The Busy Year of 2017

As I usually do, I have the kids help me out a little with putting stickers and stamps on the envelopes of our Christmas cards. We're lazy, and don't lick the envelopes shut, but instead just put a Christmas sticker on it to hold it shut. Apparently, our stickers weren't very sticky this year and at least one card fell out of it's envelope before being delivered. So I'm hoping that if that happened to anyone else, at least they can see our Christmas card here, and I do apologize! I think next year we'll take the extra time (and endure the gross taste!) and just lick the envelopes shut. Without further ado, here's our Christmas card and photos (taken my me, again, of course!)

Tiny Print Referral*

Life with 4 children is always busy, even if we’re just at home! This year has been no different. In February, we decided to take a break from it all (and from the cold weather!), and take a road trip to Texas. The kids’ favorite memory is daddy trying to carry the 3 older kids across the Paluxy River on rocks, only to fall in and lose his sandal forever. Nora is in her second year with Little Flowers and with Treble Choir at church. She and Nate also did a soccer camp over the summer along with Vacation Bible School and Totus Tuus. They both have also started piano lessons with a friend of ours, but aren’t that great at sitting down and practicing. Nate has taken an interest in climbing things I wish he wouldn’t, so I’ve taken him rock climbing, and he really enjoys it! Sam started Faith Formation with his older siblings this year and loves being included with more and more “big kid” things as he grows. He and Lily have also been attending a music class, which we found out is taught by the wife of my third cousin! Lily’s highlight was probably celebrating her first birthday in May when we celebrated Danni’s 7th birthday. Adam got a little more free time when he graduated with his masters in Engineering Management from Kansas State University in May, but then marathon training ramped up shortly thereafter, and he actually had less free time. He ran in his second marathon this year to raise money for World Vision. Despite a knee injury, he still decided to run, but only made it half way (13.1 miles!!!) this year. After a couple weeks of rest to recover from his injury, he’s back running again with his team from church. This year he also shot his third deer! In August, he took me to D.C. for his annual EMC Symposium. We loved the child-free time together while my mom watched the kids back home. When I’m not homeschooling the kids, I escape the house for Parish Council meetings and Et Cetera (our young adult group at church) meetings and activities. My photography hobby is also developing into a small-time job, as I’ve had a couple families ask me to take their photos! (Shameless plug: You can like my Facebook page, Sarah Gibson Photography, or follow my blog at SarahGibsonPhotography.wordpress.com.) I have also been very busy growing our sixth child who we expect to arrive at the beginning of May 2018. We hope your year has been filled with many joyful memories, and the year to come only brings more!

Nora (6 years), Nate (5 years), Sam (3 years), and Lily (18 months)

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*I used Shutterfly to make my cards this year. I had a couple different codes with different specifications, where I only had to pay shipping, so I ended up sending out two types and only paid 52 cents per card! If you click my referral link you and I will both get a free 8x8 Shutterfly book after your first purchase.

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Short & Sweet Letter: 2016

This year I ended up taking our family photos for our Christmas cards. I'm having a lot of fun using my remote to take our pictures and I feel like I'm getting better at editing them. But that's still something I think I need to work on. So without further ado, here are our Christmas cards and letter for this year!

Shutterfly Referral*

After much nagging, I couldn’t get Adam to write the Christmas letter, so you’re stuck with me, Sarah, again this year. With the birth of child number 5, Lily, in May I haven’t had a ton of time, so this will probably be short (lucky you!). Adam’s highlights this year were taking a work trip to Canada in July, and running his first marathon in October to raise money for Team World Vision. Nora has been busy with swimming lessons, vacation Bible school, Little Flowers, and choir at church, though her singing is not only contained to the choir loft. She can be found singing in the bathroom, her bedroom at night, and any other place you would expect to otherwise be quiet. Nate also took swimming lessons with Nora, and is currently playing Peewee Sports with Grandpa Jack. The only thing that slows him down is puzzles (you know the ones with 300 pieces) and coloring inside the lines. Sam has been trying to keep up with the other two, and loves to go pee pee in his “little potty.” You often need to watch your step in the kitchen, as he is often zooming cars across the wood floor while naked. As for me, I enjoyed a relaxing weekend with some friends in Lusten, MN. I also instantly lost 15 pounds on May 22 (Lily’s birthday), and am on the parish council. Lily decided that I needed to lose more weight by chasing another child around, so she started crawling at 5 ½ months, and is now pulling herself up to stand. There’s no doubt she’ll be walking sooner than I would like. We hope you have a blessed Christmas!

