GIbson gang

Merry Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:41:00.000-08:00

We just got back from Grandma and Bucka (Grandpa) Gibsons' after a great night of soup/chili, rolls, veggies, etc., and singing and sharing the story of the birth of the Savior. Of course Max couldn't keep himself from jumping off of the couch, which always gets him in trouble with Bucka. They are trying so hard to remember that Christmas is not all about getting. It's a hard lesson at this age. So...I'm sitting here waiting for Mr. Claus to get home so we can get busy with the big set-up.

Max learning to decipher gender

2010-10-05T21:22:00.000-07:00

This morning Max was looking at our dog Jack and asked, "How do you tell if it's a girl dog?" I told him it's the same way you tell with people. He then asked if the way you could tell a boy dog was the same as you could tell with humans. I said, "what does a boy have that a girl doesn't?" After a long pause, he replied, "A shotgun." I don't know what you call it in your house, but he's referring to his plastic, toy shotgun, not anything else. So, then i said, what do boys have on their bodies that girls don't? and he said, "Boy clothes." We just left it at that.

Bryn's music selections

2010-09-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

Bryn started preschool yesterday!!! When her teacher came out for car-line, she said that she had been working with Bryn looking at different material and there was one with daisies. The conversation went as follows:
Ms. Edith: These are daisies.
Bryn: I like Daisy Dukes.
Ms. Edith: Do you know what Daisy Dukes are?
Bryn: Daisy Dukes with bikinis on top.

Gotta love that kid!

why i can't kill max

2010-04-13T16:06:00.001-07:00

Max and Bryn decided to make some mud and play in it...totally fine with me as long as it stays outside. then, max completely covered bryn (should have taken pictures) from head to foot, including her face, in mud. still no huge problem until i saw that they got a bunch on the back patio and sliding glass door. i was pretty upset and max started crying and said, "you can't kill me, cuz then you won't have a boy". i decided to keep him.

carrot jam

2010-04-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

On monday, i made a bunch of strawberry freezer jam. Today, max went out to the garden and picked a carrot and came in and said, "Mom, now you can make carrot jam".

Funny kids

2010-02-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

Max recently said, "You're not the boss! Obama's the boss."

Bryn recently said, "I love my family, cuz they hit me not".

Max's amazing language acquisition

2010-02-05T07:24:00.000-08:00

Max got some great new white tube socks with a black stripe on the top and FILA on the back of the socks. He said, "Do you know what FILA means? It's another word in Spanish for black."

Lu's birthday bath

2009-12-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

For pictures from "The Haircut"

2009-12-01T12:46:00.001-08:00

Ben's sister Amber came over and trimmed it up and did a fantastic job, I might add. She has all the pictures. You will be able to see them at amberlovesryan.blogspot.com

Gibson Hair Salon ala Max

2009-11-30T11:29:00.000-08:00

So.. I know it's been forever since I posted anything, but i just couldn't resist on this one. We had a fantastic Thanksgiving in the west valley with my family. On Thanksgiving day, my sister, Nicole gave 9 haircuts to various family members (Ben, Max and I included). So, she started with my nephews and had them take their shirts off and at the end swept up all the hair. That is the set-up for what happened at our house today while i was being an over-achiever and making dinner at 11:00 a.m. Earlier, Max had gotten the scissors out of Ben's office and Bryn had gotten some pens and a stapler and some post-its. I told Max to put the scissors back, because he was done using them. In the crunch-time of my dinner preparations, i turn around and can't process what i'm seeing: blonde locks of hair all over my living room. Bryn, with her shirt off, with the most fantastic haircut i've ever seen a 4-year old boy give and of course, the broom and dust pan to clean up, because they're on the carpet and it makes sense to sweep up the hair off the carpet, right? i couldn't believe it, her hair was so cute and had curly ends, etc. so...if she was the lead singer in a punk band, her hair would be perfect, unfortunately, she's just a cute 3-year old with a hack-job hairdo. Now, i'm not sure she's going to let anyone trim it up. It does take me back, all the way to being a 4 or 5-year-old. I was supposed to be napping and somehow got ahold of my mom's scissors and proceeded to cut my bangs to the scalp and anything else i could reach. so, my grandma was in town at the time and did her best to clean things up with my hairdo. The next day at church, she was furious to hear that when people asked me who had cut my hair, my response of course, was "Glamma". As Nicole said, it's a childhood rite of passage, so Bryn, when you're old enough to appreciate this, like when your 4-year-old cuts your 3-year-old's hair, you will want to laugh and throttle them at the same time. Just laugh.

4th of July- Welcome to Eagar

2009-09-12T16:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great time with everyone that was there. We stayed in tents outside the cabin and got to watch our kids run around like we used to.

Good times with Bree, Kennedy, Ellie and Max

He was pretty excited about the whole thing.

Bryn kept saying we were at the Hooray (instead of parade), it was hilarious.

Here's the whole gang (except Rachelle, the incredibly talented photographer).

Fruit Kabobs

2009-09-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

This summer while we were staying in our interim post-trailer, pre-house condo this summer, we had a lot of fun. We went to the Ranch Market and loaded up on fruit and skewers and had a great time.

As you can see, Bryn liked to sample the goods as we go.

What a cutie, and yes, he is where something.

The winning kabob of the day, I think we saved it for Daddy.

