The Summer

We finally got some new family photos so I had to add one to our blog, and decided I might as well add a post of some of the fun things we've been doing this summer including a trip to Utah and lots of water play.

As we drove to Utah, we stopped at a park for lunch to break up the long drive. The drive there was great up until that final mountain pass which got Aubrey sick about two blocks from Tyler's sister's house. The drive back was even worse. This time going through Colorado mountains, it did not go over so well with Tessa's proneness for carsickness. I was never so happy to see the flatness of Texas as we drove home. Here's the girls at a park in Monticello, UT.

We spent a day at This is the Place Monument. Tessa got to help drive the horse-drawn carriage.

Aubrey loved trying to do everything the big kids could do.

Here are some of the cousins. I love how Aubrey is happy to have her picture taken. Abby? Not so much.

Do we see another optometrist in the family? That's Tessa working on Grandma.

The girls did a fashion show with their cousins' dressups.

We've done a lot of swimming this summer, but here's one time I actually had my camera. It was during a playgroup at a splash park. Aubrey finally decided the water was okay, but she only got close enough to touch it with her fingertips.

Abby chose her own pose for her picture.

I don't know if Tessa saw Abby's pose or if she decided on this herself, but I thought it was funny and super cute.

Here are the girls outside while Dad worked on the yard. I couldn't get Aubrey to sit still long enough, but this is a great one of Abby and Tessa.

We're enjoying our summer and not looking forward to its end. Abby starts school in just three short weeks!!!

I can't believe it!

Fourth of July and Pies!!

So an eventful weekend for the 4th of July! We spent it with family. My brother, John, flew in from Utah and he got to hang out with us before we drove back to my parent's house. Here he is with Aubrey. This picture keeps changing to sideways when I upload it, but oh well, it's still cute.

We started the weekend off with our ward pancake breakfast which included a bike parade. We decorated Abby's scooter using all the red, white, and blue items she could find around the house.

Tessa and Aubrey were going to ride in the wagon, but with rainy weather, we opted out of that.

Tessa was fine using her umbrella instead.

After Tyler's work, we drove out to my parent's and got together to watch the fireworks. We were a bit farther than we should have been, but we still saw them and enjoyed the time together, at least until Tyler and I had a to make a quick getaway to get Tessa to a potty. So we missed the finale, but Abby got to stay and tell us all about it when she came back with her aunt and uncle.

Someone in the parking lot played patriotic music pretty loud for everyone to hear, so John took a turn dancing with Tessa.

Tyler wouldn't give me a serious face for a picture, but I thought this one turned out cute anyway and I love that you can see Abby's nails that we painted the day before-red, white, and blue stripes.

Tessa got to sit on the van for a minute when she got too antsy waiting for the fireworks. Luckily it wasn't for long, because she made me very nervous up there.

We finished the weekend eating lots of food, playing games, swimming, and celebrating birthdays. We had a great time.

As for my Post Title of PIES, I've been attempting to make pies on a regular basis ever since Tyler requested a pie for Father's Day. I found a sure fire way to make pie crusts that are super yummy, so it makes me want to try more. Here are a few of my pies I've made recently:

The one that started it all - Fresh Strawberry Pie

A Peach Pie with Streusel Topping

And my personal favorite so far: Lime Meringue Pie, which I forgot to take a picture of until after we starting eating it. Yummy!

Anyway, it's been a fun and tasty hobby to try. Too bad it interferes with my exercise and diet plan. Oh well, it's summer time right? Why not enjoy it?!? We definitely are!

Birthday Parties!!

Well, it's been a couple weeks now, but I officially hit a new decade last month.

I turned 30 - GASP!

It hasn't been too bad actually and with three kids I figure it pretty much makes sense. I'm not a youngin' anymore, and that's okay! My "older" friends welcomed me into the 30's club and I came willingly. I had a great day and week thanks to my family and friends. During the day of, I told Abby we could do makeovers, so she became the stylist and did makeup for me and Tessa. Here are some shots.

She did a great job even though you can't see all the different colors and types of makeup. She used every piece of makeup I owned and she owned, so I had probably 15 different lipsticks/chapsticks/lip gloss on at the same time. Beautiful Tessa:
With our stylist:

The girls. Luckily Aubrey missed out on the messy makeup while napping.

My parents passed through town and took us out to lunch which was fun. And Tyler made my favorite flavor cake - lemon - and got fancy with it. It turned out great and it was super tasty.

Tyler took me out to dinner, yummy Olive Garden, and when I came home, there were people in my house for a surprise party. It was a total surprise, and even with Abby's accidental hints I didn't really know because all she did was confuse me with what she said. It made more sense after I knew however. :) It was so much fun!

Then later in the week, my friends took me out for a girl's night out which was awesome. We ate mexican food, my favorite, and then had dessert and a movie at my friend's house. It was a blast. And the highlight of the night had to be the passing of the Chinese Laundry Party Shoes. These shoes were found at TJ Maxx for a bargain of 70 cents!! We were there for another friend's birthday and after all trying them on and them fitting all of us (pretty much), we became the Sisterhood of the Traveling Shoes because these shoes were MAGICAL! :) They became red-soled shoes after another girl's birthday when she wore them and they fell apart after like 15 minutes. But now they're good as new. I just have to figure out how to put my "touch" on them before passing them on to the next birthday girl. Aren't they awesome though?!?

Thank you ALL for a memorable passing into my 30's! It couldn't have been any more fun.

