In between holidays...

I didn't get to wish any dear readers a Happy Valentine's Day, and we're about to enjoy a nice break from the daily grind with the lovely bank holiday President's Day, so I will type a quick note.  We have some campers in the back yard tonight (the three older kids and Dad) who were squished in our four man tent discussing the story of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Interesting....

The four younger folks (we added a couple of cute nephews to our crew for the weekend) after a bit of experimenting, all decided to sleep in separate rooms. Which made for no giggly, silly sleepover fun, but I'm sure we'll all be grateful for their choices in the morning after a restful night's sleep (plus sleepover is not a big word for the four and under crowd)!

So instead of finishing up the dishes, as I'd planned, I put my baby to sleep, and then commenced to typing.  Speaking of the baby, she is becoming a busy little thing (little, as in not even 14 lbs. and busy as in using siblings toys as walkers to get around without that tedious, crawling stuff). She also enjoys climbing on the piano, unloading bookshelves, destroying plants, putting everything in her mouth, etc. when she's not begging to eat anything in sight or nurse. We do all adore her highness, but she is asserting her likely position as a caboose on our crazy train, especially with her sleep habits or the greater lack thereof! I do have hope that she will sleep through the night by the time she is a teenager, unless she inherited my mom's genes! :)

We celebrated a birthday in our family last week, and now have a four year old who is showing that he is one year older.  He is much more verbal and sounds more mature when he speaks about things, though it can sometimes be difficult to understand words with "L", "K", "G" and "TH" sounds.  He enjoys letters and numbers and will make simple words from letters, asking "what's that say?" 

He thrilled his preschool teachers when he finally had some extra potty sucess while there.  He's still up and down, and I haven't found an incentive system to motivate him, but he'll usually stay dry unless he's distracted (somewhat typical for boys near his age).

He loves to be outside, driving around in his car from our neighbors, jumping on the trampoline or getting out items from the garage.  He is also too interested in our cars' dashboards right now, and we'll find him inside the car draining the batteries, while experimenting w/ different buttons. He still loves cars, trains, buses, etc. and will often line up tracks, cars, other toys and have them talk to each other. 

He begs to watch TV everyday too, which I remember my other kids obsessing about at this age.  His favorite seems to be "The Magic School Bus" since we found it on one of the channels, but he's still learning that it's only on at a certain time of day. 

He gets along pretty well with his baby sis, but she hates it when he picks her up and tries to take her somewhere.  I need to download a bit of video of him making her laugh one day.  She was hysterical; which isn't typical for her, though she's a happy gal much of the day.

We're so happy to celebrate four years with our David, and we hope he continues to grow and progress. His setbacks have made us grateful that not all of our kids have had his delays, but his sweet patient attitude and personal style are endearing and his sucesses have been highly appreciated when they are attained.

Pics and video will have to come later...

Just a quick one because my house is a sty!

I love reading updates and mentally write several entries a week, but when I actually sit at my computer to accomplish all of my sit down tasks those thoughts have fled. Today I'm typing with a sweet babe in arms who doesn't understand that shrieking every three hours all night long will cause more than one person fatigue the next day.  I wish I could know everytime whether it's teething (no signs), another ear infection, bad dreams, discomfort, hunger or any other possibilities. Shes growing and changing so quickly that I feel like Im pretty patient with her antics because she won't be a baby very long; however, other family members aren't
so thrilled with her strong set of pipes at 3:45 am!

The big kids celebrated 100 days school this year, which made me wonder why I can't remember how many days they have total for the year.  I've been trying to take time to enjoy good weather while we have it, since the three + year old begs me frequently to go out and play "Round the Rosy" on the trampoline. Some days, those 10-15 min. are all my body gets of decent heart pumping benefit, so I comply when he bossily pulls me out the door. Such as now.... 

December in a holiday nut shell

We had a wonderful month with memorable events like building gingerbread houses; birthday treats in Mrs. J's classroom; seeing lights around town from a school bus (thanks to our surprise visitor for joining us); bouncing with next door neighbors; seeing Zoolights (which were fun, but better thanks to the pre-party and free tickets); 