Not sure what Max is watching

2009-08-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today, it was fun and humid and rainy and we went to the park in the middle of August and had a picnic with our new neighbors (not Mr. Fish)...actually, the little girl's name is Izzy, so of course my kids call her Sophie. Anyway, Max comes up to us and says, "When we get home, we're going to get a knife and cut up Bryn and then we'll cook her and eat her and she'll taste just like chicken." Not sure where to go with that one.

Last week, we were driving and Max looks at me and says, "Mom, we don't have any African-Americans in my Primary". Hmm.

To kiss a Fish

2009-08-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post our nice neighbors. I thought you all might really like to hear about one of them, Mr. Fish. The day we're moving in, we get a knock on the door and standing there is a very nice, older gentleman who introduces himself as Mr. Fish. Sometime into the conversation, I asked him how old he is and he said, "I don't know, I was born in 1919". So, he lives right across the street and we see him every few days and chat for a minute. On Monday morning, I get up really early and see him walking his poodle. I head out to the Y to go swimming and he walks up to my car to chat. After a little conversation, I'm just wrapping things up and he says, "I need a kiss". Now, anyone that knows my grandpa knows that he was a sloppy lip-kisser, so i have experience with this sort of thing. So he leans into my car and kisses me on the lips. Then...he says, "I need another one"... now, i do have standards, of course, so I graciously decline and he say, "Just one?" Yep, just one, but i'm here anxiously awaiting the next one.

FInally settled...

2009-08-13T22:32:00.000-07:00

So, let me take everyone back to the beginning of June. Still thoroughly enjoying trailer park life and just hoping to stay there forever, we make an offer on a house in Mesa and shocker...the bank accepts our offer. It's a fixer off of Alma School and the 202 and we are totally excited to be heading back to the Eastside. We make the offer on Monday and the bank accepts that same day. I also find out that Max gets into a preschool that I'm really excited about that is in Mesa. So, Tuesday, I'm outside in the driveway letting the kids ride their bikes in the street and a lady walks by with her daughter. We start talking about life in the trailer park and how much we love it and I mention that we'd gotten a house in Mesa and we'd need to sell the trailer. (We hadn't told anyone we were selling yet). I say that we could carry the note and she mentions that her sister might be interested. I think, great...and an hour later her sister and sister's husband show up, love it (who wouldn't, did I mention it's a trailer?) and SOLD. They're about to have their first baby, so we say we'll be out beginning of July. Our house is closing July 17th and has about a month's worth of fix-up, so I go on VRBO and find a great little condo right by my old apartment on Mesa Drive and Brown. Things are going great, all the furniture is in a POD waiting to be unloaded and July 10th, our lender calls...you don't qualify for the house. WOW. Well, apparently, when they looked at Ben's corporate taxes, they didn't like that he lost money last year (i bet they didn't make any money, but it's not my place to say, right?)...So, we start scrambling, I ask some friends to carry the note and that doesn't work out, so I say, what can you do? We figure the house isn't the right thing for us. So, we start looking for rentals and find this cool old house off of university and stapley that looks and feels just like grandma's house (down to the drapes, countertops and appliances). It has a mother-in-law type set-up, so Ben has an office and we have a toyroom totally separate from the house. It takes the property management a week to tell us if we have the place and finally we move in. That was July 28th and we are happy and settled and have a big backyard and nice neighbors and are just glad to be alive!!

The Trailer Chronicles

2009-05-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like the spin cycle in a home that can be transported to another location. It's like 4.7 on the Richter scale and it's the whole house. I was in my bathroom the other day and had some laundry going and heard the sound of running water a little more than normal. I bolted all the way across the trailer (sense my sarcasm?) into the kitchen to find water POURING out from under my washer. Much to my chagrin, it was running very rapidly straight into my air conditioning vents. If you've never been in a trailer, the heating and cooling comes from little vents in the floor that you have to make sure not to cover up with furniture, or children's clothing tossed to the side. I grabbed all of the towels I could find just to stop the waterfall and waited for my knight-in-shining-armor-otherwise-known-as-a-contractor-with-tools to come home and fix the problem. no big deal. except that i then noticed that there was now standing water, not just in the kitchen vent, but in all of the vents in the whole, big, huge house. i thought we would all be electrocuted, ben's solution, run the A/C, it'll dry it out. who knew?
So, the other problem is that trailer exterior walls are made with 1x1's or something, cuz they're really thin, so it doesn't do a great job holding in the cool air and keeping the hot air out (it's been over a hundred every day for a week). Ben's solution: in true trailer trash fashion, yep, you guessed it, foil taped on the windows. wow, how low can you go?

Max's 4th Birthday "on April at Chuck e. cheeses"

2009-05-06T14:29:00.001-07:00

Max got a new little computer to play games on. I kind of underestimated his ability to catch on to all things electronic and he's kind of already out-grown it. I guess a Dora game and it's a great gift for Bryn!

More than anything for his birthday, Max wanted to go to Chuck-e Cheese's. We had a fantastic day and a very fun party. He had lots of friends and cousins and everyone (especially Mom) had a great time playing games and messing around.

That's my boy!!

Our special little princess, Bryn

2009-05-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

So, I decided to share some our favorite Bryn moments, pictures and habits with everyone. She loves her baby sister.

Possibly, even more than loving Lu, she loves to wear Lu's clothes. There's nothing like a full 3T wearer squeezing into 3-6 month clothing. The jacket and the pants are Lu's in these. That is what she likes to do most during naptime. I have had to take off at least 3 layers of Lu clothes that she had put on. The best part is that Lu's dresses actually look like shirts that Bryn could wear (albeit, a little tight in the sleeves).

