It was a beautiful day this morning when we went to church so we planned to have a barbecue when we had Michelle and Daniel and the kids over for dinner. We went to church at 1:00 p.m. to a beautiful spring day and when we got out it was raining. So, we had a barbecue indoors. It was fun to have the kids over and as usual Ethan, Hailee and Jaron wore Uncle Erick out with all the swinging things they like him to do that they have named things like eyeball, dinosaur and brownie. Kallise slept most of the time. Michelle says that she is sleeping all night!

Larry has been working diligently on a final project for school. He gets so involved that sometimes you cannot talk to him so we just do our own thing. He wanted me to go to a trendwest presentation so we could get a free trip on Thursday. I had a lot to do at school and the traffic was bad so we got there late. It takes an hour to get there and they ask us to reschedule when we were late so we decided that we are not going back. It gave us some time to kick back and go to dinner. We called Erick and he joined us. It turned out to be a fun night.

I worked two nights this week until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. It is getting close to midterm. I also have had a lot of homework from my graduate classes that is coming due but there is an end in sight. My class ends on Friday and most of my homework is due on Wednesday so hopefully that will reduce the load.

Lexie had a dance competition yesterday in West Jordan. She has really improved. She looked really cute up there dancing. Ashton did not want to come to me. Nikki gave him to me to hold and he wimpered for a while and then he started getting upset. Jake says he does it even with him. Nikki is going to quit work at K-mart soon. She does not have a babysitter and they are changing Jake's and her mother's schedule so she decided to be home with the kids. It think it is a smart decision. Lexie had a good birthday. They went to dinner as a family and opened presents and she is going to have a party with her friends next Saturday on the 29th.

Erick is transferring to a student ward at the University of Utah. He told the bishop that he wanted to transfer but he needs to teach his Sunday School class for two more weeks so he went to six hours of church today because he went to both wards. He is eagerly awaiting the end of his classes also. He is planning on working and taking the summer off from school. He is working on getting the pond in good condition. He says to say that he has a completely dateless life.

Landon has been staying at the gym at Discover Card after work for about an hour so he should be really buff soon. Maren had a busy week. She learned on Friday how hard it can be to work with people sometimes when she had two clients in a row that were not happy and unappreciative of the work she did. Kirsten tended Brinlie this week because Evan and Shirley were in Boston. She and Jon bought Maren some things that she needed for the crib and a toy for Brinlie so Maren was really appreciative of that. Landon bought strings for BJ's guitar and put them on last week so his guitar would be ready for him.

BJ is really on a spiritual high as he ends his mission. I forwarded his email to some people. He will be home this Friday at 9:32 p.m. at the Salt Lake City airport. He is speaking in our ward at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday the 30th of April. We will have a dinner after at the house for those who can come.

Kirsten tended Brinlie this last week as well as worked. Jon is working days and it is working better for their homelife. They had the girls this weekend. Kyle had a soccer game and had some pretty impressive dribbles with the ball. He almost made a goal but was thwarted. Kyle wanted to go rolling Easter Eggs on Saturday the 29th in the afternoon about 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. if anyone wants to go with them.

Nathan and Sara had a carnival in their ward yesterday and they had a chili cookoff. Sara won third place in the chili cookoff. They won some goldfish in one of the games but they had already died this morning. They have blackberries in their back yard and Sara has a garden with tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, zucchini, and watermelon coming on. I am really jealous as we are just getting tulips.

They are coming up on the 10th of May so I was hoping that we could all get together on the 13th for Mothers Day and May birthdays; Hailee, Sara, David and have a birthday party and have a family picture taken. For Mother's day if you would all just help with the yard for an hour or so instead of buying a present, that would be the best present I could get. Then everyone could visit their spouse's Mother for Mother's day.

Jeff and Misty are in California this week. They left on Friday and drove down in their new van. They said it was actually cheaper than flying with the gas prices high. They went to California Adventure today and are planning on going to Disneyland tomorrow. Then they are going to San Diego to see Autumn's baby and go to the zoo. They will be cominng back later in the week. Grammie is coming with them for a week.

I talked to Larry's brother Tony this week. He is working for a credit company helping people restore their credit. He has bought a house in Bakersfield and Kevin is living with him.

Daniel showed me how to link the blog to Uncle Craig's website that he is doing while in Irag so hopefully you can use that sometime. I also found out that Daniel also has a Blog at http://danielgibby.blogspot.com
He has a couple of cute pictures of Kallise on his blog. You should be able to use the URL and eventually I will link that to Daniel's blog.

