He Leadeth Me

Happy 2012 to Friends and Family Near and Far! The Lord bless you and keep you, The Lord lift His countenance upon you, And give you peace, and give you peace, And be gracious unto you, be gracious, The Lord make His face to shine upon you The Lord be gracious, gracious unto you. Amen. Lyrics: Peter Christian Lutkin

What is amazing about this Flash Mod is that you can't always tell who the "official singers" are because many shoppers join in. I love the looks on people's faces when "Mary and Joseph" arrive with Baby Jesus.

The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett My rating: 5 of 5 stars This children's book was hilarious and a must read for all my librarian friends. View all my reviews

Last weekend, David and I made a trip to Searcy, Arkansas for my nephew, Ryan's, wedding to Caitlin. It was a wonderful weekend because we got to see so many family members, but it was also lots of fun to walk down memory lane. David and I met at Harding in our freshman year, 1970. BEWARE: This post has LOTS of pictures. David in front of the Administration Building. The Ganus Student Center. This was the meeting place when we were students. David also helped build the Radio Station in the basement of this building. Patti Cobb Dorm where I lived as a freshman. Kendall Hall--my sophomore home. Cone Chapel is where the wedding took place. As you can see out the wall of windows the campus is beautifully lit for the holiday season. Lights over the Harding University arch. More lights. The lily pond. My mom also attended Harding. Doesn't she look young enough to still be a student? The famous Harding swing. Mom, me, Gail, Terry. Sweetie in a swing. We were missing some of the...

It has become a tradition for me to recap our year in the form of an "ABC" letter. It must be the teacher in me! I hope you enjoy a look back at 2011 at the David and Karen Gibson home. A is for Ann Hopkins, Mandy’s mom. Since we moved to Colorado, Ann and I have shared babysitting for the little Gibson boys on days when Mandy works. Ann kindly took over my duties while I was sick. Thank you Ann-Ma! I’m ready to share again. B is for boys. Our three grandsons, Caleb, Aaron, and David, kept me upbeat during my recovery. C is for Cancer. You don’t often see an ugly word like this in a Christmas letter. Cancer was one of my biggest fears. God has clearly demonstrated to me that He is Lord even over our fears. D is for David. I knew almost 40 years ago when I married this man that he was very special. During this eventful year of 2011, he has stood by me and taken care of me in ways that I, and I’m sure he, never imagined he woul...

The Buddy Files: The Case of the Lost Boy by Dori Hillestad Butler My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a well written book for early readers. It is written from the point of view of a dog and is quite humorous. View all my reviews

It is the custom at Penrose Hospital where I had my radiation treatments to ring the golden bell 3 times when your treatments are complete. Today was the GREAT day! The nurses and radiation techs who guided me through the past 28 days of radiation were there cheering me on as I rang the bell. I am so thankful to God that both my chemotherapy and radiation treatments are completed. What a wonderful way to celebrate a very Merry Christmas.

When you are a parent, you learn not to say things like "I'll NEVER do......" or "My child will NEVER ....." because often you have to eat your words. I have recently learned that the same holds true for grandparents. No offense to those of you who love inflatable Christmas decor, but I had always said, I will NEVER have an inflatable in my yard. The main reason is that I dislike seeing them deflated during the day. Santa just looks so sad in a heap in the front yard. But then along came grandchildren and I couldn't help but think how much they would love seeing a Santa waving at them when they came to Nana and Ducca's front door. Caleb and David like Santa fine, but Aaron is his biggest fan. No, that is really an understatement. As Mandy says, Aaron is obsessed with Santa. So obsessed, in fact, that when Aaron is at our house, we have to bring Santa inside because it is just too cold to hang out on the front porch with Santa and his 2 reindeer. Santa ...

