Christmas Letter - 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE GIBBONS - 2009
What a year this has been! We have been busy, happy, and busy…and did I mention busy?! I will attempt to give a brief run down of the years activities.
Cameron is 15, a sophomore at Lone Peak High school, and currently 6’4’’, with hopes that he is still growing. He is serving as the Teacher’s quorum president, and has many good friends! Over the summer he went to a basketball camp at the high school and was chosen to play with a sophomore team at several camps. He even chose to stay home from the Disney vacation in June to attend a camp at USU. This fall he tried out for the school team and made the Varsity/JV team. What an accomplishment, especially at our school! He starts on the Sophomore team, plays off the bench for JV, and usually sits on the bench for Varsity, although he has been pulled in for one game so far. He is working hard and having a great experience! He got his drivers permit in November, and is a pretty good driver. He turns 16 in January, and is looking forward to going on his first date!! Cam is a wonderful big brother and example to the rest of the family! What would we do without him??!

Jason is 13 and in 8th grade. He is a great student and loves school. He plays the cello and was moved to intermediate orchestra half way through 7th grade. He began this year in advanced orchestra, and is doing a great job. Track starts in February, and he is looking forward to doing cross country. For his birthday he went to St. George with Nathan and Tiffany for Tiff’s gymnastic meet. After the competition they went to Zion’s National Park and had a great time hiking. He has also started growing – we are interested to see how tall he will get in the next few years! He has earned his Life in scouts, and looks forward to working on his Eagle. Jas is a great helper with his siblings, a great cookie maker, and just a sweet boy!!

Tiffany is 11 and in 6th grade. She is doing really well in her advanced placement class, and looks forward to Jr. High next year. She is still competing in gymnastics and did a great job this past season! She placed 5th in the State competition for her age group for level 5, and is now working on level 6 skills. She already mastered her front tuck, back tuck, back walkover on the beam, and her clear hip circle on bars. (They are all cool tricks, even if the names mean nothing to you) She is also dancing at BYU twice a week, and is beautiful to watch. Very busy, but always happy, kind, and fun to be with! (and sleepy)

Derek is 8 and in 2nd grade. His big news for this past year was being baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a wonderful day, and we were so happy that he made the choice to be baptized. He played soccer in the fall and loved playing with his team. He has a great kick! He looks forward to the season starting again in the spring. Derek is a great reader and is enjoying school. His favorite thing to do is play with his friends and siblings. He still has an infectious laugh, and he makes us laugh all the time!

Andrea is 6 years old and loves 1st grade! She enjoys reading, drawing pictures, writing, and recess! She goes to her dance class with BYU children’s dance once a week and has beautiful leaps! It is wonderful to see her dance. She also has many fun friends in the neighborhood and has truly enjoyed being able to run to their homes and play! She has lost 5 teeth so far, including one right in front! Always happy and sweet, she truly is a little love bug!

Nathan is as busy as ever…or more! He continues to do great things working at LDS Family Services. We are grateful to have such a stable and good job in this day and age. He also started his own private counseling practice on the side which has been going well. Nate continues to serve as the Scout Master in the ward and spent many, many nights camping with the deacons in the ward. Jason loved having him there! Nathan also was able to attend MANY BYU men’s basketball games, women’s basketball games, football games, and even a few baseball games. He continues to love all things BYU, and just enjoyed the Vegas football bowl game. Life is even better when we win! It is great fun to go to Cameron’s game and cheer him on as well.

Deb continues to try to keep up with all the activities of the family, and makes an excellent bus driver for the kids! This year she added nursing school to the schedule, and has spent a lot of time studying and writing papers. In spite of the crazy pace of life, it is a great adventure and seems like the right thing to do! So far the favorite experience for clinicals has been in the Emergency Room. It’s exciting to be able to take care of people that need help! She is still serving in the primary and loves teaching the 8 year olds! She also loves cheering on the family in their many activities! We celebrated our 18th anniversary in November, and can’t imagine being happier than we are now!

As a family we enjoyed many adventures this year! We went ice skating and stayed in a hotel in SLC the night before Easter, watched the girls dance in the DeJong concert hall in May, went to Disneyland and the beach in June (missing Cameron the whole time), enjoyed time at the cabin in Island Park in July, had fun at Seven Peaks for Tiffany’s birthday in July, hiked and went through Timpanogos Cave in August, went to “Sliding Rock” in Alpine in September, chopped down our Christmas tree in the mountains in November, and went to Twin Falls, ID in December to attend cousin Packer’s baptism, to name a very few of our outings! We have loved being together as a family, supporting each other, laughing together, and growing together. In spite of all that we have going on, we are so grateful to pause and reflect on the reason for this beautiful season! Jesus Christ is the focus of our lives, and we are so grateful for his example! We know that families can be together forever, and rejoice in that knowledge every day! We are also grateful for the many dear friends and family that touch our lives in so many ways. We wish each of you a Merry Christmas, and hope you know of our love for you!!