big red

a red head at heart.

:):):)

she wears it almost every day.

greatest wig known to man.

letters to Emily {6 countries in 6 days & poop--you've been warned!}

  (Rhine falls, switzerland)

Dearest Emily,

 

Your family is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I went on a trip.

Visited 6 countries in 6 days.

Germany-France-Switzerland-Liechtenstein-Austria-Czech Republic

It was wonderful, beautiful, and a blast.

I really hope you do come out and visit me!!

And sadly we had no run in's with running out of gas.  But that would have been a fun story. 

 

One of the best stories of the trip was Smith's poop.

Yep.

Still changing my little Angel's diaper, and planning to for a LONG time.

but when you are at a Roesti Restaraunt in Appenzell Switzerland, changing a diaper for your almost 5 year old is the funniest and grossest thing ever.

So somewhere in the middle of eating a delicious meal of fried potatoes with caraway seeds and egg, 

(sounds weird, but it was divine!), 

Smith filled his diaper. 

That is Bryce's job.

So he took Smith out of the stroller to a separate area where there were cute little swiss bathroom stalls.

Bryce never asks for my help when it comes to changing diapers.

He ASKED for my help.

poked his out of the door and said," umm..sweetie, I need your help"

I knew it was going to be bad. 

I walked to the stall where Smith was covered.  

COVERED in poop.  

From his waist to his feet. 

Well.  

Gird your loins.  

Roll up your sleeves.  

and Put your shoulder to the wheel.

I had Bryce roll up the top half of his clothes, which seemed untouched from the poop, 

and hold Smith's arms, 

while I used an ENTIRE package of wet wipes to wipe his bottom half of his body completely down.

Luckily it was cold, and he was wearing two pairs of pants.  

His bottom pants and socks were thrown in the garbage.  

He was able to wear Bryce's socks, his top pair of pants, and his shoes. 

Still.  

I didn't want to mention all the poop we washed off of Bryce and the floor. 

It was awesome.

Smith was having the time of his life. Laughing the whole time.

It was hilarious.

Bryce and I were laughing after we got it all under control.

There will always be a special place in my heart for that little restaurant. 

 

Anyway, I thought a fellow mom would appreciate that story.

I love your stories too.

Like searching for a coat for 24 hours. 

Just awesome.

Brennan is getting so big!

And your little ones are all growing up! 

So crazy!

How is the weather right now in Utah?

How is balancing three kids?

Any new pop culture I should know about? (I am so disconnected)

 

I loved the post you wrote about GMO's.  They are evil.  STAY away!!!  

Europe has very strict laws against GMO's.  

I am lucky to not have to worry about it.  

The food is amazing here.  

But they don't have Peanut butter in abundance.  

They do have hazelnut butter though, and it's AMAZING!  

You should pick some up and see what you think! 

Anyway,

love  you.

you are an amazing Mother and Wife.

 

Beth

 (Appenzell switzerland)

 

(Above: Prague, Czech Republic)

book worm

ate my lunch yesterday in peace 

for the first time in what feels like forever.

whatever it takes, LOL!!!

mom-2

chase-6 gazillion

winning!

:):):)

love that little baby man.

capital C-H

 "hey baby, wanna go get some sushi after this?" 

-the baby man 

{a.k.a "lady killer"}

......

we really did talk about going to get sushi.

just for the record.

would you look at that chest?!

THOSE BLONDE EYELASHES!!!

bright blue eyes

chipmunk cheeks

strawberry hair

button nose

billowing thighs

double chin

and perfect upper lip!

23.5 pounds of hunk-a-hunk-a-chubba-chubs burning love.

30 & 1/2 inches tall.

that means that despite our thinking he's a fatty,

he's not,

but he is on his way to gumbi status.

or volleyball.

whichever.

bravest little baby man on campus.

even went to mindee for hugs before we left.

he's bribed easily by pretty ladies.

and batman stickers.

so nummy.

glad those three POWS are behind us.

or pricks.

whichever.

we are officially measles, mumps, and rubella free.

and whatever else the other two are.

chicken pocks?

can't remember now.

C-H-A-M-P.
capital C-H.
TA-DA!

T-Ball & Italy is G-O-N-E.