This is record of the other thing she likes to do during naptime, before she actually falls asleep. I had heard a noise, but didn't think much of it when no major outburst followed. Imagine my surprise when I decided to check and see if she was sleeping. Yep, her whole dresser tipped over, with her pleasantly snoozing in Max's bed, twirling her hair, of course.

Grandma Gibson brought Bryn a little something at Max's birthday party, and she decided to get herself all dressed up.

I'm not sure what my favorite part is, but the shoes are definitely up there.

Somehow, she contracted a cellulitis in her big toe that was rapidly eating her skin and her toenail. We are happy to report that after 10 days, 4 times a day (what moron would ask a mom with ADD to remember 4 doses a day?) we got the thing licked and she's all better.

Does this one even need any commentary, other than i know my girl well enough to know that she must be stripped before eating spaghetti.

Easter 2009

2009-05-03T12:53:00.001-07:00

The day before Easter, we were headed to Grandma and Bucka Gibsons and stopped at the 99-cent store to get stuff. The kids helped us put all the candy in our plastic eggs and we went and hid eggs all over the back yard. The kids had a blast finding them and did a great job sharing (Max gave all of the "girl-colored"eggs to Bryn).

Life and TImes

2009-04-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

So, I guess it's been a couple months since i updated, so i'll just ramble for a while and try to catch up. Later i might be able to throw a few pictures in. We celebrated Ben's 35th birthday at The Old Spaghetti Factory with Grandma and Bucka Gibson, Bucka Bucka (Bucka is Max's word for grandpa and Bucka Bucka is his great-grandpa) and MJ (Bucka Bucka's wife), Amber and Ryan, Josh, and Uncle Gary. It was tons of fun and Ben is pretty much the same with maybe a little tiny bit more gray hair. Just after that, in the middle of February, our already precarious financial situation took a turn for the worse, so we decided to do everything we could to make it through this downturn. Ben's company had bought a trailer in Buckeye about a year ago with the idea that they would move it to some land they have in Mesa and sell it. That plan was put on hold a while back, so we decided to find a renter for our house and move into the trailer. So...we found a guy to rent it and thought everything would be great, he is the president of his church and a really nice guy, etc... then we had Chet run his credit for us and it turned out that he had had two evictions and a couple of car repossessions in the last 5 years. Needless to say, he didn't get to rent our house, but the day i went to put the "For Rent" sign back up, a lady came up and said she was interested. It turns out that she has an assisted-living facility a couple doors down from us and wants to open another one. So, we have a renter and she's great and we'll have a ramp up to our front door and bars in the showers when it's all said and done. What more could you ask for. So, we moved into our little trailer in our gated Buena Vista trailer park on Feb 28th. For anywone not familiar with this neck of the woods, we moved 20 miles further west than we already were. We now are truly half-way to California (all the more reason to visit everyone that lives there). I still work one day a week in east Mesa and it's 55 miles away. The kids love our little house and are always trying to get back there whenever we go anywhere. They did have to go through all of their toys and decide which ones they would keep and which they would give to other kids cuz we don't have as much space. They did awesome, they're very generous. It's great, there was just enough room on the side of the house to wedge in the trampoline. The management has came over to inform us that someone had called to complain about our little boy was throwing rocks into the street (I'm thinking, well he didn't hit anyone did he?, but I didn't say it, just thought it). I wouldn't call it a super friendly neighborhood, but it's clean and quiet. The day we moved in, I was driving Ben's dually and parked across the street and the neighbor came home and said, "you almost hit my tree with your truck". I apologized and said, "I'm sorry, i don't usually drive this. Hi, my name is Rachelle, i'm moving in across the street." that threw her off for a second or two. she might be the one that called in on max and the rocks. so, I was telling our movers what she said and our friend Eddie, that helped us move, said, " well, i almost brought you cookies." so, we got all settled and I found out that a gym not too far away has reformers (Pilates equipment), so i applied for a job and got hired as a Pilates instructor and then made the director of their Pilates/yoga department. i've since gathered that it's the job no one wants, but that's okay, I do great at jobs that no one else wants. the one really nice thing is that i get two hours of child care per day for free and can work in that time. the only problem with that is that max bit a kid's hand has second day in there and got written up (three write-ups means suspension). When i asked him why he bit him, he said, "He wouldn't say that I was the boss". Scary, i know. so, he had a couple of great weeks and this last week bit a kid on the cheek. i'm hoping we don't get that third strike. so...we're learning to enjoy the simple things in life and go without. A little run-down of the things we've decided in the last year that we can do without:
Swim lessons, cable, downgraded internet and phone service, cell phone (i now have a pay-as-you-go phone and get 10 min/day), my Cadillac (I now drive a '94 gutless Cutlass supreme), Ben's truck (he drives an older company truck), the associated insurance, going out to eat (we do much less), medical insurance (the company dropped what we had and we picked up a private policy with a much smaller premium, higher deductible), our house, cut grocery budget by almost 1/2, preschool for Max, gym membership (although my new job provides me with a free membership), babysitters (using Amanda less). I think that's about it. It's been interesting, because not only are we surviving the changes, i think we're enjoying each other more and have learned an awful lot about wants/needs adn what those words really mean. we hope that we are learning all of the lessons we're supposed to and that we will never forget them and that our philosophy will never again be outearning our spending, but actually limiting our spending regardless of our income.

