Happy Holidays! Sorry I've been so bad at updating this. A few big things have transpired since I last wrote. Shortly after Halloween, Rob found out that he was layed off from work. Which meant we were jobless. It was a really stressful time for us. But Heavenly Father helped us make it through, and December 1st we both started jobs. Rob is working a seasonal job as package/mail sorter at the MSP airport with the post office, and I am working as a contractor for Target Headquarters in their Marketing Dept. Grammy is taking care of Ryan for us, which has been a huge blessing. We're VERY grateful for her and our jobs. We're looking forward to this opportunity to get our debts paid off and be more financially secure.

Thanksgiving was fun for us, we had the opportunity to go to Utah and spend the holiday with Rob's family. His brother Royce wanted the family to be together so he was generous enough to pay for us to come out there. Rob's father has been having some major health issues, so it was a wonderful blessing to be together. It was quite the event, with all of Rob's siblings (9 in all), all the grandkids (24 in all), and spouses and Rob's parents together. I believe all but 3 of the grandkids are under the age of 10, so it was pure chaos most of the time, but still fun.


Below are a few pictures showing off how cute Ryan is getting and other exciting events...

This is a picture of the snowstorm Minnesota just experienced. Due to snow plows, the snow drifts and mounds were above my head. We received nearly 2 feet of snow in a matter of 24 hours. It was incredible.

Ryan just getting better and better at sitting up. Today he sat up all on his own without any support for nearly a minute. He loves sampling whatever we're willing to feed him. His favorite "real food" is mashed pototoes. Don't tell his pediatrician I feed it to him. He's sucking on a cracker in this picture.

I recently turned 25 (nov. 3rd)! Still so young...

This is Ryan in his church clothes. He's not to happy at this moment. I sure love him!

We hope your holiday preparations go well and you all have time to remember the joy and true meaning of this season. I have been reflecting lately about how Mary must have felt when she was told she would be the mother of the Savior of the world. And then the moment when she first held Him in her arms. It was an overwhelming experience for me when I first held Ryan, and I can only imagine what she went through. I am so grateful that I have been given a child of our Father in Heaven to raise, and that He had entrusted such a sweet, wonderful boy to me. We are all His children, and He loves us dearly. As parents, He entrusts us with His children and relies upon us to raise them up unto Him. What a responsibility. Yet such great joy comes from doing this. I am truly grateful for my little family.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great halloween this year! It was fun to dress Ryan up and attend our ward party. He is an adorable little guy. Grandma Green sent Ryan a superman costume, so Rob and I decided to dress up as superbaby's mom and dad... Lois Lane and Clark Kent. My costume was pretty lame, but Rob's helped tip people off.



At one point I was asked if I was a librarian. Not so much. Thanks though, cuz I've worn that outfit to work before. At the end of the night Rob lost the shirt and tie and just had the superman shirt on and perched the glasses on top of his head. Ryan was off with his Grammy. We then were asked if we were the nerdy couple or something. Guess it's time to update our wardrobes.

Ryan is getting so big, he's just adorable. Grandpa taught him how to do raspberries, which is his favorite thing to do when we're feeding him. Yes, we've added rice cereal to his diet, which is definitely a treat to feed him. (Not so much, over half of it ends up all over your hands and all over him). The other day I tried out some baby food on him (carrots!) and he just loved it, he wanted more and more. Here is a picture of the delightful mess he made:

He certainly makes us laugh! Tomorrow he'll be four months old, which is crazy. He likes to do these stomach crunches, where when he's laying down he'll completely lift his head and legs up and sit in that position forever, longer than I can do it. Rob figured out a little trick, he'll hold the pacifier just inches away from Ryan's mouth when he's laying on the floor, and Ryan will do a tummy crunch to reach up to the pacifier and get it in his mouth. It's hilarious. Grammy and I joke that he's trying to get a six pack of abs before he starts nursery so he can impress all the girls. He really is a flirt, at church or in any public setting, if he's in a good mood, he want to look around and give everyone adorable little smiles and get them to coo all over him. Kind of a distraction in relief society! We sure love him!

Thoughts on Conference

I thoroughly enjoyed General Conference last weekend, it was so wonderful to be uplifted and strengthened by our General Authorities. I know that President Packer's talk was met with some resistence by several individuals. Our church has definitely received a lot of criticism due to our stance on homosexuality. I can definitely understand why our beliefs are met with such anger and resentment. However, I wanted to say that we have never preached hatred against the GLBT population. On the contrary, we've been told to treat them with love and respect and as sons and daughters of God. Anyone who treats these individuals contrary to that is wrong. I have the utmost respect and compassion for homosexuals. I will honestly say that I'm grateful that isn't my lot in life.

On the otherhand, I am grateful for church leaders that are willing to take a stand and aren't afraid to teach hard doctrine. I have no doubt Elder Packer knew the reprocussions of making such statements, but I fully sustain him as a prophet, seer, and revelator, and I know that the doctrine of marriage and family as taught by our church is the word of God and all that is said in the Proclamation to the World is true doctrine. I'm grateful to know that the leaders I look to for guidance will not be swayed by the views and current issues in the world, but that they will speak according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and neither am I.

Family Pictures

We took family pictures last week, it was so much fun! Abby Van Stone, a friend from high school, took them for us. She is way talented. Here are some favorites (they all were amazing!)

