Ben has been busy, too. For the past few months, even though he hasn't been feeling great, he has been attending the Singles Ward as much as he can. This past weekend he spent both Friday and Saturday at a Stake activity called "Especially for Young Single Adults" EFYSA--they called it. That is a lot of time with people and he managed well and even went out with a group afterwards for ice cream and then to fulfill an assignment to clean the Stake Center on Friday night. He is working with the DI on some job stuff and they would like him to volunteer at the Bishops Storehouse to see how that goes. That is his current project. Today he went to choir practice before Church and then sang at their ward "High On A Mountain Top". I am so grateful for every memory he can make of being with people and doing things that young adults do.
We had a couple of good visits with my dad, both for his birthday (where we went to dinner and then Gary helped him with his new computer) and then again this past week when my sister was in town for a family wedding on Lance's side of the family...and Gary got to help my dad with his computer again. Life can get so busy that I sometimes even forget that my dad lives so close.
Tosha, Austen, and Niki are all healthy now and settled into their apartment on base. This week they will actually get their own furniture which I know is like Christmas in a foreign country. They are loving Okinawa and the beautiful beaches and the food. They are now the proud car owners of TWO cars which is the first in their marriage including at GTE (I think that it what it is called) which Austen is very excited about. Through the magic of FaceTime, I got to see Niki crawling all over their new house and got to hear him making a bunch of new sounds.
Jessica, Elessia, and Liam are adjusting to the new life that babies bring. We love it when we can see him but they need to move closer........
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| At three weeks old |
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| Aunt Jena with little Liam when he came to meet Nana and Grandpa Giberson and Great-Aunt Valerie |
I am still busy with school and UDSF. And now I am starting some of the beginning stuff for my internship at the Division of Child and Family Services in the fall and that is become more real to me. I am not sure how I will add 16 hours+ to my week when that starts in the fall.
Our biggest news is that Gary will officially be retired from HP on July 3. This is part of a general workforce reduction (think layoffs) as HP sold his whole division to another small firm centered in California and in China. We had taken the early retirement track last year as we felt that a layoff was near (and there has been two since then) but this speeded it up by 5 months and actually didn't allow enough time to take all of his vacation days...so immediately he went on vacation last Monday. That is a big life change and I feel like I have been too busy to help in much with that. It is about 5 years earlier than we would have liked but we have been very blessed in his career to have had stable employment almost our entire marriage. Both of us are grateful for that and glad that we don't have to panic. He will explore options and we will make adjustments and life is good.
And there was also a parade---not because Gary was retiring, but for Syracuse Days--Jena was in the truck for the Rush and loved waving and throwing out candy.
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| Getting the truck |
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| The Syracuse Community theatre is doing "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" this year so the car was in the parade |
Fun to live in a small enough town that you can celebrate with an early morning breakfast, parade, fair (too hot for us) and fireworks. Happy Birthday, Syracuse.
1 comment:
We have never been busier than we have since retiring!!! It sounds l, like a fun, busy, life. It sounds like Ben is doing better. You and Gary are amazing parents and grandparents!!! Your tribute to your dad was also wonderful!!! Have a wonderful week!
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