Our Savior's love, shines like the sun with perfect light. As from above, it breaks through clouds of strife.

Feb 16, 2008

Greg Sherwood, THIS IS YOUR LIFE!

For your 31st birthday, here are 31 "favorite memories of Greg" from your friends and family (in no particular order):

1. When Greg Met Nicolle and took her to a concert he was so excited to tell me that he held her hand! We were trying to figure out how to make it "smooth" so he could kiss her. Although my advice was to "pretend to trip" I don't think that is the route he chose - but whatever he chose, it worked! Also that he always thought it was so funny to touch my feet! ...UGH
Happy Birthday Gregory!
(Cami D. -:¦:- friend)
Does he look smooth, or what?

2.Greg had come up on a Sunday to visit (I think it was when Grant was blessed) and he was in the living room playing some Lego game that he made up with Nathan and Spencer. They thought that he was SO cool and played that game for several days afterwards. They love having their Uncle Greg come and visit! (Koni - Greg's sister)
3. Working with Greg in the Rancho Elder's Quorum Presidency was a real blessing to our ward and to me personally. I remember we had this "friendly competition" going on with the Relief Society on which organization would visit the new move-ins first. Greg and I were so into it that we visited one familyas soon as they moved in (the Ellis's) and they were so grateful, but then Merlin Ellis wondered why we were there because he was a High Priest! Oh well, so we put in a few extra visits...at least we beat the Relief Society!Be sure and tell Greg Happy B-Day! -(Toby)
4. My favorite memory of Greg - Early morning daddy-daughter time cuddling with new born Clara to help Mommy get some much needed sleep. Greg is an awesome Dad!! -(Nicolle's Mom )
5. The story of Greg faking a cough while standing in the sacrament line so he could eat the sacrament bread. Also, Greg in his white shirt and loosened tie and khaki pants every Sunday.(Micheal Aagard- friend)
6. Greg telling everyone the same "made-up" story about how he got a black eye at some point during the church-ball game, and then deciding that you were getting annoyed with hearing the same "made-up" story over and over again about his black eye, and so he came up with a top five list of "made-up" stories as to how he got the black eye. But then he would tell anyone who asked him about his black eye all five of the stories, which didn't really help in terms of avoiding the redundancy. (David- friend)
7. My favorite "Greg Moments" are when I make fun of Arizona State or the Phoenix Suns and he responds with a fake laugh that sounds like Jabba the Hut. It's a deep, slow laugh that sounds like, "Uh...uh....uh...uh." Always makes me chuckle. I also like how he passes notes to me in sacrament meeting, many of which are funny. It makes me feel like we are a couple of gossipy teen-age girls, but he makes Sundays fun. (Andrew Sweat- friend/bishop)


8. Here is our favorite Greg moment: I am sitting in my house minding my own business when through the window comes a glare. I look over and it's my crazy neighbor Greg Sherwood. He is swinging his new toy machete at some tree roots! A little while later his lovely wife Nicole pulls out of the driveway. I see Greg making sure the car was around the corner. His eyes fixed on the car to make sure he was in the clear. I knew he was up to no good!! I walk over and he tells me about these "limbs" that he wants to cut off the top of the trees in front of their house. I sat there and watched him climb the tree with his machete like the missing link all the way to the top. At this point I feel like I am part of his crime! He claims Nicolle would be upset if she saw him climbing the tree so he waited until she left. Needless to say nothing happened. But just the thought that Greg would do this behind his wife's back was very uncomfortable. As a result we decided to move 40 miles away and sold the house to someone who knew Greg (so they thought!!) Moral of the story:Don't be a nosey neighbor and mind your business!- (Carlos and Melly Bosch) 9. when we first moved into the ward and Greg came over to our house to introduce himself - he didn't make eye contact with either one of us the entire time he was talking to us. When he left, Michael and I were like "Did he ever look you in the eye? Me either!".
Also the time we were over at your house and Greg demonstrated how he got from the couch to your downstairs bathroom after his hernia surgery. the best part of that memory - we had only known you guys for like 2 weeks! he went from not even looking us in the eye to being comfortable enough to slide around on his back in front of us! ha! (Shelley Aagard- friend)

10. When I was a freshman at BYU, Nicolle and Greg came up to Utah for a visit while they were engaged. It was my first time meeting Greg. Upon introduction, Greg spoke with an extremely severe and very believable stutter. I was surprised Nicolle had not mentioned this beforehand. I tried to act completely normal but inside I felt sooo uncomfortable. Heartlessly they kept this show up for what felt like forever! A couple hours later while we were driving Greg said, "Dddddddddid you rrrrrrrrreall...llly thu thu thuink I ta talked llllllllllike thissssssss?" I STILL wasn't sure what was going on so I played it off and said, "like what?" Nicolle and Greg proceeded to burst out in laughter. I was SOOOO embarassed, but almost 7 years later I think I can finally forgive him. :) Happy B-day Greg!-Boog (Nicolle's sister).


