You kids are amazing!

I've been watching since Thursday, and Margie still hasn't posted about her wonderful new opportunities at work.

Most of you have probably heard about Brandon's month-long trip to Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India.  We haven't heard too many details, like when do you leave, will you be gone for your birthday, when do you get back, will you be able to be in contact with us, etc, etc.

But did you know Margie gets to be a world traveler too?  After she gets back from Nora's blessing in Utah, she will also fly to Mumbai, then she'll be heading to Beijing, to Las Vegas, to Washington DC and to London.  You guys sure lead an adventurous life.

Be sure to post foreign pictures for people like me who will probably never get to see all those exotic places.  

Failure

So, I forgot to post yesterday. I was going to backdate again, but I decided that I should be honest and admit defeat. This doesn't mean that we can stop the goal of posting everyday!

A recap on our Sunday.

Morning: Betsey had meetings for church

Afternoon: Church

Evening: We had friends over for dinner. Richard made a Thai-inspired chicken dish and I made Beef and broccoli. Richard's dish turned out better. Our friends loved our baby...but really, who doesn't!

Some upcoming exciting things for next week include a visit from our brother-in-law Shane and nephew Matthew, a haircut and color for Betsey (her first in 6 months), and Valentine's Day. AND most importantly, Edward leaves for South Carolina! Can't wait to see the buzz cut Edward!

The Last Hurrah!

Edward and Meridth came to dinner at our house tonight! It was so fun to see them, and Baby Nora enjoyed seeing her aunt and uncle. Thanks for coming to see us!

Edward Russell Gimbel

I believe yesterday was Edward Russell's last day at Starbucks.  In just five short days he will be reporting for basic training, and I don't know what the rules are for getting on the internet, so we may not hear from  him for another nine weeks.

So... if you are reading this Edward, tell us where to send cards and letters and we will do our best to stay in touch with you.

Enjoy your last few days with Meridth for a while, and we love you with all of our collective hearts!

No Wednesday?

Betsey, I woke up this morning anticipating a blog entry. I see Rusty posted twice on Tuesday, but no Wednesday post. Hm. The Gimbel goal of one post everyday is already unmet and it's only the 7th of February. Yikes! What does that say about us??

I'm only giving you a hard time. I love you!

Have a great Thursday.
-M

Wednesday's post

The Hawkins family had three of my friends from graduate school over for dinner last night. We made stir fry. Richard loves stir fry. When he was growing up, they had stir fry 2-3 times a week. He always wants me to make it, but I'm not a huge fan. I think the stir fry last night made him happy.

My friends loved baby Nora (as does everyone). She is an awesome baby (and slept through the night AGAIN last night.)...Go Nora Go!

Also...Happy Pancake Tuesday.

With Lent starting tomorrow ("Ash Wednesday") that makes today PANCAKE TUESDAY!

Happy Super-Tuesday!

That's all.

Just on my mind.

Happy Birthday, Lilly

Exciting News at the Kooman house -- Lilly turns 2!

Jan 1978-Jan 2008: The End of an Era

Take one last look, because this is the end of an era.  For the first time since January 1978, we no longer own a Suburban.  

The first Suburban, a maroon Chevrolet was "baptized" when Claudia's water broke just two blocks away from the hospital, right before Margie was born.

The second Suburban, a blue and silver diesel GMC was "baptized" by Rusty after he ingested an orange super gulp.

There then came a rapid succession of unforgettable Suburbans, beginning with the electric blue '92, then two green with silver trim, one a 1993, the other a 1994 diesel.   Just months later, a maroon 1994 made the scene, followed almost immediately by a gold 1995.  The maroon Suburban travelled to San Francisco, then north to the Redwood Forest, and on to Portland, and Washington State.  The gold one went to Breckenridge , among other places.  

As a family, we have travelled over a million miles in Suburbans, and I honestly shed a tear as Ed drove away yesterday.  It truly is the end of an era.

"Oh I plum forgot!"

Hey! Meridth drew up this great picture and then DIDN'T post it here! What was she thinking?

She was totally inspired by Ryan's post and doodled this up just today. I'm jealous of the snow, really.

Anyway...

Mystery Package

So we got a surprise package the other day from an anonymous sender. The package was sent to me and Edward in typed lettering from Utah. Since we have friends and family in Utah it could be just about anyone. Anyway, whoever that blessed person is...I'm stinking excited. As you all know, and to the chagrin of poor Ashley towards her less than feminine aunt, Edward and I both like comic books and Spiderman is an absolute classic. (We fight about DC versus Marvel all the time....and sorry guys...I'm a bigger fan of Batman, Superman and the JLA). Anyway this action figure we got in the mail has 46 points of articulation!!!!! Which means that this is a better model to draw from than...


this.

Hooray for presents and hooray for anonymous donors. :)

what up dudes

well to keep up with betsey's mandate here is saturday's post. I bought a new car. A 2008 dark grey metallic chevy malibu. It's really nice and I feel like an adult. I don't have a camera with me right now so I can't really post a picture but I think mom and dad have a picture of it. Other than that I started the first week of training at the anna engine plant in ohio. Up to this point I've just been doing other stuff, but this is the training for my actual job. I'll be here for 2.5 months. I'm excited to actually get started and hope I do a good job. Later dudes.

Ryans new hobby

Winter is still in full swing out here.
The campus was closed today & the snow in our yard is now taller than Chloe.

Who's with me?

So, the Gimbel Family Blog has gotten a little stale during the last few weeks. I think that after Edward's big announcement on the blog, we are all afraid to post the boring, mundane and small pieces of information that we typically post. I mean, if we aren't joining the army, then what should we talk about? EVERYTHING!! Come on here people, we need to get to blogging!

In an effort to rejuviate the Gimbel Family Blog, I say let's post everyday for the month of February! Come on, we can do it! February is a short month! Edward is going to be in S.C. soon in basic training and will need to have some fun stuff to read. Meridth will have a shortage of Gimbel's and will need to be updated! We need to get to work and BLOG!

If there isn't a post every day by the end of my day (here in LA), I'll be forced to create an entry detailing what Richard and I ate that day. How boring is that going to be? No one wants to see that! Come on! Get those creative juices flowing and start planning those entries.