Kicking Things Off

General Conference is this weekend and I'm really, really excited. Not only will this weekend be a spiritual feast, but things have been kicked off in a spectacular fashion.

The October Ensign (available electronically in text and audio as of today) is focused entirely on temples.

Also something I saw on the lds.org site today was a link to a new documentary, apparently posted on BYU.tv yesterday. The documentary is called 'That Promised Day' and covers the incredible work that was performed in the 70s to reformat the standard works; adding chapter headings, cross references, and everything else that someone like me, born after this was all complete, takes for granted.

I haven't watched the documentary yet (I'm at work), though the trailer alone is really interesting. It seems that it will be aired immediately after the Sunday morning session of conference, but thankfully the full documentary is also available to watch whenever you want on BYU.tv. Enjoy.

Labels: movies, religion, Temple, video

posted by Brett at 11:35 AM 3 Comments

Palmyra

In July we went up to Palmyra NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. We had a ton of fun with our friends Sarah and Cory, well mostly Sarah because Cory always had school (he graduated this past fall, hooray for Cory!).

While we were getting ready to check out the sites Aeriana took a nap, or so we thought... I heard her making noise after about an hour (which is a short nap for her) and found this... I think she got hungry.

While up in Palmyra we had a chance to visit the sacred grove. I love it there, it is so peaceful. I will never forget the very first time I visited Palmyra I saw all the sites and the pageant; it was the coolest thing ever. I wasn't a member yet but the spirit was so strong there was no way you could deny the sacredness of this place. This time however...the experience was completely different "quite", "peaceful", and "toddler" just don't mix well. I apologize to those there that were enjoying a nice quiet spiritual moment... my daughter likes to talk... a lot and she's not quiet about it.



After we walked around the Temple grounds. Brett had so much fun taking pictures that were artsy fartsy that he didn't get one of us there. I thought I had made him take one, but where it went I have no idea. While Brett was off in his own little world, Sara, Aeriana, and I walked around looking at all the pretty flowers.


We spent some time in town and got some amazing burgers and ice cream at the Chill and Grill. Yum... just what my pregnant body needed... we then made the customary stop at the church bookstore and spent more money than we should have, but well at least their spiritual books right? We then headed to the pageant, it was great. Aeriana was exhausted and had a rough time and Brett, being the amazing man he is, took care of her during the pageant so I could watch. He didn't get to see much of it. :( Thanks babe.

After the pageant we got a chance to get a shot of us all together. Sarah, me (prego with Zoe) and Brett (Cory was at class and then studying for a big test and Aeriana was finally asleep in her stroller.

Thank you Sara and Cory we sure do miss you guys!

Labels: family, pictures, religion, Temple, trips

posted by Erin at 10:35 PM 3 Comments

Family Reunion

So we start with Summer time... the family reunion at Uncle Paul's house was awesome! It was hotter than anything outside so we stayed inside most of the time, but it was still beautiful. Thanks so much for letting us use your house! It was great.

While packing Aeriana decided that she wanted to assist me by climbing into my suitcase and taking everything out. She's so helpful. :)


After a long flight, luckily non-stop with the baby, we arrived and hit the road to Uncle Paul's. While there Brett braved the heat and enjoyed kayaking on the river while I enjoying staying inside where there was air conditioning... it was about 103. Yuck! But I'm glad him and Riley got to spend some time together.


The family, well those of us not preggers and obviously not the kids, enjoyed rafting down some crazy rapids. I wish I could show you all the pictures to see them one after another is awesome. You can really see how they went in and out of huge rapids, but this will have to do.



While the family was rafting Maryann, Myself, Aunt Jenny and the kids played outside for about 20 mins. until we decided the heat was too much. But while they were outside Aeriana and Bryson took a spin in the power wheels Jeep while Cache ran around with a basket ball and the girls played with chalk.


Cache loves to "give loves" to everyone around, especially Aeriana. I'm so glad they get along so well. It will be fun to see them grow up together being so close in age. I can't wait to see Zoe and Cutter play together too.


Dacia and Kevin made a Family Feud Game on the computer that we connected to the TV. They had us fill out questions before we came to the reunion. It was great fun and of course everyone started to get really competitive, it is the Garner way. Chad had his game face on. :)


Awww... we clean up nice. :) (left to right: Riley, Kariana, MaryAnne, Cache, Cara, Evie, Chad, Me, Aeriana, Brett, Doyle, Karen, Kevin, Alyssa, Dacia, Bryson, Kaitlyn, Shantel, JJ, Jimmy, Brody.)