May Happenings

I just realized it's been over a month since my last post. So here's a few pictures to update you on the Gibbons. We had a few days of above 90 degree weather so we pulled out our pool and spent a few days enjoying the water.

We spent a weekend in Wichita Falls and enjoyed time with cousins.

We played miniature golf (Abby and Tessa's first time)

And we also fed the geese. Apparently the swans were hungry because they swam all the way across the lake to us, and followed us on the path until we stopped to toss them bread. They were huge.

Our favorite part was the baby geese - so cute!

Abby had her dance recital yesterday so we had a full day of dancing. The excitement for the weekend was that Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons came all the way from Utah to see the recital.

We loved having them here to visit and were sad to see them go. Besides some minor issues with video cameras, we were still able to get some good pictures of Abby and her friends. And of course she danced beautifully.

Haircuts and peek-a-boo

The girls got haircuts last week. Well, Abby and Tessa did. Abby's was getting pretty long and with how thick her hair is, when it gets too long, it's so hard to keep brushed and nice so a cut becomes necessary. When I cut Abby's hair last week, Tessa decided she needed one too. I was planning on just trimming Tessa's hair, but after the first snip, I realized it was pretty short. Plus, as she got tired and squirmy, it made the cutting process more difficult, so unintentionally I think I gave her a pretty good layered cut. So here's a good before picture with their long hair.

Abby likes to tell everyone she got her hair cut and then tell them, "I have a whole new look!"Tessa looks all grown up to me.Aubrey hasn't gotten a haircut yet, but she has started saying "cheese" whenever the camera is present, which makes for a few more smiley photos at least.
Here are all the girls together with new hairdos.

And for Peek-A-Boo, as we drove back from the zoo a couple weeks ago with Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons, Aubrey was in a very happy mood. She kept laughing at Grandma and then started playing Peek-A-Boo so I got it on my camera. Thought it was super cute.

Visitors, Parks, and Zoos

We had visitors the week before Easter. Tyler's brother and family and his parents came from Utah for their spring break. My brother-in-law's family includes 4 kids - a 10-year-old boy, 2 4-year-old twin girls, and a 2-year-old girl. So that filled our house with 6 girls with Abby as the oldest. We had lots of screams, lots of laughter, and lots of fun!

While the boys went golfing, the girls took a trip to the park. Aubrey loved the swings.

And Abby loved drawing with the chalk. We traced all the girls' bodies. Abby decided on her own pose and then colored it in herself. I thought it turned out so cute.

We spent a day at the Forth Worth Zoo.

We saw lots of animals. Aubrey, and everyone else, really liked the white tigers because they came up so close to the glass window. (Can you see he winked at me for the picture? :)

But everyone's favorite spot was where we ate lunch which was right next to a huge glass wall where we saw alligators, fish, and turtles. We spent our evenings playing Rock Band on Wii and watching movies.

Fortunately, the rest of our furniture was delivered about 15 minutes before they left to go home, so they got to see what our living room is supposed to look like. And we got one last picture of all the cousins together.

We had so much fun and we miss them all already.

Tessa Turns Three!!!

Tessa, Tessa

How we love thee

Let me count the ways:

I just have to start by saying Tessa is our "wild child." I feel like as she turns 3 tomorrow she not only is keeping the "terrible twos" strong but she has also just added the "theatrical threes."

Let me explain. Here is our Tessa in detail:

She loves to lock doors whether she's inside or out, and whether we have a key or not.


She loves to run around the house naked, usually with a diaper, but sometimes without.

She has a scream "heard round the world." It's high, it's loud, and it can last for LONG time.


She can throw a fit like the best of 'em. She usually lays on the ground with her face on her arms and her bum in the air, or if standing up her arms are wrapped around her head.

She's like a little tornado leaving wreckage in her wake. As soon as a room is clean, it takes her less than 10 seconds to "replace" all toys back around the room. Her favorite activity - throwing the toys as far as possible.


She's a true artist. We have original Tessa's on the walls, doors, carpets, floors and always her own body. Her masterpieces are created by all different sources: chalk, crayon, pencil, marker. You name it, she's found it and used it.

She loves to sit on, push, hit, and kick her baby sister, lovingly of course. (or so she says)

She's a climber, whether it's the dinner table, the couch, card tables, windowsills, slides. You name it. If it has a ledge or a step, she'll find it and climb it.

We Love our Tessa. Here's just a few more:

She plays dollies constantly so you can always hear her saying things like, "yes sweetie," or "dance with me sweetie."

She hops and skips around constantly with her arms up and bent at the elbow with hands flapping like fairy wings.


She can easily be caught singing Miley Cyrus's The Climb, or Lady Gaga's song "Rah-Rah-ah-ah-ah."


She sings with her hand on her hip while tapping the beat with her foot. She does this when she's frustrated too like when she's waiting for a response from someone. (like a total teenager!)


She still has her evil eye but is always quickly followed by her genuine happy smile.

She loves to dress up and follow her big sister around and do anything Abby says or does or tells her to do.


She gives big hugs and loves to be held "like a baby" and snuggle into your arms and chest.

Tessa:

So energetic, happy, and free.

You keep us on our toes and you keep us laughing. We wouldn't change you for the world.

Happy Birthday!

We had a family party already for her and here's her cake. I decorated it myself. I thought it turned out cute.

And her favorite present of the bunch: The Princess and the Frog.