He is an adorable little boy, we love him so much. We're so happy to have him in our lives. At two months old he is more than a mother could ask... sleeps through the night, cooes, takes a bottle, and loves his mommy and daddy. It is wonderful being parents, I thank my Heavenly Father for him and my dear husband every day!

8 weeks young

It's true, Ryan is 8 weeks old! He is growing like crazy, and we grow to love him more and more each day. He has started smiling, which just melts anyone's heart that is lucky enough coerse a smile out of him. We haven't caught on camera yet, but Grammy is working hard on it.

A few weeks ago he was blessed, below are pictures from that special day.

I feel so blessed to be his mommy. He just melts my heart. Being a mother is definitely stressful and tries your patience, especially in the wee hours of the morning, or late hours of the afternoon after a sleep deprived evening. However, I am so glad Ryan is in our lives.

Thursday I had my gall bladder removed, which wasn't the most pleasurable experience I've ever had. It's a pretty non evasive surgery, but still required four incisions in my stomach. I'm on percocet, way powerful drug. Every four hours I take that, and in between doses I'm taking four IB profen. It's making the pain tolerable, and now I'm more sore than anything. I've missed giving cuddles to my little boy, but it's hard when he wiggles so much. I'll be as good as new before we know it I'm sure. My parents have been helping out a lot as I've been recovering and Rob has been working.

Here is some exciting news: I have two job interviews next week! One is with an ad agency, and the other is with a firm that creates loyalty campaigns for retail clients. Hopefully a job comes through soon for us.

As far as updates about other members of my family:

My sister Danielle is getting married on October 16th in Mesa, AZ. I'm hoping to make it to the wedding (hence the hope for a job).

My brother Mitch was just married at the end of June, and within a matter of weeks he'll be leaving for Iraq. His wife Aly will be coming to live out here in Minnesota. When my parents recently parted with them before Mitch reported for training duty, my dad gave him a blessing and promised that he would return to his family and he has more to do in this life. That was such a comfort to us all.

Life is crazy and wonderful!

Ryan William Garside

Our little boy arrived! Ryan William was born on Friday, July 2nd at 5:57 pm, weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. He is absolutely wonderful!

Both Rob and I were overcome with a deep love for him. Its an incredible feeling and experience. We're so grateful for the trust Heavenly Father has placed in us to raise this sweet little boy.

Everyone has been asking how the delivery went, so here is a run down on the day. It all started at 8 am on Friday when I first started noticing signs of contractions and cramping. Rob was already at work, but was only working a half day so he would be home withing a few hours. I called my mom and she came and got me so I wouldn't be alone in case it turned into full labor. By 11 am Rob was home and the contractions were coming steadily, between 6 and 10 minutes apart. They really hurt! :) Here is a picture of us relaxing and timing out the contractions:

By 2 pm, they were coming strong and steady on average of five minutes apart, some even closer. We went to the hospital (Rob may have sped a little out of excitement and concern for his life as I was grabbing his hand pretty hard during the drive.) They got us checked and settled, and found I was already dialated to a six! I immediately asked for an epidural, which came just in time.

Before I knew it, I was dialated all the way, and the pain was returning, letting me know it was time to push. After about 20 minutes or so of pushing, Ryan arrived at 5:57 pm. It was all so fast, I couldn't believe it. Its hard to put an experience like that into words. So much pain and exertion, and then suddenly its gone and this precious little child is in your arms, directly from our Father in Heaven. Both Rob and I were overcome with this deep love for him. The rest of our lives will never be the same.

Sunday we were released from the hospital, but before we left we took the chance to read from the Book of Mormon for a few minutes. We read in 3 Nephi where Christ was about to leave the Nephites. The chapter is filled with evidence of the love both our Savior and our Father in Heaven have for us. I love the part when He gathers the children around him and blesses them, and then Angels come down and administer to the children. Rob and I both felt the Spirit very strongly, and gained a stronger sense of the responsibility we've been given and the trust Heavenly Father has placed in us.

I have no doubt Angels are administering to my little boy. There is nothing quite like holding a newborn baby, so precious and innocent. We truly were placed on this earth for a reason.

We love our little boy! Despite the sleepless nights, the crying and constant feeding, I couldn't be happier and more grateful.

One Year Down, Eternity to Go

We're doing well settling into life here in Minnesota. Our house is pretty much all put together, except for the fact that Ryan's room is a disaster right now. I'm somewhat at a loss as to how to organize all his stuff. Luckily mom has offered her help, so Friday morning we'll be tackling that. Just so everyone knows, I have the greatest mom in the world.

After spending so much time with her over the past few weeks, I'm truly starting to understand what it really means to give of yourself completely to your spouse and your family. She is constantly serving her husband, her children, and in her calling. She's set such a good example for me, and as I have followed that example more closely it has helped our Rob and I's marriage grow stronger even more.

Speaking of Rob and I, this Saturday (June 26th) we celebrate our 1 year anniversary! Crazy that time has passed that quickly. I am such a lucky lady to have him as my eternal companion. Here is a video that was shot just shortly after the happiest moment of my life:

Thank you honey for truly showing me what love is, and for being there for me through so much over this past year. I love you for ever and ever.