 

brennan and cade's 1st tball game was yesterday.

it was FREAKY FREAKY COLD.

for a minute i thought it was january.

the last twenty min. max and i couldn't stand it anymore 

and ended up watching wreck it ralph 

{my favorite kid movie currently, kids too} 

in the car.

heater blazing to 80*.

seat heaters on.

GLORIOUS.

my thermostat said 42*.

but the wind made it feel like 22*.

or less.

it dumped snow in the mountains the night before.

like 18" at deer valley.

and then blew half of the state's tramps away.

sheesh, 

max almost blew away cheering brennan and cade on at the game.

RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!!!

thank you linsey for wooing chase in your toasty warm house.

{above: brennan's first up to bat}

{below: freezing cheering section}

AND

guess 

what 

else 

guys?!

ITALY is gone:)

but not from north korea and their nuke's.

from my favorite carpet cleaners.

i had them do my entire main level AND the recliner chair.

the recliner chair hasn't stopped singing to us since.

"LALALALALALAAAAAAAAAAA"

that's what it's been singing.

a-MAZ-Zing.

how clean it is,

not the singing.

that part has kind of been weird.

now if they could just get rid of the frigid cold temps in april.

snow and then warm up,

or just be warm in general,

but don't be cold WITH the sun out.

b/c that means it's january.

and it is NOT january.

it's april.

at least i thought it was...

100 SURE

wednesdays just got trickier.

no more infant seat to trap him into while max does dance.

would you look at those dimples on his hands?!

JOY.

i could put max in pink tights and black leotard all day every day.

with a little gelled bun on top.

better than a cherry,

that's for dang sure.

she found brennan's monkey on our way out of dance last week.

i was shouting and hollering in the parking lot i was SO excited.

i am 100 SURE i looked ridiculous.

brennan told her she was the 

"bestest 100 sister in the whole world!!!"

after preschool when she told him the good news.

he's all about 100 right now. 

yesterday after dinner he told me i'm a "100 great mom." 

those brown sugar spicy chicken drumsticks are clearly the way to his heart 

b/c he was eating one when he told me. 

so proud:) so cute. 

the way to a man's heart is truly through his belly. 

even at age 5.

he's been lost for weeks now.

monkey, not brennan.

and i was trying to come to terms with what i thought was destined to be monkey gone for good.

i'm so glad he is found.

i sure love that monkey.

the little stuffed animal too;)

tuez-dee

typical tuez-dee around the gibson home.

buried alive.

when your big brother and sister decide they want to bury you in the sandbox.

little chap didn't even cry,

just crawled out and came looking for me.

big smile on his face.

sand in every crevice of his body.

with the bulk of it on his shoulders,

like a camel with a hump full of water.

or is it fat?

i forget now...

i striped him down naked,

brushed him off,

and he was on his way again.

such a champ.

{i love their faces.}

after 3 babies i am proud to say i can STILL jump on the tramp.

sometimes i pee my pants.

but i love this dang tramp.

totally worth it:)

braids & breadsticks {CRAIGO'S RECIPE!!!}

SATURDAY NIGHT:

sean left for his meeting for the men.

linsey plus 2 came over.

i made tuna melts.

linsey braided my hair.

then max's.

then i passed out ice cream sandwiches.

chase ate mine.

the entire thing.

everyone played in the yard.

plus about 10 neighborhood kids that rode by on their bikes.

then my kids got cold.

b/c of course they were in their underwear.

todd came to pick up linsey and their monkeys.

i corralled my brood upstairs for teeth brushing.

sean opened the garage.

and chase started projectile vomiting.

at which point i yelled down the hall "EMERGENCY!!! run to your room guys!"

and then thought that letting him eat the entire ice cream sandwich was maybe not the best idea.

but he was just so cute biting off each piece.

and so happy about it.

gave chase a bath,

sean cleaned up puke,

brennan and max put themselves to bed.

ground breaking.

then chase puked on my two more times.

at which point i decided i'd better just stop trying to feed him pedialyte pops and apple juice and just put the man to bed.

sean and nurse nat agreed.

then i did laundry until midnight.

