Happy Birthday Garrett!

Yesterday we had a little party remembering him.  It was simple-frosting cupcakes and swimming with friends-but it's one of the traditions we have that I cherish. So glad we have friends who love to remember him with us!

Wow...9 years old.  A big birthday.  Each year I like to try and imagine the kinds of things he would have been doing and how our life would be different if he were still with us.

Fourth grade.  Probably the same school as Dallin and most likely the same class! (Dallin is in a multi-grade level classroom 4-6)  They would have LOVED being in class together.  They probably would have spent a lot of time getting into trouble together.  I wonder if they would be best friends, or if there would be some sibling rivalry?  I'm thinking best friends...with a little competition.

Big brother to Maura.  He was always so good to her. He loved entertaining her when she was so little.  He would make funny faces, show her toys, do silly dances, and was happy to help me keep her happy.  I would love to have him around now to play with Maura and help keep her happy! Many an afternoon I have wished for a playmate for her. He would have been perfect!

Rough and tumble, or sweet and quiet.  Hmmm, hard one to predict.  He was such a happy guy, sweet spirited and kind and was also a BOY by any definition of that word.  Balls, trucks, climbing trees, playing in the mud.  I'm assuming he would have followed anything his big brother is into: airsoft, bb guns, video games, swimming, friends, and all the stuff that is the best part of being a boy. So I'm thinking not as rough as Dallin and with a little sweet side.

What kind of student would he be?  He gravitated to books and coloring more than Dallin ever did at a young age.  I think he would have enjoyed school and it would have come easily for him.  I remember him LOVING his preschool program and all that came with it.  Coloring, painting, projects, singing, reading stories, meeting friends.

He would have been a super friendly guy.  I remember him not being afraid to meet new people and even saying "hi" to complete strangers we would pass in the grocery store.  He would have been a real social kid.

Our lives sure would be different were he still with us, but the one thing I do know is that even though we are not together now there will be a time when we will be reunited and those relationships we had will continue eternally.  I look forward to that day.

Miss my Medium G!!

Sooo, Garrett's birthday is coming up next week.

We've been thinking about what to do to celebrate and remember. He would have been 8 years old this year!

Maura, naturally, thinks we should get a bunny because when you turn 8 you get baptized and you get a bunny.

Dallin wants to gather some friends and have a marsh-mallow gun fight.

They both agree on the cake and ice cream part of a celebration.

I have a movie my sister made of Garrett. I have never watched it.

It's been sitting in a little box with other things that belong to Garrett. Pictures, a favorite shirt, pieces of his favorite blanket, school work, trophies, and so forth. It's been nagging at me for a long time. I've always felt guilty that I haven't watched it.

She gave it to me right after Garrett died. I think it is a montage of pictures with music. I think we are going to watch it. It's been three years. I can do this. I know I'm going to cry and I'm okay with that. I'm actually pretty excited. I've thought about watching it several times and I've decided I'm going to wait until his birthday.

Now all we have to do is decide on what kind of cake to make...

Wish us luck!

I've been thinking about Garrett and my mom all day.

My sister, Gina, is so good about remembering to go to his grave to clean it up and bring flowers and such. I'm so grateful she does.















Reese remembered that Garrett had a Winnie-the-pooh blanket that he loved to sleep with and she wanted to get him a little Winnie-the-pooh bear.














Today is also my mom and dad's 42nd wedding anniversary. Dad went to visit her and took some pictures while it was snowing.















I sure do miss them both.

Edit:
Just got some photos from Gina that she took. Thanks, Geen!

Reese, Jeff, Brady and Brannen helped decorate!

I think about Garrett all the time but it's not the same as before. I don't have the gut-wrenching feeling of loss. I feel....peace.

BUT, I still think about him.

What new event would we be celebrating? End of school? Turning eight?

What would he look like? Still blonde? I hope so! I'm a little out numbered.

Would he be kind? Whiny? Tidy?

Would he still have that silly haircut? or would he want long hair like his brother?

I don't blog about it as much as I did. Not sure why.

I still miss him, but not as much. Mostly I wonder about him.

What is he doing now?

Does he hang out with Grandma Jones and Great Grandpa Jones?

Is he a missionary?

Can he read and write his name?

Does he watch us and wish he were here with us as much as WE wish he were?

Mostly I just look forward to when we will be together again, because I know we will.
The knowledge of the plan our Heavenly Father has for us, gives me the peace I finally feel.

I was looking through some old pictures and found a few that made me laugh.

Dallin and Garrett were such great friends. They would play together for HOURS. They would come up with some pretty creative things to do too...

On this day, they were just having fun in the back yard. Playing in a sprinkler I think.

They unscrewed the sprinkler head and made a mud swamp and threw mud bombs at the wall,
Instead of yelling and getting mad I took a picture and chalked it up to "boys".


















Going back inside I got busy doing something and the next thing I heard was a little rap on the door. Opening it, this is what I saw:




















And then I made them pose like this:


















I'm so glad I got a good picture!

Today would have been his first day of Kindergarten! I'm sure he would have LOVED it.


Things I think Garrett would have loved about Kindergarten:
-Walking to school with Dallin.
-Meeting friends and playing on the playground.
-Reading.
-Being a helper to his teacher.
-Singing time.
-Learning to write (especially write his name-he was excited to be able to do that).
-Taking his lunch to school (he was really excited about lunch boxes).
-Having me come to his class.

I'm sure he would have loved everything about school. He was that kind of kid; excited, happy and enthusiastic about almost everything!

While in Wyoming, I found a lot of pictures of Garrett my dad had that I didn't. So, since I was scanning hundreds of pictures anyway, I added these and brought them home. I am just now going through them and organizing them then I'll get back to doing my Garrett book project.

I'm glad I did my mom's book. Along with really loving the book, I learned a lot more about Booksmart and found some short cuts that will make my Garrett book easier and look better.


These are a few of my favorite pictures I found:

Garrett (11/2yr. approx) and his Great Grandpa Jones



Hard to tell he is smiling with his 'binky' in, but I can sure tell by those squinty eyes.

I'm sure he and Great Grandpa Jones are having a grand old time together now....

Garrett when he was born and his Grandma Jones. They are spending some quality time together now too....


Love the smile on this kid, and the mischievous glint in his eye.


He had my hair...straight on top, very fine and a lot of it. I was never sure what to do with it. We stuck with the same haircut for a long time and sometimes (obviously) I didn't do it very well.


He loved to be a 'cool dude' with his brother (and his dad in this picture). He could never get the hands quite right....I like this much, much better.


I've spent a lot of time thinking about and missing my little buddy today. *SIGH*