My sister Nicole sang the National Anthem at a Spring Training game on March 10th, I went with the kids and we hung out on the lawn until Bryn had tapped out all of the food possibilities that the spectators around us had to offer.
In the end of March, we went to Tucson for the Cystic Fibrosis Walk to support Dayson, our nephew and spent a couple of days with Erika and Chet. It was fantastic, we miss them and love them.
Being Easter Eve, I'll share a couple of the attempts I've made at helping Max understand religious events. we were in church one day and bryn and ben were home sick, so i could give max a little more attention while they were passing the sacrament around. we talked about how Jesus had died and that he had then come back to life. Without hesitation, Max said, "the animals come back to life every night". for anyone that hasn't seen Night at the Museum, that's the plot and so, that was the extent of Max's understanding of the Resurrection. It was really hard not to laugh. So, this week i decided to take a stab at teaching him about Easter and why we celebrate. He's convinced that Easter is a person, and so he said "Easter can kill the guys that killed Jesus". I'm not sure where the violent streak comes from, but i guess I'll just keep on trying:-).

Funny things they say

2009-02-02T11:17:00.002-08:00

Relating to breastfeeding:
-Max one day said, "Nipples are kind of like straws".
-Bryn was holding Lu on her lap and kind of shifting her to try to feed her, while she attempted to pull her dress up and she looked at Lu and said, "Eat me! Eat me! You no wanna eat me?"
-Max also tried to feed Lu without his shirt on and i told him his nipples are too small, and he replied, "I don't have milk, I only have juice."

Nicole was cutting Max's hair and said, "Maximillion. Does anyone ever call you that?"
"No, that's not my name."
"What is your name?"
"Max Gibson Noble."
"What's Bryn's name?"
"Bryn Gibson Noble"
"What's your mom's name?"
"Mommy Gibson Noble"
"What's your dad's name?"
"Daddy Gibson"

One day Max came in distressed, holding his pull-up and said, "Look, I had a poop-toot" (we call it a shart).

On the way home from preschool, Max said, "I have the bleshews and the tireds " (sneezes and yawns).

Celery is okay to eat, because the Wonder Pets eat it. So, one day while we were eating salad, Max picked up a piece of lettuce and said, "Look, it's leaf celery".

Lu's Blessing

2009-02-02T11:17:00.001-08:00

Ahh, look at the proud parents and the unhappy child. Is this some indication of how her life will always be?

That is a cute dad if I've ever seen one.

And a hot Momma.

In the back row, we have Bucka Gibson, Ryan and Amber Howard, Jana Noble, Ben, Max, Ried, Chloe and Nicole Horton, Bucka Noble, Erika, Bree and Chet Judd, Courtney and Ryan Noble. In the front we have Grandma Gibson, Anton Noble, Bryn, Kennedy Noble, Sophie Horton, Ellie Noble, Izzy Horton, Rachelle with Lu, Dayson Judd and Griffin Noble.

What a beautiful family! This is all the same people except Grandma Noble is in this one and Ryan Noble is taking it, so he's not.

Christmas 2008

2009-01-24T03:04:00.001-08:00

This picture epitomizes Christmas 2008 for Baby Lu.

Max and his new remote-controlled truck (compliments of Savers)

Lip gloss for a 2-year old? Why not?

I think she ended up eating half and smearing the other half on the bathroom mirror.

Max seems like a tough guy, but underneath that hard, outer shell is a sucker for Barbie castles.

Really, we could have just gotten him the Ringpop and he might have thought it was the best Christmas ever.

So, in post-Christmas hindsight, Max isn't really ready for anything from which a battery can be removed.

They got some books and Bryn got a personal favorite, Peter Pan.

At the ripe old age of 2, it's really all about how small the pieces of wrapping paper are when you finish.

The threat of Santa not coming because of Max's behavior was probably emotional abuse for the month of December, but very effective, nonetheless.

Santa decided to bring Bryn a bike. It might be a while before she knows how to ride it, but that's okay, it looks pretty and she looks good sitting on it.

Max's friend Wyatt came over and his mom, Jodie Stepp, had made ginger bread parts for houses. They had so much fun decorating them. Of course, Max didn't have enough suger from the candy for the houses, so a little sucker seemed like a totally reasonable request.

That's a cute kid. Need I say more?

I think he's got a future either as an architect, a designer or someone that sticks candy to the outside of houses (I don't know what that's called).

Wyatt, hard at work.

He got his inspiration from the Red Door Spa, doesn't it look just like that?

Max took this picture and was not very concerned about the flash erupting right in Lu's eyes, so Bucka Noble had the presence of mind to protect her eyesight.

Here's the one that convinced us about the lack of concern for her eyes.

And Lu ended the holiday season just as she had started it.

Underballs, cont.

2008-12-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

My little underwear model, i think he's got what it takes, especially the tucked-in look.
Uhhh...

And here they are, the world-famous underballs!!!

Bringing Lu Home

2008-12-18T13:36:00.001-08:00

I've never seen a kid so soft and loving with his little sister. He loves to hold her and can't get enough.
She's had enough, though.

Bryn really loves Lu most of the time, we just have to keep a little closer eye on her, just to make sure.

Here's Grandma with her 3 grandkids, I think Max is working on Blue Steel.

Very ready to head home and have my backside covered up. It got more exposure there than it really needed.

Easter 2008-The missing archives!

2008-12-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

There's not much that needs to be said about there pictures, they show the life and times of best friends and worst enemies-Max and Bryn.

Max's First Day of Preschool

2008-12-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

Obviously very happy about something. He actually really likes preschool and was mostly upset that I wanted his picture in front of the bushes and not the front door. This kid definitely has a mind of his own.

