We are here, we are here, we are here!

 

Hello, let us reintroduce ourselves. We are The Family Gibbons: Daddy, Mommy, Chelsea, Lucie, and Lily. Chelsea will be 3 years old in November and my twins are already 1 1/2 years old! We had a major computer crash at the beginning of the year and we are just barely reinstalling some of the programs that make blogging easy (iPhoto among them). Now, why didn't we reinstall these lovely programs earlier? Well, we've been in the process of moving since January. Now, when I say process there are certain steps to selling, buying, and moving. First you must de-clutter your home. When we did this we "cleaned house." Which means we took everything out besides beds, a tv, kitchen table, and a few couches; we wanted our house to show well. Which it did. Most of our neighbors thought we had moved long before we did because they couldn't see anything on the walls. Then when we finally found a buyer the process of last minute fixes to bunches of paper work began = busy, busy. Our house finally closed, we moved our belongings to Michael's parents' house and then flew to New York for about a week! We came home to an entirely new living situation. We have now purchased Michael's parents' home (we love it) and they are waiting to move into a home they are building in Bountiful. In the meantime, we haven't had great access to our belongings. I set up our computer about a month ago and found our camera recently, too. So, let the blogging begin (again)! I know the three of you that read my blog have been missing my posts - never fear because I have also now added the Blogger App to my iPhone! I am so happy to announce I've been adopted to the iPhone family. I absolutely love it! Do I wish I could find a reasonably cheaper plan? Yes. But, two more years of AT&T here we come.

The pictures I posted are of my girls and I at the Brigham City Temple Open House. It was for a YW activity and in the middle of the day so I was super excited to bring them. I love Young Women's, by the way! I'm an advisor to the Mia Maids and this is one calling I could have forever!

Happy Birthday to Chelsea! and a little bit more.

This year Chelsea's birthday was on a Saturday, it was so fun to celebrate all day long. I made her some yummy "Vitamin C" Waffles for breakfast, we went to lunch at McDonald's and had dinner at Chuck-A-Rama (best decision we could've made - endless Mac&Cheese and Chocolate Milk)! Right before dinner we took her to Boondock's to play in the Kiddie Area, only $3; however, we might try that again when she's 7. It was a little bit big for her... After the fun day, we opened some gifts and had some delicious birthday cake. Chelsea received so many fun gifts from her grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles! We want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for making Chelsea's birthdays special.

Who's Who...

A little trip to the zoo, anyone?

Chelsea CANNOT get enough of this snow! We have her boots, coat, gloves, and scarf right by the back porch for anytime she wants to play with (or eat) the snow...

With all that snow-fun, there's always some room for snuggling with her dolls and dou-dou watching a little "Thumbelina."

Celebrating the Christmas Season at Great Gram's house - playing with her hospital toys! Thanks for the "heated throw blanket" and the cute baby & toddler clothes, Gram.

Cute Girlies and Birthday Celebration! A Picture Update.

So grateful for these kind of carts!

I love going shopping with my girls.

Yes, I do love being a mother!

On the way to celebrate Michael's BYU Birthday Bash!

(Michael's Dad made us all Steak Sandwiches and then we watched the BYU Game)

Right after I made the cake!

(Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting with a little bit of red food coloring,

white Good&Plenty, and vanilla Tootsie Rolls - with coconut/green food coloring for the grass)

Right after Chelsea discovered I made the cake! :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you SO much.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your 26 years of life!

Heart Strings and Things.

I don't think it's fair that 2 months can just fly by without me noticing! But it's because we are having so much fun! I love my little family. These girls are growing up so fast! Lily is about to cut her first tooth. And I'm pretty sure my twins can crawl circles around your twins (and circles is about the extent of it...). Lucie does the cutest little grunt you've ever heard. They both are eating better and I can actually get a spoon into their mouths. I had to use a dropper for the past two months because they just wouldn't open their mouths for a spoon (they love their mommy)! I feel so blessed to be able to nurse these babies and can really feel the special bond we all three share because of it. I truly love being a mother. At an Elder's Quorum social tonight I was talking to some couples about how I don't know how I've survived these past 8 months. And really it feels like it's been one long day. In the words of Jacob, "our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream." I love my life! I love how the days flow together and I get to spend so much time with these sweethearts. They truly are heaven-sent. Chelsea is turning into the sweetest little girl. The other night when Michael was putting her to bed he laid her down and pointed to heart saying, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart." And she repeated back to him, "Heart, heart heart. Hi heart." She does things like that all day long, I love it! She has started repeating prayers and loves scripture time with daddy (I wish all of you could see his scripture-time dramatics, it's amazing)!

There is so much to be grateful for and I can only begin to count the blessings. I truly can feel the Lord's hand in our little family's life. I know Heavenly Father is aware of us and our daily struggles (the spilled juice, the messy dishes, or even the unfolded laundry). These struggles may seem small but to us the are big accomplishments at the end of the day. I know my capacity to handle the little things has been enlarged by a loving Heavenly Father. In a Stake Relief Society meeting lately, a member of our Stake Presidency shared an analogy about stress. He shared that it is through "stress" that silver is purified and the way the Refiner knows when the silver is finished is when he can see His image reflected in the silver. I truly feel it is the same way for us. That the stress we feel in our lives is our Heavenly Father's way to help us because a little bit more like Him. But, the biggest part of it all is that we don't have to go it alone. He is right there molding and shaping us into the beauty He knows we are. I want to thank the "angels" in my life who help me daily to relieve my stress and help me raise my sweet little family. 

Our Little Princesses!

Happy 6 month Birthday to Lily & Lucie! Has it gone by fast for you? Because I have felt like the past 6 months have flown by... They both are in the middle of teething, none have cut through yet, but they are gnawing on everything, including each other! It is so fun to watch these girls interact. They also have mastered the art of rolling over and are starting to scoot a little bit, even if it is backwards. These girls are also so smiley and happy! We couldn't feel more blessed with how healthy and happy these twins are.


Chelsea is in the stage of exploration! She wants to know how everything feels, sounds, and tastes like. The other day we were playing outside and she heard someone playfully scream from a neighboring yard. She of course couldn't resist the urge to copy it (same pitch, mind you) but then she discovered something...her echo! She kept doing it over and over again just to hear the echo, the look of discovery on her face was priceless!

Chelsea loves animals! She's had these sounds mastered for a while but this is the first time I actually caught them on video. Don't worry, she doesn't have a huge growth on her back, we were pretending she was a turtle.

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.