha.

 He doesn't look like he's enjoying the dumbo ride, but he screamed every time we took him off. And that's our friend Rob in the background, not some random creeper.

He also loved the tea cups, we rode it three times. 

 One minute he's awake, and the next he was out. He had gone 11 straight hours without sleep. Poor kid just didn't want to miss anything. We were pleasantly surprised how much he actually enjoyed Disney.

 The next day the Stokers took us to see some gators. 

It was pretty cool. They were so close to us, we could have touched them!

The next day we drove to the gulf and hung out on the beach for a little bit.

 Our last day we went to Universal and it was awesome. 

Harry Potter world was all that I imagined. 

If you ever go, be sure to try some butterbeer! 

Thanks for watching Garrett for us Kate! 

G A R R E T T  T U R N S  1 ! 

Garrett didn't really know it, but we did all of his favorite things for his birthday. 

We went to the park and swung on the swings.

Played trucks

And read some books

We kept his birthday small; celebrating with just the three of us. 

He opened presents.

Ate some cake. 

 Liked it better with a fork.

He was not stoked about the cake on his hands.

Really, he just didn't love the cake while sitting down

He wanted to eat more like this...

And we had to take a family picture. 

I can't believe a full year has gone by! My little Garrett brings me so much joy and happiness. He has also taught me many things. I've learned to be more patient....extremely patient. I've learned that my house can no longer be clean at all times, not that it was to begin with, but he has brought a whole new level of messy. I've learned to just be ok with things, and that it's easier to laugh than to get frustrated. I've also learned that having a child is the most amazing experience. It's hard, but it's rewarding. Each new stage some things get easier and some things change and you have to adapt, but it's so exciting to see him learn and grow. It's worth all the work and the effort. He has gone from a completely helpless, little, human nugget, to a walking, climbing, jabbering, exploring, little toddler. I wouldn't trade a single thing for the experience I've had so far. I wouldn't even trade the sleepless nights and zombie mornings. He's my crazy man and I love him. 

Happy Birthday G! 

C H R I S T M A S  2 0 1 3

  Garrett was real excited to pull out the suit cases and help pack so we could come to Utah for Christmas

We loved sipping on hot cocoa and looking at the snow around us.
 I would like to say G was enjoying watching the snow fall, 

but I'm pretty sure he was just playing with the door stopper. 

 We went sledding, clearly the adults were having more fun than he was.

 We slept over at my Aunt Amy's on Christmas Eve and had a great time with family. We watched Christmas Vacation, played games, watched football and ate delicious food. Christmas morning Garrett woke us all up at 6 am and the present opening began. Later we went and saw Frozen with my Dad's sister Andrea and her family and ate some pumpkin pie. I missed having Jeff with us for Christmas, but I was happy I got to spend it with those we don't get to see often.  

Jeff came after Christmas and we went snowmobiling with my family and had a blast until...

this happened. Unfortunately she hit a bump, landed wrong and fractured her back. She was adamant that we do not call someone to come help her get off the mountain, but she lost that battle. She couldn't even stand up, let alone ride back down on a snowmobile. Of course we were the furthest point away from the lodge so it took forever for search and rescue to come get us. Once they arrived they put an IV in her, gave her some morphine and loaded her up into the toboggan. It took several hours to get down. Jeff and I got to the bottom first and felt awful when we found out that my mom's toboggan had slid off the trail and flipped over with her inside. Needless to say it was quite the adventure, one that we wish hadn't happened. Two months later and she's going about her daily routine and recovering, but is still in pain. Don't worry, I asked permission before posting this photo of her. My dad made sure to document : ) 

We also spent time with Jeff's family, playing games, opening presents and catching up with everyone. I don't know why, but I didn't take any pictures! I'm sorry Jensen's! Luckily we did get some professionally taken with the whole crew. We have more, but these were the only ones I could pull off my sister-in-laws facebook. They turned out so cute!

This picture cracks me up, babies crying, the two oldest being little cheese balls and 

Garrett enjoying his time alone. haha. 

We also took pictures with my family and I just love them and the pictures of my little Garrett.

 My mom hates this picture of herself, but I adore it. 

We were all cracking jokes and Mary captured my parents perfectly. 

photo credits for the Monson family goes to Mary Clark

Thanks to my family and Jeff's family for a wonderful Christmas! Leaving is always bittersweet.