Late 2017

 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.

The annual Ladies Brunch was another special one because Jeri and Annette were able to come! I love it when they can be here for it. We decorated mini Christmas trees again. A repeat craft but everyone seemed to enjoy it. 

Annette is in the background there :) Heather came as well and really enjoyed herself.

Love these girls!

Swimming lessons

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.

She loved going after the floating toys. 

Catch up post 2017 (4.0) warning graphic x rays of broken bones!

 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!

Here’s Chelsie after her surgery. She was on a lot of pain meds. Kevin and I drove over to Idaho Falls as soon as we heard about her accident.

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!

Catch up post 2017 (3.0)

 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. 

Jasper with Anna. Anna loves her “sosha”, her pacifier.

Anna had to have her eyes dilated to check for a possible abnormality but she was fine. She wasn’t too happy with the pediatric ophthalmologist though!

Time with Grandpa

Catchup post 2017 (2.0)

 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.

2017 catch up post

 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.

The birth was very difficult for Polina. And Jasper was beside himself with worry. They were both exhausted at the end of it and it took several days for them to be able to feel somewhat normal.

We had cleaned their house and stocked up with food so they would not have to worry about that. We were over every day for awhile so they could rest.

It’s so amazing to see your children having children. Jasper has the sweetest way with Anna. I know she is in great hands!

Ladies Brunch and baby shower 2016

My ladies brunch this year was a combo together with a baby shower for Polina. We had all the usual attendees along with a couple of special guests who had not attended before, Kristin and Kathy, along with Kathy’s little girl Genevieve.

We all made little birdhouses and decorated them with Christmas greenery and sparkles.

Then Polina opened her presents and we all had cake! It was a great party and Polina got so many nice things for the baby.

I only wish her mom could have attended. I would have loved to have her here with us.

 This cake was from Nothing Bundt Cakes and I added the flowers and ribbons myself. It was delicious!

 Here is Polina, myself, Chelsie, and Kristin with our little houses in front of the Christmas tree right before Kristin had to take off to catch her plane. She was only down for the day but we are all so happy she was able to come.

Grandma Gibbons and Lainey sat near each other and I love this picture of the two of them! My Ladies Brunch is really the only time I can think of where I can get all  the lovely women in the family together in one room.

I’m really happy that I have managed to keep up this tradition. I hope to be able to do this for many more years to come.

Baby announcement 2016

In the last catch up post I mentioned that Polina couldn’t join us for the San Diego trip because...
Ta Da!!
Polina and Jasper were expecting!
We were all overjoyed at the news and couldn’t wait to meet our new little family member.

The road had been long leading up to this miracle baby and Polina and Jasper weren’t taking any chances so no traveling until their precious little one was delivered safely.

San Diego trip 2016

 In October of 2016, Chelsie and I went to San Diego to meet up with Kristin and Alexis for Alexis’ 20th birthday. We stayed at this cute little boutique hotel on Coronado Island just steps away from the beach, the Coronado Hotel, and lots of great shops!

We had continental breakfast in the hotel each morning and then went out sight seeing every day. Our favorite activity was a harbor cruise we took over to San Diego. We walked all over the place, had lunch, and then cruised back to Coronado.

We watched a couple of sunsets and took pictures, most of which got deleted over the years. But I managed to save a few.

We went to a very fancy dinner at an Italian restaurant for Lexi’s birthday too. We laughed a lot but not too loud, I hope. I think Lexi had a sip or two of wine from her mom’s glass...not sure ;)

We also walked through the Del Coronado hotel and read the historical plaques that were around.

Polina couldn’t join us this time and we missed having her with us.

Mid 2016

 Another catch-up post here. I mentioned before that I am trying to document all the years that I didn’t write in my blog. I skip some things because it’s just too much to tackle but I’m trying to catch the highlights of the things we did so I will have some kind of record. It’s better than nothing and I have enjoyed recalling some of our trips that have been in the back of my mind all this time.
These pictures were taken on Oahu during a trip we took with Teresa and Mom Gibbons. I don’t have any pictures of them this time around though. We stayed in a VRBO overlooking Kaneohe Bay with a view of the Kualoa Mountain range out the back of the apartment.
The apartment was small but very well decorated. Teresa was stuck on the hide-a-bed in the living room :/ But she is always such a good sport about things like that. Mom had a fall inside the house but not injured! We were so worried when we arrived about this one step that led into the bedroom area and I remember thinking and saying that we shouldn’t be staying there with mom. And sure enough, she fell. But other than a bruise on her arm, she wasn’t hurt. We put a chair just above the step to remind her it was there and for her to use it as a support.
My sister Jeri and her husband Jeff were also on Oahu staying at my Aunt Lisa’s house. So Jeri and I took a day and drove almost all the way around the island. We took our time and went to a bunch of different beaches, out to lunch, etc. It was really fun to spend time with her on our own.

 Teresa and I went horseback riding at the Kualoa Ranch and had a great time. We also spent some time at Ko Olina at the lagoons there. We always seem to end up there on every trip to Hawaii.

Fast forward to summer and we are at the cabin again. I took my painting supplies into Yellowstone Park and set up in a campground to paint. Pretty soon I saw some Bison in the field but they were pretty far away. So I proceeded to try to paint the scene.
It wasn’t too long though and the bison had moved steadily towards me to the point that I just got in my car and took pictures instead.
I have tried to paint in the park several times since then but the pictures always turn out poorly. I just haven’t been able to get the hang of painting outdoors yet.

This scene with the huge bison in the shadows of the tree trunks really appeals to me and I want to attempt to paint it at some point.