A little glimps of Chirstmas and my birthday

Most of the pictures we took of our Utah trip are on my Dads camera, so I only have a few, but we had a great time as always! We spent every minute we could with family and friends! We were able to see almost everyone on our list. For the most part we all stayed pretty healthy. All of us took our turns with the usual dry winter cold, but other than that we were great!

We were able to have some really fun get together's. Most of which I sadly don't have pictures of, but I thought I would write them down anyway. Our first was with some of our old dental school pals. It's always so fun to be with them! I miss them all dearly.

Then, thanks to my awesome sister in law, Greg and I were able to go to the David Arculetta concert with the Mormon tabernacle choir. He was amazing. I've always enjoyed him ever since I watched him on American Idol.

On the Monday before Christmas we got together with Kajsa and Monty, and Heather and Scott. When we're all together you know you're in for a lot of laughs. We played Cranium and Greg and I won! I love that game. You really get to know what people's strengths and weaknesses are.

Next was our annual Gibson family dinner/devotional. Each family member takes a turn conducting and this year was my Uncle Kents turn. He had the coolest idea. Each family member ( we only have 17 people in this family mind you) came up to the front and sat in a chair, while sitting each person in the room had to write two nice things about them. After we got through writing for each person, we went around and got to share with everyone what we wrote. It was so neat! It was incredible to be able to say to everyone how great you thought they all are. It was perfect because I rarely see them and I loved getting the opportunity to express how much they all mean to me.

On Christmas Eve we went to my Grandpa's and Maryann's for our annual shrimp fest. It's always one of our favorite meals of the year, especially for Greg. I can't even count how many shrimps he packs away. We also play bingo and then open presents. It was such a fun night.

We loved watching the girls on Christmas morning. Brinley got VERY into the whole Santa thing this year (it made for great bribes all month long.) The thing she wanted most of all was a Rudolf the red nosed reindeer. So a few days before Christmas we told her Santa was letting her go to one of his workshops to help make her own Rudolf. We took her to build a bear. She was thrilled! And that little deer has not left her side since.

It was Julianne's first Christmas and she was as cute as could be! I couldn't believe how much she loved all her gifts. It was so much fun!

On Christmas afternoon we all met at Greg's parents for lunch. It was really fun to be all together and Brinley LOVED playing with all her fun cousins. The day after Christmas we went to my Mom and Dads with my Brothers family for a yummy prime rib dinner. It was delicious and so much fun to hang our with my brother, Kristin and little Christain boy. When we move to St. Louis we'll only be about 5 hours away from them.

On Tuesday we got together with all the "fab 8" and wives. It's always a night filled with a lot of laughs and good memories. I can't believe how well we all get along! I love them all.

The next night we got together with one of my best friends Holly and her husband Blake. She made us a way yummy dinner and we had a great time! I always wish we lived by them! Her and Blake are so much fun to be with.

The next week all of Greg's siblings and parents got together to go to the New Yorker. We LOVE that place! It was so fun to be all together with just the adults and since it was close to my birthday they brought me out a little cake. It was delicious!

On the day of my birthday we had to fly out, so we celebrated the day before. We out to dinner with all my cousins and aunt and uncle. It was a blast! Then, thinking the night was over, we drove back to my parents and Greg told me he had to stop at the store to get some ice cream for a party his Mom was having later on in the week. I thought it was a little strange, seeing that we weren't going to be there for that party, but would still be providing ice cream, but oh well, I didn't think too much of it.

After leaving the store we pulled up to my parents house, I walked in the door and went up stairs, turned on my kitchen light and all of the sudden people were singing and there was a cake. Greg had planned a little surprise birthday celebration for me. It was my friend Heather and her family, that I'm very close to. It was so sweet! I'm so glad that I got to see them again before I left. We had a great little get together and it was so much fun! I had a great birthday. Thanks so much honey for putting that all together for me. I love ya!

Our trip was great! We loved it so much. It was fun to think that this was our last trip where we would be flying back to Philly.

Christmas in New York City

There is nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, NOTHING, in the world like New York City at Christmas time. Everything is decorated beautifully and there is just a fun, holiday, feeling in the air! This was our first year taking the little girls during this time of year.

