Halloween (I know, it's November)

This is my Genie, Savannah (or Meg from Hercules, whichever way you want to go)...

Scary boys...Isaak liked Tanner's dracula costume last year, so he was Dracula and Tanner wanted to be really scary but I won't let him wear a mask, so we thought a skeleton would be cool, and I think it was!

This was the most fun part of Halloween, we got to go to Washington and we trick or treated with the "OTHER GIBBONS'". We had a blast! I guess you can't tell, but Jonathon is on the left, Christopher is in the middle and Alexis is Hermione!

At school at the parade...

Ready for the Cannon's Halloween party!

Playing at the Jacksons

For whatever the reason, Isaak and Ellie decided to be Snowie workers. Isaak is wearing his whistle and is ready to blow it at any sign of offense!
"Human Helicopter" by Isaak and Brig

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one...we all have big smiles (even Brig) and they are real...

This one is my favorite, just because we're being goofy...

This one, I suppose, is the most "photo appropriate", but there is one thing that is starting to disturb me...am I REALLY the shortest? That is crushing to my ego. I swear Amy and I used to be the same height. Ame, do you have shoes on?

This one is going on Dave's wedding invite.

Gramma giving Savannah and Gracie lovies

If I gnaw enough, I will disolve this babies head...

More intensive Snowie labor by Isaak and Ellie

Yes, this would be Isaak playing Bocci Ball. He doesn't do anything without some flair!

More Bocci ball throws

I take it back, THIS ONE is going on Dave's wedding invite.

The only two grandkids WITHOUT chocolate brown eyes!

Oh cute boys...and man, they both have Rupp genes

Best game of the night "TAKE DOWN BRIG AND DAVE"

The Gibbons' Getaway...California here we come!

Savannah has skills; one is loving babies, and this time she even got him to sleep! She and Sawyer are buds.
Daddy did some digging, and found these heads on the beach...

We went to Legoland, and I was reminded of a true favorite...

With the Chia-Buffalo...is there a resemblance to Chia-Brig?
On the boats...Savannah drove, she will be a star at 16...

The boys with one of their favorite characters of all time!

Legoland...the boys have been dreaming about this trip for months, I have used "money for the trip to Legoland" as a bribe, reward, and punishment for the last year...too bad that part is over! (no, not really). Here I am with my date...Tanner is in the yellow shirt...

This was at Seaworld, I don't know if you can see all of us but our expressions are priceless! Poor Savannah, she wasn't sure she wanted to go on any other rides after this...

This ride was a bit more mellow, and obviously the kids were less intimidated! I can't remember the name of this one, but it was similar to Grizzly Bear Rapids at Disneyland.

Waiting for Shamu to come out and wow us. Man, I love this pic. My four favorite people in the world!

We visited Danie and Ryon...they have a new little one, and Tanner nicknamed him "Darth-Sawyer"...doesn't he look a bit like a Jedi in training?!

She's a Star

Savannah didn't just get baptized and have a birthday, she had her dance recital too! What a fun little dancer...(Grandma Kathy, notice her baptism necklace, she hasn't taken it off!)

She and Chloe (best buds) did a jazz number (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)

and a hip hop number "Move It"

Savannah was picked by her teacher as "Best Dancer" for the year...her trophy is HUGE!! We've never seen anything like it...can't quite figure out where it will fit in her room.

Our Really Big Weekend

So we had an awesome weekend! Saturday, June 6, was Savannah's birthday and also her baptism day. What a good girl we have! I could not have asked for a better day. It was truly awesome. Savannah was a little bit nervous but she did great. Aunt Jodi gave an awesome talk on baptism and Grandpa Larry gave one on the Holy Ghost. He reminded us to listen for the Holy Ghost, Act on what he says and then Write it down. Good advice for me, not just Savannah! I caught a glimpse of the truth that Savannah didn't come to earth to find her worth, she came with it in tact. Now the key is uncovering everything she knew before she started this test, and here's hoping that her mom and dad can get her through the first 18 years (and beyond) ok. I'm waxing sappy, I guess, but it was an eye opening weekend for me. It has taken me this long to just start to sense the magnitude of what we are working on here as a family.