Aeriana wanted to take a break from all her hard playing and relax on the porch swing. She felt like a grown up sitting in such a big chair.


After the reunion ended Karen, Riley, Shantel, Brett, Aeriana and I spent some time together. When went to the Golden Gate Park where there were beautiful flowers everywhere. Aeriana loved holding Grandma's hand while we toured the gardens. She does love her Grandma Garner.


Shantel picked a flower! Very much a "No, No!" but well she's a rebel and it did look really cute in Aeriana's hair.


Uncle Riley... They walked around like this all day. She spent more time with him than with Grandma! This was the start of what we now (6 months later) call an obsession. Aeriana walks around the house all day asking for him... Daddy is no longer the favorite. Uncle Riley has claimed that spot for the time being. ;)


After seeing all the pretty flowers we went to the Academy of Sciences where Aeriana continued to play with Riley and learn all about butterflies. Or maybe just wanting to fly...


Downstairs they had an amazing fish exhibit. They had tons of different fish everywhere you went and Aeriana loved every minute of it. She just stared at all the fish swimming around.


After a long day of walking around we made two more stops. One to the Golden Gate Bridge (Which is Red not Gold... go figure) and the other to Ghirardelli Chocolate. They had huge sundaes that would even satisfy Grandma's Garners chocolate cravings. ;)



Brett, Aeriana, and I spent a morning touring around the Oakland Temple and it's visitors center. Brett had a ton of fun taking pictures everywhere. Aeriana and I enjoyed running around and learning how we smell flowers, not pick them.




We had so much fun in California! We even got a chance to go to Aunt Linda's and Uncle Rex's house and swim around in their pool. We can't wait for another chance to get out there again. Paul and Jenny, thanks again for letting us take over your place! It couldn't have been better. :)

Labels: family, holidays, pictures, Temple, trips

posted by Erin at 8:49 PM 3 Comments

The Temple

A couple of weeks before Christmas Matt and Renee came to visit and we went to the temple to do baptisms for my ancestors, including some of my grandparents. It was such a powerful experience. I have never cried before doing baptisms but this time I was so full of joy I couldn't help it. I was smiling ear to ear and couldn't stop crying with excitement knowing that I had found these names because of my great-grandfather Raymond and now was starting to do his work in the temple. It was amazing.

After such a wonderful experience we were happy to be able to go to the temple again in North Carolina over Christmas break. On the Friday after Christmas we went in and did initiatories for all of the names, and then on Saturday went in for endowments. While several of us were in doing a session, Riley and Brett's dad were doing more baptisms.


I am so very grateful for this gospel and for everything it has taught me and I especially love the temple!

Labels: family, religion, Temple, trips

posted by Erin at 10:02 AM 1 Comments

Ummm... Now what do I do???

Ummm... So does this mean I'm done???

Well with this branch of the family I guess... :) Happy hunting!

Labels: family, religion, Temple

posted by Erin at 9:58 PM 3 Comments

Love and Laughter - Part Two

Previously on Love and Laughter... Brett and Erin are in hiding for suspected involvement in a series of high profile bank robberies. Wait, that's not right, let's try that again... Brett and Erin were planning a wedding, yeah that sounds more like it. (P.S. This one's long too, you don't have to read it either.)

(Click here if you missed part one).

---

I had proposed, she had accepted; the big question now was where to hold the wedding??? New Jersey reception hall? Too expensive. Giant slingshot? Too conspicuous. Enormous wooden horse? Too Greek! (At the risk of being accused of plagiarism by Hillary Clinton, my legal council tells me I must note here that those words were originally used in the movie Monsters Inc. and are not my own... sorry for the interruption). Then we decided on a park wedding, yeah that sounded nice. So we found a beautiful park, had everything arranged, rented all the equipment, even designed and built a cool little dance floor. Then the wonderful day came on which Erin would promise to forever be subject to my odd sense of humor and much-too-long blog posts... and it rained. No, it didn't rain, it poured. Buckets. And ladders. And other assorted items you might find in a tool shed. Needless to say, the park was off (and our poor little dance floor was completely ruined), though luckily we had arranged for a backup location for just such a situation (incidentally, our backup location was the LDS Morristown, NJ Stake Center, the same place where we had first met just over three months prior).



The wedding ended up going just fine, if not quite as planned. We exchanged vows to playfully pester each other for the rest of our lives, and had fun at the reception. In all honesty, the whole day was kind of a blur to me, only a few things really stick out to me looking back; first is how happy I was, no, not happy, elated. Second was how amazingly beautiful Erin looked, and third was how embarrassed we both were. Both Erin and I are quite a bit shy in large groups, and this large group of people had gathered that day specifically to focus on us... we couldn't wait to escape the spotlight. But it was still a lot of fun, and we loved having so many friends and family join us on that exciting day.


