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.
COZUMEL!!!
We're in Cozumel and loving it. We went shopping mostly yesterday. Brett got a big Maya mask and pink chess set. He's keeps telling me that it's a desert stone, but that hasn't stopped me from teasing him yet. We also got a nice hammock, but we have no were we can put it yet, but oh well. Oh and Brett wants to let everyone know he is "really, really, REALLY lovin' the food". Can't wait to see the family in Cancun.
Real American Heroes
Tonight I solute you Mr. Johnny-Rockets-Burger-Maker-And-Deliverer-Dude! You wear that double-pointed white hat with pride. You groove to the music as if your girlfriend might just walk in at any moment wearing a poodle-skirt and wanting to be spun around the dance floor. Your ketchup smiley-face on the dipping platter is nearly-flawless, the fruits of hours of rigorous training, sitting in mom's kitchen emptying squeezy bottle of ketchup after squeezy bottle of ketchup. Oh how we love those smileys. Most importantly your intuition is as "spot on" as ever, for when the pregnant wife ordered her meal, you instinctively knew she in fact did NOT want mayo on her burger... despite the blatant request, and you delivered. Mr. Johnny-Rockets-Burger-Maker-And-Deliverer-Dude you made pregnant wife happy, so more than ever I salute you. A Real American Hero.
This is the obligatory small print that always follows the Bud Light Real American Heroes commercials telling you the useless corporate junk that no fan of amusing commercials truly cares about... and since this isn't a Bud Light commercial I had to supply the obligatory small print telling you about other useless non-corporate junk that no fan of almost-amusing-but-not-quite blog posts truly cares about. Please read responsibly.Labels: Erin, food
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
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
The All-Important Baby Name Quest
Ever since I met Erin and we knew we would be spending our lives together, I've pestered her with baby name suggestions that, in all honesty, were mentioned solely to annoy her. You really can't blame me, the look on her face when she pretends to be angry and mutters "Brett Ray Garner!!!" is absolutely adorable. Of course, now that we're actually expecting a baby I feel like it's time for me to get a little more serious and actually put some thought behind my suggestions. So here goes.
Suggested Name #1 -
Anteros; Gender-Male; Origin-Greek Mythology
The reasons here are obvious to anyone (i.e. all 17 people in the world) who are really, really, really familiar with Greek Mythology. Anteros is the Greek God of Reciprocal Love (a trait not undesirable in a child) and was the son of Aphrodite (Goddess of Love and Beauty, not unlike Erin) and Ares (God of War... okay so I know that one's a bit of a stretch).
Suggested Name #2 - 親切; Gender-Female; Origin-Japanese for "Kindness"
While it's true that I have no idea how to even pronounce this name and roll-call in school would undoubtedly be a nightmare, I don't think that should deter us from using this name. People frequently give their children names that mean something in another language (my friend Esperanza for example, her name means "hope"). Granted, any name that I've seen in this pattern has retained the usage of romanic languages/alphabets and relative pronouncability, but that's what truly will make this child’s name unique.
Suggest Name #3 -
Anonymous; Gender-Either; Origin-derived from Greek
anonymos "without a name"
Don't let the etymology of the word put you off, naming the child Anonymous would definitively negate the root meaning of this name. And there are actually a lot of benefits to this name. First off, we could get started on embroidering blankets and onesies with the baby's name long before we know the gender (11 weeks till then!!!). Also, (in my opinion) the greatest benefit to using this name is the vast amount of literary and artistic works that our child could claim as his/her own. The Arabian Nights - written by Anonymous; Beowulf - written by Anonymous; The Epic of Gilgamesh - written by Anonymous, that cute poem that's running the email circuit - written by Anonymous. We'd have an instantly famous child-prodigy on our hands; I’m convinced… this is the right name. Now all I have to do is convince Erin.
Labels: baby
We're in Cozumel and loving it. We went shopping mostly yesterday. Brett got a big Maya mask and pink chess set. He's keeps telling me that it's a desert stone, but that hasn't stopped me from teasing him yet. We also got a nice hammock, but we have no were we can put it yet, but oh well. Oh and Brett wants to let everyone know he is "really, really, REALLY lovin' the food". 
