Let the letters begin

I was so excited when I finally received two letters in the mail addressed to me from Garrett.

In his letter he mentioned that he was able to ordained two solders into the Melchizedek Priesthood. He was really excited about that opportunity, and mentioned that one of his favorite things was going to church, because it allowed him to escape the prison he was currently living in. He says that basic is really hard, harder than the mission, but he is loving it. Yes, he has already been yelled at by the drill Sargent's, he says it's impossible not to get yelled at because everyone makes mistakes. He mentioned that in a few weeks there going to experience some really hard stuff, but that he is really excited to do it! So stay tuned to hear all about it.

The count down is on!!

Garrett was able to make one more phone call before he shipped off to basic. Of course I didn't know that and my phone went off at 4:30 AM. I would normally be upset and wondering who is calling at that hour, but since it was Garrett I was happy to hear from him. The only real communication we will have from now on will be through letters. I am sad that I won't be able to hear his voice, but letters are fun too. Our conversation was short, brief and to the point. I could hear the drill sargents yelling in the background and knew we didn't have much time. We were able to exchange I love you's and then the phone clicked off.

I know most of you are thinking how could someone do this? How is Tami handling this? Well I must tell you, I am doing well. In fact, I am amazing. Yes, it is hard that my husband isn't around, but we chose our situation, now we must live with. And the only way to live through this is to be happy, positive, and grateful. My wonderful husband made me promise him that no matter what, I would stay positive, and that I will keep. The situation is what it is, and the best way to keep going each day for me is keeping a positive attitude.

I must add how much the lord is teaching me through all of this. I feel and abundance of peace and comfort surronding me constanly, and I feel the prayers that are in our behalf. Speaking of prayers, I feel a closer relationship with my heavenly father these past few days, I'm grateful for his love for me and the hardships he is helping me overcome. Without his help, I would not be able to get through this.

Well that is all for now. 17 weeks here we come!!!

Swearing in and off he goes!

How come it is so easy to say hello, but so hard to say goodbye?
-Unknown








Here are some pictures of Garrett swearing in. Afterwards, it wasn't goodbye right then. He stayed an additional night in a hotel and left the next morning. Our final goodbye was later that night at the hotel he was staying at. Since then he has had a few phone privelages. It's been great to talk to him. He is not yet at basic, but he has made it to Kentucky. He loves how cold it is there and how beautiful it is too. He mentioned that he can attend church on Sunday, and a few guys asked him what church they should attend if they are christian. His response was the mormon one. His exact words were that he feels like a missionary again, bringing converts to church. Well more news to come as he enters boot camp in the next few days! I will keep you updated ;)

Quick trip up to Utah

Five days before Garrett's ship day, we decided to take one last trip up to Utah to see his brother get married and spend quality time together. The trip was wonderful!

One Year and more to come!!

Here are some pictures of our anniversary, we celebrated it one month early due to Garrett leaving. We had so much fun. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Trio in Salt lake City, and then spent the night at a hotel. We also were able to eat the top of our wedding cake. The cake was so yummy, and I couldn't beleive how pretty it still looked after being in my fridge forever, but it looked just as good as the day it was made. One year almost down, many more to go!!!

Our first Christmas together

Because our apartment was so little, there was no reason for us to buy a normal size tree. The tree was perfect, and fit right in the corner on a side table. We had lots of fun decorating it together. It just goes to show that the Christmas doesn't have to be a big event and such a stress. It can be simple small and something you will never forget!



This was all our Christmas gifts. Garrett had lots of fun shopping for me, and spoiled me tons. I on the other hand, didn't go do that much because he would be leaving for basic soon. For Christmas, I made him a Basic Training kit. The kit included, a gym bag, envelopes, pens, and other stuff that he would need for his fun adventure. I also bought him some yummy cologne that I love!!!

New Year Resoultion

Since I am horrible and I confess HORRIBLE at blogging my new year resolution is to blog more at least once a month. I guess my biggest problem with blogging is that I never think anyone reads my blog, and nobody really cares what is going on in my life, because well lets face it a newly wed couple isn't really that interesting, right? Well I've decided to overcome that silly problem of mine and blog anyways, because the first years of marriage are priceless, and I want to always remember the fun times and even the hard because it helps me reflect on the purpose of life and how precious memories truly are. Here are some wonderful memories that I've had lately that I would like to share. Please forgive me for the slow update. I have been ignoring the need to blog due to my husband leaving for basic training in 19 days, and the fact that I have been spending every possible moment by his side!