Brinley was SO excited! We told her a few days before that we were going and each day she would tell everyone she talked to that we were going to NEW YORK CITY! She has seen many movies filmed there and so she kept asking me if she would see certain characters like Dodger and Oliver from Oliver and Company (one of her favorite Disney movies). I told her probably not, but that we were going to see someone else that was very special.......Santa Clause! We took her to the best place in the world to see Santa, Macy's on 34Th street!

Oh my goodness, it was a sight to see! You enter through a train, like the polar express and it takes you to this Christmas city wonderland! Everything is lit up and there are singing bears and a huge sleigh filled with all these cool toys. It really is amazing! Because of the lighting my camera took horrible pictures (so mad about that!) but here they are anyway. When Brinley saw Santa she asked for Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. He said he'd see what he could do.

After seeing Santa we met up with Greg's brother Danny, who just happened to be there on business. It was so much fun getting to hang out with him for the evening! He helped us out a ton with the kids.

We, of course, went to Rockefeller plaza to see the famous tree. It was magnificent.

In this picture Brinley grabbed my face and said "Mom, I want to give you a kiss." My brother in law just happened to capture it. So sweet.

Afterward we went and got good 'ole New York pizza, which is always yummy, and then headed to F.A.O Schwarz to see all the toys!

What an incredible evening we had! We will miss New York City, that's for sure.

Big News!

Yesterday we found out that Greg got accepted to an orthodontist residency in St. Louis Missouri! We are so EXCITED!!! He starts this June and it's a 2 1/2 year program. Way to go Greg! You have DEFINITELY earned it! I love you!

Happy "turkey turkey" Day!

I hope that all of your Thanksgivings tasted as WONDERFUL as mine. My Brothers family came to visit us for the week and we truly had a marvelous feast! My brother has turned into quite the chef. He made us the MOST mouth watering turkey I have ever had in my entire life! If was sooo good I could barely come up for air! Everything else was AWESOME too. Thanks Jared, Kristin and Christain boy for making the trek out here. We love you guys!!

Halloween

Just a short little blog to show off our Minnie Mouse and Winnie the Pooh! Holidays are so fun with little kids!

Happy 6 months Julianne

Our little angel is now six months old! I can't believe it. We are so blessed to have her. If I had to describe her in one word it would be "delightful." She has the cheeriest disposition and is simply sweet.
I know that I've mentioned how beautiful her smile is, but I just can't get enough of it! She'll lock eye contact, give the biggest smile, and just keep staring and smiling at you without looking away. I get so giddy when she wakes up, knowing that when I go to her crib she'll greet me with that smile.





We started feeding her solid foods about a month ago and she is doing really well. At the begining she didn't quite know what to think and didn't really enjoy the texture, but luckily she outgrew that and is a great eater.
She is still a wonderful sleeper at night. She'll go down around 7 and wake up around 7. She takes about 2 1/2 naps. One in the morning, one after lunch and a short little cap nap in the evening. I wish I knew how much she weighed but we don't go to her well visit for another few weeks.



Her best friend is her sister. She loves Brinley! In fact sometimes when her and Brinley's naps don't line up and I have Julianne alone without Brinley, I think Julianne gets bored. She is so used to having Brinley entertain her. Mom is no where near as interesting as Brinley is. It's been really fun to watch their little friendship develop.


If you look close you can see Julianne's arm around Brinley. Brinley was trying to teach her the ABC's.

We love, love, love you Julianne! Thank you for making our family so wonderful.

Fall Fun

We sure do love the fall around here! We've been soaking up the crisp sunny weather while it lasts. It'll definitely be one of the things we'll miss most when we leave the east coast.

Everyday I try to take the girls on a walk in the stroller. They love it and so do I, but I think miss Juilanne is the biggest fan.

A few weeks ago Brinley and I decided to have dinner outside together! I think we need to do that more often. It was a ton of fun.

This past weekend we had an extra great time because our Aunt Geri came to visit! We love it when she comes! The girls just love her.
Brinley loves it becuase she gets played with non stop!

Aunt Geri brought these cute jammies from Grandma Carole. She loves them. Thanks Grandma!
We took Aunt Geri to Amish country and they had a special petting zoo set up! Brinley was in heaven because she got to feed the animals. It was so entertaining to watch!


After Amish country we headed to Hershey to take a tour of the chocolate factory. Greg and I have been there several times, but haven't ever taken Brinley. The tour is a cute little ride with singing cows and Brinley loved it!

And no trip from Aunt Geri would be complete without her making us yummy pumpkin sugar cookies! Thanks Aunt Geri for the visit!