The Knots

2008-12-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has ever been around Bryn when she's tired already knows about her hereditary knot-tying disorder that she inherited from her Grandma Gibson, who got it from her Grandma Anderson, etc. ( I think that's how it went). Anyway, I thought I would share a collage of some of her masterpieces. Ben and I have become quite the knot-untyers.

The latest of Baby Lu

2008-12-18T13:12:00.001-08:00

Sleeping away on her two-week birthday, she's already grown a ton.

Her first real bath given to her by Grandma Noble, don't you love her bling?

A bit of a grump, but that's okay, she's pretty nice most of the time.

My late-night ramblings

2008-12-05T00:53:00.000-08:00

So, it's 2 in the morning and i just sent Lu back to the nursery and am feeling a little sleepy, but just wanted to reflect a little. My dad sent a text right about the time Lu was born talking about how no matter how many times you get a new one, it's always this amazing miracle. She's gorgeous and fresh from God. I'm amazed by so many things, like how your body puts itself back together in so many different, little ways. I think because things have gone so well with this little one getting here, i take for granted a lot of the blessings, like she eats great, she's slept great so far, even when she cries it's cute (i'm not sure how long that will last). anyway, my body feels really good and she's perfect, so everyone's prayers were answered. I hope she realizes and understands early-on how much she is loved. I hope she survives Max's and Bryn's love. Thanks to everyone for all the love and support.

Elf Dance

2008-12-05T00:52:00.000-08:00

You all have to go look at this video Ben's sister, Amber made with her family and Max and Bryn in it. Max and Bryn apparently watched it about 30 times.
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/qQ0hqRriqUTko9Oqky70

Lu's Big Day

2008-12-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Mom before going into surgery.

Lu, minutes after surgery.

Mom and baby meet. Hooray!!!

Baby Lu, how beautiful!!!
Lu was 7lbs. 12 ounces, 20-3/4" long.

Big Boy Pants!!!

2008-10-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

A full accident-free day and a half!!! We have to start somewhere, right? Well, this is my cute boy in his tighty-whitey spiderman big-boy pants.

He loves his "stuffs". He'll carry as much as he can with him, this is his Spiderman toolbox, another box from G'ma Gibson and his Pooh backpack, all chock full of toys.

Bryn's 2nd Birthday

2008-10-21T12:21:00.000-07:00

I stole these pictures off of Amber's blog, because our camera didn't make it to Encanto Park with us.
Is that not the prettiest girl you've ever seen in your whole life?
She loved her star cupcakes (especially the frosting part).
We're so happy that we have this little girl in our family. I always said I just wanted boys, and now I know that my life would definitely be missing something without this little girl in it.

I Love This Kid

2008-10-19T22:18:00.001-07:00

Summer Movie Fun

2008-10-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

We did the Harkins' summer movies with Max's friend, Wyatt this year and they were pretty excited about the Wall-e display.
What a cute couple of big boys.

Bryn and Max always have awesome hair, but this might take the cake. I guess those 9:45 movies were just too early to get them that ready.

Tractor days with Daddy

2008-10-19T22:08:00.001-07:00

Apparently Bryn wasn't too thrilled about being on the tractor...
But she got over it. (And we even caught Bucka in the background.)

Max and the ABCDHIJ pipe

2008-10-19T22:04:00.000-07:00

Max was playing outside with some PVC pipe and hit somehow hit himself in the toe with it. I had no idea how bad it was until this awesome bruise formed on his toenail. He had heard me tell people what had happened to it and when he was in the bath one day, I said, "What happened to your toe?" He replied, "I hit it with the ABCDHIJ pipe."

Max and Bryn under the Sink

2008-10-19T21:59:00.000-07:00

If you know Max, you know about his attraction to sticks. Obviously, he was nice enough to share with "Missy", that's what he calls Bryn.She was pretty excited about that....
And then I think being under the sink with Max and his stick was a little too much for her.

Max's underballs

2008-10-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

We were headed to the State Fair on Friday for Bryn's birthday and I asked Max if he wanted to wear pants or shorts to the fair.
He said, "Shorts, no wait, my underballs."
I replied, "What?"
"My underballs."
"Your underballs?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, you mean your overalls?"
Yes, he did, in fact mean his overalls, but that was about the funniest thing I've ever heard come out of that kids mouth. The other funny thing is that he knew overalls were appropriate attire for the fair. i really wish i had a picture of him wearing them, cuz they're a couple inches too short and very Opie.

The Rest of our Colorado Trip

2008-10-09T09:11:00.000-07:00

We found in Max a very brave, fearless fisherman. While Ben cast and reeled until he had a fish on the line, Max had other ideas of what fishing is. He took a hook to the water's edge and, as he dipped his hook in the water, he informed us that he was fishing for worms (how else would you get the worm on your hook?)
So, once Ben had a fish on the line, it was all Max, our reeling champion. He would play these fish in a long and drawn out chess match, these mighty monsters of the river.

They were so massive the pole would bend to where the tip almost touched the water, leaving us all speechlessly anticipating the final moments when Max brought him out of the water.

Thankful for Ben's massive biceps, Max gets him all the way in...he's huge, at least 2 oz. and 5 inches!!!

With the release of the last giant of a fish, Ben gets another one on the line and hands the pole of to Max.

As he gets him all the way in, I look for a photo op that would put Max somewhat close to the fish.

Our brave fisherman turns and runs, wanting nothing to do with being close to that big beast of a fish.

Could the lip stick out any further on this kid? He'll reel 'em in, but by golly, he's not touching him!

