Italy

FYI-I will be posting fun pictures from Italy soon! I can't believe we've been home for well over a month now (almost 2) and I haven't put up anything! It has become a daunting task for me because we have over 1,200 pictures from our trip. However, I was talking with Garth's grandparents tonight about the trip and it got me all excited and motivated. So if I have time this week before we leave town, I will post something...if not this week-definitely next week!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Garth and I by the fire. I love having fires!!

The Gipson's by our undecorated tree--don't worry, it's decorated now :)

I love this season!!

Thanksgiving/Garth's birthday

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving down in San Clemente. The night before, we went to the Spectrum Center in Irvine and we had a yummy dinner and then watched Kimu, our nephew, go ice skating for the first time. This was very special for us, especially his dad, because his dad was played hockey through college. It was fun to watch his little legs going all over the place. But he ended up having a good time! I also got to have some baby Karson time while we were watching Kimu. We just love our nephews!!

The next day, we had so much fun when all of Garth's family and my family came together at his mom's house in San Clemente for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. We had so much food and had a great time hanging out together. It also happened to be Garth's birthday, so we were able to celebrate his special day all together. Look who's 27 now!!

On the following night, we had a little surprise b-day party for Garth at Silky Sullivan's, an Irish pub in Fountain Valley. It was fun having a bunch of his friends and family there celebrating his birthday. We rocked out on the dance floor, the boys enjoyed watching the game, and we all had delicious food. It was a great night. Thanks to everyone who made it a special night for Garth.

Italy

In less than 20 days Garth and I are headed to Italy!! We are so excited to spend the holidays over there. We'll be in Rome for Christmas, then we'll go to Florence, and we'll end up in Venice where we'll be staying at a hotel on St. Mark's square for New Year's Eve! We are just hoping everything will be cleared up from the floods in Venice. We can't wait!!!

Fall Festival

Yes, this was another very fun weekend at the Gipson household. Not only did Garth come home for the weekend, but some of our closest friends, Heidi and Randy came up from San Diego with their two adorable boys-Luke, who is 2, and Landon who is 5 months. We had so much fun spending time with them. Also, Heidi's brother, sister-in-law, and 8 week old nephew came down from Modesto. We had a busy house with three little ones. We loved it!!

On Friday night, we went to the Exeter homecoming football game. It's been a long time since any of us have been to a high school football game, but we had a really good time. We were bundled up in blankets and sweaters and drank hot chocolate. Luke loved watching the boys play football and kept his eye on the lion mascot. He loved the lion! He also spotted it the next day during the parade!

On Saturday, after Garth's run, we all went to Exeter to watch the parade. Garth was on the "Alumni water polo float." It was a very cute hometown parade, it's been awhile since I've been to one of those! Then we walked over to the park where the fall festival was. We ate some yummy food and walked around to all the booths. Luke loved playing on the play structure, while Landon slept the day away. When we got home, most of us got a nap in and then we had a delicious bbq-thanks to Garth, Randy, and Paul.

We loved having people over to our home and having a big dinner. We need to do it more often, now that we have the space! The weather was perfect fall weather and the boys played toss back and forth in the backyard while Luke played in the dirt. While Luke was playing he found a worm and he was stretching it out and then he looked up and said "It broke! Now 2 worms!" Luke made me laugh all weekend. He is so smart and says the most hilarious things. I loved spending time with him. Thank you Waddells for staying with us! We love you and want you to come visit again real soon.

Garth's 10k race

This past weekend, Garth ran a 10k race in Exeter. This was his first race and he did great! As I was driving into Exeter to watch him finish, I started driving by a bunch of runners...and low and behold, there was Garth! I pulled over and I got a picture of him as he was running by. I even got a quick kiss :).

He ran the race in 48:10 and got second place in his age group. The last picture is of him getting his medal. He did awesome! Despite being freezing cold (it was one of the coldest days this season) and having frozen fingers, I loved watching Garth come into the finish line. I can't wait to watch him run another one!!

I love the fall!!

We're lame, I know...but it's still fun

This was a picture of the maze this year.
How cute is my mom??

The three lovely ladies about to begin our adventure
Here's the corn maze...it was really confusing...I'm not going to lie


FYI-This measuring apparatus is wrong, I'm NOT 5'!! I'm 5'2", every inch counts!!

My cousin Christy came down to Visalia for our annual fall get-together. We have done this several years now and we both look forward to it. We go to a pumpkin patch, find a perfect pumpkin, take fun pictures, enjoy the fall weather, and usually do some type of crafting. When I found out Christy was going to come, I was so excited, but thought it was going to be weird to look for pumpkins in hot weather. Well, low and behold...I woke up Saturday morning to a gray sky as well as wet sidewalks and streets. I loved it! Our first rain of the season. It was perfect for our fall weekend together! Although the sun did come out, and it did get a little warmer, it was cooler than it has been in a long time and I welcomed it eagerly! We had fun crafting, hanging out with one another, and shopping. We watched childhood videos of ourselves when we used to go camping and I laughed so hard my stomach was hurting and I thought I might pee my pants. In the video, we had put on our version of Star Search with some of our other cousins (shout out to Leslie and Jessica!). We watched ourselves dance to "Baby, Baby" by Amy Grant and "A Whole New World" from Aladdin! We told the lamest jokes for our comedy portion and we were both in terribly awkward stages. It was hilarious. We also got mad when our parents voted (yes, we made them vote) that we all tied. What's the chance of that happening? :) If any of you have video's from your childhood, I recommend you pull them out. They were so fun to watch!!

This weekend we also had a blast going through a corn maze in Visalia. I have never been to this one and I'm sad I hadn't experienced this earlier. It was awesome. My mom, Christy, and I had so much fun going through it. There are no lights and you can only use a flashlight to find your way through a 10 acre maze. I want to go back again!


Thanks for coming to visit Christy! I love you and I can't wait to see you again soon.