Always something going on...

We are truly blessed to have so many good things in our lives. We have been so busy lately, this is going to be quite the hodge podge of updates! First, we were so blessed to have Big Ken, Shirley and Max visit this past weekend. With Ken's condition, we were amazed at how well he traveled and did while in CO. It was so great to be with the whole family. Here is a picture of all the boys together...what a crew!

Jacob is in his 2nd year of wrestling and Jason signed him up for an intensive "camp." He practices twice a week for several hours and then had practice tournaments. I finally got some good pictures of him in action and had to post them. He is getting better with every practice. We are so proud of him and his commitment to this sport! Go Jacob!

Our annual tradition of Christmas baking happened this past Monday. We gathered at my house and made more sweets than you can imagine! Here are some of my favorite pictures from our time together.

And then, there are the sweet moments, the moments that aren't staged, the time when nothing is really going on...and you see your kids together, happy and cute...how sweet is this picture?

Our family wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with Blessings.

Agape,

The Garrett Family

Dedicated to Dad

Jason's Dad has always liked dragons and has several dragon tattoos, so in dedication to him, Jason got a dragon tattoo with blue eyes, which is where Amelia got her blue eyes. Please keep Big Ken in your prayers as he is battling with cancer on a daily basis.

May God bless you and your families.

Much Love,

The Garretts

Giving Thanks

I always look forward to Thanksgiving...not just because of the great food, but the time with family and friends. This year we spent the day at Mama Judy's and had my family and Denise over. We had a wonderful time, and as you can see by the food, there was no shortage. Jason stayed up the night before smoking a turkey; he literally got up every two hours to take care of it. It was truly the most incredible tasting turkey...well worth the time spent! Mama Judy is the hostess with the mostess. She broke out her best China, and cooked and cleaned all day, we are so spoiled! We also got a special little treat from Amelia, Aunt Deb helped her make her hand print into a turkey...so sweet.

I love Thanksgiving day, because it is the one day I truly reflect on the blessings that have been poured out to me and my family. We are so grateful for our family, the friends we have in our lives, for each other, for the food on our table, and for the God we serve. (I also put a picture of Jason's 4x3 buck he got on his last hunt, we are thankful for that too!) We hope you all enjoyed time with your loved ones and felt truly thankful.

Love,

The Garretts

More Than Beyond Measure

" I know that I've been given more than beyond measure, I come alive when, I see beyond my fears I know that I've been given more than earthly treasure, I come alive when I've broken down and given you control....Everything that I've have has been given so unselfishly and shown that even when I don't deserve you always show the fullness of your love."

Jeremy Camp, Beyond Measure

I don't know that I can express in words the gratitude I feel at this moment. Our Amelia had surgery yesterday, and though it wasn't as invasive as some other children, it was nevertheless scary. She came through it with flying colors; she is one tough little girl. I know that she was covered in prayer and that God had her. I left that hospital (The Children's Hospital) so grateful. Grateful that we have the means to get the best medical care in the country for my daughter, grateful that I was taking my healthy baby home, when so many other parents were not, grateful that I have people in my life that love me, my family and my daughter so much that they would take time out of their days and off of work to be there to support us and love us. Grateful that there were hundreds of prayers lifted to God on her behalf. Jason and I love you all and are so appreciative of your roles in our lives. Praise be to God, the ultimate physician, for bringing our girl through a tough time, and allowing her to heal. I hope you can reflect on your own lives today...and be grateful. We have all been given more than beyond measure.