We stayed up late Friday night (Laurie and Josh came from Colorado with family and all the kids partied, so we all went to bed way late) and then we went to bed late Saturday too. Sunday morning church is at 9:00 and we all got home from church ate quick and then decided to see if we could get kids to take a snooze. Dad and Savannah were out in seconds, Tanner read for a bit and then crashed. Isaak was in bed by me for a minute (we have a king size bed so at least four of us fit) but then he got out of bed and I fell asleep before figuring out where he went. We layed down at 2:00 and at 3:00 I woke up and thought I better figure out where Isaak was...I searched the whole house and finally came back up and woke Tanner up to see where he had last seen Isaak. Tanner pointed at the other side of the bed. I looked underneath and there's Isaak crashed under the bed. They all slept that way for another hour. Wow, it was a record. Never before have I had all five of us asleep at one time during the DAY! And nobody even called while we were asleep!

The Great Kitchen Remodel

So it all started when Tanner came running up the stairs and said "Mom, there's water dripping out of the ceiling!!!" Indeed, when I went to downstairs to check, there sure was water dripping out of a big bulge in the sheetrock. I figured out that water was spraying behind the fridge from the water line that goes to the drink dispenser. I couldn't get the fridge out all the way to check the damage, as the bar sticks out too far, so I was rather stressed that morning, leading to an embarassing call to a guy in our ward, which I won't go into at this time. Suffice it to say that I now know how to turn all water off in our house under the sink and at the main. (Electric tape won't do much for a water leak...but I guess I really knew that already, anyway). Homeowners was willing to pay for us to fix the wood under the fridge as well as refinish the whole wood floor so we decided it was either now or never and we took the plunge. So this is one shot of the before...it doesn't look too bad in this photo, but note the dropdowns above the cabinets and the fact that the island runs into the fridge and I painted the edge of the formica white as it was wood prior and there were may scratches and stains in the surface, as it was original. I did sell my cabinets on KSL.com for a decent amount of money.

I don't show a before, but this is the new mantel and they did crown molding above it to match what is in the kitchen

Here it is! We ripped out the drop down ceiling (what a blessing, plus a lot more storage) and moved the stove to the wall so it is no longer in my island. We kept almost everything else the same, but now I have a huge surface for the kids to do homework and such on...

So I have to note crazy Isaak comments. Yesterday as I was working in the yard, he was running around with my hand clippers wacking at the roses. "THEY'RE HORNY, Mom!, I have to cut them!" Hmmm...we discussed the word thorny, as an alternative. Tonight we had salmon and rice and carrots with this dill dip that I make that is actually really good and fairly healthy. The base is cottage cheese, and I just made it at lunchtime. I went to put it away and Isaak said, "No, mom, I am going to finish that off." Whoa. OK, well at least he was dipping a carrot occasionally. He actually had a nice helping with his rice and salmon and ate it all, just by itself. Whew.

Easter Sunday

Isaak aka "Pirate Ike". This kid has an unrivaled imagination...tomorrow we'll break out the soccer photos. (Maybe). Isaak loves watching Blackbeards Ghost and the newest fav (thanks to a garage sale with Amy) is Treasure Island, in which the bad guys all die, but none of the good guys die, they just keep falling down, but they can get back up. Yes!

Easter Sunday after church...I had to bribe them to get the smiles, but it was worth it!

Our First T-Ball Game (EVER!)

We confess, we have never put our kids in t-ball, and this was our first game...Isaak couldn't figure out what to do. When his team (The "Astros") went up to bat, he kept moving to the end of the line so he didn't have to bat. He finally got up, and did a good job, but when they told him to run he didn't know where to run to...Matt gave him some pointers and he started figuring it out. He's a pro now!

"Dad, I totally get what you're saying!"

Diving for the ball...all of 'em; Cade and Isaak having a discussion about how best to catch a ball in the outfield...