Old Man!

**shaking my head in disgust at the black dress socks with shorts** I love you, honey. But, come on! Print Page

By The Way

I lost my camera on the ride home from Michigan so the pictures will be few and late coming on a lot of these posts (I'm using disposable cameras). Print Page

Holly Trolley

Geoff's family has a tradition of renting the local 'Holly Trolley' and driving around the town with friends and family singing Christmas carols. It's a lot of fun. When we were there after Dawne passed away Karin's kids had free tickets to take a ride with one of the local banks so they invited us to come along. It brought back lots of great memories. I think Dawne would have loved it! When we went back with the kids Karin and Kent rented it for the whole family. I think everybody really enjoyed it. As we were loading a lady that we didn't know got on also with a couple of big sacks. As we were finishing up our trip we were informed that someone from the Salvation Army was there to give each of the grandchildren a teddy bear in honor of Dawne Gibson. I have to admit, I struggled to stifle the tears. Very sweet. Print Page

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.... Of Flying

Good: Sitting next to really nice people who make intelligent conversation and are genuinely interested in what you have to say.

Bad: Losing coat in terminal. De-icing of planes.

Ugly: Over hearing a lady say (screaming baby in background):"I hope they're not on my flight". Just rude!

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Ainsley's Sleepover

So, I let Ainsley invite two little friends over for a sleepover for her birthday and these are some pics from that evening: I bought these little purses in the craft section at Walmart and some rick-rack to decorate them with. We have a bedazzler so they used that too. Before we could get started, I had to take them to Walmart to get craft glue. I think they really had a good time going to the store in their PJ's and slippers! They really had a fun time making their purses look pretty! They spent the rest of the time playing with our millions of dress-up costumes. At one point they all came in and announced that Ainsley (dressed in a wedding dress) was soon to be married to Asher. It was so funny to watch him try to be so 'prim & proper' during the wedding 'ceremony'! They even kissed on the lips. I figured I would say something if it got out of hand. The only time I had to say anything was after the 'bride & groom' kissed one of Ainsley's friends announced "Now you can have sex!". I almost choked! I just calmly said, "Hey, we're probably not going to talk about that." I'm such an idiot. I didn't know what else to say. I hope she's getting her information from her parents. I'm pretty sure she is - they're really good people. As you can see from the pics they had a really good time with our afro, too. The girls even got to marry a giraffe... now that doesn't happen everyday! Print Page

Thanksgiving

Below are a couple of pics of some fun stuff from Thanksgiving. Mostly cute pics of Andyn and Emma. I think they are going to be great friends. They played together on the blow-up bed at Aunt Terra's, Roxane shared her pumpkin pie with them both (I don't think she got any), and the last two are the girls at the back door. I'm not sure what they were looking at (maybe reflections) but I had my nephew Preston go outside to take a picture of them from the outside. They are SO cute! The following pictures are from my mom's house. This is the first year in a long time that we've had Thanksgiving at my mom's. It was a lot of fun! Terra made dressing with cornbread... I made a 'cornbreadman' out of the leavings. Then we helped mom decorate for Christmas. In years past mom hasn't really wanted to decorate too much so we offered to help out. Making good memories. These pics were just some that I snapped while sitting on the couch at my mom's. Just for fun! Print Page

Blogging Binge II

So, I'm in Walmart the other day and I run into someone I know (we live in a small town so this happens with every visit to Walmart) but haven't seen in a while. Her kids used to go to school with my kids but now attend a different school. I haven't seen her in a long time. After we say our hellos she informs me that I need to update my blog! I was slightly shocked (but pleased) to find out that she actually reads it!! I guess I have a wider fan base that I realized!! Thanks, Melissa, for your continued support!! For Melissa and all of my other adoring fans out there I must apologize. Things have been a little crazy here. Two trips to Michigan in one month can really screw up someone's schedule! It's all good. We had a really good visit in Michigan last week but are really glad that we're back. It was one crazy trip! You are all about to experience another one of my blogging binges. I have many blogging topics that I have been waiting to publish. I am going to try and post most of those tonight! Print Page

Christmas... Nothing Short of Exciting!