With love & gratitude,

The Garrett Family

PS. Isn't her cast cute!? :)

A Halloween Tradition

I guess you can make a tradition out of anything, so we have decided Halloween will be ours. It started about 3 years ago, for Cade's very first Halloween, Deb & Jason brought their family to ours in Castle Rock. We have a GREAT neighborhood full of kids...so LOTS of trick-or-treaters. The years have past and now we have 4 more lil' trick-or-treaters in our family. This year we all gathered for spaghetti and some of the cutest costumes ever! AND, Great Grandma Betty was here too! From oldest to youngest, we had Jacob the Pirate, Cade-AKA Bob the Builder, Bryce the Monkey, Ashton the Ducky, and Amelia the Puppy...what can I say, us Garretts like our animals! :) We had another wonderful year and more wonderful memories. Enjoy the pictures!

The Power of Prayer

This is the man you all have been praying for, our Papa Garrett. I was talking with a neighbor today and he told me that times like these make you "contemplative." So, once I got home and talk to Jason and he told me that they had just brought his dad home from the hospital, I was overjoyed, and then found myself contemplative. Then, another neighbor came by to check up on us...have I told any of you we have the best neighbors ever!? I started thinking of the wonderful memories I have of Papa Garrett (Big Ken as we lovingly refer to him) and that I am not ready for those to be the only memories. I cannot express the appreciation Jason and I have felt for all of you who have called, emailed, come by, to show your support and share your prayers. We are a family that truly believes in prayer. I am reminded of a Jeremy Camp song that says, "To know that you hear every cry I raise to you, bringing thoughts of hope the words I bring I know are few, I know you understand it all." We know God hears every prayer and understands it ALL. And we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for yours. We know there is still a battle to fight, but we are a strong family and ready to battle together. Papa Garrett, we love you and so happy you are home where you belong.

The Party Day

Sunday was the party day for the Garrett household. We started the day celebrating Ashton & Bryce's 2nd birthday! Seriously, how can they be 2 already?! So cute, I added a picture of them and their cake, very different from the picture from last year! :) It was quite the party, complete with Mickey Mouse ears!

Then, we headed to our neighbors son's 4th birthday party. He is really into Fire Trucks, so the Castle Rock Fire Department brought a rig and gave all the kids hats and let them go through the truck. It was very cool, and Amelia loved her Fire Chief hat! And then about 2 minutes into it, they got a call! But, at least the birthday boy got to sit in the driver's seat.

Ok, so only two parties, but two toddler parties in a day is enough to wear two parents out!

Until Thursday...when Halloween pictures will be posted...love to you and your families...happy spooky day!

The Garretts

Colorful Colorado

There is nowhere on earth I would rather be than in Colorado in the fall. The crisp, cool air, the colors of the leaves, so beautiful! It is also time for PUMPKINS! I was able to take a quick trip to the pumpkin patch this last weekend with Amelia. The boys were away hunting, so we took the opportunity to get a baby pumpkin for Amelia...which Grandma Judy carved so well! Amelia loved the pumpkins! She sat on them, picked up the baby ones, and loved tapping on them too! Then, last night we had a family carving evening. We didn't use any templates this year, as I am sure you can tell! We hope you all take some time this fall season to appreciate the beauty of God's work.

The boys went hunting this past weekend, which was also Jacob's very first hunt. On Saturday at 7:30am I received a call from a very happy husband saying the buck he got was "gigantic!" I can't wait to see pictures of the poor thing. Of course soon it will be mounted on my wall looking at me, so I won't need the pictures. Over 100lbs. of meat! That should get us through the winter! :)

We also have a prayer request to send out. Many of you know, and some may not, that our Amelia was born with a little extra toe on her left foot. There is an abnormal bone growth in her fifth toe, and so she is having corrective surgery on November 7th. I know that many children have much more serious surgeries everyday, but this one is my baby! Please pray for her recovery, as she will be in a cast for three weeks, and pray for her mama, that I don't lose it when she is put under! Thank you in advance for your prayers, we know God hears every one. I will post pictures of her cute little cast.

We truly hope you all are healthy and blessed. May God constantly remind us of how very blessed we are.

