Two for Taebo!

Ok...remember how I told you that Brooklynn loved to do Taebo? Well, Izzy now loves it too. She asks for it almost every day! I gotta say that I am very happy that they are gaining an appreciation for exercise so early!! I still have a hard time with it. :)

Labor Day Fun

We took the girls to Harrogate Park for their annual Labor Day Fair and Fireworks show and had alot of fun! After we had our fill of yummy Fair-food, the girls got a pony ride and then played on the swings until the fireworks started.

Although I do LOVE fairs, I have to admit that I was acting a little childish this evening in another way. I wasnt feeling very good and didnt feel like walking very far, so I griped at poor Russ several times for parking sooo far away from the entrance instead of finding a closer spot. Plus, we had planned to watch the fireworks by our van so we could leave before the traffic got bad...which meant that we'd have to walk that loooooong distance back to the van in a hurry so we didnt miss any fireworks. Well...we found out what time the fireworks would be starting so after all the fun and food...off we went back to the van. I still felt like griping on the way back, but I bit my tongue. Once we got to our van and laid our blanket down on the grass...I start looking around to see what direction the fireworks would be in, and what do you think I saw several yards out in the field directly in front of our van??? The fireworks!! I think we had the best seat in the house!! Oh well, nothing goes with fair-food like a nice slice of humble-pie. :) Love you Babe!

Farewell, Summer!

I was a slacker and forgot my camera on the actual 1st day of school, so this picture is from the 1st week of
1st Grade. Brooklynn LOVES her teacher and is happy to be back in school...although, homework became really old, really fast. :)


Izzy misses "Brookin" during the day but has still found ways to amuse herself. She loves hanging out in the dryer...which used to be one of my favorite spots when I was her age. I was inspired by Jami and Caymbree and decided to see if Izzy would let me do "piggys" in her hair. Well, she didn't LOVE it at first but when she saw that big-sissy kept her pig-tails in, she decided not to rip them out. She actually kept them in all through church, but as soon as we got home...away they went. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

Moments like these make it all worth while!


We visited the Smokies again this year and celebrated Lorna's birthday while there. Tara Lynn decorated a beautiful cake. Almost too pretty to eat...almost. :)

The river was very, very cold this year and very deep due to all the rain we've had.

Izzy was dangerously-fearless, as usual, while Brooklynn played safely on the shoreline. It is so weird how different they are from each other, and yet, so alike in many ways.

How about this gorgeous lady??!! Isn't she cute??!!

Izzy is 2!!

My sweet Isabelle turned 2 years old on July 3rd! I know it's cliche...but time really does fly!! Maybe it's because she's still so small or because she is still so cuddly and clingy with me...but she still seems like a little baby to me. *sigh* But my babies are indeed growing up! We decided to celebrate her birthday on the 4th since much of the Gibson family would be congregating at Great Grandma's house anyway. It was so much fun! In fact, I don't know what was more fun...watching Brooklynn help Izzy open her gifts...or watching Russ and Uncle Mike act like little kids while playing with fireworks!!! Man...they are a scary duo when explosives are invlolved!! :)

Let me introduce you to "the cheesy grin"...

and to "the stink eye"!

Suprise!

In April, Russ and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, but June 29th marked our 7th anniversary of when we were sealed together in the temple. My sweet in-laws invited us to have dinner with them to celebrate, but when we pulled into the driveway...we saw many cars and trucks that took a moment for us to recognize. The dinner turned out to be a big suprise party for us!! It was so sweet and lots of fun...not to mention yummy!!! My sis-in-law Tara made this gorgeous cake in likeness of the Nashville Temple...isn't she talented?!?! Thank you all for your friendship, support and love. We are truly blessed!!

PS-For more information on temples, please click here or here.

I just had to show you my cute nephews, Garret & Michael.

As you can see, all Michael wants for summer is his 2 front teeth!

Summer fun

We were fortunate to be able to have a special visitor for a week or so. Katie Baxter (aka Sister Baxter) served part of her mission here in LaFollette 3 years ago and was just one of those people who instantly becomes your friend. I truly enjoyed the time I spent with her and Sister Shearer while we were out visiting investigators. This time, we got to spend time together exploring East Tennessee. We...okay...I got us lost one day and we ended up in Pigeon Forge...which was totally fun!! We spent a couple of days in downtown Knoxville where we visited this neat memorial to all the fallen soldiers from E-TN, got virtigo at the top of the Sun Sphere and acted like totally, cheesy tourists on UT campus! :~) She also joined us for a fun-filled day at the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg. Come back anytime, Katie. The girls already miss you!!

Happy Birthday Brooky!

I asked Brooklynn what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday and she said "Cheesecake" so I made a real cheesecake but also made this cheese-cake. It's supposed to be a cheese-wheel with a slice set on top with 2 little mice playing around on it. At home it looked pretty good, but by the time we got to great-grandma's house, the icing started to melt and...well...let's just say that it tasted better than it looks. Oh well! At least I tried. :)

The party was alot of fun, but we did have one minor tragedy...Izzy and Michael where walking around Great-Grandma's house when they happened to pass by a hornet nest. Apparently the hornets were NOT happy about this. Michael ran over to us and allerted us to what was happening...I ran around to the side of the house where, to my horror, I saw my baby screaming in pain and holding her face while hornets swarmed around her! I ran over to her and yanked her off the stairs by her clothing and ran her inside. Let me tell you...it was a major adrenaline rush! Luckily, she was only stung one time on her left cheek. You can see from the picture that her little face and eye began to swell up. Papa drove to Walgreens and got some childrens Benedryl just to be safe. Within the hour she was happy and helping open birthday presents, so all was well! It's so cute to hear her tell the story of what happened. She says "Bee...bzzzzzzzzz...Izzy face...boo-boo...cry".

Kindergarten Graduation

Brooklynn graduated from kindergarten on Tuesday and we were all so proud...

...especially Izzy!

Valley View Elementary. Go Bob Cats!!

Year End Luau!

The day before graduation, Brooklynn's class held a LUAU to celebrate all the summer birthdays. It was alot of fun! They played games, ate yummy food, ran around and danced. Brooklynn was totally getting her GROOVE on and making us laugh and laugh.

How low can you go?

Petting Zoo Field-Trip

The last full week of school, the kindergarten classes took a field-trip to "Little Ponderosa" petting zoo. Brooklynn begged to have her first bus ride with the rest of the kids so Russ, Izzy and I followed behind in our car. At the end of the day when we got home, I asked her what her favorite part of the day was...the horse ride?...feeding the goats?...petting the huge snake?...the silly monkey?...Nope! "My favorite part was riding the bus!" Mmmmm...maybe I'll skip the aquarium for her birthday and just take her on a bus ride downtown for alot less money.

Whatcha think?

Izzy, Haleigh & Brooklynn.

Izzy was in ANIMAL HEAVEN! She is such a lover of animals...too much, actually. She tends to get a little over-excited at times and gets a little too rough with them. Needless to say, we always have to stay real close to her whenever she's around any kind of creatures.