Shutterfly Referral*

Photo by me

Photo by me

*I used Shutterfly to make my cards this year. I had a couple different codes with different specifications, where I only had to pay shipping, so I ended up sending out two types. If you click my referral link you and I will both get a free 8x8 Shutterfly book after your first purchase.

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We Had A Lot to Say in 2015!

First of all, let me apologize to anyone who didn't get a Christmas picture from us. I used two different companies and had problems with both! But, here it is! And here's the letter that went with it...

Nora: "That's when Sam was in mommy's tummy."
Grandma: "Then he came out of mommy's tummy."
Nora: "Yeah, he came out in pieces then mommy fixed him back together."

While playing doctor, Grandma was trying to get kisses from Nora after a shot. Nora replies, "Doctors don't give kisses."

Nora, holding up a Chinese noodle from her salad, says, "This is an angry worm."

Nora: I got cereal down my naked. Silly cereal!

Adam: True to gender stereotypes, he appears to be a much better driver than she is.

Nora: *super excited* I just licked Sam and Sam just licked me!

Nora: I'm still hungry, I want pickles.
Sarah: You had pickles at breakfast.

Adam: *undress Sam for bed, starts putting Sam's jammies on him*
Sam: *begins crying*
Adam: *realizes he forgot the important step of a clean diaper before bedtime & proceeds to change Sam's diaper and puts jammies back on*
Sam: *coos & babbles*

Adam to Nora: Hey, you're not Grandpa, quit poking him with a stick!

Nate: *crying*
Nora: Oh, Nate, you're okay. You're so nice. You're so smart.

Adam: Do not send me to the grocery store anymore without supervision.

Nora: Thank you for putting my clothes out momma... ...maybe we should write you a thank you note.

Sarah: Sam is not a horsey, he is a little baby. Get off.

Nora: Can you let me focus on eating? Talking doesn't let me focus on eating.

Nora: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Spider-Man, and the Doctor will hold my hand if I'm scared.

Adam to Nate: We do not strip at the dinner table.

Nora, seeing a man in a cowboy hat, says, "That's somebody else's Grandpa Mike!"

Sarah: If your tummy says, 'I'm full,' or 'I don't feel good,' you just stop eating and you can finish it later.
Nora: Umm, my tummy doesn't talk.

Sarah: *singing* You and me baby, we're stuck like glue.
Adam: I wouldn't say we're that close.

Sarah: How about a French braid today?
Nora: Oh! That's kinda like French fries.
Sarah: Um, not quite.

Modesty from a 3 year old who was wearing a cute spring dress: "But people at church will see that I'm not wearing pants!"

Adam: Nora, say, "You're the boy in our relationship."
Nora: You're the boy in our silly ship.

Adam: If you sit on a camel is it like sitting on a water bed?

Sarah: God hadn't made Sam yet.
Nora: Oh! I bet He made him out of puzzle pieces!

Nora SITS Sam in the Bumbo, then tells him, "I'm going to babySIT you."

Nora: Um, which one (bee) stung you?
Adam: I don't know, I think it was Larry.

Adam: ...Maybe I'll pick up a Jimmy John's the night before.
Sarah: For breakfast!?
Adam: It's toast... With meat and stuff.

