Dad (Brett)
All around
rockstar geek. Brett enjoys his job as a Clinical Data Manager (helping research medical breakthroughs at Celgene); in his time off he enjoys reading books, watching movies, and learning new tricks on his camera and in Photoshop. He absolutely adores his wife and 2 daughters.
Mom (Erin)
Complete supermom. Erin loves her job as a Youth Field Researcher (aka 'mother'); in her plentiful spare time (ha!) she enjoys sleeping, re-reading Twilight or Harry Potter, and cuddling with Brett.
Aeriana ('Wacko', 'Princess')
Hybrid Angel/Devil. Aeriana loves her mommy and daddy, each of whom she loves to test at times and pretend innocence at others. A veritable sponge, Aeriana wants to do anything she sees an adult doing; she loves babies and especially adores her little sister, taking great care of her every need.
Zoe Jean ('Stinker', 'Cutie')
Growing fast, Zoe wants to be just like her big sister. Very goal oriented, she'll find a way to get that toy she's been looking at. She loves her pacifier and can't help but snuggle up to her blanket. Zoe is as relaxed as they come, she just loves chillin' out and watching TV.
Bad Jokes
I have several memories of growing up when my grandparents would travel from California to visit us in Idaho. During these visits I would often be walking or driving down the street with my grandpa when he would pull, from his seemingly infinite repertoire, another "bad joke." These ranged from his just being generally silly to a play on words from street signs and beyond. He would feign sympathy for the local kids, claiming that they must not be too smart... as we were passed a "Slow School Zone." There was also the joke about the blonde who drove hours to get to Disneyland, then immediately before reaching her destination turned around and went home simply because the street sign read "Disneyland Left." The jokes went on and on.
And so it was tonight that I incontrovertibly proved that I am indeed my grandfather's grandson for, while traveling through Connecticut after a weekend spent in Boston, I saw a sign that said "Depressed Drainage Grates" and rather than thinking that I should be careful not to drive on the shoulder for risk of the resulting harsh bumps waking my sleeping wife or causing damage to my car, instead my very first thought was... "Maybe they just need a hug."
Unfortunately for Erin, her nap only provided a temporary delay in hearing just the latest in my seemingly infinite repertoire of "bad jokes."
Labels: trips
Harry Potter 7 Was Awesome!!!
Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything for those who have not yet had the pleasure of reading the entire book (and I'll ask the same of anyone who feels compelled to leave a comment). But all I have to say is wow!!! The book was jam-packed with action, excitement, suspense, humor, and a whole lot of answers. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is easily my favorite of the series and Erin feels the same way.
Reports are coming in that of the record 12 million copies printed in the U.S. by Scholastic, a record 8+ million of those were sold in the first 24 hours of release (Erin and I are proud to be part of that amazing statistic). World-wide, estimates are that about 15 million copies of the book were sold in the first 24 hours of it's release. Overall, the Harry Potter franchise has sold over 335 million copies, been translated into 64 languages, made into 5 movies (with book 6 in pre-production), and has made Joanne Rowling filthy, filthy rich.
To much hype? Right before book 7 came out I was beginning to suspect as much... but after finishing book 7 I dare say the hype and the intensity of the fan-base is well deserved. Rowling has written a complete series that is as much of a pleasure to read as any other book/series I've read before.
This morning, in my 10 minutes of free time before leaving for work, I started reading another of Rowling's books... not a "Harry Potter and the..." title, but one of two short books that Rowling wrote a few years ago for charity.
Quidditch Through the Ages and
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are written under the pretense of being a book from Hogwarts' library and a textbook of Harry's, respectively. Only on Chapter three, I'm already enjoying the humor that Rowling integrates into seemingly everything she writes, and it's fun to read a little more about the Harry Potter universe.
I talked with my brother Riley yesterday, starting with a warning that spoiling anything from book 7 before I'd had a chance to finish it myself would result in dire consequences. He expressed the same thing I felt last night around midnight when I finally finished the book myself... now that I have the answers to all the questions that have been plaguing fans for the entire series, I want to go back and read them all again. I plan on doing just that quite soon.
If you're reading book 7, enjoy... If you're not reading it, you should... If you haven't read any of the Harry Potter books, pick the first one up, prepare yourself for a fun ride, and watch out for blast-ended scroots.
Labels: books
Book Report
A few weeks ago I found myself sitting in the Miami Airport with a bit of a dilemma on my hands... I had already finished all four books I'd brought on vacation and still had a lengthy wait in the airport and an even longer flight. So I did something I rarely do, I bought a book... okay, so anyone who knows me at all knows that isn't in fact rare at all, I'm a bit of a book-a-holic; what
is rare is that I paid retail price for a book I'd never heard of by a pair of authors I'd never heard of either, normally I go with recommendations or positive reviews. But hey, it was about an Egyptian curse... or something like that... and I'm a bit of a fan of Egyptian lore so I thought I'd give it a shot.
Well, I've just finished the book and the results are in... awful, awful, awful. It made it all worse that I checked amazon.com and the book has a really high rating so a lot of other people must have enjoyed it, not to mention that it's a New York Times Bestseller (as much as that counts for any more, seems like everything is a NYT Bestseller). I found it to be as formulaic a book as I've ever read; the characters were weak and one-dimensional, the plot was predictable at every turn, and even without the predictability the mystery and suspense had climaxed and were on their way down three-quarters of the way through. On top of all that every antagonist got his dues, every protagonist made out well (except for a sloppy attempt at a last sentence shocker), and the dialog was sappy and unoriginal.
I've just recently started James Patterson's Along Came A Spider as well as a book called The Alienist by Caleb Carr that I picked up at a yard sale for 50 cents. Both are already much more interesting, and I hope they continue to prove better written than The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.
Oh yeah, and the count-down is on for Harry Potter this Saturday!!!
Labels: books
Good Week
Pretty good week I've had. Work was pretty intense, a lot going on, but it's kept me busy and it was a good amount of stress... just enough to keep work really exciting without being so stressful that it's not fun any more.
Today was a great way to end the week; Erin and I started the morning off by going to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We both loved it, though I think I enjoyed it a bit more than Erin; she just finished listening to the book on CD so all the inconsistencies were fresh in her mind (and of course no movie could ever match the level of entertainment that the books achieve). After that we went shopping to an outlet mall to buy Erin some maternity clothes... she's not thrilled that she's starting to show a little, but I think she's by far the cutest pregnant lady I've ever seen (not that I'm biased or anything).
Tomorrow we have church and dinner with some friends with whom it's been far too long since we've hung out. Hopefully it will be a good start to another good week.
Labels: baby, Erin, movies
Ultrasound #2
Ultrasound #2 - The results as follows... I have an
extremely active baby... translation: as it gets bigger oh man am I going to feel it! ... maybe that's why I'm so
nauseous?
Harry Potter Rhapsody
At 12:01 tonight we will be exactly one week away from the release of the 5th Harry Potter movie. Check out this video to get pumped.
And don't forget the last Harry Potter book comes out July 21st!!!
Labels: books, movies, music
Two Weeks of Craziness
Snorkeling in Cozumel
Brett and I rented a car for the day and took a tour around Cozumel.
Chitzen Itza Ruins ... oh so very hot!
A nice way to cool down after a hot day in the sun... cliff jumping at a sink hole!
Garners... well... just being Garners
Tulum Ruins... much cooler along the coast!
Snorkeling in caves at Xel-Ha!
Walt Disney World with Matt and Renee
A wonderful and romantic boat trip watching fireworks over Cinderella's Castle.
Wicked cool car show at Disney World!!
The boys just being themselves... thinking they are strong or something...
