Baby Will Is Here Part 3

Baby Will Is Here Part 2

Little Will Is Here!

William Roy Garrison was born Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 10:12 am weighing in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and 22 inches long. Proud parents are Brandt and Elyse Garrison.

We hope to have more pictures soon. We are sad we aren't able to be there today but are glad that so many other family members are there.

Elyse went into labor early this morning and went to the hospital around 1:30 am. Her doctor was already there delivering another baby and checked Elyse who happened to be dilated to a 2 so he admitted her. 8 hours later and after just 3 pushes he was born. Not bad for a rookie mommy!! And not to mention right on his due date!!! We got the first text at around 4:30 this morning from Kortney and not much sleep after that because of all the excitement and being first time grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I'll post more pictures when I get them. What an exciting day for our family!!!

We are spending a lot of time at the laundromat these days. I miss having a washer and dryer with me. I usually throw in a load a day at home and without that convenience the dirty clothes pile up!! Me and the girls had some fun at the laundromat Monday and took a few pictures.

We're having a great time here in Oregon. Right now it's just Mark, me, Taylir and Colton. Kylie and Carson have gone back to Utah for a week or so but hopefully will be back. It's been a little less chaotic in the trailer but the trade off is missing Ky and Cars and that isn't the best. I think we're starting to come into a groove. It's been tough living in such cramped conditions, but we're still having a great time!

I think I've found a solution to Gunner's barking problem. We purchased a shock collar and so far it's doing it's job. We were able to leave the dogs in the trailer this evening while we went to Kirk and Gina's for dinner. I may be able to enjoy my vacation afterall.

Today was a very relaxing day. Colton had spent the night with cousin Tyler so it was just Taylir and myself in the trailer all day. We got up fairly early and drove into St. Helens to the high school track to do some running. Taylir is suppose to keep up on her cross country training. We ran into the St. Helens High School Cross Country team and I spoke to the coaches who invited her to train with them. Great news! I'll just jog around the track while she is out with them. This will benefit me too!! I'd like to lose some weight before my big "GIRLS TURNING 40" trip in September. That is when me and all my high school girlfriends are going to Vegas for 4 days. After having our running time cut short, due to Gunner jumping out of the window of the truck and finding us on the track, we went back to the trailer and cleaned for a good 20 minutes (super scouring a trailer is a piece of cake compared to a house!) and just enjoyed doing nothing. We've been on the go so much the past 2 weeks that it just felt good to pull our hair in ponytails and lounge around. The temperature and smell of Oregon is incredible!! I think it was in the mid 60's today. I'm not much for the heat and thoroughly enjoy the cool temps. We opened all the windows and turned on the country music while we listened to the sound of small airplanes taking off and landing at the little airport next to us. That is one thing I will miss for sure when we leave here, the airport. I have really enjoyed the sounds of the planes. It's just a tiny airport so the planes are quiet and fun to watch. That country song with the words, "I'm just sitting right here watching airplanes, take off and fly" keep going over and over in my mind and we all catch ourselves singing it.

I have some pictures from the beach the other day when we took the kids and dogs to the coast to run around. Tank absolutely loved the water and we got some great pictures of him playing with the kids. We took a scenic drive back to Scappoose and found some waterfalls where we played around and took more pictures. Unfortunately we're having a hard time downloading them but will have to post them soon.

Tomorrow Colton is going to work with Mark and so me and Taylir will have some more girl time. We're thinking about trying out a Hawaiian grill down the road for lunch. We'll spend more time at the laundromat I'm sure.....our laundry never ends!

Help! I've got a dog attached at the hip!

