That's what family's good for!

Earlier this month we were able to go out and visit Mia and John in Austin, Texas along with visiting David's sister, Joyce, and his brother, Jon. We traveled out with Dorothy's son (little) John (17 yrs) as well so he could hang out with Uncle Jon and check out the music programs at the local colleges. We also wanted to help little John get used to flying since his Dad doesn't like to fly much.

It was great spending time with family and it helps to reinforce how great family is.

Uncles are good for playing with playdough with you.

Families are good for having picnics at the park.

Grandpa's are good for buying you giant "Texas-sized" donuts.

Brothers-in-law are good for mowing and edging your lawn and sanding the new "used" playset (not to mention passing some frustrating levels in Mario Universe so you can get to the character you want)

Grandmas are good for making you Red Sox pajamas to match Uncle Bryson's. They're also good for fixing you German Pancakes for breakfast (with extra powdered sugar if mom's not watching).

Dads and Stepmoms are good for designing and installing an entirely over-engineered rain gutter on the back of your house.

Grandpas are good for remembering your Birthday even while you're away from the rest of your family. Happy Birthday little John!

Uncles are good for teaching you how to make sand castles and for playing Mario Kart with you. They're also good for putting you to bed and believing you when you need more stories more songs so it takes 4 times as long as when mom and dad put you to bed.

Teenage sons are good for...ummm...uhhhh...oh yes...testing your internet connection wherever you may be.

Uncles are good for trying to hide in your favorite hiding spot with you.

Moms are good for helping you paint your new playset.

So is Dad and Uncle McKay.

And Grandpa.

Sisters and Brothers-in-law are good for hosting BBQ's with great food. (Joyce and Bruce)

Grandson's are good for making you smile!

By running though the wild Blue Bell fields of Texas.

Daughters are good for turning out beautiful in every way.

All this and so much more...that's what family's good for!

Double the trouble, double the fun.

Life has started to become somewhat normal. That isn't for us; so we had to figure out what to do next. And rather than having come up with something new every year or two, we wanted to do something that would keep things hopping longer. S0, Bryson is going to be a big brother! Yes, we're expecting, and, yes, there's two! That wasn't the exact plan, but we'll roll with it.

We're at week 10 and I went in for an ultrasound today. They are doing great. They measure 30mm (that's just over an inch for you English unit people) and their heart rates are strong.

They are due on Oct 27th, although the doctor said to be prepared for them to come early. Probably the end of Sept or early Oct.

I have been very fortunate that the morning sickness thing has been extremely light, almost non-existent; don't hate me. The main effect is that I have been so sleepy. I go to bed early, go back to sleep after getting the boys off to school, nap for an hour or more at work (thanks, honey, for setting up an office to sleep in at work), and I'm still looking forward to bed by 7pm. It has thrown a wrench in my productivity (and my blogging, obviously). The tired thing is supposed to wear off in a couple of weeks, just in time to start getting huge. I can't wait.

I had a clue that this pregnancy was more than 1 baby when at 6 weeks, I couldn't suck in my stomach any more and I swore it was getting bigger. I panicked that I would be getting big fast, and bought a bunch of maternity clothes on e-bay. It's a good thing because it was only a couple weeks later that I wasn't fitting into most of my pants anymore and we found out that there were 2.

The boys have been really excited about it. When we told them and told them they couldn't tell anyone, yet, I thought they were going to explode. Their one consistent comment has been, "why didn't you have them sooner?" The boys have each done the calculations in the age difference and realized they're going to be gone for most of the babies' childhood. I didn't expect that reaction, but it's a nice expression that they want to be involved with the babies.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be feeling more awake and alert in the coming weeks and be able to take the time to blog. We won't know for another month or two what the genders are, but we are definitely finding out. I want to be prepared for these guys. We'll keep you posted.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Well it would take some work to be smarter than my 5th grader. Bryson earned his way onto a local television station's spot in between commercials during the show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" to present their challenge question. Check it out here: http://www.my4albany.com/content/view/634/112/ scroll to Wednesday at 7pm.

Of course David couldn't be upstaged by Bryson, so he clamored to put together a Press conference by one of our State Senators at XOS so he could be on TV the same week (I'm sure that was his motivation). He managed to hit all 3 stations in one night. You can view them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuJmr4S5wk and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dRHZy9eJ4E and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9HNukEaW4A .

David takes responsibility for this blog. -

One of the things I learned when growing up with my dad was the scientists and engineers get to see the world. Last week reinforced that.

Dubai is like Las Vegas except they spend even more money and without the sleeze.

Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, by about 900 feet!

For the other geeks, the building has a 3 winged cross section. The terraces that reduce the length of each wing spiral around.

A model of the building was tested in a 50 ft high wind tunnel. And the 350 ton spire on the top was too tall and too heavy to be lifted up by a crane or helicopter. So it was constructed inside the building and raised hydraulicly, emerging out of the top!

At the 124th floor I was fine with being inside while the window washer had the unobstructed view. Behind me you can see that just beyond the buildings and the canals is desert.

Dubai is more relaxed about dress for women than some of the other Muslim countries. Many women do not have any head coverings. Some have a scarf, some have only their eyes visible as below, and some wear veils so their faces can not be seen at all. In this picture the person in white is a man and the individuals in black are all women.