For Thanksgiving we celebrated the day with Garret ts family, we had a blast and I wanted to show some pictures of our wonderful time :)


When my in laws asked me to make something for Thanksgiving dinner, I got extremely nervous, lets face it, I can barley make chocolate chip cookies out of a package and somehow I still mess them up. So my side kick, a.k.a Garrett who is my assistant in the kitchen helped me along the way, because honestly, who wants gross sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving day? Thanks to his wonderful help the sweet potatoes were delish and to die for!

Look at these adorable turkey cookies, that my sister in law Audrey had all the grand kids make for the Thanksgiving holiday, I love how the turkey tail is made of candy corn and the gobbler is made out of a crasin. So cute!!!


Before Garrett and I got married, I only had a niece and a nephew, who I just adore to pieces. Because we were so busy planning the wedding and moved down to AZ right after, I never really got to know my new nieces and nephews all that well. But now since we have visited Utah several times this year, I have had the opportunity to get to know them more. And I now have 5 nieces and 3 nephews that I just adore to pieces. I wish that I could of got all of them in a picture, but they were all to busy playing! Luckily, I got this great picture of them all sticking their tongues out at me. Hopefully, they were all just being silly, and that's not how they feel about me! lol


I love this picture because I really got to know Garrett's nieces more this trip. I just think that their adorable and it was fun getting ready in the same bathroom as them.

Thanks Gabbitas family, for making Thanksgiving a great day, I'm looking forward to many more!!!

One family down now it's my turn!!!


I can't believe how fast these babies are growing up. My family always teases me that Cole will be taller than Aunt Tami soon. Sadly, I think that it might be to soon.


On our last day in Utah my dad had all the family over for dinner. Garrett's parents came to and they brought early Christmas gifts, because they are going to Hawaii for the Holidays and won't be around. So Garrett got Money and some beef jerky!! Thanks mom and dad Gabbitas


This pictures is me opening what mom & dad Gabbitas gave me. Since Kamree and Cole love opening presents, I let them help. When the present was all UN-wrapped Cole shouted, Tami you got a coffee maker! It was so funny, because I got a pressure cooker not a coffee maker, but he thought different. I guess the saying that kids say the darnest things, is so true!


Aunt Tami and Kamree. Oh I just love this girl, she is so funny! This picture was taken while she was laying on my dads bed watching little Einsteins, I must add that it was very difficult to get that girls attention off of the TV, but when I did, she was little miss photogenic!


Kam-Kam, A.K.A LITTLE MISS PHOTOGENTIC!

It's Christmas Time!!!

Garrett and I had a wonderful Christmas together, one way we got in the Holiday spirit was volunteering Garrett to be Santa at my work Christmas party. The night before the big event, Garrett tried on the Santa suit to make sure that it fit. Once he was all dressed up, pillow in the tummy and all, he officially looked like Santa. So we decided to go has some fun. We did several house visits one night. The first visit we stopped by my cousins house. Three little kids were filled with Christmas joy, as they woke up to see Santa in their bed room. I believe that this Santa motive, really helped the oldest be better in school and not cause so much trouble at home. As far as the youngest two, they couldn't believe that Santa actually came to their house, and were talking about it for days!


Our second visit was a little more funny, we decided to stop by my mom's house around 9:30 P.M. Santa knocked on her window and scared her to death, by saying Ms. Pamela Settler, "have you been a good girl this year?" Mother got a little frightened as she looked out the window to see Santa outside. But right when she was almost ready to call the cops, I lost it and my laughter was so loud that she knew I was us playing a trick on her.

We had lots of fun having Garrett dress up as santa. Even when he did for my work! One little boy told him that he wanted Netflix for Christmas. And Santa's reply was, "ho ho, Santa has Netflix." Fun times, great memories and a Christmas I will never forget!!!


I know Santa is real because he brought me everything I asked for when I sat on his lap and told him my Christmas list ;) Who knew that Santa could be such a good listener!!!

Stay tuned for our first Christmas together and all the fun involved!