a neighborhood Polar Express party; a jingle jog at school (where mom and dad each got a turn at keeping up with their fast kids); a bit of time with cousins (though sickness kept that to a minimum); a Cub Scout who has now earned eight arrow point and is now a Webelo and always has several projects going; a bookworm girl who spent the month re-reading the entire Harry Potter (minus book 7) and Fablehaven and Septimus Heap series, with a few Roald Dahl and Chronicles of Narnia books thrown in, while still interacting with her family when required; a six year old who learned to play "My Favorite Things" on the piano while intermittently perfecting a front flip, riding a bigger bike, and beating Dad at horse; a preschooler who gets sick more often than all the older siblings combined, but still got to attend some fun preschool activities while progressing and regressing in language and potty skills (and spent many afternoons laying on the backyard cement driving cars through dirt, refusing naps and chatting with strangers while running errands);  the eruption of two teeth for our youngest family member (along with lots of grouchiness, diaper rash and diarrhea) while she crawled throughout the house with random items in her mouth like a puppy, searching for items to climb; she has now earned the award for the half-year old who sleeps the least; the parents in the house are now wondering if and when they'll ever get a decent nights' sleep again and what the future holds for their little "big" family. Life is so good, even in the midst of all the craziness! We tried to spend a few moments most days reading a bit from the scriptures about the Savior and are planning to begin the New Testament for our daily reading as a family.  We are grateful for the scriptures and the stories from Jesus' life that provide ideas for ways we can learn and serve others. He is our ultimate example for everything we do in life and we are trying our best to follow him.

The "big kids" spent free time building

places like a "Diagon Alley Christmas Village"

and a small nativity from Legos (you have to look closely to see it amidst the mess)!

Miss Little ripping and eating paper....



making faces about the items found inside....





 and using her boxes as leverage to stand.

Busy Christmas Season

We've been enjoying the craziness that comes with the Christmas season and 5 birthdays from Thanksgiving to Christmas. A few days ago we had 32 people in our home for Thanksgiving and had a great time enjoying the friendship and food. With 13 pies for dessert, we all stuffed ourselves for several days!


Along with the terrific holiday events, we also have had the normal crazy routine which has kept us hopping. For instance, tonight at 8:00, David was fervently avoiding bed, I asked him why he had left his room. He said, "I need to go potty." When I showed him the toilet and said to go ahead, he replied seriously, "I'm hungwee." Since he hadn't finished dinner, I told him it was fine and to go ahead. He quickly responded, "I'm too tired!"
The circle of desires went three rounds before I finally convinced him that he had enough energy to eat.
He was very funny in church today as well. He found my used yelllow tithing slips in my scripture bag and started distributing them to the lovely senior citizens in the row behind him. I belatedly noted the fact when he started gladhanding like a politician. Embarrassed yet again, I collected the slips from the chuckling grampas and grammas, who no doubt felt better about their place in life.

Finally, we have enjoyed our advent calendar with scriptures and songs (and chocolates) and have been reading "The Forgotten Carols" with our kids.  It's been great fun.

 Aztec dwelling and garden

 Anasazi pueblo and kiva

Demonstrating proper technique on the  court

 Rocking out on the tramp

 Orange flowers are mesmerizing

 The chef and her helper

 The kids' Lego Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade

 Hagrid's hut

 the castle

 Birthday kid with his ice cream cake (Yum!)

Having fun with the baby

We hope to say hi again to all of you this season. In case we don't get around to it, we love you and hope you have a good Christmas season!

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to Utah. It was great to catch up with  many of you while there. Sorry that the post is short! 

Enjoying the little schoolhouse in the museum

Playing football with long lost buddies.

Visiting with Great Grandma, who we adore

Pumpkins that we carved with family

Loving the chilly canyon air

Off to the rescue at the Treehouse Museum

Proper technique at the rodeo!

The bull's a little more difficult - hang on!

Learnin' the ropes of farmin'

Playing a fisherman, a starfish and a dragon king in an impromptu play.  Stars!

Playground fun with Matthew

Sweet sisters



Ye haw!

I have a weakness for the word free.

I've been contemplating this word lately: FREE. I got an email for a contest from Cottonbabies (where I got this little green diaper for cheap because there was something imperfect about it).

The email said I could get some cute little Bumgenius 4.0s for free (I've wanted to try them, but I bought the allotment of diapers that we need). All I needed to do was spread the word about it in a creative way, aka, a blog post. I also entered by writing something lame on facebook.

But it got me to thinking about the word itself. Especially because I was thinking about entering the contest yesterday, September 11th. We took our oldest two kids to an Orchestral concert last night that had a pictorial tribute about 9/11 and lots of beautiful and patriotic music (and it was free--though we did make a donation)! But I was observing how it was emphasized that we live in the land of the free.

Some of twins' friends sang in a choir featuring the song "Simple Gifts" which I came to love as a girl from Aaron Copeland's music. Here are the lyrics: 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gain'd, To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd, To turn, turn will be our delight, 'Til by turning, turning we come round right.

