Happy Birthday to ME!

It was also my birthday this month, and I felt like making a BIG birthday cake! This is four nine-inch rounds (two chocolate, two yellow) with vanilla frosting in between, and chocolate mint around the outside with sprinkles on top!
Happy Birthday to ME!

Merry Christmas from the Gilberts!

We had a great Christmas holiday, one of the first Christmas mornings that we had at home! Christmas Eve was spent with friends here in Logan playing Dippety-Dip (sounds ridiculous, but it is one of the funnest party games I've ever played. I should have gotten video!), exchanging white elephant gifts (we ended up with the bowling ball, darn it!) and eating a delicious smoked turkey Jeff made in his new smoker. Christmas Day we went down to Ogden to celebrate with the Glausers. See video of the action below! It was such a fun time to spend with kids and extended family, and we really missed those we weren't able to see ... like Nanny and Papa, Nana and M.A. We thought about you and miss you!
We got a big snow on Christmas Eve, and had a bonfire outside and sang Christmas Carols, until the little boys began throwing snowballs and the whole thing devolved into a snowy ruckus. The snow was good timing because Grandma Charlene gave us sleds for Christmas! We tried them out Christmas afternoon. Check out Jeff and Leo sledding adventure in the short video below!

Happy Birthday Aunt Channing!

A special message to you from us!



Love, the Gilberts!

Good Ol' Cooper

Our wonderful dog Cooper died last night. He was 11 years old. What a sweet, gentle guy he was. He had more friends in the neighborhood than we did! He'd sit on the front lawn, and only get up to greet people walking by. Even the mailman said he was a "gentle cow."

The past year he had been having problems walking, and it had gotten worse lately. We don't know what caused it, but he was always cheerful and glad to greet anyone willing to stoop down to pat him. He was the epitome of Man's Best Friend.

We know he wasn't perfect ... he ate all our tomatoes in the garden, and he could be quite fragrant at times, but he certainly didn't look too hard at our characters, so we forgave him his foibles. Jeff owned cooper for four years before we got married. Back then he was top dog. He has slowly and graciously slipped down the totem pole as each new child arrived. Thank you for making room in your life for all of us Cooper!

1996-2007

Candy and a Tree House

I took the boys down to Ogden for the annual Gilbert Christmas Candy Making Day. We went to Grandma's house in the morning, and with Aunt Leisa in the lead, we made Chocolate Turtles, Peanut Butter Cups, Caramels, and Peanut Clusters. For my contribution I made about four dozen suckers (hand made, hand sculpted) and in my hurry to get to Grandma's house on time, I left them at home, darn it. It was a very chocolaty morning. Gabe was very helpful. He stirred and rolled and tasted wherever we needed him. Leo helped by taking a long nap.

In the afternoon we went to the Tree House Children's Museum. It is a fun place to visit any time, but that day they had a "Getting to Know Japan through Pop Art" Exhibit where we made our own Anime cartoon and looked at Sushi displays. The boys also made their own "Santa Lucia" crowns in the Art Garden (the kind with candles sticking out the top). Gabe got some good scissor practice and Leo LOVED the glue stick. His crown was very glued. They wore those cute crowns for three days straight, and I never got a photo of it ... they got left at a friend's house this morning.

After the museum we had dinner, cleaned up two dirty diapers, and headed home. We had such a great day, I was really surprised when Gabe started hollering in the car. We were heading into the canyon and there wasn't a good place to stop, so I just kept going. Halfway home I realized he had an ear ache and the altitude was hurting him. I brought him to the doctor yesterday and he is feeling much better.

It was a fun day and we are grateful to Grandma for inviting us down and for holding Benji for the duration.

No Girl Woes

One of the reasons I mourn not getting female offspring is that I'll never know if what my kids are doing is just "kid" behavior, or is specific to boys. Do all kids come running and bellowing into a room and ram full throttle into their unsuspecting mother, then justify it by saying "that is what a bad guy does?" Do all kids try and hug their infant brother by laying on top of him even after their mother has asked them not to and explained the body needs oxygen for the one billionth time?

Gabe asked if I feel lonely since I am one girl and there are five boys in our house (he was counting the dog, Cooper). Sometimes I do feel lonely. I'll always have to keep my tears in check (they freak my boys out). I wish I could have a good cathartic cry sometimes without comforting everyone around me too. I won't get to pass on my experience of growing up female except when I'm explaining to a flummoxed son why girls act the way they do. And most of all, I will always have to pass by those cute pink clothes in the children's section at the clothing store. My boys prefer fatigue jammies and grocery bags.

I know there are plenty of ups to having only boys (boy toys are more fun, no high-pitched screaming)... but this is a woe-is-me session, and I won't pollute it with optimism.

The Dumb Bell.

My kids don't believe in Santa -- except as a tradition that is fun to pretend about at Christmas time. They think it is fun to keep it a "secret" from other kids who do still believe. Do you think I'm a Grinch? A lot of people have told me so. I was raised not believing Santa. My mom's philosophy (correct me if I'm wrong here mom) was "If I tell them that there is a Santa, an Easter Rabbit, a Tooth Fairy, and a God, then they find out there isn't a Santa, an Easter Bunny, or a Tooth Fairy, what will they think about God?"

Gabe argued with me last year, telling me there was a Santa because look at all the new presents under the tree on Christmas morning. I didn't correct him. I don't care if he believes in Santa, I just don't want to be the one to disappoint him.

Last Christmas, I was talking to my friend Wendy (check out her husband's cool art here. Wendy does some amazing glass painting too). Wendy is a well grounded, fun, creative person. This conversation started because she has a decorative "Believe" Christmas sign at her house. (This is from the movie Polar Express. A boy can't hear a bell because he doubts the existence of Santa.)

I told her my philosophy on belief in Santa. I said what it boiled down to was that I didn't want my kids disappointed. We try so hard to get them to believe in something that isn't true ... movies, TV shows, Grandmas, all make it criminal to tell your kids the truth. The fact is, I told her, there are kids all over who don't get presents for Christmas, because the truth is there isn't a Santa.

Wendy said flatly "I still kind of believe in Santa." And for a moment, I seriously doubted myself.

(Bell tinkling faintly.)

First Snow