There we were, fourteen weeks after having met for the first time, married. Looking back we can't believe how crazy we were. In the moment we couldn't understand why our parents were freaking out (as supportive as they still were); but now we're surprised they didn't freak out even more... One thing we don't wonder though is whether we did the right thing, that's something I can confidently say has not crossed either of our minds (though I'm not sure how much longer I can keep Erin fooled into thinking I was a good catch).

For a few months things were calm as we got settled into our routine, we stayed home a lot, started going to bed at reasonable hours, generally just getting "old"... and then things started to pick up a little. In December we went down to Washington DC for our endowments, par for the course things didn't go entirely smoothly. There was some confusion since Erin and I were married, but not to be sealed for another six months. We finally got things figured out, but not until Erin had sat by herself waiting to come into the celestial room for a good 1/2 hour. Despite the confusion and uncertainty, we still enjoyed ourselves.


One year and six days after our rained-out wedding we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Boston Temple. This was a mostly "uneventful" day (excepting the obvious excitement of why we were there), there was a touch of rain, but only a minor sprinkling of nuts and bolts, nothing we couldn't handle. It actually worked out well, because the cloud cover provided for excellent lighting for our photographer's work.



We had family and friends together, we were more madly in love than ever, and we had made sacred covenants with each other and with God. We couldn't have been happier to be together on that day, especially knowing that in just about 6 months we would have a little bundle of joy joining what we had just made a forever family.

--- Commercial Break ---
Today's episode is brought to you by the letters "L" and "Q", by the number "6" (my favorite number), and by Orbit gum. Orbit gum is good, except for their new flavor "Maui Melon Mint", it's not very good, in fact when my friend tried it she promptly spit it back out, so try a different flavor instead.
--- Back To Our Program ---

So there we were, a forever family of 2 and 1/7th. It was time to celebrate. We had a huge trip planned for late-June, we started off with a honeymoon/1 year anniversary in Cozumel. We explored, we snorkeled, we swam, we relaxed, and we thoroughly enjoyed the all-inclusive food at the hotel. Erin isn't much for most Mexican foods, but she devoured the hotel nachos every chance she could. We're still not entirely sure if this was a special nacho recipe or a pregnancy craving, but either way we were in food heaven.

After Cozumel, we took the ferry and a shuttle up to Cancun where we spent several days with almost my entire family. That was an absolute blast. We went to see the ruins, swam in water holes, acted like crazy people Garners in the hotel pool, and just all-around had a great time. It was almost sad to have to finally leave Mexico, though the sadness didn't last long since we were headed back to the greatest country on earth and, more specifically, towards Orlando and a few days at Disney World with our best friends. At Disney World we just had fun, lots of fun. It was my first time there, and I definitely felt the magic making me a few years younger (though Erin will argue that it was less of a "transformation" and more of a freeing of my true self). Overall the entire trip was amazing, I think with only one thing we'd do differently next time, we wouldn't go on such an intense/hot vacation while Erin was pregnant... that part was a bit rough, but still a wonderful, wonderful trip.



The next several months included several smaller trips; we went up to Sleepy Hollow, I went on a youth trip to Palmyra (the first time since marriage that we'd been apart over night), and we spent Thanksgiving down in North Carolina. But really the vast majority of the second half of 2007 was spent getting ready for the new baby. We had extreme re-organizations of the apartment, we went to countless yard sales to pick up quality baby gear for dirt-cheap, and I constantly pestered Erin with bizarre suggestions for baby names (she was mistaken when she thought that the baby's arrival would put an end to the baby name suggestions, there's always the next one to think of).

Erin and I kept half-joking (okay, maybe one-third joking) that we wanted the baby to come just a tiny bit early so we could get a tax break, but Aeriana proved that she takes after her mom by being stubborn and coming late instead. At 41 weeks along, Erin was induced and our entire world changed. Definitely for the better. Aeriana Elizabeth has been an absolute joy to have in our home, even when she cries incessantly, or spits up on mommy's clean black shirt, or has really really stinky diapers... she's still a joy. It was difficult enough before to leave for work in the mornings rather than spending the day with Erin, but now with both Erin and Aeriana at home it's almost impossible to force myself out the door. Luckily we live close to my office so getting home early is never a problem, and coming home occasionally for lunch is also an option.