Like many of you the last couple of days have been filled with late nights, gift-wrapping marathons, baking or cooking of some sort, and of course some really fun gift exchanging! I thought I would jot down some of our events before I forget because the topic has been added to the long list of blog topics recorded on my phone!

This year we did really good and had almost all of our shopping done by the day after Thanksgiving! It made life so much easier for us. Especially with Dawne passing away I was grateful that shopping was not on our list of things to do when we were traveling so much.

This year Aspen has figured out that we the parents are Santa's 'helpers' (as well as helpers for the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny). She's really excited about this new found knowledge because we agreed that as long as she didn't tell her siblings that she would be allowed to help. She reminded me of this early yesterday afternoon by whispering "I'm in on it, Mom." I was confused at first but she clarified that she was ready to be a helper! I reassured her that I would come get her after her siblings fell asleep. The time came and I informed her that we help Santa fill the stockings with candy and fruit and that she could help us do that. She filled them all and then asked if she could have some of the cookies and egg nog that we left for Santa. I agreed... as long as she left plenty for Santa in case he needed an energy booster. Can I just say... Totally Fun! It was so much fun to watch the excitement in Aspen's eyes as she was able to help create some Christmas Magic for her brother and sisters! The only downside was having to wait until she fell asleep to finish up Christmas Magic! We were up REALLY late tying up loose ends but the kids didn't get up until 7:15 so it worked out OK.

The kiddos were all very happy and had a great time opening their presents. In our house we decided a few years ago to give the kids 3 gifts only. Christ received 3 gifts from the wise men and so we thought that it would be nice to keep that idea going in our house. They get one gift from Santa (gold) and 2 from mom & dad - one spiritual (frankincense) and one educational (myrrh). It makes gift giving a whole lot easier! Something that I found very interesting - this year the kids really got into MAKING gifts for everyone. Especially Aspen. We helped each kid (except Andyn) make one gift for each of their siblings. Asher created miniature rock gardens with flower bulbs for each of his sisters (very easy - rocks, bulbs, put in small container). Ainsley made homemade playdough for Asher & Andyn and bejewled a little purse for Aspen. Aspen made dream catchers for all three siblings. But, Aspen went above and beyond. She spent hours working on homemade miniature Christmas cards for each family member (Dawne would have been very proud)!

Once all the presents were open I went to make some breakfast. This is when the real excitement began! Every year on Christmas Eve we deliver homemade candy and Christmas Eve Sticky Buns that we've made to our friends. This year we had a pan of the sticky buns left over so I decided to make for us Christmas morning. Now, I've made these once before in our house but I used my own pans. Everything turned out great and they tasted wonderful (I'll post the recipe on the recipe blog later). It didn't turn out near as nice this year! The pan that they were in was too small and so they rose over the edges and all of the butter and sugar that was added overflowed and caught the oven on fire!!! A real fire! I totally freaked out screaming at Geoff to do something!! Thank goodness we had a fire extenguisher in our kitchen and thank goodness Geoff had presence of mind to actually use it and put out the fire! I was a mess! (This is a picture of my hero (cape and all)... getting ready to put out the fire?) The house was FULL of smoke. The girls got heelies from Santa so they were perfectly fine with going outside for a while (It was only like 55* - thank goodness) and we sat Asher on the front porch with his gameboy - Andyn with a Baby Ruth and covered them in blankets! Meanwhile Geoff and I set up fans and opened all the windows. The smoke was gone soon but the smell may be there for a while! Can anyone say "A Christmas Story"? Next step was the Chinese Buffet! We got the kids all packed (to go to my dad's) and loaded into the van and went to eat Chinese for lunch! Geoff and I laughing the whole time and the kids not having a clue what was so funny! (I'm still not so sure it's that appropriate a movie for little kids - leg lamp) We joined lots of Jehova's Witness' and Mexicans for lunch on Christmas Day. What a riot! Geoff and I kept singing "Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra" over and over. We tried to explain it to the kids but it's just not the same as actually watching it!

