The Garrison Family: 2/18/07

Friday, February 23, 2007

Vegas...Baby...Vegas...

At about 10:45 pm on Wednesday, February 21st, Matt called me from his TDY in Turkey to tell me that he had assignment news for me. Ends up, the news was FANTASTIC. Sometime in the coming year, Matt and I will be moving to LAS VEGAS, where he has earned an assignment with the 422nd F-16 Test and Evaluation Squadron. We are both so excited about the assignment (it was Matt's first choice) and can't wait to live within quick driving distance of my brother, Goat, again...not to mention so close to all of our other family and friends.

We don't have any word on a report date yet, so as soon as we find out, we'll post it to let all of y'all know. Until then, start saving your quarters, nickles, and dimes...

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Snowboarding in the Austrian Alps...Again

Over the Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, Matt and I went on our squadron's ski trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Since we've had a strange winter with not much snow, we weren't sure how much snow would be on the slopes. It turns out, there wasn't any at the place we had originally planned to snowboard, so our group ventured off a bit to a mountain with a glacier about 45 minutes away from our hotel. The snow at the Stubai Glacier was awesome and we had a great time snowboarding over the weekend. The weather was beautiful (we took our coats and hats off and ate lunch outside) and the slopes were fairly empty, so everyone had a fantastic time. The above picture is of Amy and Rylee, our squadron commander's daughter, out on the slopes.

For our apres ski (after ski fun) on Saturday, we found an Irish pub not too far from our hotel and managed to drink a few pints of Guiness and hang out with everyone in the group. This picture of Matt and Boose (Boose is obsessed with the 80's--which explains the Kiss shirt) was taken inside the pub.

On Sunday afternoon, a group of us went to watch a national league hockey game in the Olympic

arena. The game was anti-climactic, but we were able to chuckle for a while about this advertisement painted on the side of the ice rink. We all agreed that you couldn't write something that funny!

On Sunday night, Matt and I went out for Indian food and afterwards found a great wine bar near our hotel. We tasted a few Austrian wines with some friends and of course, told lots of stories. This picture of us was taken inside the wine bar.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Lucy

Surprise!!!

Around Thanksgiving, my parents bought a new Scottish Terrier puppy to provide Maggie, our bulldog, with a friend. Well, Maggie doesn't like Lucy very much and my parents are exhausted trying to house break Lucy. She's a handful...so much so that at school, my mom puts her in the trashcan so she doesn't run around the room like a banshee.

Over Christmas I got to finally meet Lucy and she is precious. I love that dog...and she loves me. All I wanted to do was hold her when I was at the house. My mom says that she bought Lucy for me but now she can't give her up...so I will have to keep dog searching so that when/if we move back to the states, I can get a puppy. Lucy has doubled in size since I saw her at Christmas, so this is the most recent picture of her. When Matt gets home, I'll update the post with some of her 'puppy' pictures I took at Christmas.

About Us...

Matt and I met on April 14, 2001 in Glendale, Arizona. I was in college at Pepperdine University and he was in F-16 pilot training at Luke AFB. We met through my brother, Matt (Goat), who was also going through pilot training at Luke. The two Matts met their freshman year at the Air Force Academy where they were assigned to the same squadron and lived next door to one another. Despite Matt being friends with my brother since 1995, we had never met one another before 2001. I fell in love with Matt at first sight and he fell in love with me shortly thereafter. We were married on October 4, 2003 in the Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy-it seemed only fitting. God has blessed us with almost 5 busy, exciting, and wonderful years of marriage. In that time, we have lived in 3 states, 2 countries, run in over 20 races (combined) in 6 different countries and 5 different states, traveled to almost 30 different countries, and have have been blessed with the most precious and beautiful little girls.

Ava Holt was born at 3:05 AM on November 1, 2007. At 2 weeks early, she weighed in at 7 pounds, 11.4 ounces and was 20 inches long. Ava Holt is a dramatic yet easy going little soul. She loves attention and is always happy. She is incredibly observant, freakishly strong, very independent, and a very fast learner. Her curiosity fuels her day, as she fills her hours getting into anything and everything under 5 feet in height. As much as she loves me, she loves her Daddy even more. She is the epitome of a 'Daddy's Girl' and the highlight of her day is when Matt gets home and she gets to perform, laugh, and squeal for him. Then, when her Daddy gets in her way, her favorite person in the world is her baby sister, Myla Grace. From the moment she met Myla Grace at the hospital on the day we came home from the hospital, she was smitten. There wasn't a jealous bone in her body, only pure love. We are beyond blessed to have the miracle of Ava Holt in our lives. Oh, and did I mention that 'You Are My Sunshine' is her FAVORITE song? The apple didn't fall far from the tree, as it's mine too.

Sweet Myla Grace was born at 5:04 PM on December 2, 2009. At 3 weeks early, she weighed in at 7 lbs, 0.4 ounces and was 19 inches long. Myla Grace is so disgustingly sweet. She is our cuddly little one who prefers to be carried and or held when at all possible. While sweet and cuddly, she also loves to destroy, dismantle, and disassemble most things within her reach...all while flashing the most precious of smiles. And through all of her sweetness, she has the uncanny ability to make you laugh all day long. Maybe it's the mullet she's had since birth, the gummy grin (which is starting to blossom with teeth), or her serious smirks, but whatever it is, we can't get enough. Although Myla Grace was a complete surprise, we can't imagine life without her. She is absolutely Ava's little buddy (whom Ava affectionately calls, 'the little one,' 'Mywa Grace,' and 'Mah-la.'), Amy's cuddle bug, Matt's giggling partner, and the most beautiful little blessing.

Harper Lee was born at 3:28 PM on May 31, 2013. Also arriving 3 weeks early, Harper weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs, 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. From the moment she entered this world, Harper has been the happiest, calmest, smiley-est {if that's even a word}, sweetest, and easiest baby we've ever had. She NEVER cries and is so incredibly easy going...to the point that I thought something was wrong with her. And unlike her big sisters, Harper has always been on the tiny side of small. After several rounds of tests when she was 6-months old to make sure she didn't have any development or growth problems, the Doctors came to the conclusion that she is just going to be "petite." So despite being in the 5th percentile for her age, our precious Harper girl is absolutely perfect as the tiny little package that she is. Oh, and did I mention that she is the BEST eater in our family? This sweet girl can mow through food like a 10yr old! I am a believer in miracles and Harper further confirms my faith. Her existence is a pure miracle (not to mention an ultimate surprise) and we thank God all the time for giving her to us. We thought our hearts were complete but we had no idea how big of holes we had until she joined our lives. Her laughter, giggles, rambling babbles, smiles, and 2-finger sucking are constant reminders that we are recipients of so much undeserved grace. At 21-months old, Harper's favorite things are cats (she calls them "nows"--her way of saying meow), dogs ("uf-ufs"), Ava ("aw-buh"), and balloons ("boons").