Off to Camp

My daughter Tiff is off to girls camp for the first time. She turns 12 next week. I have sent my sons off many times - why is different when it is my daughter?? Somehow, it is. She was VERY excited to go. I'm sure she will have a fabulous time - the leaders are AWESOME - I wish I was going too!

Love Story

My Sweet Grandparents! They lived their lives helping others and loving each other, and died just over two weeks apart. I have many great memories of my grandparents through the years. I loved my Granddad's home in Walnut Creek, CA, and loved going there to visit! The house always smelled really good, and the back yard was like a fairy land. One year we went to visit for Christmas, and we went to the park and played basketball in short sleeved shirts! Amazing for December!! We went to see ET right when it came out, and my Grandmother gave us each some Reese's pieces in a baggy so we would have appropriate treats while watching. After they moved to Provo, we would go over and play. There was (and still is) a wonderful cupboard full of toys and games for the kids. My favorite was the tangrams - cards with patterns on them, and plastic shapes that were fit together like a puzzle within the pattern. Grandmother had cards for each of us with the pattern numbers listed, and we could keep track of which ones we had completed. My Grandfather put together puzzles - BIG puzzles - that he framed and hung all over the house. Right inside the front door hangs a working puzzle clock. Mesmerizing! I loved to swing in the back yard, looking up into the trees. We played tetherball for hours - then we picked raspberries, strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, or whatever was growing at the time. The garden always had something to offer. My Grandmother would call neighbors that had children close to our age so we could play. The next door neighbor had a pool, and my grandparents would arrange times that we could go swim.

When I began dating, taking dates to my grandparents house was a favorite outing! I brought groups, friends, and fellows I liked. My grandparents always welcomed my plans, and offered to help in every way possible. We often parked at their home when going to BYU football or basketball games, sometimes eating dinner before or after the games.

When I had children, their home was the favorite place to visit. My sons remember riding scooters in the front. Once, my son fell and skinned his knee. Grandmother took that scooter and put it in time out as punishment for hurting my little Camer. We would all walk over to the BYU Creamery and get an ice cream cone.

My grandparents came to every event that I performed in or participated in. Even last year, they came to watch my girls dance on the DeJong Concert Hall stage at BYU. They always loved and supported each member of the family, were great examples of being kind to every one they met, and worked hard 'til the end.

My grandmother began to lose her memory in the later years. My grandfather became her memory. He encouraged her to do a crossword puzzle every day. He took her on outings regularly. He was patient and loving. My grandmother continued to do what was natural for her - she made sure things were put where they belonged. She wrote everything down so she could remember who she was talking to, and who belong to whom. She looked after others even in the end, making sure we all had food, places to sleep and bedding when we were there to help during the day and night.

My Grandfather died of cancer two months after his diagnosis. My Grandmother died of kidney failure two weeks later, one week after we found out that she was sick. They both lived long and happy lives. They were both very healthy and active for most of their lives. They both taught me so much, and I will always love them and be grateful for them!!

Roller Coaster Glory

I bet you thought I was done with school for the summer after graduating from my LPN program (or you had no idea where I was with the whole school thing...). You would be right and wrong - I did get done in May, and am currently working on the pre-requisites for my RN completion program that begins in August - psychology and microbiology. I am also taking my state boards (NCLEX) on Saturday morning to get my LPN. The stress level is rising, I have a mini-cold, and admit to being slightly grouchy today. (Only slightly!) Sorry kids! Here is Derek's report this week - I do not fix the spelling or wording...


Rollercosters - I Like Rollercosters because of how fast they are, and because some have lopede lopes. Even thoe some make me throw up, I still love rollercosters. by D G

P.S. (I resisted adding a picture of throw up...)

All You Wanted to Know about Ear Wax

My Children Are LUCKY!!! They get to write a report each week on something vitally important to practice their writing skills over the summer. This weeks subject is .....Ear Wax. Here is Tiffany's offering.

