And the moment we have all been waiting for.....

(From Tosha's Facebook post:)

Officially still a boy mom! #outnumbered #boymom#nodramaforthismama #ohbabybaby

Yes, Tosha and Austen are expecting a BABY BOY on April 15th and we are so excited for them. And for those who are counting--that makes 1 granddaughter and 5 grandsons for us--three in a span from December to April.  How fun will that be when we all get together.  

It is not only a run of boys for us, but also in our extended family (Giberson side).  Since Scarlett was born over 2 1/2 years ago, we have had one great granddaughter (Dottie) born and 8 great grandsons (Niki, Otto, Liam, Jayden, Anakin, Malakai, Greysen, Zander) and three more boys on the way (in February, April and July).  We also have 2 "unknown gender" greats coming in July as well.  Imagine our 2018 reunions with all of these little boys around 1-2 years old....I think we might hold it in a ball pit.  Fun times are ahead for sure.  I asked my dad if he had been praying for great grandsons but he says he is totally impartial about gender.  He loves them all and is looking forward to the time when he has more great-grandchildren than grandchildren.  We aren't there yet, but it will happen eventually.

My brother Todd will also have 1 granddaughter (his first) and five  grandsons like us by July.

I think the earth needs some strong young men and I can't wait to get to know and love each one of them.

Winter days--or life marches on...

School started--and although I was thinking this semester wouldn't be too bad when I got the textbooks (easy to read), that feeling ended when we reviewed the assignments for the semester.  It is our "Leadership and Administration in Social Work" class and we have some BIG assignments due including writing some policies, writing a grant for funding, and writing a huge reflection paper about ourselves as social workers plus other stuff along the way.  And to top it off, I was assigned to Kaysville Group 1 and we had to do a 45 minutes case study presentation and discussion on Week Two of class.  Welcome back to school!!!

Jena started back on the ski slope with her friend and instructor,Terrie.  We misplaced Jena's boots a year ago so we used boots from the Adaptive Ski program most of last year.  After cleaning the garage and the storage room and Jena's bedroom over the summer, we decided to buy her some new boots.  This first day back on the slopes and she is sailing down the slopes, faster than she ended the year last year.  These new boots seemed to be the best fit for her.  Her instructor was so excited for her.  Terrie said it was like Jena had been skiing for a couple of months already this year.

Jena's happy to be back to Snowbasin and the ski slopes!

This past Friday, when Jena had another great day skiing, Terrie said, "Maybe it was a good thing she lost her boots.  She is really much faster and stronger skier now."  Boots are expensive so we will keep good track of these great boots.

Last Sunday, we attended the "Homecoming" of Brianne Watson in our old ward--Walnut Grove Ward. Brianne served in the New Hampshire mission.  We love her family and it was great to share this day with them.  Brianne is about 3 months older than Jena.  I remembered the day she turned 12 and was acknowledged in Sacrament Meeting as "the newest Beehive" entering into Young Women's. Jena turned to me and said, "I am next one. I be a Beehive, too."  At the time, she was loving Primary so much including Activity Days and we thought maybe it would be good to stay there a little bit longer.  But that moment I knew she was ready and excited about Young Womens so three months later she was the next one--the newest Beehive.  Jena followed Brianne throughout Young Women's, completing their Personal Progress, and then three months apart when they were each nineteen, Jena followed her, serving an mission.  Jena will be finished with her mission just 3 1/2 months after Brianne--following her sweet friend once again.

Last Monday, we got to watch Scarlett while Scott and Chantel went out to dinner and a movie for Chantel's birthday which was on Thursday (they were good to work around our crazy schedule so we could spend some time with Scarlett).  Jena and Scarlett had so much fun playing together.  We built a fort over our air hockey table, we sang songs, we played hiding games and we laughed and laughed.

Tuesday was the day of our case presentation.  We tried something creative for our presentation by doing it in the form of a mock emergency agency board meeting and our teachers loved it.  Glad to have it done!

Wednesday, I got to hang out with Liam and Zander for the morning while Jessica had some dental work done under sedation.  She was glad to get that done and I was very proud of myself because I managed to get both Zander and Liam taking naps at the same time---for about 10 minutes.  The important thing was that Zander was asleep when it was Liam's turn to go down for a nap so I was able to follow his little nap routine without worrying about Zander.  I took a picture of Zander but no good ones of Liam (so I grabbed one from facebook.)

Zander at 6 weeks

Liam sleeping with Curious George and a cat

And despite the fact that I have had no personal experience with a newborn and a toddler as a mom (because of the ages and times our kids arrived.), it was fun (although of course, I didn't do one thing other than be with Liam and Zander--how did you mothers get anything done with two little ones!)

In Gary's 'spare time', he completed my Christmas puzzle of 1000 small pieces.  I think I did about 10 pieces, Jena helped a little bit on many days with the sorting and assembling, but Gary did the major work.  This is the BYU football stadium filled with people.