3 pairs of baby man jammies,

2 pairs of my pants, 2 shirts, 2 pairs of underwear,

and a partridge and a pair tree.

and made a batch of raspberry butter.

read my book and went to bed.

chase woke up a new man sunday morning.

puke free.

lesson learned: the baby man has no "off" button.

noted. 

SUNDAY MORNING:

the kids wake up asking for hot chocolate and whipping cream in their mouths.

chase got blueberries and milk.

i was scared to even give him that.

then i spoiled him and gave him two graham crackers.

we called that a win.

made scones.

watch church on tv all day.

mostly just wrangled our three kids.

some of the quotes i loved...

1. "what e'er thou art, act well thy part." -sis. dalton

2. "spiritual light rarely comes to those who merely sit in the darkness 

waiting for someone to flick on the switch." -pres. uchtdorf

3. "imperfect people are all god has ever had to work with. that must be

TERRIBLY frustrating to Him, but He deals with it." -jeffrey r. holland

{recipe for scones & raspberry butter here. thank you liz smailes.}

chase didn't get any scones.

max didn't want any scones.

brennan only wanted honey on his scone.

sean and i like honey AND raspberry butter on our scones.

and for me, 

the honey is almost more important than the scone.

by the end of the day everyone was crying or whining,

and brennan actually shouted hooray when he found out it was over.

"phew, im so glad that's over. good thing!"

i told him one day he will love it.

he didn't believe me.

and then i put the activity bin away.

SUNDAY NIGHT:

i decided we needed rolls.

to go with our soup.

then i decided we needed breadsticks.

and then i was all,

"sean!!! i should make CRAIGO'S breadsticks!!!"

and if you've ever lived in rexburg, idaho 

you know that i'm talking about the best bread of any stick

ON 

THE 

ENTIRE 

PLANET.

i give you the recipe with some pretty pictures to help you along...

{and A LOT of instruction and direction for those of you that don't know much about baking bread.}

-{OLD} CRAIGO'S BREADSTICK RECIPE-

{b/c if you REALLY know, you KNOW the new just isn't as good.}

ingredients:

5 cups flour
{i usually add in another full cup of flour while it's mixing}

2 tbls sugar

2 tbls salt
2 tbls yeast
2 tsp sugar
to get your yeast to rise with the
3 cups warm water

garlic salt

1-2 cups shredded mozarella cheese

freshly grated parmesian OR shredded colby jack

1 stick of butter, room temp

directions:

1. put 3 cups warm water, 1 tsp sugar, and yeast into bowl.

stir around, will be chunky.

let sit in microwave about 10 min, don't cook, 

just let sit with microwave oven door closed.

{warms your yeast right up}

2. put 5 cups flour into your kitchen aid mixer or bowl with salt and 2 tbls sugar.

3. add water mixture to flour once water mixture has puffy yeast 

starting to balloon up/makes bubbles on top of water.

4. mix with dough hook for 10 min or knead by hand on your counter for 10 min.

5. here is THE KEY to getting your BREAD RIGHT:

are you ready?

listening ears on?

here we go:

MOISTURE.

add more flour if it is too runny.
more water if it is too dry.

EM'S TIPS
FOR GETTING YOUR DOUGH RIGHT:
always give it at least a few minutes of mixing 
to see if it needs more of anything.
add water and/or flour in 1/4 cup measurements 
a little bit at a time to get it right.
see pictures below for what the dough will look like
as it is mixing with the correct amounts of MOISTURE:) 

as the dough hook is going or as you are kneading your dough on the counter {10 min for both}, you want the dough to be elastic and make "spiderwebs" on the sides 
of your kitchen aid mixing bowl.

if you are kneading on your counter-top, 
think rubber-band, but softer.
as you are getting the right MOISTURE mix with your dough,
THINK GAK from when we were kids, {if you know what that is}
that you have just thrown up onto the ceiling of your bedroom
{even though your mom told you absolutely DO NOT throw that up stuff onto the ceiling of your bedroom},
and you are standing there watching it slowly stretch itself off of the ceiling and down onto your floor. or head.
whichever.
and then your mom walks in right as it falls off 
and it leaves a big huge blue mark on your ceiling.
memories:)

different climates can do different things, 

so this is why you want to look for the "spiderwebs" to form 

on the sides of the bowl to see the elastic appearance.
do you see my web-slinging dough down there?
spider-man done right.