Larry and I and Erick had a quiet Easter. I think it was the first time we did not have small children to do something related to eggs. Kyle wanted to be home for rolling Easter Eggs but he didn't get home until yesterday and they spent the day getting eggs dyed for today. We decided we would wait until BJ gets home and then go rolling eggs so anyone who wants to join use we will be rolling eggs after April 30th sometime.

I forwarded BJ's letter to those on the family newsletter list. We are getting excited to have him home.

I decided that where I posted about each family on Wednesday I will just post my testimony of the Savior on this Easter day. I am so grateful for the testimony I have that Jesus Christ is my Savior. It is so wonderful to know that I will see those who have died again and that all of that is possible because of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ in overcoming death. This free gift was given to all that we might overcome the effects of the transgression of Adam. I am also grateful that because of the Atonement Christ is able to succor me and help me with the challenges that I have in this life. I have been reading the Book of Mormon lately for personal study and it is amazing the testimony in that book of the divinity of Christ and his ability to help us in our need. We are reading and studying the OldTestament in church and as a family and I am struck with awe at the completeness of the Gospel through the ages. I am also grateful for the knowledge I have of the restored Gospel and of our ability to be together as a family in the hereafter if we will repent and follow his plan. It is amazing to me the things that Christ can do for us if we just turn to him and ask for his help and follow the commandments that he has given us. I know that Jesus Christ is a real personage and that he accomplished what he said he did for us because he loves us and wants us to return to him. He has told us what we need to do to be happy in this life and if we follow his commandments we will be happy.

I felt like I should share some experiences that I had last week. I had a busy week. It seems like everyweek is busy lately with too much to do. On Tuesday was ward temple night. I felt like I should go but when it came time to leave for the temple I still had many things that needed to be accomplished for the next day for school. I went asking Heavenly Father to help me with what I needed to do. It was a good experience at the temple. I came home refreshed but the next morning I was worrying about how I was going to be ready for the day. I had to attend Community Council at 7:00 a.m. so I knew there was no time before school. I knew the lesson scheduled was a Career Deveopment lesson but I didn't remember which one. When I got to school the counselor who was in charge of Community Council said, "I am in your room teaching today, right?" When I checked she was right. She taught for five periods and I was able to get many things done while she taught. I know it was prescheduled but I still felt it was a blessing for going to the temple.

Later that week on Thursday I stayed to school until 6:30 p.m. working on various things that needed done. I had wanted to get out progress reports but I had to help students after school with their aprons that were not finished and I needed to prepare the agenda for Team meeting the next day. When that was finished I left with a heavy heart knowing that I still had about four or five hours of work to do before I could finish progress reports, but I had promised to help some of the youth in our ward look for names at the Family History Center. I met Larry there and we only had three youth come so we were able to work one on one with them. The person I had came from pioneer stock and so he had many ancestors but they wanted the youth this year to find a name that they could do the work for if possible on their line. We spent about two hours looking for leads on ancestors or their relations that might need their work done. We didn't find anyone that night but we had some good leads. I talked to Dallin about the importance of praying for help and gave him some ideas on what to do further. I don't know if I really helped him at all but I know that I left with my spirits lifted and it carried through the next day. This week I recieived a letter from Theo's neice with an original marriage certificate for Mary and her first husband Hazen Hatfield. It also had a homestead final proof with information on it that will help me find his birthdate and has already helped me to find the name of his first wife, Mable. It is just amazing to me how the Lord blesses you if you do the things he asks.

April 12, 2006
I am slow completing the information this week because I have been busy working on homework for my Technology Integration class at the U of U. I went to class tonight and felt good about what I had accomplished. I now have only three assignments to finish and I have several new things for school to use that I have constructed. I think I also know how to use any tool at UEN (Utah Education Network).

Michelle had her baby yesterday, Tuesday, April 11. Kallise Marie Gibby weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. Daniel said he thought it was Michelle's easiest delivery. I thought Kallise looked alot like Hailee when she was born. I went to tend the kids in the morning until noon and Daniel's mom, Dorothy, took them for the rest of the day. It was nice to have spring break so I could do that.

Nathan and Sara are adjusting to being back together after he was gone to training. Sara is doing alot of things for Relief Society this last week. Nathan has been spending time with the boys. He took David to the Library on Monday. Nathan had drill on the weekend.