*sigh* Merry Christmas Print Page

12 Days of Christmas

I thought this was pretty clever. Print Page

Isn't He Cute?

If you think this little guy is cute then you're on crack! It's 4 AM and I am fully awake because of this nasty creature!!! His squeaking woke me up about 45 minutes ago. I have several shopping bags next to my bed hidden under a couple of pillows because they contain presents for Christmas and I heard this nasty creature messing around with MY special things!! The nerve! A couple of weeks ago Geoff and I heard some miniature animal stirrings in the kitchen cabinets and I found some of its poop in a baking pan under the stove. I bought some sticky traps and Geoff put them under the sink (this is where we keep our trash - we heard him there too) and under the stove. We've been checking... no mouse. When I heard this evil thing this morning I started having some anxiety because I was sure this was a DIFFERENT one! Which means we probably have a whole stinkin' family of them living with us!!!! If you haven't noticed, I really hate these creatures! I mean REALLY hate them! I poked Geoff and told him that I thought that there was a mouse in our bedroom. He woke up long enough to hear the stirrings and agree that we had a mouse in our bedroom. I realized that it was a little unfair for me to expect Geoff to get up at 3:30 AM and... chase it with a broom or something but I laid there for a good 10-20 minutes TRYING desperately to just go to sleep but I just COULDN'T!! I kept imagining it climbing up the head board and inadvertently falling on my head or something. Well, he started squeaking. Squeaking Loud! And I just couldn't take it anymore. I poked Geoff really hard and begged him to do something! There was no way I was sleeping with this intruder in our room! He reluctantly got up and went and got some... weapons. A broom, a flashlight, and 2 planks of laminate flooring (I have no idea why the flooring pieces - I'll have to ask him about that tomorrow). He mentioned that he thought he might be trapped in the sticky trap under our bed. Glory Hallelujah!! I didn't realize that Geoff had put one there! Sure enough, upon closer inspection with the flashlight there he was all trapped! I proceeded to the living room with my MP3 player and head phones so I couldn't hear or see the removal of the evil creature! I'm crossing my fingers that was the same one from the kitchen but some how I doubt it!

Now I would like to relay to another story about a mouse that created a really funny memory for me. When we lived in a different house we heard a mouse in the cabinet above the stove moving around. Geoff decided that he might could catch it. (Absolutely insane that one.) He got out an old plastic margarine container and some kind of stick - I don't remember exactly - and proceeded to "catch" this creature. What happened next is forever etched on my brain. I will not forget this as long as I live and it will forever be a source of hysterical laughter for me (even now I'm trying to stifle my laughs)! The mouse jumped out of the cabinet onto my husbands HEAD and then to the floor and scurried off to hole in our floor (where, incidentally, we caught him with a sticky trap later)!!! It actually landed on his head!! Can you believe that?! He screamed like a girl! The tears are welling up in my eyes even as I write about this... it was so funny! Print Page

FREEZING FOG (by Geoff)

STARE AT THE PICTURE BELOW FOR THREE HOURS

Hello, friends. Many of you know about our recent trip to St. Louis and Michigan, and Steph will create other blog postings to describe other aspects of our trip. One of the most memorable (although not the most pleasant) memories occurred on the trip from St. Louis to Michigan.