11. MTC!!!! Of course :) (Hope Larsen, friend in AZ)
What... this photo doesn't look like it was taken at the MTC? There must be a story behind this...
12. Greg is always so funny when he comes into primary to speak to the children. He always has some highly entertaining story to amuse them and get them all riled up. One of my favorites was when he told a story of how when he was little he tried to put nuts and bolts inside his baby brother or sister's ( I can't remember which one it was) mouth. Of course the teachers were all horrified and one child even asked Greg to please stop telling his story because it was grossing him out. In the end he never explained whether the baby was ok. He just told us that the spirit prompted his mother to go check on the baby, so he left us all wondering if the baby survived! I assume that it did though. (Natalie, friend)

13. Do you remember when I came to your home to look at your Italy pictures? Greg said, “You wouldn’t believe who we ran into while in Italy!? (so-and so)!” Editors note: insert the name of someone you know who would look hilarious in a speedo. "The next picture was a muscle-bound, shirtless man on the beach. A week or two later, I received a call at work. “A "so and so" is calling for you.” It was Greg. :o)- (Heather Johnson, friend).

14. I haven't been here super long but...Greg was the 1st person I spoke with on the phone about getting help with moving in to our new home. He was very helpful and members of the ward showed up to help us on our moving day. Thanks Greg and Happy Birthday. (Greg Wheatley, friend.)

15. Watching the Simpsons with Greg and having him laugh almost thru the entire show. It was funnier to watch Greg than it was the show. And also the fact that according to Greg (and Bryant) there is a moral lesson learned in each episode. (Kari- Greg's sister)


16. Greg and the vita pups stories in the high school lunch room. Editors note... Greg holds the record at Victor High School- for downing two entire slushies in 30 seconds... must have been quite a brain freeze. (Kris, Greg's sister)

17. Greg was willing to run a ½ marathon with me after running that far in his total training the week before. (Kris, Greg's sister)

18. Greg can always makes your kids smile. (Kris, Greg's sister)


19. When we all slept on the roof, I think it was the night before Easter. It wasn't very comfortable. Good memory for me. (Aaron Ames, friend and roomate in AZ).

20. Greg sent a fake rejection letter from Stanford School of Business to Greg Dibb, telling him he was rejected from the program. That was a good one, still makes me chuckle a little. (Aaron Ames, friend and roomate in AZ).

21. Playing soccer at work at ON Semiconductor. We had to wait until the coast was clear, and then we would take shots from his cube, across a walk way, down an aisle, across another walk way into my cube. I think we called them world cup tournaments. It was truly a game for masters. (Matt Freemen, friend and co-worker in AZ).

22. I certainly have quite a few crazy memories of Greg, but the first one that comes to mind is when he was my zone leader on my mission. He was a hard working missionary, but still would play jokes on his zone to keep things fun. It was always great to go to our zone meetings. We knew we would learn a lot and Greg would make sure we would have a blast doing it. One day after my companion and I were late for the hundredth time, he and his companion took my day planner and when it was returned I had pictures of my two Zone leaders throughout,and my whole schedule lined up for the rest of the year. Then to my absolute horror, when I went to my next zone meeting,I saw huge blown up pictures everywhere of my driver license picture with my weight and height for all to see. I'm still trying to think of a way to get him back for that day. I can laugh about it now. Happy Birthday Greg!! Don't forget to always look your best when taking a driver license picture. You never know when and who will see it. (Tiffany Johnson)

23. When I was teaching Gospel Doctrine in our ward I asked who in the Book of Mormon members of the class could relate with. There were a few different answers and then Greg said, Shiblon (who? Why) Because he was the middle brother and Alma had already told Helaman in a couple of chapters what he expected from him and what he wanted him to do and how proud he was of him and then just basically said “ditto” to Shiblon and then was mad at Corianton so he got a chapter or two. Greg related to the middle brother. I loved it and have laughed about it every time I have read the Book of Mormon since! Happy birthday Greg. You are no longer the dreaded 30 you are 31 which means you are in your 30’s. Man you are old! (Bonnie)


24. During Co-ed soccer Greg was the sweeper and I was a fullback. We were playing a team full of really "nice" guys. One of them basically plowed over me. Greg was not so happy and the next chance he had he plowed over that guy and got a Yellow card. This was the beginning of his many games of being carded. It goes to show that Greg will do what ever is necessary to protect those he cares about. (Karen, Greg's sister)


25. Greg was very active in scouting. He was an Order of the Arrow, went to camp many times and I am sure there are several incidents involved with camping that could be interesting. He also was the youngest of all three of the boys when he earned his eagle. (Greg's Mom)

26. Greg and procrastination were almost synonymous. The summer before his freshman year in college, at NAU, he was in work crew (not for the first time) and had not made any arrangements to get out to Arizona. We therefore sent him cross country on a Greyhound Bus, much to his great dismay. I am also sure there are good stories about that trip. (Greg's Mom)