Nora: I just have to go potty. You watch my food and make sure it doesn't get moldy.

Adam: Who do you want to read the story to you?
Nate: Dinosaur read!
Adam: Dinosaurs can't read.
Nate: No, they have hands. See!

Nora: Mom! You forgot something in your picture of our house... Oh, and the sun and the moon... And the earth.

Adam: Do you smell licorice?
Sarah: I smell spray paint.
Adam: Yeah, or that.

Sarah: Sam, can you say treadmill?
Sam: *some utterance that's not even close*
Sarah: Can you say dada?
Sam: DA-da DA-da dada dada dada...
Sarah: Can you say mama?
Sam: Dada.
Sarah: *sigh*

Nora: Mommy, do you have a baby in your tummy?
Sarah: I do!

So from our family to yours we hope you have a very blessed Christmas season!


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We All Have Stories: Our 2014 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas 2014

This year has been a wonderful year for the Gibson family, and we hope it has been for yours as well! Here's a run down on our family, starting with our smallest, newest member!

	Samuel David

 

was born on September 28, only 22 minutes after his due date. He is, by far, the most loved on person in this house! He loves to coo, babble, & smile at all of us. In his two months, he's already started rolling from his tummy to his back, and has already had his first ER visit (a cold has been running though our family, and it struck the poor little guy pretty hard).

	Nathaniel

 

is growing up so fast! While he still doesn't have a ton of words, we love seeing the new things he is learning how to do... like, climb up the front of the fridge. He's a ball full of energy and dimples. This fall I started “school” with Nate. He always wanted to do what Nora was doing, so even though he's a little young (the curriculum I am using is for 2 year olds, and he'll turn 2 right before Christmas), I started him anyway. He loves sitting and “daw” (drawing) with us.

	Eleanor

 

turned 3 this year, and many doors have opened for her. She was old enough to take a dance class. While she wasn't the greatest participant in the beginning, by the last class, she knew the whole routine for their dance (“The Wheels on the Bus”). She loved going to dance class, and we will probably sign her up again! This fall she was also old enough to start faith formation at church. I signed her up thinking that it would be nice for her to have a teacher other than me at home, but I have ended up being one of the teachers for her class. She has continued on in her “school” as well, and has been working on the 3 year old curriculum since late spring.

Danielle

would have turned 4 this year. We had a birthday party for her. One of our good friends made a beautiful cake for her birthday, that when we cut into, we found out that Sam (who we had just had an ultrasound with) was going to be a boy. We still feel so blessed to have her as our daughter, even though we're not raising her.

	Sarah

 

(that's me!) worked as a Title I instructor at St. Agnes during the last school year. I've also continued working as a personal math tutor for a few different students. And, of course, teaching our own kiddos. In February, my mom and I took Nora & Nate to Oregon to see my grandma for the last time. She died shortly after we returned.

	Adam

 

was officially hired on at Danfoss Power Solutions in March of this year (before that he was working there through a temp agency). He still continues to work early AM's at UPS too. He has also been working on losing weight, and has lost 25 pounds so far, mostly by working out, but he's also been watching how much he eats. I'm very proud of him for sticking with it for so long, and committing to lead a healthy life. He also “ran” his first 5k in June. He came in at 1:07:00 just behind his pregnant wife (who had to stop twice for a potty break), and our sleeping toddler in the stroller.

We hope your 2014 was as blessed as ours was, and that your 2015 brings you much more joy!

All our love,

The Gibsons

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Celebrating 4, 3, 2, & 1 Years: Our 2013 Year

Dear Family & Friends,

We hope you had as eventful of a year as we did! This year we celebrated 4 years, 3 years, 2 years, and we are about to celebrate 1 year!

In February, Adam signed a contract with Aerotek working as a temp employee of Sauer Danfoss (they have since been bought out and are now just Danfoss). We were really excited that he got a job fairly quickly after graduation, though while he was searching, it seemed like forever! They like him there, and are talking about hiring him on sometime late next year. In the meantime, he continues to work early AM’s at UPS before heading to his “real” job.