It really amazes me how much has happened over the past two years. I've gone from a geeky kid with no definitive long-term plan to an even geekier (if possible) husband and father. It's been two years today since it all started and it's been the best time of my life, so far. I look forward eagerly to the next couple of years, and hope that I can fully enjoy the time as it passes. I'm extremely grateful for all that I've had in my life, and especially grateful for those things that I have been blessed with over the past 24 months.

Erin, happy two years. I love you more than ever and am so excited to spend the next 2 years (times infinity) with you.

---

I hope you've enjoyed this special broadcast as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Our regularly scheduled programming will be back on the air within the next day or two... we've got some adorable video we'll be posting. Aeriana is just getting so big and has been so much fun.

Labels: Erin, family, love, pictures, Temple

posted by Brett at 5:50 PM 8 Comments

Boston Temple

Yesterday morning Erin and I spent a couple hours with a professional photographer, we thorougly enjoyed working with him. He was referred to us from our wonderful friend Tania and we'd be more than happy to pass that referral on to anyone who needs a photographer. We expect those pictures back in the next few weeks at which point we will of course share them. For now however you'll have to do with the pictures that I took this afternoon while Erin, Matt, and I stopped for about an hour at the temple to just walk around and see the grounds.

It was a great opportunity since I'd never seen the Boston Temple before this weekend, and yesterday had too much going on for me to get to just walk around and slowly look at everything. Hopefully these pictures will give you a feel of the beauty of the building and surrounding grounds, though I have no doubts that the shots we get from our photographer, Tim, will do a much better job. But until then, here is the Boston Temple through my eyes.

Labels: pictures, religion, Temple

posted by Brett at 10:34 PM 2 Comments

What A Weekend!!!

So many words could describe this weekend in Boston. "Amazing" kind of sums it all up, but I would be remiss to leave it at that.

"Fun" certainly applied to much of the time. We were able to spend time with my parents, Erin's parents, Erin's grandmother, Dacia, Alyssa, Thayne, MaryAnne, Matt, Renee, and Tania; we were also fortunate enough to have Renee's parents join us for a little while and had the great privilege of meeting Tania's father and sister. Everyone was a blast; it was such a great group of people, all with wonderful senses of humor. The laughing hardly stopped.

"Special" absolutely can't be left out. We've been waiting for this day for over a year now, ever since we started planning our civil wedding we knew this day would come and we could hardly wait. But in a way we've also been waiting for this day all our lives; this chance to extend our marital vows beyond "till death do us part" to "for time and all eternity" is the most important thing we can do.

Overall, however, I'd have to say that "beautiful" is the most appropriate single description for this weekend. It was beautiful to see much of the family get together. It was beautiful to finally get to see our newest niece, Alyssa, such a gorgeous perfect little baby. The Boston Temple was also beautiful as I had opportunity to see it for the first time.

Several other things struck me as especially beautiful on our drive home tonight. Early on Erin fell asleep next to me. She looked so peaceful and content that I couldn't resist holding her hand even in her sleep, it was so relaxing to feel her soft touch on my fingers, lovingly feeling the familiar lines in my skin and the shapes of my knuckles, showing in her own little way that even in her sleep she knew I was there with her. A little later after she awoke, her smile dazzled me as we talked about all the fun we'd had this weekend. And as we got closer to home, she allowed the music we'd been listening to take over a little and I had the rare opportunity to hear her generally shy singing voice strengthen to where I could hear her quite clearly; if the angels of heaven are capable of jealousy, no doubt the perfect, sweet, clear-bell-like voice that Erin calls her own would generate such feelings. In me however, the only feeling her song induced was adoration.

There was one moment that outshone all others; a moment where Erin's beauty (physical, spiritual, and emotional) was stronger and more apparent than ever before. As I knelt at the altar and held her hand, I looked deeply in her eyes, knowing the entire time that I was indeed the luckiest man in the world. She looked so peaceful and happy as she gazed back at me. The knowledge of what had brought us to that point, together, coursed through my mind along with the hopes of what we would do and see together throughout the rest of our lives and beyond. Oh how beautiful she was at that moment as the emotions over-whelmed me and the tears of joy and love threatened to build and blur my vision. I hope that I will always be able to remember the way she looked at that very moment. My wife, my love, my eternal companion. How truly blessed I am; and oh how beautiful this weekend was.

Labels: Erin, love, religion, Temple

posted by Brett at 9:52 PM 4 Comments

The Countdown!!!

Labels: love, Temple

posted by Erin at 4:18 PM 1 Comments