Ear Wax
By Tiffany Gibbons

Ear wax is a very important part of a healthy body, although most people try to get rid of it.
Ear wax is also called ceriman by people who actually know what they’re talking about. It is produced in the outer ear canal. Earwax protects and moisturizes the ear canal, so that the ear is not dry and/or itchy. It traps dirt that has evil plans to cause infection.
You shouldn't try to get rid of your ear wax, because it is essential to an earache-free life. If your hearing is affected by wax, go to a professional for help.
Never use Q-tips or needles to get rid of ear wax; this can:
1-damage the eardrum (not fun!!!!!!!)
2-pack wax farther into ear

For most people, wax is a liquid and drains itself. When it acts like a liquid, it is usually fine. Adults produce less ear wax that children do.
Ear wax is a good thing that everyone has. Most people try to get rid of it. That’s like getting rid of a good friend. That’s like peanut butter getting away from jelly. That’s like Bella getting away from Edward. They need each other to live!

The Tooth Fairy Loves This Girl the BEST!!

This sweet girl is now missing 4 of her top teeth. The front two have been gone since before Christmas, and she pulled the fourth one at church on Sunday. We hope she starts growing some teeth soon!

























In other news about Andi, she turned 7 last week...It's hard to believe that my baby is that old and finishing first grade! She is so much fun! No friend party since she didn't turn 5, 8, or 12, but we did try to make the day special. At our house the birthday child gets to pick the meals for the day. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Dinner was homemade macaroni and cheese. She got to pick the cake, ice cream, and anything she wanted to decorate it with. I told her I would check her out of school for lunch, and we could go anywhere she wanted. I even made some suggestions...Applebees, IHOP, Chili's, Golden Corral, Pizza...The options were endless. Guess where she wanted to go when she had the pick of the world?? Wendy's. When Tiff turned 7, she chose to eat at P.F Changs. Not my Andi - she wanted a chicken nugget kids meal with root beer. Awesome! I Love You, my little muffin!

Tiffany's Gymnastics Meet

Tiff took first place on beam and bars, second on floor and vault, and a first place win all around. Here are her routines :-)

Fingerprinting

I am on the brink of ...something. Stress, finishing my first of two years of nursing school, big tests that determine my future school options, stress...these are some of the possibilities.

My nursing school program at MATC is only a LPN program. I will finish in May, take the NCLEX board exams, and be a Licensed Practical Nurse, if all goes well. Another possible explanation of LPN is "low paid nurses" :-) I have every intention of continuing on to become a RN (registered nurse).

I applied to Weber State University and was accepted to their online RN completion program. YEA!! The program is two semesters long, and will take me from LPN to RN by next April. The class work is all done online, and the clinical hours will be done once a week at a hospital...somewhere. It is perfect for my crazy schedule with the busy five, and I am SO happy! Of course, there is a contingency. I need to pass my current program...check, I hope. I currently have all A or A- grades, so it would take a serious disaster to make that a problem. I need to take microbiology and psychology this summer...check - I already signed up for them through independent study at BYU, and am just waiting to finish finals before I jump in and race through both classes (I hope I can do them both quickly so I can have a summer break!). Pass the ATI (a predictor test that is often taken before actually attempting the state board exams) with a 62 or higher. One shot. Three hour test. If I don't do well enough, Weber kicks me off the list for next fall. EEEK!!

Now, I have already been given the "no sweat, you'll do fine", from many loving and well meaning people (including my dear husband), and, in truth, I should be fine. But, ONE SHOT or I'm out! I will be taking the fun little test this Wednesday. First big hurdle to get over!

The other requirement to accept my acceptance for Weber was to get fingerprinting done on a card and mail it to the FBI for a background check. I had a two week deadline to get this done. So, I went to the police department in Pleasant Grove. The sweet lady that was doing my fingerprints worked for over 30 minutes, trying to get my fingerprints to scan correctly. They do a flat fingerprint and a rolled fingerprint of each finger. The flat have to match up with the rolled. Mine don't match. I have dry hands in spite of all the lotion (must be all that hand washing), and my fingerprints are very flat. The lady in PG advised that I go to the BCI (bureau of crime investigations) in Salt Lake, because they are the "experts", and could do a better job. My trip to BCI was worthwhile - four of my fingers matched this time. YEA! I did sleep with Vaseline, plastic baggies, and socks on my hands the night before, with the hope that my fingerprints would be more visible, but the fellow doing the job informed me that it would take four weeks of sleeping with Vaseline and plastic on my hands to make my fingerprints really clear, and I just don't have that much sleep to give up. Have you ever tried to sleep with crinkly plastic bags on your hands??

If the fingerprints don't clear with the FBI, my only other option may be to live a life of crime, leaving no matchable fingerprints behind. I'm still hoping for nursing school, personally!