 {see elastic "spiderwebs" shown above picture and the below left hand picture}

6. when the 10 min of kneading is up you'll want to take a spatula and scoop around the sides and bottoms really well, to really absorb all of the flour. i do this once or twice during the kneading process too. the dough will form around the dough hook as it mixes {as shown on the picture on the right above}.

7. PAM spray your bowl {i should have used a bigger bowl},

plop your dough down into it,

cover and let rise in your microwave for about 1 & 1/2 hours.

OR if you're a procrastinator like me,

heat your oven to 200* and turn OFF.

boil a pot of water and put on bottom shelf.

put bowl of dough on top shelf.
with pot of water and oven turned OFF.

then shut door with everything inside.
{don't forget to turn your oven OFF.}

watch it rise faster than a NY minute.

works like a charm every time. 

{pictured below: rising your down in a closed space, like your microwave, 

the old fashioned way for about an 1 and 1/2.}

{above: after 1 & 1/2 hours of rising, doubled in size, ready to go}

{pictured below: rising your dough the speed method, with steam and a preheated oven.}
--i had to scoop dough off of the shelves after i took this 

b/c a ton dropped down. yep, should have used a bigger bowl.--

8. once your dough has doubled in size {see picture above}, punch down right into the middle of it.

BAM! just like that. then pull the dough away from the sides and plop it down onto a well floured counter.

9. roll it out into the best rectangle you can muster. 

mine looked more like a bad circle.

10. cut 7 strips or however many your rectangle will allow. 

my pizza cutter was a GEM for this part!

11. and then about halfway through i decided to cut those strips in half horizontally 

to make one set of  rows on top, and one set of rows on the bottom.

{see picture below}

12. i cut each strip in half vertically too 

b/c the full length ones were getting out of control.

{shown above and below}

13. then i braided two pieces together.

over under.

over under.

over under.

and so forth.

i pinched the tops together,

and i pinched the bottoms together.

{don't worry about being neat, tidy, or perfect--i promise it won't matter.}

{at the end of each braid mine got really thin and looked GHETTO.}

14. then i had to carefully smoosh each long braided strip to fit into my two hands without ripping them, 

while i moved them onto the PAM SPRAYED cookie sheet. 

like ducks in a row.

15. then i left them on my counter for 20 minutes to rise some more.

the recipe said to let them rise for 45 min, but i didn't have 45 min.

{say it with me: "PRO-CRAS-TI-NAY-TOR"!}

{good job}

20 min was fine.

you just want them to start looking puffier.

more squished.

like this:

16. then i buttered and seasoned with the salts.

i used almost an entire stick of butter.

heavy on the garlic salt, easy on the lawry's.
{or no lawry's at all if you want less salty}

17. bake @ 400* for 12 min., 

then sprinkle shredded mozarella & cheddar cheese over the tops 

{the recipe said to use Parmesan, but i was out--

only used about 1/4c cheddar just for the darker colors i knew would bake on,
i will be using Parmesan in the future b/c i usually have it anyway},

 18. bake for 8 more minutes.

aaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddd.......

{pause for effect}

BEHOLD!!!

basically,

i could die today and feel like i had experienced everything great there was to experience in the world.

all in a breadstick.

overstatement?

you'll have to see for yourself.

make sure you eat one piping hot.

or 5.

whichever.

if you can stop at 1 you deserve some kind of self restraint medal.

you now have a reason to make your monday a happy one.

you're welcome in advance.

:):):)

the missionaries in our ward are gonna be SOOOOO happy 

we are on their dinner schedule for saturday night.

they just don't know it yet!

THE END.

.....

P.S.

when i originally posted this,

i included a 1/2 cup whey in the ingredients b/c my friend said that when she worked at Craigo's way back when 

byu-idaho used to be good ol' Rick's, they put it in.

i did NOT use the whey b/c it was expensive, and i just didn't have it laying around my house the sunday i made it,

but man people got themselves all riled up over the fact that i listed it as an ingredient.

throw it in,

don't throw it in,

i don't think it makes a difference.

it's bread.

it tastes amazing.

eat it.

and be happy:)