Book Cover Courtesy of Goodread.com Like many people, I waited in anticipation for Brian Selznick's newest "picture book". His book The Invention of Hugo Cabret won a prestigious Caldecott medal and was ground breaking because it was considered a picture book yet was the size of a novel. Wonder Struck is just as great as Hugo in my opinion. Selznick created a 639 page picture book that tells two stories, one with illustrations and one with words. At the end, the two stories merge in a surprising way. Whether you are 10 or 100, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of this book and enjoy a really good read.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom and sister came to visit. In a show of solidarity, Kim purchased a wig just like mine. Aren't we cute twins? (No I didn't break my hand--I was having some swelling and had to wear a compression bandage for a while.) Sweetie, Kim and me A back view of our look alike hair-do's Kim and mom conferring We kept each of the grandsons/great-nephews/great grandsons by themselves on separate days. This was Caleb's day and he had tired of playing with puddy, but not mom and Kim Caleb got to go on a date and have Bananas Foster. He really enjoyed it! David's Day and a picture with Sweetie David and Aunt Kim No, you didn't miss a picture. We didn't get any photos with Aaron. Poor little guy, on his day, we went shopping and he went along. He was a REAL trooper and we enjoyed him so much but we were so busy, we didn't get any pictures.

Halloween was very special this year because it was the first entertaining we had done in a while. We had 4 little goblins and their parents over to our house. For those of you who remember Taylor, Mandy's cousin who lived with them in Houston, this is her daughter, Caroline (the closest to a granddaughter that I have right now.) She's not sure what to think of her first cupcake. Caleb Aaron David Caroline with her proud daddy Josh Taylor, Caroline, and Josh (with Aunt Kelly looking on) All four of the little goblins At the end of the evening, when the parents were ready to take the kids out to Trick-or-Treat, Aaron and David decided they would instead go downstairs to play. This is them heading down "the safe way." I hope your Halloween was wonderful!

David and I have so much to be thankful for this year! From the beginning of April, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, our world was turned upside down. Even though, it has been a stressful 8 months, I can truly say that God has blessed us amazingly through it all. The most wonderful blessing of all has been the friendship and love that you have shown us in so many special and practical ways. From food, to cards, to money to help with insurance deductibles, to faithful prayers, our extended family and our friends both in Houston and Colorado have been there for us and for that, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I apologize for not updating you on this blog earlier, but as I told a friend the other day, when I started feeling stronger, I started "going" again and that has slowed down blogging a little. I completed chemotherapy on October 5th, and after about 5 weeks started feeling stronger and more like myself. I began daily radiation treatments on Novembe...

Imogene's Last Stand by Candace Fleming My rating: 5 of 5 stars Book cover courtesy of Goodreads.com This is a really good picture book about saving historical buildings. Imogene uses quotes from famous people as she strives to save her town historical museum. Her first words as a baby were, :"Four Score and Seven Years Ago." (Lincoln) She quoted John Paul Jones--"I have not yet begun to fight." She even quoted Eleanor Roosevelt when she said "You must do the thing you think you cannot do." This was a well thought out and crafted picture book.

As those of you know who have been following this blog, I am the proud owner of two wigs but not much hair--although I am proud to announce that it is beginning to grow back very slowly but surely. Two of my grandsons seem to be especially interested in my "hair". After getting his own red hair combed after his bath, David decided it was time to comb Nana's hair. Good job, Buddy! Caleb also has very definite ideas about Nana's hairstyles. He prefers the first wig I bought, probably because it looks the most like my real hairstyle. The other night when he was visiting and I had on my red wig, he came running out of my bedroom giggling with the above "look". Although he enjoyed wearing the wig for a few minutes, what he really wanted to happen was for me to change from the wig I had on to this wig! Funny Boys! So far, Aaron has not displayed a hair preference.

If you are looking for a great picture book for the preschooler in your life, check this book out. Press Here by Henre' Tullet is fun, interactive, and imaginative. PS. If you are related to me, don't buy this book because it will probably show up as a Christmas present. book cover courtesy of TitleWave.com

Are you familiar with the book Chicka, Chicka ABC's? It is one of my favorite alphabet books. Aunt Kelly is sharing the book one day with David and Aaron. This cute idea came from Pinterest and the blog Little Page Turners I usually look at the ideas, but Kelly actually implemented this one. The little guys had a blast!