It’s the holidays once again and we are gearing up. I made these dolls for Anna (for Christmas) out of a kit. Then I embroidered a few spots to add detail. They turned out super cute. I love it when I can make gifts instead of buying them. It’s so much more fun to give.
Annette is in the background there :) Heather came as well and really enjoyed herself.
Anna is in swimming lessons and she couldn’t be any cuter!
Grandpa is holding her for a minute while Jasper and Polina get all the other things ready for the lesson. It’s pretty basic at this age. I was worried they’d push her under water and make her “swim” on her own like I’ve seen videos of!
But it was very friendly and gentle. Jasper held her the entire time and she looked vey comfortable.
As the title suggests, one of the more traumatic things that happened this year was Chelsie’s jet ski accident involving her and a friend up at Island Park reservoir.
Chelsie and Michael were up to the cabin with friends and they rented jet skis for the day. Chelsie and her friend Jessica were criss crossing and going in circles when Jessica accidentally ran into Chelsie. The front ski on Jessica’s machine hit Chelsie’s leg and shattered the lower bones. Chelsie managed to stay on her jet ski but Jessica was thrown into the water.
Long story short, Michael got them to shore (swam out to them and retrieved Jessica’s ski, towed Chelsie’s ski in, then went back out for Jessica). There were some campers near by that happened to be search and rescue people so they took Chelsie off her ski and kept her safe and warm until paramedics arrived. She was helicoptered to Idaho Falls and had surgery that same night.
Michael then had to get Jessica and Andy to a hotel (which Jasper had arranged), grab all their belongings and the two dogs and head down to Idaho Falls. What an ordeal!
This picture impressed the hell out of my coworkers! The surgeon did a great job pinning the tibia. It took months of rest and physical therapy to get her back to normal functioning. But we all feel she’s lucky to be alive and to have the use of her leg again!
JuJu decided she had a hurt leg too and needed to put it up on a pillow!
A really nice thing happened in April when Polina’s parents were able to come visit for about six weeks! We got together with them several times during their stay. One of the activities we did was to go up to Ponderosa State Park and do some walking.
It was so nice to have them here. Polina is back at work now so her parents were able to keep Anna with them for the whole time they were here.
Time with Grandpa
Second post for 2017
Anna continues to grow and develop her little personality. We are all in love with her! Aunt Chelsie loves to hold her and talk to her. It’s so sweet to watch her with Anna.
Anna loves to be on the floor play matt as long as she’s facing up. She HATES tummy time and cries to be turned over.
I’ve started taking oil painting classes at a local art store. It’s really fun and rewarding. The teacher, Fred Choate is very patient and goes through his set up and painting technique every time. His repetition is very important because it’s so easy to get off track. I’m really excited to be learning a new medium. I was so discouraged with watercolors but was intimidated by oils. Fred makes it understandable and doable.
The painting above was one of the first I really liked. And the rooster is my first attempt at painting animals. Annette liked it so much she wanted to have it for her kitchen (which is chicken themed).
I’m on a path that will hopefully lead to my selling some of my work. In any case, I love oils and can’t imagine trying to go back to water colors.
I’ve met a couple of people in art class and feel like this is a great way to make friends. It takes time though. There are many people who come one or two times to class and then never show up again. So the “regulars” don't take any trouble to know you or talk to you until you’ve shown up enough to prove that you’re serious.
It is frustrating to learn a new skill. Fred says that the brain develops an “eye” for what is supposed to be there but the body struggles to catch up. So when you make mistakes, the brain knows it but the body can’t seem to figure out how to fix it. So you get frustrated trying to fix something that is beyond your capability.
Here I am once again and trying to catch up. This is 2022 and the future is here! We are in a brave new world where everything is different and not in a good way. But I digress…
I will be disciplined and stick to 2017 this time. Hopefully I will get back to the future soon.
Our biggest news and life changing event was the arrival of this beautiful baby girl! Anna Bella Gibbons came into our lives on Jan 25th, 2017 and we could not be more proud of her and of Polina and Jasper. They are both such good parents.
