It's all about the awkwardness

We all have, somewhere, a family picture that we'd rather forget, right? I can think of many a bad hair day, tacky sweater, or unfortunate pose in the Gibler family photo vault. The creators of the website AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com have given us all a place to submit our most horrifying pictures and laugh at those from other families. The next time I'm having a bad day, I'm soooo going to sneak a peek at this website.

http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

I'm not about to turn in any of the following, as I couldn't find anything truly awkward, but it's always fun to reminisce...

My parents' wedding. June 3, 1967.

Yeah, it's cute picture, but rumor has it my brother Ryan was saying naughty words to get us to smile. 1982?

I think we called ourselves the Christmas Patrol: me, my sister Val, and our buddy Jenny. Check out our sweaters and my fanny pack! 1988?

Just another Saturday night at the Gibler house. (Yes, I know my outfit was bad. That was the point, people!) 1991?

Val and I took teenage rebellion to new heights during a family visit to Fort Edmonton. While Mom and Dad chatted up a blacksmith, we stole the camera and got some fun shots. (And this was before digital cameras!) Summer 1998.

Like Waldo, only cuter

This is Jack's new favorite game. He piles up animals on his bed, hides among them, and then asks me to come find him. I think he's the most brilliant boy ever...

The bash

Jack was a big help yesterday getting things ready for his dad's birthday. He helped make a "Happy Birthday" sign, a card, and chocolate cupcakes. He also put the candles in the cupcakes. I had to help a little. If it'd been totally up to him, all 35 candles would be in one cupcake. Imagine that fire!

Jack also helped Brian blow out the candles. Looks like he'll be good and ready for blowing out his own candles come November 17th...

To my dear and loving husband...

Brian turns 35 today. I am incredibly blessed to be married to such a kind, intelligent, and hard-working man. And our kids are lucky to have such a great dad. We've had a tough year--our first in the Eastern Sierra, and his first as assistant principal--but everything we've been through has only made us closer as a couple and a family. Happy Birthday, Brian!

Big Pine football

Yesterday, after spending the morning moping about my single-mom Saturday status, I decided to take the kids and join Brian at a football game in Big Pine, about an hour-and-a-half south of here. It was a great day for a game: hot and windy, but still beautiful, with snow showing on the mountains. The Caravan hit 100,000 miles on the way down. We missed the exact moment, but caught it a mile later. The poor thing's been through ma-aaany trips! Jack didn't care about the football, but did like playing with the cupholders in our camp chairs. Kate slept through the first quarter, and was happy through most of the second, before I had to take her to the van for a feeding. The game ended midway through the third quarter--a mercy ruling, at 50-0, in favor of Big Pine. The poor Lee Vining Tigers suffered a couple injuries, one sending a kid to the hospital in Bishop. We went with Brian to check on him; he'd suffered some chest bruising, nothing serious. We had dinner at a pizza place and headed home. Jack stayed awake on the way home--"Nemo" helped--but I conked out for most of the ride (gotta take naps when I can!). It was definitely a much better way to spend my Saturday than at home with two cranky kids. No offense, kids.

Happy Birthday, Kathy!

Brian's mom, Kathy, turns 60 today! I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law: she is constantly giving of herself to others. And she LOOOOVES her grandkids!

Watch out for the Widelite!

This past weekend we took our new RV for its first run, over the mountains to the Central Valley. We were able to get a space at the French Camp RV park, although we did have to spend one night in a truck stop parking lot off I-5 near Lodi (which was quite an ear-deafening experience!). We learned much about what we need for such trips in the future, and were glad that we didn't take our first trip to the middle of nowhere! It was good to be able to pick up supplies as needed. For instance, when Brian went to empty the holding tank yesterday, he found that he needed one little adaptor to empty it at the RV park. So we ended up hauling our "waste" all the way back over the mountains. It's still sitting in there, actually! Hopefully we'll find a place to empty it soon. We had a great trip overall, and can't wait for our next trip!