Ever heard of "freezing fog?" Neither had I. Until last week. We were driving through a very thick fog; so thick that I couldn't see or read those huge interstate road signs. I would have pulled over if I could have found a good place to do it, but I couldn't see the off-ramps, and I was afraid to park for fear of being hit by another driver. So, I just kept on. This was tough driving; the picture above is nearly identical to my driving view. To further appreciate the experience, please stare at the white area above for...I don't know...say three hours. It's amazing what you will see. I found every astigmatism and eye floaty in my optical apparatus come into clear view, since there was nothing else for my brain to focus in on. Driving through this was much tougher than driving for four hours in the ice and slush on the way to St. Louis.

Oh, I almost forgot. The reason it is called freezing fog is because it accumulates as a fine crystalline ice on everything moving through it. Our van looked a little like it had been iced by a cake decorator. It was actually amazingly pretty - I wish I had taken a picture of it.

We wish you save driving, and safe road conditions this Holiday season. Best wishes, Geoff and the Gibsons Print Page

Dancing Traffic Cop

I love The Today Show!! This was one of the segments today! Print Page

Kohl's Cash, Baby! - Update

I was convinced! I needed a new bra! (I closed out the poll-I was sad that nobody voted for the rooster cookie jar) I drove 30 minutes to the closest Kohl's on Wed the 28th only to get there and discover that I had forgotten my Kohl's cash ticket at home!! I could've kicked myself!!! The problem was that they were having a huge sale and I could get 2 bras for the $40. I asked if there was anything that I could do and they said that they would honor the 'cash' if I brought it back by Saturday (when it expired). I would just buy what I wanted and they would take it off my credit card and use the Kohl's cash. Well... Dawned passed away and so I didn't make it back in time. I just thought - 'who cares. I'll just return the bras.' (I do NOT pay $40 of my own money for bras!) When I went to return the bras I explained what happened and they honored it for me!!! Can you believe that? What they had to do though was give me a merchandise credit for the purchase that I had already made and then they used the Kohl's cash ticket to repurchase the bras. Granted, now I have a gift card of $40 for a store that I don't normally shop at but it is quickly becoming my favorite store and I hear they have some killer sales and clearance sometimes!! Print Page

How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey

Big 'Thank you' (I think) to my husband for keeping you all entertained while I play catch-up. I don't know if I will ever catch up on my blog but here is one more attempt:

Asher's class made this book for Thanksgiving:

Inside the teachers typed up the kids' responses to: How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey

I thought that I might share with you Asher's response along some of his classmates' responses. (Names have been changed so I don't get in trouble with any parents)

Asher: Mom goes hunting and gets the turkey. She cooks it in a pan for a couple days. That's all I can say.

Joey: Daddy kicks the turkey. Then he shoots it, "Bam, bam!" He puts it in the freezer and washes it off. He cooks it at the store for five minutes, then it stinks.

Lisa: My mamma buys it at the store. She cooks it in the microwave. That doesn't work. After, she eats a sandwich.

Deana: Mamaw goes hunting and gets it at the hospital. She cooks it in the ovenwave for hours. It's big, big, big!

We Are Thankful For:

Asher: A family, Mom, Dad, my sisters, and that's all I can say.

Andi: Dog, a frog, my mom and my dad who love me, and a chicken at my house.

Pretty cute, huh? Print Page

Best Weight Loss Plan

You may think that you have tried EVERYTHING to lose weight. Well, I don't think you really have tried everything yet... There is no risk...no downside whatsoever. Try it today! ... and then let me know how it works out. Print Page