My blog book came--all 385 pages of it--for 2016.  Even though it was just last year, both Jena and I enjoy flipping through the pages and remembering the things which we did.

It fades into my kitchen counter top.

And it has been snowing and snowing and again snowing.......

Not my favorite when I have to drive to Salt Lake or other places (like everyday last week), but it is beautiful.

I took a video for Ben of the dogs jumping and running through the snow.  They love to try to catch the snow in their mouths.  Ben loved watching it.  It made him laugh and he asked me to take more pictures of the dogs to share with him. 

Counddown until school starts again...

I actually love school.  I enjoy the subject matter, the other students and my professors are amazing. However it takes a lot of time and so I have really enjoyed the four week break.  I had a list of things which I really wanted to get done before it started again because I know that once it starts, lots of things have to be left undone until my next break (which actually won't really happen until August because we don't get much of a break between Spring and Summer semesters because of graduation stuff.) It was exciting stuff like getting the floors mopped, cleaning the fridge, and

cleaning and reorganizing the pantry.....

and trying to finish Zander's quilt (yes, I know he was born in December, but luckily there is no prize for grandmothers who have the quilts done before the birth and Zander still seems to like me).

Here is the top spread out on the air hockey table (this table is useful for many things including playing air hockey).  The white you see in the middle are the paper patterns with Zander's name on them.  Jessica had found a quilt pattern she liked which included the baby's name so I got instructions from my good friend, Sandy Lai, and watched two youtube videos on the topic and started the project.  I did the Z from start to finish to even see if I could do this "fancy" stuff at all.  It was moderately successful so I made the rest of the letters and started the process of ironing them on before I sewed them in place.........

Which one of these doesn't belong?

In the middle of copying the letters in reverse, I made a mistake on the "D", I caught it and redid it on top of the one I had originally drawn to save the adhesive. Apparently when I cut it out, I used the wrong one.  As you can see the D is leaning entirely the wrong way.

This is what it would look like it is was at the more correct angle.  Not a terrible problem, simply make another "D"....except I have absolutely NO more of that fabric.  As luck would have it, I had made an error when I first started using the adhesive which ruined 6 inches of fabric which would have been perfect.  I search my sewing stacks twice hoping to find 5 more inches of this fabric with no luck.  So instead of finishing the quilt top yesterday as planned, I have to wait until I have time and good weather to track down more fabric to make one letter.  Hopefully that wouldn't be too difficult.  Every quilt has a story......

And in the wings, plans and fabric for Baby James's quilt (due to arrive in February.)  No name on his quilt but some new skills will be required as well.

As far as the rest of my "to do" list, there are still a few (hundred) books to read but in general I am ready to start back to school on Tuesday.  I have even read the first two chapters of my textbook--probably the only time I will be ahead this semester.

The only other highlights from the week are Jena started back to school, we got to watch Liam and Zander for an hour on Friday night, and Gary has a bit of a stomach bug today.  Plus the snow, lots of snow and today there was freezing rain.  That prevent our trip down to Provo to see Ben today as they suggested people not drive on the road.  I think this is the most snow we have had for a couple of years.

This is a photo from our front porch. That is our mail box which is about 4 1/2 feet tall.  With the snowed packed road and the white fence, it is hard to get a good perspective.  Trust me, too much snow.
Thank heavens for a snowblower
(and Gary to drive it.)

2017--it finally has arrived!!

I know that isn't a surprise to anyone. 2017 was bound to follow 2016.  However to me (and I would guess the other people in my MSW cohort) we have been looking forward to 2017 since we started our program in 2014.

It was three years ago at this time that I started and completed my application for a second masters in Social Work.  It was not an easy decision for me as I knew the work and time commitment that school requires.  I love school but it is a very "individual" goal which takes a lot from the whole family.  I wasn't sure I wanted to do that at this time of our lives. I also wasn't sure why I would want to do it if I really wasn't looking to create a career. I had determined the last possible date to register to take the entrance exam required for admittance and literally I decided on that last possible date to sign up for the MAT and then start the whole admission process which I completed in about 3 weeks and submitted the day before the due date in January of 2014. Although I had been praying for months if I should apply or not, it wasn't until the night that I had applied for the test and started the application process that I had an overwhelming feeling that this was exactly what our Heavenly Father wanted me to do and it was the time and the school and the fellow students that I was supposed to be connected with.  After 2 1/2 years, I would say that it truly has been a great blessing in my life.  I have loved school and been touched by all the other students and my professors as well as those I have worked with in my internships.  I have learned so much and had some great experiences and I know that will continue throughout the last two semesters.

Having said all of that, I am glad it is only two more semesters...August 2017, here we come!!

The other thing that has changed from 2014 until now are these sweet little grandchildren---and two more on their way!!!

Scarlett, Niki, Liam and Zander

I am sure that 2017 will be filled with high points and low points like all years tend to be on this mortal journey.  However I am looking forward to some awesome moments which I am sure will be make memories for the eternities.  I hope that it is the same for all of you!!!