In April, I took a long term sub position teaching math at St. Agnes. It was rough for this Bulldog (St. Bernard’s) to be an Aggie, but I enjoyed being back in the classroom. Several of my mom friends helped watch the kids while I was at work. It was a great experience; however, it made me realize that my place right now is at home with my babies!

On May 9^th, Adam and I celebrated our FOUTH wedding anniversary. Four years doesn’t seem that long, but when I look back to our wedding day, it seems like an ancient memory!

A couple weeks later, we celebrated Danielle’s THIRD birthday on May 17^th. The weather didn’t cooperate, so we didn’t release balloons this year, but we had cake and celebrated with friends & family.

At the beginning of June, mom, the kids, and I went to Oregon to visit my mom’s family and introduce them to our little man, Nathaniel. My grandma was so excited to see us that she ended up slipping off the ottoman and breaking her leg on our first day there. So we spent a lot of time going back and forth visiting her, but we were able to celebrate my cousin’s pregnancy and throw her a baby shower while we were there.

On August 12^th, our little Eleanor celebrated her SECOND birthday. She spent the day playing with her cousins and even got to skip her nap. After dinner she was able to blow out candles on a birthday cupcake, though we didn’t have her birthday party until October, since we were in the middle of moving.

At the end of August, we bought a new house in Woodbury. We love all the space that we have (coming from a townhouse!), and the room we have to grow our family. Though I am finding that with more space to grow, comes more space to clean! I’m pretty sure that’s the only part I don’t like about moving out of our townhouse. Since then, we’ve been kept super busy putting our home together, from yard work, garage improvements, painting, decorating and more!

In October, we celebrated Adam’s dad’s wedding to his mom’s sister. Even though it rained a little, it was a lovely wedding, and reception. It’s been great to have his aunt take a new roll in the family and grow closer to her.

While we haven’t gotten to it yet, we will be celebrating Nate’s FIRST birthday just a few short days before Christmas on the 21^st. To my disappointment, at 10 months, he’s recently started walking. But, it’s been such a fun year watching him grow into such a little man!

We hope that 2013 was a wonderful year full of blessings for you and your family, and wish you a Merry Christmas filled with joy.

Love,
Sarah, Adam, Danni (3 years), Nora (2 years), and Nate (11 months) 


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Nora's 2012 Christmas Letter

Momma always says she’s tired, and Daddy’s busy finishing school, so they’re making me, Nora, at 15 months, write the Christmas letter this year. I’ve never done this before, but Momma says I just tell you what we did this year (just in case you’re not in the Facebook loop, and aren’t caught up on every little thing that happens around here). 

Well, to the important stuff, the stuff about me. In January, Daddy and Grandpa Jack were trying to teach me how to crawl, and when I was 6 months in February, I could do it all by myself. I liked finding new things that Momma wasn’t always thrilled about me finding. (I think I still do that, because they keep putting things up higher & higher.) It was around that time too that they started letting me eat real food! Squash, avocados, carrots, applesauce… I love it all! (Now that I’ve got teeth, they don’t mash it up for me, and I get to feed it to myself or throw it on the floor – that’s usually followed by a “no, no” though.)

For my 8-month birthday, Momma took me swimming for the first time, and I loved it! It’s just like bath time, but the tub is way bigger, and Daddy didn’t keep trying to scrub me down. A couple weeks later, Momma and Daddy left me with Grandma & Grandpa overnight while they went to Daddy’s cousin’s wedding. It was great! Momma says that Grandma always spoils me… if that means “lets me have lots of fun and give me lots of treats,” then yes, yes she does!