Much Love,

The Garrett Family

6 Wonderful Years

I can hardly believe Jason and I have been married for 6 years. It has all gone so fast. I don't want to be too mushy, but God knew what he was doing when he put us together. Jason is everything I have ever wanted all rolled into a good lookin package, and more than that, God knew he is exactly what I needed. We are a great team, we support each other, we have great kids, and we truly love being together. I am greatly blessed to have found Jason and even more blessed that he choose me.

Ok, enough mushy stuff, I had to post this picture of Amelia reading her Bible book from Auntie Mer. She loves this flip book and I just happen to catch her looking at it today. She keeps me smiling!

I hope you all are having a great week so far! I am not much of a baseball fan. But, what an exciting time to live in Denver! GO ROCKIES!

Ode to the Garrett Boys

This week, my Sweet Husband actually took the time to figure what percentage the boys are in this blog, and in his own sweet way, gently pointed it out. Now, those of you who know my Jason well, know that it wasn't too gentle, but sweet nevertheless. So, in my effort to redeem myself from this becoming a "Garrett Girls" blog...and our friends...I have written this ode to my boys, and posted some pictures of them. Enjoy the pics, and to my Jason & Jacob, know that you are loved by the girls in your family.

To my Garrett boys alike, I love you both & Jason, oh so love your bike. You two mean a lot to me and the girl, we wanted to post a bunch of pictures; so give it a whirl. Amelia and I are so happy to have the two of you in our lives, we had to show you these great pictures so our blog survives. One more thing we can't forget, we hope you read this without getting upset.

XOXO,
Mom & Amelia

The Greatest Show on Earth

I have never been to the circus before, and then last Thursday we went! Stephen got us tickets from his work, so Jason, Me, Jacob, Deb & Cade all went to the circus! It was such a good time! I was like a little kid, ohing and awing at the tricks and stunts. We even had cotton candy! It was a great time and so fun to experience it with the family, minus Amelia who was sleeping at Grandmas! Then, this weekend, Deb and I got to have a much needed scrapbook retreat. We stayed at a cottage in Bailey and met 12 other fellow scrapers, ate great food, walked in beautiful fall weather, and got a boat load of scrapbooking done. We had a great time, though we were ready to get back to our hubbys and kiddos. Thank you to our Jasons for taking great care of our kids and giving us a weekend off. I hope you all have some time to watch the leaves change...everything else is changing so fast! Love to you all!

The Garretts

A few 1st

Hello Everyone,

In the past month since I have posted, Amelia has had two big 1st! She got her first haircut with Jen Porter. She now has bangs and looks like such a big girl! But, I sure do love to see her eyes! Then, on Sunday, September 23rd, she celebrated her first birthday! Happy birthday to Brendan on that day too! Is it really possible that I have had her for a year now? So much has changed and she is growing so fast. Thank you to all who came to her party, it was so special to Jason & me to have so many people here who love her and thereby, love us! We want to take this time to send some love and blessings to our pregnant friends, Deborah, Meredith, Kendra & Michelle, you all are in our prayers and thoughts for very happy, healthy babies. We are so blessed...beyond measure. I would also like to take this time to thank my wonderful husband, Jason for completing our patio just in time to have Amelia's party outdoors. It is perfect! Thank you for always working so hard to take care of us...and doing that for me! Other than that, the Garrett family is doing great, and sends our love to all of you!

Cheers!

The Garrett Family

Family Weekend in the Mountains

Most of you know that my father is commuting for work...Las Vegas Monday - Friday and home for the weekend. So, that makes our weekend time with him very special. For the Labor Day weekend the Garrett, Rostvedt & Howard families packed up and headed for Buena Vista to Chalk Cliff Hot Springs. We rented a cabin and had a great time! We brought Jason & Deb's dirt bikes and Dad's ATV and couldn't get enough of them! We had fires, sat in the hot springs and the boys went fishing. It was a great family time. We hope you all had some quality time with your families over the holiday weekend. Blessings to you all as we all go back to the grind.

Much love,

The Garretts