The Town In Which We Live, by Geoff Gibson

We live in Oklahoma. Our town has all the modern advances in transportation technology. But when all else fails, you can always just hook up a trailer to your riding lawn mower and use that! I see this couple occasionally around town, and I still can't believe it. I worry about this man's wife (or perhaps his mother; it's hard to say for sure), because she might fall out of her chair in an accident or perhaps a brisk wind. But closer inspection reveals that the chair is tied down securely with straps, so she should be ok. At the Pump: Gas prices are no match for Oklahoma know-how! This is the local answer to those new-fangled "hybrid" vehicles those hippies enjoy so much out there in California. At the Store: You don't need a minivan or SUV to hold all your groceries. This trailer beats them all when it comes to storage space. Plus, there is no actual limit to the amount of stuff you can put back there, as long as you still leave room for Mother. Recent Picture: The chilly December wind is no match for this family; they will get out there and get their shopping done no matter what it takes. Hold on, Grandma! Legal note: I am not a stalker; this family just drives around town all the time this way. But not to worry...I doubt that this family uses the internet much. They are probably too busy, with all the time they put in on the road. Thanks to my friend Dave for taking the pictures; I need to get a good camera I can have with me all the time, so I too can be ready to capture the priceless moments (such as following people around town taking pictures of them as they shop). Print Page

Fancy Shmancy McDonald's

I'm going to attempt to catch up on some blogging today and pretend that I have nothing else of any importance to attend to today!! On the way home from dropping Geoff off at the airport in Dallas last week we stopped at a McDonald's in McKinney, TX to grab a bite and let the kids go to the bathroom. This wasn't your typically decorated McD's. It was kind of fancy! The Decor was muted colors. Lots of black and lots of fancy paintings and chachkis. I HAD to take a picture of the toilet! I think that this is a decision that they will regret in a few years! They also had a really cool "Aquarium" themed playland that the kids really enjoyed playing in.

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Frazzled Mom

I have like 10 topics recorded on my voice recorder on my phone that I really want to blog about but I feel like my head is going to explode right now!! I feel stressed and overwhelmed trying to get ready for the holidays. Because of Dawne's passing we will be driving to Michigan next weekend for the memorial service. This cuts out one whole week for preparing and getting stuff done. I have to get my emotions in check! I feel like I'm losing it. I don't want the holidays to be like this for me or my family! The truth is blogging really makes me feel happy. When I'm blogging I'm writing about the important stuff. Stuff I want to remember forever. Stuff that makes me feel happy when I reread it. For those reasons I feel sad when I truly don't have time to blog. Oh well, such is life. I really should go now and make breakfast for Ainsley and her friends... She had her postponed sleepover last night. I think she had a lot of fun. I'll post about that... later. **sigh** Print Page

Signing Time

My kids don't watch a lot of TV at home because we're always so busy and we don't have cable. PBS is it when it comes to cartoons. On Fridays Asher comes home early from school and I had a lot to do so I flipped on the TV for him. This show was on. I'm sure a lot of you may have heard of this show but it was a first for me. I just have to say: I love it!! I think it is SO clever. Ainsley REALLY likes learning sign language at school from the Spanish teacher (this is very interesting because she came home around Halloween and showed off to me the Halloween related Spanish words she had learned and the signs to go with them - hmmm... I wonder now if it was AMERICAN sign language that she learned or SPANISH sign language! Not sure how that works.). I think she will really enjoy this new discovery!

The one I saw today was about "Happy Birthday" but I liked the following ones better. Also, all of the YouTube clips seem to really just show the songs that are sung on the show but from what I saw it isn't just singing and signing. (that looks weird, doesn't it?)

smart:

Leah's farm

Baby doing sign to signing time:

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Ainsley's 7th Birthday

Almost impossible to believe but it's true... Ainsley is 7! Her birthday was really fun. I saw this Candy Land cake on another blog and REALLY wanted to make it! So I convinced Ainsley that she had to have this for her birthday! It was a lot of fun to make and I think it turned out awesome! This year she decided that she would like to have 2 friends come for a sleepover instead of a party. I actually suggested it and crossed my fingers that she would go for it. She did! So I made the cake and took it to her class on her birthday (Nov 28th). The kids LOVED it!! Ainsley officially has the coolest mom in the world!! When Geoff got off work we went to Pizza Hut (her dinner of choice) and she opened her presents. In her own words: "This is the best birthday ever!" I do have to say that for the last 3 or 4 years she has been saying this about various occasions. "Best birthday ever!", "Best Christmas ever!", "Best day ever!" The thing is, she really means it when she says it. It really makes me happy when I hear her say it. I guess we're doing something right.