On May 19th, we went to a cemetery and released balloons. It was fun to see them fly away. Momma & Daddy said we were sending notes to my big sister for her birthday. She’s the one in the pictures around the house. I like to point at the pictures and say, “bebe,” then Momma tells me, “baby Danni.” (Doesn’t she know I’m still learning to talk? “Bebe” is the best she’s getting out of me!)

In June, when I was 10 months old, Momma & Daddy were babysitting my baby cousin, Reese, and I was jealous that they were giving her all this attention, and not me. I got their attention alright though. I walked straight across the living room! I probably could have done it a while ago (I’d take a step or two, here and there), but, man am I glad I saved that trick until that day! I got their attention back real quick!

Sometime in July that I started noticing Momma’s tummy getting bigger, I thought she was just eating too much, but then she started pointing at her tummy and saying “baby.” I can’t figure out why she would eat a baby, they’re so much fun to sit on the floor next to and watch. (Sometimes I like to poke their eyes and say, “Aye!” Then Momma always grabs my hand and tells me to be gentle, I do it to myself all the time though, and it doesn’t hurt, so I don’t know what she’s so concerned about.) One day, Momma showed me her tummy and asked me to kiss the baby. I felt bad for the poor baby, so I did. I even gave him a hug. Daddy says I get to meet the baby shortly after Christmas.

Oh! Let me tell you about all the places I went! Momma & Grandma took me to Oregon again to play with my cousin, Madison. I liked checking out Great-Grandpa Joe’s wheelchair too. I just can’t get over how cool that thing is! Momma & Daddy took me to Duluth in August, after my 1st birthday. I fell off the hotel bed, and hurt my arm. But, I had a lot of fun playing with the pebbles by this really big lake. Then, they took me up to Daddy’s uncle’s cabin. Boy, was it cool walking around in the woods, watching the big guys cut up wood, and play with my cousins. We also went up to the farm to get pumpkins and visit Momma’s Godmother. I loved seeing the cows (they say, “moo,” you know), and the kitties.

In September, Momma started leaving me with Daddy in the evening sometimes. She said she was going to work, something about tutoring kids at Mathnasium. I don’t know what that means, but I don’t like it when she leaves, and I don’t get to go with her. Daddy, too, has been leaving the house a lot lately dressed up really nice. Momma always tells him, “Good luck with your interview.” I don’t know what that is either, but I like giving him kisses when he leaves.

Love,
Nora, Daddy, Momma, “Bebe” Danni, and the “bebe” that Momma ate


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2011 Christmas Letter

The Christmas Herald

6 Weddings & a Baby: 
The Gibson’s 2011 Year in Review
By Sarah Gibson, 
Edited by Adam, Danielle (19 months), & Eleanor (4 months)

Adam & I at his sister’s wedding in Chicago.

Our year started off with a secret that was hard not to mention in last year’s Christmas letter. (You’ll figure it out as you read on.)

January: We went up to Faith’s Lodge to spend a weekend together, and with other couples that had lost babies. We met 5 wonderful couples whose children are Danielle’s playmates in heaven. Later that month, we went to our first wedding, one of my childhood neighbors, Brandon, got married.

February: Not much noteworthy happened. We celebrated Valentine’s day, and I’m sure I bought a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s with green olives (yuck!) on half just for Adam. What a loving wife I am!

March: We babysat our niece, Addy, for a whole weekend, while her parents went to Chicago to work on planning their wedding.

April: Two weddings! Adam’s brother, Charles, got married to Kitty, and we were both in the wedding. Then at the end of the month, Adam’s cousin, Laura, got married to Steve as well.

May: Our softball season started with the Pros & Cons for the 3^rd year. I wasn’t allowed to play, again, this year. While I am a good player (I played softball before joining the league, Adam did not), I was 6 months pregnant. We did miss a softball game when we went to Chicago for Adam’s sister, Jacque’s, wedding. I was a bridesmaid for Jacque, and Adam was a groomsman for Corey. Later that month, we also became the Godparents of Adam’s cousin, Daniel Joseph.