The malls are also huge. At the Mall of Emirates the ski slope is a trip.

There is a bunny slope as well as the slope with a chair lift. In the picture at right the chair lift goes up on the left and then makes a dog leg to the left up out of the picture. When you rent your skis or snow board they come with snow pants and coat - presumably you wouldn't have one with you in the desert.

Because that mall wasn't big enough, they just completed another, Dubai Mall. It has over 1,200 retail outlets. And the courtyards in front of the stores are extremely ornate.

These two are just a couple of those in the Gold Souk (gold market) section of the mall.

Of course it has a Guiness World Record aquarium, a waterfall, and more.

An amazing city. But totally artificial; maybe that's the reason it seems like Vegas.

3 cars, 3 check engine lights

It's a Gibson thing.

I learned it all from Myth Busters

A couple of weeks ago we had a meeting with Bryson's teacher to see how he was doing at school. Each of his teachers wrote a couple of lines on a report for each student. The science teacher wrote how amazed she was at Bryson's knowledge of science and how he's always bringing in outside knowledge to enhance the lessons. Feeling proud we told his teacher that it might have something to do with having Engineers for parents or having one Grandfather that has a Masters in Engineering and the other Grandfather that has a PhD in Chemistry and was head of the Physics Department at the University at Albany. Not to mention that he's the youngest and he has to keep up with the scientific dinner conversations of all the older people around him.

When we got home and mentioned the science teacher's comment about his scientific knowledge to Bryson, he casually commented, "I learned it all from Myth Busters."

It's tough for a parent to get any credit for all the hard work you put into these kids.

Almost ready for Christmas...

Most of the shopping is done, most of the sewing is done, most of the shipping is done, most of the cooking is done, and none of the wrapping is done. No problem. I'll get it all done.

We had our annual Gibson Christmas Open House last night. There were relatives, neighbors, people from church, people from work, and a few random people we didn't know, but the Secret Service let them in so we figured they were ok. At one point I walked through the house and counted 53 people. In my not-huge house. 53! Fabulous! It was a great night with friends that we don't get to spend time with very often. Can't wait until next year.

Off to sew...

Just What the World Needs...More Gibsons!

Finally! Today we finalized the adoptions of Parker, McKay, and Bryson to David.



I was talking to a friend of mine and mentioned that we had a court date and she said, "I thought that happened a year ago." Well there are lots of hoops to jump through. It was much easier (and quicker) when I adopted Parker and McKay in Utah, even though it took extra time to get the approval of their tribe.

But now it's done. We've added 3 more Gibsons to the world in one afternoon. To celebrate we went to dinner with Grandma Gibson at a Chinese Buffet (boys' choice). What a relief to have it done. But now comes all the paperwork to get their name changed on everything. Ugh!

Be afraid...Be very afraid...

Three reasons:

1. McKay got his driving permit Friday!


I know what you're thinking, how did he get old enough for that? Good question, but the DMV verified it and actually gave him permission to learn to drive a car. Yikes! I took him to a parking lot so he could start to get the feel of things. He was almost giddy to be behind the wheel (and a little nervous which is a good thing).


2. Parker's room is, at this moment, the cleanest room in the house. He's never been able to claim the title before. I'm not saying it's a sign of the last days or anything, but if you see pigs flying by, you'll know why.

3. After David had Hannah over to educate her on classic cinema, she, too, now knows the secret of Rosebud.

Thanksgiving

Dorothy has been trying to get us to run in a Turkey Trot for years and we've managed to avoid it...until now. McKay wanted to start running back in August and we've been running several nights a week since then. When Dorothy brought up the Turkey Trot again, it seemed like the perfect goal to work toward. It's a 5K (3.1 miles) through the streets of Troy, New York. What a great way to start off Thanksgiving Day, huh?

So at 9:30 this morning we were at the starting line with 6000 (!) other people. Here's a picture of us with Dorothy and her husband, John.
It was a little crazy because of all the people, but it was really fun. I think everyone had a good time. Of course, Bryson beat us all over the finish line by a wide margin, but we were there for fun.

Then on to the feast! This year is was just a small crew, the 5 of us. I think it's the first time in my life that I haven't had a large Thanksgiving with extended family. It was everyone's year to go somewhere else (in-laws and such), so it was just us. In preparation we wrote up our menu of have-to-have dishes and then handed out the assignments. McKay made rolls and jello salad, Bryson was the mashed potatoes and pie guy, David manned the green bean casserole (maybe not such a good choice for him because he didn't realize how easy it was to make until now), while Parker made the sweet potatoes. I provided a turkey and some dressing and we had a great feast. Since I wasn't sure what kind of shape we would be in after the race we preped most of the food Wednesday night. It was perfect because we came home from the race and brunch at Dorothy's then took a nap BEFORE the Thanksgiving meal. And still had time for a pie party at our friend's that evening.

There's so much to be grateful for this year, but mostly I'm grateful for my Lord, my family, and my friends; without which life would seem empty. We have family and friends spread far and wide and I wish we could celebrate with each of you at this time of year. I guess there's always next year...