Christmas Letter

December 4, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

What a great year it has been for our family! It seems like it has gone by much too fast. Here is a rundown of what we’ve been up to.

The biggest news for our family would have to be the fact that we welcomed a baby girl into our home. Lauren was born May 4, and has become the princess of the family, thanks to her dad and her brothers. She is growing quickly, although she is a bit petite (5-10 percentile). She is a good natured and easy going girl. She loves her brothers and just smiles at all the attention (hugs, kisses, tickles, etc.) that she gets from them.

Austin just turned two in September and has become quite the character. He loves to be the center of attention and will do all sorts of things to try to get a good laugh from the family. He isn’t our biggest talker, but that is starting to change rapidly. He is very kind and looks out for each member of the family in his own way. This is often in the form of giving anything he finds that he thinks belongs to us, or that we might need, such as a phone, binky, toy, or glasses. He loves to wear anything “special” like hats, sunglasses, slippers, costumes, or mom and dad’s shoes. He has developed quite a love for music and you’ll often catch him humming tunes like the Alphabet song, I Am a Child of God or his own little creation.

Ethan is four and a half, and is a fun part of our family. He has a friendly personality and loves to be around other people. He will always go out of his way to say “hello” when he spots someone he knows. He is constantly asking to call friends to come play or see if he can go over and play. If that fails, you will usually catch him tagging along with Jayden. He is also the family tease…you know when he’s up to something because of his sly little smile. He is in preschool this year, and loves every second of it, to the extent that he’s disappointed on any non-school days. He is a cheerful boy that you can’t help but love.

Jayden will be seven at the end of December. He is a quiet helper. When he sees a need, he will often quietly fill it. It may be helping Austin get something he needs, singing a song to Lauren to help her stop crying, or giving up his spot next to Mom or Dad. He has developed a love of playing the piano and has started lessons this year. He’s also quite the athlete; soccer is his passion. He loves to break away and take the ball down for a goal, or chase down an opponent and stop them from scoring. Jayden loves to spend time with friends and will regularly bounce from house to house through the neighborhood all afternoon (calling home at each stop to let mom know where he is). He is very obedient and sweet with everyone in the family, which is a blessing to his mom and dad.

Dylan is eight, and has had a fabulous year. He was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April. He has also started playing the piano this year. Dylan is a sports enthusiast, and has had fun playing baseball and flag football. He is also an avid BYU football fan. Dylan and Jayden were lucky to go to two BYU football games. He is such a big fan that he would even turn his radio on to listen to late games, even though he was supposed to be going to bed. He is still doing karate, and has almost earned his third belt advancement this year (his green belt). He’s very creative and loves to read late into the night (or any other spare moment).

Roseann is carrying on as mother of the home. It has been fun for her to finally buy pink clothes, bows, flowers, little girl shoes, and everything else that comes with a baby girl. Five kids keep her busy, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes the dishes aren’t done, and toys, shoes, and other remnants from the kids are scattered around the house, but she has decided there are times that the kids just need to enjoy some time with their mom. Someday the house will be clean all the time, right? She has also been busy being a Cub Scout den mother until just before Lauren was born. Since then she has been serving on the Relief Society Board. She also has had fun helping in the kids’ classrooms working one on one with math and writing. She would love to say that she has also spent some free time scrapbooking, but that wouldn’t be true. She has, however, been able to keep up a family blog. If you don’t have an invite to it, let us know.

Devon is still employed by the LDS Church in their IT division. He is leading the technical team that will replace a majority of computer systems used by the church to manage facilities all over the world. He’s excited for the challenge and new opportunities this project is providing. He has also been working toward earning his commercial pilot license for hot air ballooning, and has loved flying a hot air balloon again. Devon is also serving as a deacon’s quorum advisor and an assistant scoutmaster. That also means he has been enjoying lots of camping, overnighters, and even some backpacking this past year.

We hope you have had a fabulous year also, and would love to hear from you if it’s been a while. Give us a call, send us a note; we would love to hear from you.

Love,

The Gibson Family


P.S. In the picture, Dylan is on the back row. Left to right on the middle row is Austin, Ethan, and Jayden. In front is Lauren (pronounced LAW-ren).