Bon Voyage!

Well, tomorrow's the day! We leave on our cruise to Mexico right after church, and I can't even tell you how excited I am. I was so organized that I packed on Monday, and every day did something to prepare for the trip. Now there are only 16 things left on my To-Do list! Gibson and Georgia are spending the week at my parent's house, so I had to pack suitcases for them and us which was a total mess. Because I was uber-organized and packed so early, Gibson asked every day if it was time for our vacation. No. Is it time now? No. Will it be time after Georgia wakes up? No. It's been a long week. Luckily, he bought the idea that HE is the one going on vacation. The other day he came up to me and said, "Mom, I'm sorry you and daddy can't go on a vacation." Oh, honey - if you only knew!

In the midst of all the cruise prep, I had the opportunity to teach a mini-class at our enrichment activity today on Clutter Control & Organization. It was a really fun class and it was fun to share ideas with the sisters of our ward. We have a lot of clutter-bugs, so hopefully someone learned something! If I can figure out how to post a document link, I'll share the handouts that I made.

After the class, we went up to Bountiful to have dinner with my Aunt April. We were surprised to find my cousin Jeri and her family there for the weekend! What a fun surprise! We spent the evening catching up, which is always a noisy affair in our family. Man, we laugh a lot! Gibson and Georgia had a great time playing with their cousins - Georgia was so hyper when we left that the whole way home she was yelling and blabbering on and on. I think my mom is having second thoughts about watching them this week - good thing she keeps earplugs in her nightstand! During dinner, Jeri bugged me about not posting in 2 months, so this post is my repentance post. :o( I'm sorry all of you Gonzalez fans. I've let you down. But don't worry - I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and lots of things to say after our trip!

Bon Voyage!

A Brief Update

Time is flying by! January is almost over and it feels like it's still Christmas! That is, in part, because I am just now getting around to taking down our Christmas tree. I finally un-decorated it today while I was cleaning - now it's up to Lu to get it put away! Needless to say, things around here have been busy as usual. Here's a quick blurb on everyone and what we've been up to...

Lu is working, working, working. He's having fun researching camping trailers, since this is "our year" to finally get one! We all love camping, and are SO looking forward to the luxuries of camping in a trailer and not a tent!

I am busy with work, even though I don't work in the office much anymore. Every day seems busy although with what, I don't really know. I guess that's the joy of being a mother!

Gibson is bored out of his mind most of the time. He really really wants to play outside, but it's just too cold (for me, not as much for him!). So we read and play games - a lot. He surprised me the other day by singing the "Days of the Week" song - what the... where did he learn that?! Preschool, of course! It's so fun to watch him as his mind expands as he learns - from Preschool type material to the principles he's learning in Primary. His small little world is growing every day...right before my eyes!

Georgia has had an eventful few weeks. Her feet are finally healed, and look pretty much normal! She doesn't like shoes, however. We'll have to work on that. A little over a week ago, she got a somewhat severe burn on her neck after running into a pan coming out of the oven. She didn't even cry! She has an incredibly high pain tolerance, we've decided. (She pulled all of her stitches out of her feet and never cried, either.) I am so thankful to be working for a dermatologist - I called her right away and she said that since the burn didn't blister, to put 1% Hydrocortisone cream on it and alternate that with Vaseline. So there you go, folks - Burn Treatment 101. Her neck is healing nicely, but it's still ooky looking in the crease, probably because she moves around so much! It will leave a dark pigmented scar, but hopefully it will fade over time. In the meantime, we're just waiting to see what injuries lie ahead.

Well, that's about it. Not much going on, but it's been a while since I posted so I thought I should check in. We're so blessed in our lives, and we're learning to catch the curve-balls that tend to come our way. Now, if we can just get Georgia a helmet, or a burn-suit, or shin-guards... I'll have to look into that!

Happy Birthday, Gibson!

Today my baby turned 4! I still can't believe how time has passed by so quickly. It seems like only yesterday...

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Gibson is such a fun little boy to have around. He is funny and imaginative, and says the cutest things. He loves reading, drawing, playing with toys, watching movies, snuggling, making up songs, and all sorts of other things. He is turning into the most amazing boy. Every day I am thankful to have been given the choice blessing of being his mom.

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Now, I am sitting here thinking of all of the milestones he's already reached, and all of those that are yet to come:

1 year and 8 months from now, he'll be in Kindergarten!

4 years from now, he'll get baptized!

8 years from now, he'll get the Priesthood and pass the Sacrament!

10 years from now, he'll be old enough to go to Stake dances!

12 years from now, he'll be old enough to get his driver's license and...eek...date!

14 years from now, he'll graduate from high school!

15 years from now, he'll be able to serve a mission!

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I am SO excited for the years to come! Happy Birthday, baby!

Bye, Bye, Little Piggies

Well, it's done! Georgia finally had her surgery today to remove toes #11 and 12. We arrived at Primary Children's Medical Center this morning at 9:00 for her 10:30 surgery. She went into the OR right on time, and thanks to the skills of orthopedic surgeon Dr. Stephanie Holmes, she was in and out of surgery in only 45 minutes! She spent about an 1-1/2 hours in post-operative care, and then we were on our way home at 1:00! She is already up and about on her new little feet, and we can't wait to buy her first "real" pair of shoes! Thanks to all of you who checked in on us today and kept Georgia in your prayers! The power of the Priesthood is real, and I am grateful every day for its power in our lives. Here's to a lifetime of sandals and heels for our precious baby girl!

Dr. Holmes drew on her feet to make sure she didn't take the wrong ones! I wonder what exactly it stands for...Sever Here, maybe?

Mommy keeping Georgia calm in post-op. She was so feisty when she woke up from anesthesia they had to give her the maximum dose of Demerol to calm her down! The nurses were cracking up at just how sassy she was being. I just nodded and said, "Welcome to my world!"

Happy Christmas

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We were blessed to be with our immediate family plus my grandparents, who drove all the way from Oregon in the ice and snow. We ate too much, opened too many presents, played too many games, watched too many movies, and had too much fun! It was perfect!

It's Winter in Wonderland

The snow has been falling with no end in sight,

It's drifting and piling all day and all night.

The driveway is deep and the porch lights are buried,

The icicles' dripping with speed that's unharried.

The roof is so full there's no room for the snow,

So it's falling in waves t'ward the house - watch it go!

Now on this Christmas as snow keeps a-comin'

We're snug in our house, doing nothing - just bummin'.

We're grateful for heat, and our four-wheel-drive,

And the moisture that thru summer keeps us alive.

A wondrous day we have had, all in white -

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!

Check it out - the worlds first anti-gravity icicles! I've never seen them go straight for the house before...for a minute I thought our house was crooked!

This is what happens when the snow gets so heavy it falls off the roof - but freezes on the way down! Also note the horizontal icicles that were gouging holes in my window screens (until Dillon kindly walked through the snow to knock them down!). This is a very cool example of nature at its best!

Snow Day

Tuesday was the first real snow of the year. It was Georgia's first time playing in it, and she was quite confused at the whole idea. Gibson had a great snowball fight with daddy, and we all decided we need better snow gear! Brrrr!