So...dad get's all the credit!!!

Standing 365 feet over Telluride's Box Canyon, Bridal Veil Falls is Colorado's tallest free falling waterfall. It is an incredible feast for the senses with its breath-taking view, soaking mist and roaring sound.

The house at the top of the falls produces its own electricity from the falls. It was owned by a German family that doesn't want anyone going near it.

From the top of the falls, you can look down over Telluride, nestled in this gorgeous valley. This is a geat example of how beautiful all of southwestern Colorado is.

The members of a new high-end golf/ski community didn't want to brave the windy road around the mountain to get to the ski resort in Telluride, so "a free gondola connects the authentic 19th-century mining town, the modern Mountain Village, and the slopes"

., it's free to everyone that wants to ride it from 7am to midnight. It was so fun for the kids.

Max loved to rock the gondola.

Bryn wasn't quite as excited about Max's rocking the gondola.

The cherubic smile deceives many into believing that this is an innocent by-stander in the ruckus with her brother.

We had pulled off of the road on our way home from Telluride to do a little fishing, enjoy the sun and let the kids play in a meadow.

Max thought it was great...until, in record time the skies opened and began dumping rain as fast as it could on our poor, innocent children, leaving them scampering, or more accurately, sliding through the mud trying to get back to the Jeep.

Obviously, Bryn didn't cover the distance without a couple of spills into the mud.

Cute, isn't it?...and pleasant to clean up.

That's fantastic!

Max came away relatively unscathed from the mud, if you don't count his toes.

This is the coolest park we saw in our trip. A young man had passed away and in his memory, the entire community came together one weekend, donating thousands of hours and built this park.

The kids could get lost in this place for hours and still have more to discover.

Max demonstrating his tight-rope walking skills, he may need those someday.

Bryn is ready to roll. A funny story about the book on the couch next to her: When we were on our honeymoon in Cancun, I had just become a big Barbara Kingsolver fan, so I was thrilled to find a copy of her Prodigal Summer in the condo we rented. I took it on our drive to see the ruins at Coba and, for obvious reasons left it in the Jeep while we hiked around. When we returned to the Jeep, much to our surprise, everything was there, except the book. So, now 4 and a half years later, I finally checked it out from the library and finally got to finish it.

Max looks a little stressed out when he watches TV. Sidenote: the chair he is sitiing in was Bryn's bed for the duration of the trip. I couldn't keep her in the bed with Max (the little wanderer) and she was used to a crib-tent, so we tilted this chair back and strapped her in her carseat every night and she slept like a baby (by the way, that's the dumbest saying I've ever heard, as anyone who has had a baby would know).

We spent our last week in an RV park on the Animas River outside of Durango. It had a great park for the kids, a heated pool and showed kids' movies on a big screen every night.

Our little pioneers

Can you tell who's getting squished?

We made the trip the first two weeks of August and found it very interesting to see snow here and there along the mountains.

Granted...it was really dirty, beat-up snow, but it was snow.

This stunning rainbow appeared Aug 8. The reason I remember the date is that we decided it was there to commemorate our niece Izzy's birthday. Happy Birthday, Izzy.

It has to have been the brightest rainbow I've ever seen. You could almost hear it, it was so bright.

This captures the beauty of our two weeks in Colorado very well.

Always the cool kid!

Every day, we did a little day-trip in the Jeep, so that the kids could get their naps in. Max really loved those times.

We went to Purgatory for the alpine slide.

Ben and Max decided to check it out first.

They had so much fun that they decided to have Mom try it, too.

We We now know that Max has no problem with heights.

You had to push your brake forward, which lifted to back end of the slide to really get going. Ben had quite a load to try to lift (don't tell him I said that), so they weren't exactly screaming down the hill.

We did have our moments where enough was enough in the carseats.

On the way back to Phoenix, we stopped over in Heber for a couple of nights. In the 15 days we were gone, we were lucky enough to find a Dairy Queen everywhere we went and this is probably our 8th or 9th time making a DQ stop on the trip (probably not great for our waistline).

Innocent-looking little fellow, don't you think?

Is there anything better than Dairy Queen, really?

Rachelle loves it, too.

Bryn most enjoys climbing around. She's always getting herself into positions that she's not sure how to get out of.

Sabino Canyon outing with the Judds-April 27

2008-09-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

We decided to ditch church and head up to Sabino Canyon for a beautiful Sunday morning. The kids had so much fun. We wanted to get all of the kids attention at once, you will now see how we did. This one got Bryn and Dayson.

This one got Bree.
This one didn't get anyone.

Yeah lost cause. Here we again get none.
Here we kind of get Max.
As good as it gets.
What a cute couple!!!
Max thought he should be our picture with us.
Max got his pants all wet, so on the way out, he hiked in his diaper. Since he was little, he thought when you said smile, that means blink, so this is his biggest smile.
He loves his Mommy.
Yep, we really had that much fun.
Shocking that Max has found a stick.
I'd say we look pretty good for a couple of old ladies.
These two are like peas and carrots (whatever that means.)
Bryn loves the water. She had so much fun.
WHAT A PRETTY PRINCESS!!!

Max's Bambi realization

2008-09-07T08:37:00.000-07:00

Max and I were reading Bambi for the millionth time and the part where his mom gets shot doesn't really explain what has happened. He stopped me and said pretty much, "what happened here?" So I said that people had shot and killed Bambi's mom. He got this horrified look on his face and said, "Noooo", drew in a big breath and in all seriousness said, "I'm gonna track 'em down."