This song is a religious Shaker tune that is referring to "the gift" of their faith. Freedom is obviously a gift also, so I thought that it was a beautiful tribute expressing American patriotism.

In contemplating all of this, I thought about how often the word free is mentioned in the scriptures. Here are a few: Romans 8:2 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

John 8:31-36 "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for eve; but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

2 Nephi:27 "Wherefore men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

Helaman 14:30 "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free."

God had a hand in the direction of how this country was established, paving the way for religious freedom and human rights which many other countries have now also incorporated into their governments. God also gave his Son as the perfect example of how to live, and gave us the freedom to choose whether we would follow. While I know I make mistakes in my ability to choose, and I'm learning that even things touted as free have their cost, (though it isn't always monetary), I am so grateful that I have the chance to experience what the word free means.

Miss Sweetie got her three month pics...

She is a busy, social, little gal, usually wiggling, growling, grunting or cooing. She smiles at anyone in her radar, and will laugh in delight if you talk to her or play with her. Sleep is becoming less desirable (I don't know what she thinks she will miss), but if you cuddle her, she may eventually sleep in your arms for awhile. :) Eating is still the main mode, of course, and she does it frequently, though sometimes distractedly, stopping to chat with mom or see who is around.

She rolls over from tummy to back, though she'll often wiggle around on her tummy, lifting her head and inching her way off the blanket. She will sit up for several seconds if she's positioned just right, and will pull her head up to do a few crunches when she's laying down. She loves to push off of things so that she's standing.

She is quite petite, though long. At two months, she weighed around ten pounds; I'm guessing she now weighs twelve. People often say she now looks most like her bro. Andrew. She is happy to wear her cloth diapers, and will often growl a little when she's too wet, or grunt to let me know she'd prefer not to fill up her pants with that gooey stuff, so we'll go to the potty chair where she waits to push it out until she's in the right position! She is quite the character!

I'm still not allowed to eat most dairy products (though yogurt seems to be okay!) because she has bloody stools when I do, but we've worked out some compromises (like part of a pizza ordered without cheese :?, or I have a different treat when the rest of the family has ice cream, etc.). I really don't mind soymilk and such, and I wasn't the ultimate milk drinker before anyway, so it's liveable for now. She's definitely worth it, just like all the little sacrifices we make for our kids!

The kids wanted to do a video. . .

. . . so we made one. It is short and sweet, but is better than many Hollywood productions. Warning that is PG rated for butchery and assorted silliness. I also tacked on a photo collage of recent photos if you're interested.

Also, we've never done this before, so there is a good chance that it won't work and will be a false alarm. We hope not. :)
For those of you recieving this via emai, sorry for clogging your inboxes. You can probably best view it from the blog, gibbyfam.blogspot.com.

Love y'all!

Costa Rica Report

Well since my beautiful wife already announced I'd be giving a travel report, here goes. :)

Although 80% of the time was work in the warehouse of our factory, I did spend a little time out experiencing the country. On Saturday, I did a one day trip into the jungle to see what it was like.




First we drove through the "cloud forest," a high altitude rain forest usually eveloped by clouds.


The jungle there was about 60 or so feet high, with very very dense trees, vines, and everything you'd expect in a jungle, except that it was fairly cool, about 65%. I wasn't so much raining as misting.

At one point we passed a small river bed with two parallel rivers running through it. One was bright white and foamy, the other was a little larger and deep mud colored. Apparently, they share the same channel for about 10 miles before they finally join. It made for quite the picture, although I didn't have my camera ready. :(

Finally we stopped and climbed into a boat, which we took down the river for an hour and a half. Along the river banks there were all sorts of cool fauna, including lots of howler monkeys, an iguana in a tree, some cool birds, and a goat. I don't know this, but I think the crocodile was a crock, meaning a planted fake.
When we got to the jungle hut, we rested and ate lunch (gallo pinto, chicken, and sweet potatoes), then rode some horses into the jungle.

After 20 minutes, we got to a huge tree by a meadow. We climbed the ladder 60 feet high and started cruising through the jungle canopy on zip lines. We did this for an hour or so before we'd had enough. It reminded me of the Star Wars world of Endor with the trees up in the canopy of the jungle.

About 45 feet up.

Here's a poison dart frog. I didn't pick him up!If you're still reading, I apologize for the long post! I'll also throw in a few pictures from my Sunday walk home from church to show you some of the local architecture.