Random pictures from the last month or so...

I just hate it when the "feet" of the jamma's don't stay in the right place... so we fix it with hair bands (don't worry... they're not too tight)
Isn't this just the most stylish daddy you've ever seen?
If I could draw a devil, I would've...
We had a sleepover with cousins here. It started out with Kenna and Gwennie here on the "shag-nasty"... and ended up with sisters side by side- and they say they want separate ROOMS?... hmmmm.... Jocilyn and Hunter started out on the twin mattress in separate sleeping bags... ended up that siblings were together, isn't that sweet? It was a fun treat to have them- I'm glad we waited until a night when uncle Matthew was home to help though, because not one of them slept through the night without some sort of incident. Family is good.

There are 3 new posts, one per child...

Toothfairy in town

Jocilyn is my kid. By the time I was 3 I had something like 6 cavities at my first dental visit (mom, correct me if I'm wrong...). Joc has had more dental work than any of my other kids- so far Maesyn has been perfect! She's had to have a couple of extractions to make room for other teeth and also one or two just because we were beyond saving the tooth- so she has a space saving retainer in her mouth- in this pic you can also see a silver capped tooth in the back top left of her mouth. Anyway, she has really started losing teeth on her own. She lost her right front tooth around Christmas and the left has been getting looser and looser- last night she was able to pull it. Matthew thinks I'm hitting her or something (just kidding) he just didn't realize that they all fall out close together leaving very toothless grins...

Her cousin, Hunter, had gotten pixie/fairy dust when the tooth fairy visited him. So when I rang the tooth fairy I added that as a request on Jocilyn's behalf, she was even willing to take the dust in lieu of money (wow!). I wasn't really very excited about fairy dust because I thought, "yuck, on the sheets? Firstly, what if she breaths it? Secondly, I have to change already clean sheets..." The tooth fairy is clean though, and thoughtful of moms having to change sheets... Here is a pic of how she delivered the dust and money combo- fancy! Jocilyn was thrilled.

Her bottom tow teeth just fill in that gap- looks like very buck teeth (she's ready to play the part of the Easter bunny now!)

The toothfairy left her a note attatched to her money last visit, stitched to her pillow with dental floss. She has very nice, TINY, writing and there was pixie glitter all over the note- it read: "Jocilyn- I'm sorry that I missed you last night. I've been very busy. Please take care of the rest of your teeth. I don't want to come back for any more that the dentist had to pull becuase they were rotten. Brush, brush, brush! Set a good example for your sisters! ... Sincerely, The Tooth Fairy"

... She is very creative- that note has been floating around my house for at least 2 months- so I took a pic and threw it away- paper is my nemesis. Anyway... until the fairy strikes again!

Snow helper...

We had a white Christmas here. It was very pretty and the falling snow is so peaceful. McKenna decided that shoveling it was very fun and so she would help her dad out each day to keep up the walkways. Here she is, showing her muscles- she is such a worker, that one. She is in afternoon kindergarten and so while she would wait for the bus she shoveled... I think Mr. Lynn, her bus driver gets a kick out of her, I know I do!

Feet are that sweet...

Not quite time for them to "pitter-patter"... but to be this cute the time doesn't matter... okay, bad rhyming skills... I love that her kicks say "pitter" and "patter"... sweet feet...

I just think they are so cute!

I like to believe that this is the look of, "thanks for dressing me cuter than you mom..." or maybe that look is, "... reeealy???" But it isn't the look of kicking and screaming, so I'll take it. Why are little feet so cute? so edible, so kissable and sweet? and the shoes... oh, the shoes...

This is dedicated to the one I love...

December 22, 1998- December 22, 2008- with much more to come

This was our 10th anniversary. I can hardly believe it's bee that long. To all of you who are married, remember the early days when you'd meet a couple who had been married for 1,2,5 or so years and it seemed like- "WOW! That's a long time, wonder if we'll get there in one piece!"... do you remember that? or were Matthew and I the only ones?

