40th Anniversary

Saturday December 11, 2010 was my parents 40th Anniversary.  My 4 siblings and I surprised them with a visit.  I don't know how we all flew halfway across the country, made it on time, and managed to not tell them we were coming.  But we did and I think it was a pretty good surprise.  

We had a wonderful weekend with my parents.  We were only there to visit Friday night and Saturday.  And all day Saturday it was cold and very rainy.  So that sucked, but we just hung out and played Beatles RockBand anyway. 

I took Hudson.  And my brother, Josh and his family live in town, so those were the grandkids that were there.  It would have been so nice to see everyone else (brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and all of my nieces and nephews) but I don't think that would have been doable for a quick weekend.  Also, a little pricey! 

We didn't get enough pictures of everyone just hanging out.

My parents and their 5 kids

Just us.

My brother, Aaron had never met any of my kids or Travis.  They live in FL and we live in AZ and unfortunately we don't get to see them.  Someday my brother will meet my husband. 

Hudson liked all the new faces.

Hudson and his cousin, Cameron.

My Dad.  Or as Carson says it, "Grandma Norm"!

Hudson and my brother, Aaron again.

Taylor is my oldest nephew.  He was born when I was in 8th grade.  Now he is a freshman in high school. Wow!

Cousins.  Wyatt and Hudson.

My sister and mom made some delicious caramel corn from puffed corn instead of popcorn.  I thought it tasted like Cheetos covered in caramel.

My brother made us all some tasty breakfast casseroles for the morning before we had to leave for the airport.

I am pretty sure this face came from thinking it was my cup, but it was full of DIET coke.  SICK!

Wyatt made an awesome hat out of Duct Tape.  He did this whole hat in like 10 minutes. 

Hudson's first airplane ride!  He was a trooper.  Only maybe 10 minutes of crying out of the almost 11 hours on an airplane--in 3 days.  And that crying was together on the last leg with about an hour to go before we were home.  But thank goodness we flew with my brother, Ethan.  He was so helpful.  We were getting pretty disgusted with the looks that people were giving us--like Hudson was OURS.  So we made it a point to tell everyone we were brother and sister and that Hudson probably missed his daddy at home.

And this was the Interstate on our way to the airport.  We were stopped for about an hour because a couple of semi's were turned over. 

It was a wonderful weekend spent with family that I don't get to see very often.  It was so nice to see my parents and just be able to hang out with them for a little while.  Mom and Dad, I really hope you had a great anniversary!  We love you so much!

Happy Birthday, MOM!

Happy Birthday, Mom! We are sad that we aren't able to be with you on your birthday today. So yesterday we made you a cake (not your favorite because you aren't eating it anyway). Here are pictures of Carson helping make "Gamaa's cake."

Then the boys were excited to show you the signs that they helped make.

We put the candles on your cake in the shape of an "M" for Margie... duh.

And then we sang happy birthday. (When Carson says something that sounds like "bear mahgie," he is saying "dear Margie" because that is what Travis told him to say, even though I worked on "dear Grandma" all day.

We hope you have a happy birthday. We miss you and love you!

Tuesday Night Spotlight

Before we moved (to the ghetto) we taught Primary in the Durango Ward. Every Sunday we did a spotlight and it was a different kid each week--just fun little tidbits about that child. I have decided to start doing this. I am going to "Spotlight" people that I know, that are special to me--family and friends. This is fun for me, it gives me something to do and I learn things about people. I will try to do it once a week.

This weeks spotlight is my Mom!

Name:Margaret Ann Florence Garrett

My mom was born in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico on January 29, 1950. She is the oldest of 2 girls (she actually has a half brother, Jerry, who is older but didn't grow up with him). She grew up in Mexico and moved to Utah when she was 14. She got a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish (minor in German) from BYU where she met my dad.
Married to: Norman Anthony

Kids: 5--Rachel, Ethan, Josh, Aaron and Emily (obviously not in order of coolest).2 son and 3 daughter-in-laws. 13 grandsons (1 on the way). 4 granddaughters.
I love my mom. She is smart, beautiful, fun, funny, and thoughtful. Being the youngest child I think I got special time with her after everyone else had left the house. We used to go out to lunch together after class (she taught school, I sometimes went), go to Wal-Mart and go shopping in Tuscola and Champaign together. We liked mostly to go to What's Cookin' and Mexican Restaurants for lunch. I think she was mostly embarrassed at the way I ordered... I don't hablo very well.
Even though I now live about 2000 miles away?? I still get to talk to her almost every day.
My mom is the most generous person I have ever met. She will do anything for anyone, anytime. I told her I had to find a babysitter for a doctor's appointment I have this week. And she quickly replied, I would do it if I was there. And I know she would, I wouldn't even have to ask. She teaches Spanish at Eastern Illinois University and all of her students love her. Every semester she makes friends. She is always thinking about others. Almost every single thing that Carson owns has come from his Grandma and Grandpa Garrett. She sends me a card every single month with a sweet note in it to our family.
She is very smart. I still call her to ask her questions and she almost always knows the answer. She answers almost every single question right on Jeopardy every day.
She is so humble. When I called to ask her these questions she had a hard time answering. I could hear my dad in the background answering a lot of them for her. Here are her answers.

Talents: Sew, play the piano, read fast and memorize phone numbers (the last one was from my dad).

Favorite time of day: Used to be early morning, but now it is just morning.

Bedtime: Around midnight

Favorite Color: Blue

Pet Peeve: When people crack their gum, even though I do it.

Worst Habit: Procrastination

Favorite Movie: An Affair to Remember and The Mission

Favorite Food: Tamales and Soup

Favorite Book: Pride and Prejudice

Quality you like best about yourself: That I floss my teeth almost every night.

Favorite Dessert: Chocolate cake with white frosting and if no one else is around to eat any, I will eat the whole thing.

Favorite Music: Mariachi Music and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir -- especially Christmas music.

Happiest memory: When we used to go visit my nana (mom’s mom), she used to make us little rag dolls by hand and she would draw eyes and nose on the face, but they never had mouths!

Most embarrassing moment: When I hit the 7-Eleven with the Suburban. The people inside thought they had been struck by lightning.

One word that describes you: Generous (that came from my dad, of course).