Max's prayers

2008-09-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Max has just started to pray in the last little while and we had been helping him, so we would say something and then he would repeat it. So, this week he started praying by himself and this was this morning's blessing on the food.

"Dear Heavenly Father
Thanks for this day, thanks for this day
Thanks for preschool, thanks for preschool
Bless the food, bless the food
Bless Mommy, Daddy and Jesus, bless Mommy, Daddy and Jesus
Bless Max and Missy, bless Max and Missy
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Day 3- Dolores, CO

2008-08-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Bryn's had a great time driving the Jeep.

Max thought the pillow would make things a little more comfortable.

It's really fun having the Jeep to drive around and see all of the sights. The kids love it because they can see everything out the big windows. You have to love Bryn's always well-kempt hair.

Day 2: Four Corners

2008-08-11T20:25:00.000-07:00

On our way to Colorado, we decided to check out Four Corners. Ben had never been there and I hadn't been there since I was about 10.

Our Weekend in Cali

2008-08-11T20:06:00.001-07:00

We had a great time and Max finally got to go to the beach. He's been wanting to go surfing all summer. He made it within about 20 feet of the water, so obviously we'll have to save surfing for next year. The water was pretty cold, so I don't really blame him. Ben's cousin Brett is going on a mission for the Mormon Church and he was going to the temple, so we went over to see them. It was really fun and relaxing, we stayed in Manhattan Beach and ate dozons of Diddy Reese cookies (if you don't know what those are, you're really missing out).

Day One of the Big Trip to Colorado

2008-08-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

We were really moving along that first day, we made it all the way to Flagstaff. We decided to go ahead and stay and explore the city and check out the local KOA. Lucky for us, it was also the first annual VW Weekend in the Pines at the KOA. I'm pretty sure there was some serious pot smoking going on, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to join in. So, here we are the happy family just beginning our big journey.

Max already loves his new little sister

2008-07-29T14:19:00.001-07:00

I was putting Max down for his nap today, so we read a story and he was standing in his bed and gave me a big hug and a kiss and then said, "Wait" and gave the baby in my tummy a hug and a kiss. It was sooooo cute.

The monster that's a snake named Ollie

2008-07-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Max came in today and said there's a monster in his room. He is a snake named Ollie. Quite matter-of-factly he added, "I love him". Max doesn't really know his colors yet, but he informed us that Ollie is black with brown stripes and red and green.

We picked up a young woman to go to church with us today and she was in-between the kids in the backseat. Max kept talking about her like she wasn't there. He said, "Are those her church clothes?" I said yeah, and he said "They're her pajamas". I'm sure she was thrilled.

Apple bobbing at the Stein Family Reunion

2008-07-11T15:20:00.001-07:00

The color is a little funny, but I couldn't resist this picture.

2008-07-11T15:14:00.000-07:00

Bryn already shows a great sense of style...and she's totally addicted to shoes.

For Memorial Day, we went with Grandma and Bucka Gibson to Canyon Lake, had a picnic and did some "fishing".
I have a pair of satiny gold pajama bottoms. Bryn somehow got her whole body stuffed into one pant-leg. Pretty classy lady
Now that is a cute kid!!

Bryn Really Likes the Potty.

2008-07-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Bryn would spend all day on the toilet if I let her. Unfortunately, she's not really sure how to use it just yet. I predict her being potty-trained before Max.

It's a Monster, no wait, it's a girl!

2008-07-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

We had our ultrasound on Tuesday and Max decided to come with us. He was pretty excited and he could tell when she found the head and then she went down the spine and Max said, "Mommy, there's a monster in your tummy." We assured him it was only a baby. When we got up to leave he said, "Did they take the baby out?" He keeps telling me that the baby is ready to come out.
We were in Sedona for our family reunion and I was getting Max out of the truck and he had a bunch of candy in his mouth, which he proceeded to slobber all down my shirt. I said, "oh, you got candy juice all over me." He replied, "And all over the baby." He's now very aware of the lump forming in my mid-section.

We're finally done!!!

2008-07-11T14:57:00.001-07:00

After all of our hard work and effort, the backyard is pretty much done. Ben just has to find some time to finish the gazebo. The kids love it! So do I ,cuz there's no more dirt to track into the house.

Funny things Max has said

2008-06-08T21:39:00.000-07:00

I have some pics to add, but don't have time right now, but i don't want to forget these funny things.

One day at Grandma Gibson's, they were getting ready to eat and she asked Max if he wanted to say the prayer. "You pray, I eat".

One morning, he climbed into bed with us and saw a mole on my side and said, "Look Dad, a nipple", since then he's gotten a little confused as I've tried to explain what is a nipple and what's a mole. So much so that this morning he called his nipple a nole.

Max hit his toe really hard with a piece of PVC pipe and it turned his big toenail black. He had heard me tell people what had happened and when I asked him, he said, "I hit my toe with the ABCD-HIJ pipe."

We had just seen an advertisement for Dirty Jobs, the TV show and the host delivered a calf, so Max got a little obsessed about it. I told him I have a baby in my tummy and he said, "No, you have a cow in your tummy." A couple of days later i asked if he wanted a baby boy or a baby girl and he said, "a baby cow".

I just had a doctor's appointment Friday and brought home the magazine that shows the monthly development of the baby in utero and Max said, "Next morning (his version of 'sometime in the future') I'm going to have a baby in my tummy" and I told him that boys don't have babies in their tummies and to prove the point asked if Daddy had a baby in his tummy. Before I could say anything, he said "Yeah, he has a real big one."