I have not been able to leave Gunner for over a week now. When I leave the trailer he whines and cries and barks. It's starting to get annoying. I've had to have him tranquilized the whole time and he still whines with being drugged out of his mind!! I've decided that tranqulizing him isn't working and now I just take him wherever I go. Look at the picture of him looking out the window of the trailer.....his barely open eyelid is stuck to the window trying to get a glimpse of me. He definitely loves his mommy! I've thought in the past that it is so cute the way he is so attached to me, but now that we're on this long vacation I realize what a monster I've created. Who's the boss anway? At home he is fine when I leave but for some weird reason he feels insecure in the trailer and it doesn't matter who is still in the trailer with him, he cries for me. We can't leave him alone unattended because of the other RV'ers (trailers aren't that sound-proof). Tonight we went to dinner with the kids and put him in the crate in the back of the truck and hurried over dinner so he wouldn't annoy everyone on the streets. Poor Tank just sits there by him and looks annoyed....or maybe he's deaf by now from all the barking going on near his ear. This is going to be a long vacation if I am prisoner to my dog. HELP!

Home Made Ice Cream

We decided to make ice cream and got everything ready.....one problem, our ice cream maker was broken. Kris told us that she had read in a cookbook how to make ice cream in zip-lock baggies. We poured the liquid ingredients into one bag and then put that bag into another one that had the rock salt and ice. Then the fun began - we had the kids each take a bag and shake and shake and shake the bag until the consistency looked like ice cream. WOW! It really works!!! We made starlite mint icream and the kids got to make their own!!!

Tank really is a lab!

Tank has always been so prissy and not wanting to get even his feet wet outside when it rains. We've tried several times in the past when outdoors to have him jump in water like a REAL lab should but he wasn't having anything to do with that. He would rather be in the house all nestled in a bed with his pink tutu on. But this time we didn't have to do much prodding, he acted interested in the water and walked in all by himself. He wouldn't go too deep but deep enough to get wet and actually enjoy himself. Notice in one of the pictures though that he is trying to lick off the water on his legs because he's a little unsure of what to do with being so wet. After the camping trip he got in the shower and we soaped him up and sprayed him with his favorite pina colada dog perfume and he was as happy as a spoiled prissy lab could be acting like Tankerbell again!

We're Off!!

On Thursday, July 10 our family took off on a grand adventure and we won't be back home until school starts near the end of August. We've already spent the first week of our adventure in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho at Red Fish Lake. What a gorgeous place! Me, Taylir, Colton and the dogs drove the truck to Boise where we met up with Mark who flew in from Portland (Kylie and Carson flew in a few days later and we picked them up at the airport in Hailey). Our trailer had been parked at Mark's cousin's house in Boise so we hitched up and met up with the Cowley's at the Glacier View Campground at Red Fish Lake.

We had a blast there and the scenery was breathtaking! The kids had fun with Bryson, Brady and Jordan and also cousin Petie who joined us for 3 of the days along with Grandma Garrison, Uncle Pete and Aunt Dayna.

After 6 days of the mountain fresh air we headed back to Boise and stayed overnight there and cleaned up the trailer for the next leg of our adventure. Me and the girls did 18 loads of laundry at the local laundry mat while the boys got in a little more fishing on Pete's boat. The dogs were also with us because it was too hot to leave them in the trailer, and they accidentally locked themselves in the still running truck. Luckily after 5-minutes Gunner rolled down the window the same way he locked the door and we were able to get into the truck....whew!!

This morning we got up and headed to Oregon where we plan on staying until August 16. Right now we are at a campground in Scappoose and loving being back here. I'm going to keep this blog updated daily I hope, since we now have an internet connection.

4th of July

We had our annual Garrison Family 4th of July Celebration at our house with Dawna's family. We had a BBQ and then watched the kids light off their fireworks show. Even the dogs got into the celebration by letting us decorate them with glow-sticks. We only had one slight injury the whole evening and that was when the dog's came barging out of the house to join in the party and got a little too excited. Poor Gunner got tripped up under Tanks long legs and went summersaulting down the driveway. He scraped up his face and lost a few whiskers but we think he'll live!! We missed Mark being here this year....he is still in Oregon. We'll meet up with him this next week in Idaho when we go camping at Red Fish Lake for a week with the Cowley's and then head to Oregon with the kids/dogs until the middle of August. We're looking forward to getting out of the heat of Utah and enjoying a little cooler weather in the Great NorthWest!!