Anyway- it's been a great 10 years. We have gone through a lot together, truly the first year was the hardest, I think we'd both agree. We have been through great highs and some pretty hard lows... and we aren't done. We have lived in 2 states, traveled to at least 8 states (that were the actual destination), driven from Idaho to Southbend, IN (hit lots of states in that trip) just the two of us- that was a fun road trip for me, I love to travel with Matthew. We've owned 3 homes, lived in 1 apt, a guest house, my parents home while they were tending to the England's properties in UT, and now are getting ready to move to another home next month. We've owned 10 cars/trucks as personal vehicles, we've done several business ventures Matthew's had 4 jobs working for others (America West, University of Phoenix Online, Statewide Interpreting Services, and Sorenson communication) and 3 as his own boss (Quixtar,Boulder Creek Vinyl and it's subsidiaries, and now Prepaid). I've worked for 7 healthcare companies through the years (Desert Samaritan Medical Center, Banner Desert Medical Center, Healthwaves, Passport Health, First Health, Mercy Medical Center, and now Liberty Dialysis). We have 3 beautiful girls to show for our time together and a dog named birdie (Matthew would now like me to add that she is a kick #*% dog... let the record reflect that please)- on that dog note- we've also had Sinatra (which half of my family can claim as having him- he's definitely been moved through family members), Dexter, and Cymber, and Pepper. I am no longer allowed to have pets as I often think I want them and then find out they are more work than I want to deal with.

Anyway- we are sure happy to still be together and very much look forward to our future together. There is truly no other person I would rather go through life with- the ups, downs and day to day... He is the best! Here's to 10, 20, 30, 50 more years!

Christmas 2008

It all started on Christmas Eve...

I had wrapping to do and they knew it, so once they were safely locked away and too afraid to cheat... we were off... (you can't see, but the baby monitor was this side of the gates to hear if they tried to take them down)

This year started a tradition of new PJ's and slippers for the kids on Christmas Eve... I think next year for the mama too! Anyway- this year McKenna was the first up- she came in around 7 and woke us up to go and see if Santa had come and if he'd brought anything. Matthew has us all hold at the top of the stairs and come down youngest first... here we are with our crazy Christmas morning hair- wild and all fly away... At our house there really aren't any presents under the tree until Santa puts them there. He even places the ones from mom and dad, etc. That is a Gibbens tradition- and I believe the reason is likely to make it that much more exciting to walk in and behold a great gift explosion under the tree on Christmas morning.... I could be wrong- but it is a pretty dramatic thing to go to bed with 1-2 under there and wake up to this... Santa also tinsels our tree when he comes...

The Girls check stockings first- Stockings are another thing that have taken on a heavy Gibbens influence- for better or worse...I like the Slade way it's a lot more tidy... Gibbens stockings are full to overflowing with nuts, candy and a piece of fruit. It was funny last year the girls got oranges in their stockings and Kenna hollers out, "Hey! Santa knows I hate oranges!" So this year she got an apple and she made a comment that he must have remembered this year not to give her another orange... it was pretty cute. The biggest hit for the girls were MP3 players. We kept having to tell them to turn the volume down, to which they'd reply, "WHAT?... I CAN'T HEAR YOU, WHAT DID YOU SAY?" I use to hate it when my parents made me do that. Headphones are just better loud- until you are the parent and those are your babies ears... even though we have sign language on standby, I think I'd rather preserve their sense of hearing... Matthew's favorite gift was actually one of my gifts. He got me a little thingy- I don't know the name of it- but it makes it so that the laptop picks up the wireless signal in the house so that I can check my blog while feeding the baby- very exciting- we have all thoroughly enjoyed that.

Well, it took me a while, but there is the Christmas summary. We hope you all enjoyed the season and were able to reflect on the Savior... Hope you are on your way to a very happy new year!