27. During his mission he had the chance to have some challenging companions. There was one time when they were either in Wendover, NV, passing through, or something, and his companion was socially unskilled and said some interesting things in the establishment where they stopped. (Greg's Mom)


28. Greg and basketball... wanting to rehash every detail of the game with you or anyone else who will listen on the way home or in the following days. (Micheal Aagard-friend)


29. Watching Greg "perform" (dance and sing) Neil Diamond in the back of Kelly's truck. (Hope Larsen, friend in AZ).

30. Remember when you threw me in the air? That was fun. I love playing with you! -Clara
31. We have collected lots of great memories over the last 7 years, haven't we? One of my favorites is that when we had Clara, you were so excited and you spoke in rhyme for about 48 hours, then were giddy for days. I love watching you be an extraordinary Dad to our sweet Clara.
Happy Birthday, Greg. Here's to many more years of great memories. We love you and are so glad you were born 31 years ago!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nicolle that was awesome. Greg hope that you have a wonderful birthday.

Tiffany said...

What a wonderful tribute to Greg! Happy Birthday. We love you guys.

carrie said...

I missed getting in the list ahead of time, but wanted to share a favorite memory too, and wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY GREG!

Greg was one of the first people I met in the ward when I moved here, and was so kind and helpful. I knew how to get to work my first day on the new job thanks to him! I also remember one of the first interactions outside of church when I ran into him at the cafeteria at work, and he asked me if I was a morning person or a night person. ("hmm", I thought, "that was random") I know now, it's just part of your charm. Ü

Thanks for your friendship! Hope you had a great birthday!
-bigger

shelley said...

Great job putting it together Nicolle. Hope Greg enjoyed it!

Janell said...

I have to say that I'm kinda sad that my entry didn't "win!" I was SO excited to check this today, too. Cami and I were laughing pretty hard at some of these stories! What a great idea! :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GREG! We're glad you were born! :)
-jd

Carrie said...

Happy Birthday Greg!!
Seth and Carrie

Cami D. said...

Greg Happy Birthday! Nicolle, thanks for editing my post and HA HA HA that the "just trip on her lips" story made Greg's bday list! You are funny!!

Leslie and Dave said...

That was so fun to read about Greg's life. Happy Birthday Greg!

Natalie said...

This post was the best ever! Happy Birthday Greg! I have something for you, but I forgot to bring it on Sunday. I think my favorite new story was the stuttering story. Hilarious! I can't believe Nicolle went along with it! You guys crack me up!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Greg -

Madi's favorite moment is when you called on the phone and pretended that you were Barbie! She still talks about it and "Silly Greg" all the time!!

Kari

Anonymous said...

Nichole's e-mail got sent to my "SPAM" folder and I didn't see it until Sunday...but here's one for the "Honorable Mention" catagory.

First, anytime spent on the lake wakeboarding, on the the slopes snowbaorading or playing hoops will always be a memory for me. Anytime Greg would catch even the smallest amount of air (which was very rare) you heard about it for days on end...and I think the smile didn't fade for a solid week.

But the most memorable time was when Greg proposed to Nicholle...he did it at your house in AZ. We helped him prepare the house, and had flowers ready in the other room. He was going to make some excuse about having to stop by our house before a date and then pop the question. We called him to let him know everything was ready and tell him we would be out of the house by 6:00....Greg acted surprised and said we should stick around and just wait in the next room. I think he was more than a little nervous/scared and was looking for moral support but Rachael and I were not sticking around for the big moment. Needless to say everythign went fine and the rest is history.

Happy birhtday Greg.
Jefe anf Rach

Anonymous said...

Nicolle's e-mail got sent to my SPAM forlder and I didn't see it until Satruday...but here are af ew memories for the "Honorable Menetion" catagory.

First anytime on the lake wakeboarding, on the slopes snowboarding, or playing hoops will be a memory for me. Anytime Greg would catch even the smalest bit of air (which was rarely) wew would all here abotu for th next several days and the smile on his face would last for a solid week.

But the most meemorable time was when Greg proposed to Nicolle...he did it at our hous ein AZ. Greg planned on making up some excuse about having to stop by our place before a date with Nicolle and then planned on poping the question. We helped him get the house ready and had flowers ready in the next room. WE called Greg to let him know everyhting was set, we would leave the door open and be out of the house by 6:00 and woudln't come back until he called. He seemed a bit surprised and actually wanted us to stay and hang out in the next room while he "did his thing". I am pretty sure he was more than a little nervous/scared but we were not sticking around for that. Needless to say, everyhting worked out, Nicolle said yes and the rest is history.

Happy birhtday Greg.
Jefe and Rach

Leah and Mike said...

I wish our story of you running off to the ocean as speedo boy would have made it. Or maybe how happy you get when the Lakers whoop up on the Suns (like just recently in fact), or something like those. I may be wrong on which of us fits where, in each story, but they're all good times in the Book of Greg.
-M & L