Jake also had drill on the weekend. They had a family day at Drill so the family all went. Lexie climbed the rock wall. Lexie's dance Competition on the 22nd will be at the West Jordan Middle School, 7550 West Redwood Rd. She will be performing about 11:00 a.m.

Jeff is in training at his job right now. On May 1st he moves to evenings. He will work from noon until 9:00 p.m. Misty's sister from Maryland came in today to visit and see their new baby, Owen. She will be here until Monday. Then on Wednesday Jeff and Misty are going to California to visit Grammie and bring her back for a visit.

Kyle has gone to Vernal for spring break. Kirsten and Jon went to Wolf Creek for Sunday night to stay to use a certificate that Michelle gave them for a night together.

Erick spent all day Saturday trimming the trees and bushes in the yard. It was such a nice day that he got sunburned. It was so nice to have him do the work. The weather has been really weird lately. Thursday it snowed 6 inches here and it was a really wet snow then Friday and Saturday it was so warm there was alot of standing water.

BJ said that he had one of the best birthdays he has ever had. Sister Boynton, the Mission President's wife made him a birthday cake and all the elders pretended to forget his birthday and then they brought out an ice cream cake they had bought.

Landon likes working for Discover. Especially since they have a gym that he can work out in. He says he likes having a schedule to stick to. Maren is working some for Colonial House but likes to be with Brinlie when she can. Brinlie has really grown lately.

Larry had to buy a new C-Pap machine for his sleep apnea yesterday because the old one died. This one is much quieter. We don't know what to do with no noise to sleep to. I think he is about finished with his class. He had a big presentation yesterday that he had to give.

I was excited yesterday because Peggy Dixon sent me some more documents on Mary Pollock that will help me with her genealogy. Some of these documents are helping me to find answers I have been looking for for about four years. I am learning that the Lord will help you do what he asks you to do.

Sunday April 2, 2006
We watched conference today and yesterday. It was a wonderful spiritual feast. I hope you all got a chance to watch some of it. It rained yesterday but today was a wonderful sunny day that made Erick want to start working on the yard (but it was Sunday) and Landon wanted to be outside all day.

Maren and Landon came over today to watch part of afternoon session of conference. It was fun to see Brinlie although she is stuffed up with a cold or allergy. Maren was excited this week because she received word from the Elks in this area that her application for scholarship had been submitted to the State. They are having a ceremony honoring the participants at 7:00 p.m. on May 2 at the Bountiful Elks lodge if anyone wants to come. Landon was hired at Discover Card and starts tomorrow. Hopefully this will give them benefits and help with schooling if it works out. Possibly he and Larry can carpool sometimes.

BJ is very happy with things that are happening on the mission. He has a family that he is very close to that he has been cooking for. He gets home on the 28th of April in the evening. He is speaking at our ward on the 30th of April at 2:45 p.m. Please come if you can.

Erick had his mission reunion this last Friday. He had a good time and then went out later with several of his friends. He has been busy with his school work and work.

Kirsten and Jon took the kids minature golfing last night. They had the girls this weekend so they could do that with the family. Kyle had a soccer game yesterday but with the rain it was canceled.

Jake has Guard this next weekend so he has to work at the beginning of the week this week. Lexie is back in school. Ashton is learning to eat finger foods and gets frustrated when he cannot pick them up. Nikki just keeps adjusting to change.

Jeff and Misty had friends over tonight for dinner. Jeff is liking his new job. He is so close that they bought two bikes and he rides his bike to work. Misty fell on her bike and skinned her knee. Owen has a stuffy nose this week also.

Michelle is ready to have her baby anytime. She is supposed to go in this week to see what they say. Right now they have scheduled for her to have the baby on the eleventh of April. The kids have been sick this week throwing up so hopefully they can get them feeling better. Ethan had a soccer game that was canceled on Saturday also because of the rain. Ethan will be preforming at the Davis Hospital with his choir on the 19th. Ethan and Hailee will have a choir recital on April 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the Clearfield library.

Nathan called on Wednesday and wanted us to fast for him as he was trying to make a decision about work now that he was finished with his Officer training.

Larry got paid for going bowling and eating at Chuck-e-Cheese on Friday so there are some days it is not to bad to work at Discover Card. He was the top sales person again.

I am learning that not having my prep hour makes a big difference. I have had to work late several nights this week to get things done. I am also doing physical therapy for my knees twice a week and it is taking more time. My class at the U of U is interesting but hard to keep up with. It was good to have the weekend.

I talked to Annette this weekend and she has broken her foot. She just fell when her foot flipped when she was walking into the care center in Vernal.