The actual sleepover is taking place tonight because of Dawne's death last week and we had to postpone the sleepover. I'm kind of looking forward to it. I bought a few cute crafty things for them to do and Aspen is going to a friend's house so Ainsley can have her own little experience without Aspen always having to be there.

Ainsley truly seems like a happy child.

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Tabernacle Cake

About 3 months ago my friend Roxie invited me to her Baptist church's bible study that met on Tuesday mornings. Now, most of you know that I'm LDS (Mormon). Baptists aren't well known for really liking Mormons. But this Baptist and this Mormon are REALLY good friends. I would have to say that we have overcome the preconceived notions of each other and we really love each other and value our friendship. With that being said, the topic of the Bible study was The Tabernacle. So by the end of the 10 weeks we were pretty familiar with the layout of this portable temple during the time of Moses. For our last meeting everybody brought treats and I made this cake. It really wasn't very hard at all. Especially because Geoff actually made all of the pieces (he made them with modeling clay). So, all I had to do was make the cake and the 'tent' around it. It was pretty much a hit. All of the ladies loved it!

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More Dawne

Dawne died on Friday at 6:30 PM. Karin (Geoff's sister) asked if I would help dress Dawne for burial. (For those who are not LDS - this event is done by members of our church. Not by the funeral home staff.) This took place on Saturday afternoon. This quite possibly had to be the hardest thing that I've ever done. But I felt honored to serve Dawne in this capacity. I felt that Karin was very grateful that I was there to help her. Sunday at 2 PM she was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Hastings, MI.

This was difficult. We said our last goodbyes. I was really sad that I had not brought my two oldest daughters. But, they will have an opportunity to say their goodbyes at a memorial service that will be held in two weeks back here in Hastings.

For those of you who never knew Dawne, you would have been a better person if you had. She LOVED her husband, children, and grandchildren. She lived for them. I truly believe that love kept her going so long. Two and a half years ago she was diagnosed with Angio Sarcoma. I don't know a lot about this type of cancer but I believe it's in the fluid and blood. She was given about 2 months to live. She obviously beat the odds. I think she made little goals... hang in there till Christmas... hang in there till her children and grandchildren visit from NC and OK... hang in there till her latest 2 grandkids were born... till she could see those 2 grandkids.... you get the picture. But her body finally gave out.

Dawne was loved by all. I know a lot of people say things like this about people who have died but this is literally true about Dawne. She worked at the local bank for several years (and even some after she was diagnosed and started treatment) answering the phone and usually greeting people as they came in. She knew almost everyone by name and genuinely cared about them and their families. She had a running list of people she cared about with their addresses. Each of their birthdays were acknowledged by Dawne with a handmade card. She probably sent hundreds of cards each year. These weren't just family members (though it did include ALL immediate and extended family). She sent them to all the Relief Society sisters, primary kids, various people that she had met throughout her life even my family members have received many a card. She especially took pride in her homemade Christmas cards each year. It always had a picture of her and Kent with all their kids, their spouses and her grandchildren. I remember one year when we weren't able to all be together at the same time, she photo-shopped in the missing people. When I say photo-shopped I mean she cut out pictures of the missing people with an exact-o knife and pasted them in. She really didn't like computers and I don't think I ever saw her touch one! Ainsley's birthday was last Wednesday. She still received her special birthday card in the mail.

I thought it might be nice to do a little video with pictures of Dawne. Just my little way of acknowledging her. I miss her. I love how she never judged me. How she always loved me regardless of stupid things that I might do or say. She was very forgiving of my short comings. Not everybody is like her.

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Dawne Irene Gibson

I'm in Michigan with Geoff. His mother passed away last night. It's a really sad time right now. I will update when I get home. Print Page