One day, in the store, Max asked if he could have something and I said, "Do you have any money in your pocket?" he said that he didn't and I told him that when he did, he could buy it. Now, whenever we go to any store, he'll pull everything in the store of the shelf and loudly exclaim, "When I get my money, I'm going to get this and take it home".

That's all I can remember right now.

Swimming with the Judds

2008-04-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Max is sitting in time out for trying to drown his sister in the spa.
Dayson decided to join him for sympathy time-out, what a nice guy.
The little mermaid, posing away.
Kambria is quite the swimmer, the water was freezing, but we had a good time.
Can I get out now???
HEY BABY, WHAT'S UP?

Dayson knocked down a 6-pak while we were at the pool.
More time out.
This is as close as Dayson got to the water, what a brave dude.

Reid Park Zoo with the Judds

2008-04-30T07:41:00.001-07:00

Good times at the zoo with Bree and Max. (By the way, Bree has requested that we all refer to her as Kambria.)

Bree was choosing not to look at the camera most of the day, but we caught her off-guard when she was trying to get Erika's attention.

Does he look like a baboon..
Or more like a giraffe?
They had so much fun feeding the fish, the best spent quarters of the weekend.

This bird was growling at Max, we decided to move on before it took him out.Take one, oh, Max isn't ready...
Take two, much better, you two.
I could never get these two upside down at the same time.

Now, that's a cute pair. They spent the entire day at the zoo in their stroller, just patiently sitting together...well, and a little slapping and biting and yelling.

Backyard update

2008-04-23T14:19:00.000-07:00

Ben's amazing workmanship!! He did that in like two days.
Our nectarine tree.

The beautiful hibiscus
Our bird of paradise in the corner.

We're still plugging along. The HOA has put a stop to the gazebo building until they review it (blah, blah, blah) and we've got sprinklers in and the trees and plants seem to have survived their transplanting.

Max's Easter egg coloring special

2008-04-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

While I was doing something on the computer, Max decided

to put all of the food coloring into a big bowl. I'm not sure what happened next, but Max ended up with it all over his feet and decided to walk around most of the house like that. It was definately one of those mom times that I wished I had seen the humor right away. I'm sure Max wishes I had as well.

Bryn in all her glory

2008-04-23T14:04:00.001-07:00

Bryn got a new purse for Max's birthday and loves it.

Our little princess.
Hanging out with Uncle Ryan
Very helpful with the laundry
Yep, that's poop!!! For some reason, Bryn likes to wait until nap time to poop and then pull as much of it out of her diaper as she can and spread it on as many things as she can find. Mom almost has thrown up every time this has happened, and Bryn is in zip-up pajamas every time she goes to bed now. (notice the poop on the crib railings). My mom told me I shouldn't post this, but I said, "I had to clean it up, you can at least see it."
So, mid-day baths have also been a norm, see, a little poop on the nose? Such a cute little poop.

Max's 3rd Birthday, continued

2008-04-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

All the Gibsons, including our favorite Uncle Josh came to join in the festivities.
Max got an airplane...
A bow and arrow (which he shoots backwards), a big pirate sword...
That Josh behind Grandma with a bunny for a face.
And he got a "surfboard", he was showing us how you ride it.

Max thinks he's pretty hot stuff with is new Spiderman sunglasses and his Parrothead hat (Jimmy Buffet, eat your heart out).

We had so much fun with Max's birthday this year, we started out at Grandma and Bucka's the night before and they joined us the next morning for breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then off to Encanto Park with his best friend, Wyatt Stepp. After a long nap, he got to choose a movie and then have a big birthday party with a pirate cake (actually Texas sheet cake with Diego decorations, kids will believe anything). It was a huge success and he already acts like a 3-year-old.

Max's 3rd Birthday

2008-04-23T13:06:00.001-07:00

Aunt Amber, Grandma and Uncle Gary hanging out.
Uncle Ryan and acrobatic skills.

Max got a really cool Transformer, Maximus Prime, from Uncle Gary the night before his birthday, he was soooo excited.

The Backyard

2008-04-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Our house has a pretty big backyard, but had been just a dirt lot, so we decided to spruce it up. So far, we've poured concrete, built a gazebo and planted trees and shrubs. Very fun. Ben and I had to dig and pour footings one night until 10:30, because concrete was coming the next day and we didn't know until the afternoon before.

The Zoolights with the Gibsons

2008-04-02T15:44:00.001-07:00

In the beginning of January we went to the Zoolights with Uncle Josh and Aunt Amber and Uncle Ryan. Then we met Grandma and Bucka for dinner. It was so fun. Max took all of the pictures at the restaurant.

Max is dictating

2008-04-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to me. i want to be a pirate. i want a sword and a helicoptor and a movie and a power and a airplane and a helicoptor and a sword...and a pirate and a sea thing and a sword fight, the sword and a helicoptor and a movie. .That's all.

Catching up

2008-04-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

I'll probably spend the next couple of weeks catching up on stuff I could have been posting if I had had a blog in the first place. I'm throwing in some great pictures from Fridays at Encanto park with the cousins.

Our first blog

2008-04-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

We had the big March/April Noble birthday party. Always quite the party, we had Brett's birthday selection of corned beef and cabbage (Reid was thrilled). We followed it up with some crepes. What a day! Sophie was devastated to say good-bye to her long-lost cousin Bree and Max was just trying not to get locked into his room for the entire night (he was partially successful). He got a new sword and shield from Anton and Griffin and thinks that's the coolest thing ever.