June: I finished my last day of school at Eagan High School, and with budget cuts, I lost my job again. So I began my job hunt, again. I would say that Adam has his last day of the school year, but he took summer classes all summer long, and also started working weekends for Pepsi. Then came out 5^th wedding: Adam’s boss at UPS got married.

July: We attended our 6^th wedding, the wedding of one of my grade school friends, Sarah. The next day, July 17^th, Adam’s mom, Elisabeth Therese (Beth), lost her battle with cancer. This was her 3^rd battle with it, and, sadly, it finally won out.

August: On August 12^th, we welcomed our second daughter, Eleanor Elisabeth (named after my grandma, and Adam’s mom) to the world. We think she looks a lot like her big sister, Danielle. The week after she was born, we had our softball playoffs, and even though we lost the game, we considered it a win, since we didn’t get 10-runned (where the other team gets 10 more runs than you, and the ump calls the game in their favor, because you have no hope of winning).

September: Since I didn’t find a job, I became stay-at-home momma extraordinaire, and Adam went back to St. Thomas to continue his education to become an electrical engineer. At the end of the month, we had Nora baptized at St. Patrick’s Church.

October: Momma & Daddy had their first date night since Nora was born, and Grandma Denise & Grandpa Jack loved being able to babysit her. Then, of course, Nora dressed up for her first Halloween. She was the cutest skeleton you’ve ever seen!

Eleanor at 3 ½ months doing tummy time.

November: My mom, Nora, and I abandoned Adam and dad to take Nora out to Oregon on a plane to meet my mom’s family. Nora did very well on the plane, to my surprise.

December: We are eagerly waiting to celebrate Nora’s first Christmas and hope that you have a wonderful celebration with your family as well!




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The Ups & Downs of 2010 (Our Christmas Letter)

It’s been hard for me to come up with an all-cheerful Christmas letter this year, because we’ve had so many ups and downs this year. So I thought I would just highlight all of our ups and downs this year. Most of them have ended on a happy note!

The UPS and downs of 2010

We found out Adam’s mom’s cancer returned. The diagnosis was not good, but having gone though several rounds of chemo, the doctors can find no signs of the cancer in her. She has beat the odds once again!

Adam’s grandpa was lying on his death bed, but he has recovered and is home with his wife.

Adam did not get accepted to the University of Minnesota to finish his Electrical Engineering degree, but that was a blessing in disguise.  He was accepted to the University of St. Thomas, which was made free with the GI bill this year.  He likes the small school atmosphere much better than he would like the U.  We expect him to graduate in May or December of 2012, and begin his new career.

On May 17, we brought our beautiful daughter, Danielle Joann, into this world, but two very short days later, God called her home. We were both able to hold her and love her. I was able to nurse her once. We both miss her very much, and wish she could share her first Christmas with us, but she gets to celebrate with Jesus on His birthday (and I’m sure that’s the best birthday party anyone has ever been to).

The high school that we both attended closed and I lost my job as a result. In July, I found a job at a Catholic grade school, but wasn’t totally happy with it. But, we took a road trip anyway to celebrate and to get away for a while....

We visited my childhood neighbor, Brent, in Nebraska. Then we stayed in Denver, CO on our way to the Grand Canyon, where we toured the South Rim. From there, we stayed in Vegas for several nights (we didn’t win anything... though it’s kind of hard to win when you don’t play at all!), and saw a couple shows and walked the strip. Next, we went to Los Angles, CA and helped Adam’s sister, Jacque, and her family pack up for their move back to Minnesota. Finally, before we headed home, we went to Oregon to visit my grandparents and a few of my cousins.

… When we returned, I kept applying to a few public schools in our area, and was hired at Eagan High School teaching Algebra I to freshmen and Tech Math to seniors. I love my new job, though I do miss all my Saint Bernard’s family.

We hope you have a blessed new year!

All our love,
Sarah, Adam, & Danielle 

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