Bread, bread, and more bread.

For some reason I have had a huge desire to become great at baking bread. I've really wanted to perfect the art - Not just know how to follow the recipe, but to know that putting water in the oven along with the bread makes the crust more crispy, or knowing to let the yeast sit until it is completely dissolved before I add it to the oil, sugar, and salt, even knowing that patience in letting the dough rise long enough is always worth it in the end. So a 1 1/2 years ago I made my first loaf of French bread and this is how it turned out:


Not bad looking, but it just didn't taste right. It tasted too flour-y and was very thick. Michael was very nice about it and told me he loved it, but for the most part, it didn't taste anything like the French bread he actually had in France. My problem is that I always thought that the bread isn't supposed to be sticky anymore after I've mixed it all together so I kept adding and adding flour, when really the extra flour just makes the bread heavy. So over the past few months I've searched and searched for a recipe that would taste amazing and look good, and have also done a lot of reading on how to make the bread the right consistency: fluffy, a little crisp on the outside, will go along with anything or will taste great plain. And this is what I've come up with:

The glazed look on the crust is a coat of egg whites I added before I let it rise for the last time.

My mother-in-law (who tells me that she hardly ever eats bread) has now asked me to make it every time I come over for a Sunday dinner. Isn't she nice? I have a long way to go still because all I can make is French bread and I'm still learning the tricks of that trade. But, my next journey is finding a good Sandwich bread recipe . . . Wish me luck on my continued adventures in the world of bread.

Twin Arm Wrestle - winner gets to eat first.

What's been going on at the Gibbons' home?

Guess what!?! All my girls are asleep for the night, yes, it is only 7:49 pm. This is saying a lot for our little family since last night it took until 11:30 pm for all of them to finally go to bed (we started putting them to bed at 7:30). Why is this happening, you ask? Because we just got back from the funnest vacation we've ever taken as a family and some nights we didn't get even back to our hotel until 11:30 pm! We spent the last week in California going to the Beach, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Old Town, Hollywood & DISNEYLAND! Oh my goodness, was it a BLAST! Here's a little bit of what we did:


We started out the trip by going to Sea World. I'd never been before and it was a BLAST! I already want to go back. We love seeing the Dolphins, Sea Otters, and Shamu (to name a few). But, Chelsea's favorite part about Sea World was that there was a Sesame Street Land - they had Elmo and Grouch rides - here's a vid of Chelsea during one of their shows:

The souvenir we got for Chelsea at Sea World was a stuffed Shamu! When she first got it she wouldn't let it go of it and kept making it jump while saying, "Jump, jump, jump." It was so cute! Right after we gave it her we introduced her to Shamu . . . if you've never seen Shamu in person, she is HUGE!!! Now every time Chelsea sees her stuffed Shamu, before she hugs it, she Roars! I think it really scared her at first.

We had so many good pictures from our trip that I decided to do a slideshow of the pics. We had such an amazing time as a family! We came back rejuvenated, filled with more love than ever for each other! Thanks also to Bob, Liz, Maddie, Jim, Mimi, Papa, Megan, Luke, Brocko, Sophie, Guy, Nannies (Happy Birthday), and Aubrea for also making this such an Amazing vacation!

And presenting . . .

I know it's been 4 1/2 months since my babies were born, but I wanted to show you my husband's handiwork . . . He took the pictures AND designed the birth announcement. I sure love these girls so much!

A Trip to the Zoo!

We decided to splurge this year and get a Zoo Membership! We've already saved money with it - we LOVE the Zoo. Chelsea has now mastered the following animal sounds: Monkey, Tiger (Lion, Dinosaur, or anything with scary teeth), Horse, Cow, Elephant, Dog (her favorite), kitty cat, bird, and I'm trying to teach her Gorilla. We have a lot of fun together as a family! We especially love it when Daddy gets to come along on our adventures:

Thanks, Daddy!

It was so cool - the leopard kept pacing back and forth. Right before we took this picture Chelsea's nose was practically against the glass - you can tell she is a little bit unsure about how close this Big Cat was.

We toted our cute babies around in a wagon! (now we have a minivan and can bring our TRIPLE stroller to the Zoo - which we did once already)

Of course, we must end the day with some Ice Cream! (I hope it was better tasting than the sand she sampled earlier)

Happy 1 Month Birthday!

My girls are 1-month-olds already!! They are growing up so fast. They can focus better, follow voices, and both Lily & Lucie have smiled at me while they were wide awake! They are still pretty hard to tell apart, but Lily so far has a little bit more chubs than Lucie and a little less hair in the front, but even then I haven't taken off their name bracelets - I would hate to get them confused permanently.

The best news is that they are becoming better sleepers! Lily slept a whole 7 hours straigtht last night!!! Lucie didn't sleep quite as long, but she is still making a lot of progress - 4 hours straight - which I think is amazing for a baby that is only 4 weeks old (Chelsea didn't sleep even that long until 6 months)! We've been pretty determined to helpthem get their nights and days straightened out. I make sure to get them up around 9 am (varies, obviously), feed them, then at least change their clothes, so they know it's morning and time to play. We have them on a Eat, Play, Sleep schedule and I usually feed them at the same time. I like this kind of schedule because I never feel confused about what they need. I can be sure I fed them, and then when they start to get fussy while we're playing (which is tummy/talking time) then it's time to go take a nap.

I couldn't do it without all the help I've received in the first month - thanks to everyone!! who've helped me clean my house, watch my Chelsea Rose, or make us dinners (plus I know there's been tons more you've done). Recovery from my C-section has been slow but steady. I definitely am learning a lot through this experience! And I can't end this post without acknowledging how helpful Michael has been through this whole experience - he is the sweetest. He helps me cook and clean - on Sunday I didn't do a single chore or make a single dish because he stepped in a did it all so I could have a "day of rest." He and Chelsea also are becoming quite the duo - he helps with her so much, because I'm not supposed to lift her yet (2 more weeks!).

These little girls are angels; we are so blessed to have them in our family!

Happy Birthday, Lily & Lucie!

February 21, 2011

8:11 am
52 seconds apart

Lucie Nicole

6 lbs 13 oz
19 inches

Lily Michele
7 lbs 0 oz
19 inches

We named them after our mothers, Lucie (Michael's Mom) & Michele (My Mom) as well as both Michael and I have sisters with Nicole their middle name, Laura & Brook. We feel so blessed that they came so safely. My biggest prayer was that they would be able to come home from the hospital with me and they did! We have the best family and are loving getting to know our beautiful girls!

Lily & Lucie were born on Michael's brother, Grant's, birthday. He entered the MTC two days later, I say, that was a close call, we're so happy he got to meet them before he left.