Merry Christmas Bloggy Friends!!

I'm a few days late, but I pray your Christmas was wonderful & miraculous!!! This has been a Christmas I will never forget...memories have been so precious!
Watching Zoie LOVE her first Christmas with her forever family has been special beyond words.
(we'll post pics & video later today:)

OK...what was your favorite "Santa" gift hiding under your Christmas tree?
You've been officially tagged!!!! :)))

**My fav was black Uggs...my feet are so happy!!

Christmas Happies

Today was a day of good news. Rog & sis, Erin had me hopping...we had a string of doctor visits & was able to accomplish a CAT scan, neck xray, chiropractor (thx family for watching Zoie) The reports were very positive!! My face feels like a big bruise, but feeling so much better. The one thing that doesn't hurt is my foot...a miracle!! I came home to a clean house..thanks Hannah & Michael!! Zoie crawled...really crawled for the 1st time!! I enjoyed quiet time reading all the special Christmas cards jammed in the mailbox:)) My AMAZING hubby has taken care of every detail...from head to toe. I am overwhelmed with gratefulness!!
I'm nervous about surgery tomm....still can't believe I broke my teeth. I hate to say this, but....all I want for Christmas is my 4 front teeth:)

The true meaning of Christmas for my family is celebrating, our Savior, Jesus. I am gently reminded today that God has allowed this pain in my life for a purpose. I have felt His love, grace & peace...He is always near. I am thankful for the *happies* He provided all day long!!

Bloggy friends...thanks for your cheers & prayers:)

12/23
Surgery went really well!! They were not able to save my teeth, but made me a little *happy* called a flipper. Its got 4 perfect teeth..connected to a retainer. Its awesome!! I'm thankful for a great dental plan, strong drugs & soft food!! :) In 8 months, I'll have 4 beauties implanted....they'll last me the rest of my life.
Thanks for your cheers!!

A sprinkle of Ghana & Ethiopia!

Last night, our dear friends brought over dinner & cooked it for us in our kitchen:) A special guest, Adiki also joined us. She is a student at a college in our area from Ghana. What a fun night!! Thanks Hoecks!!

Mommy got run over by a reindeer!!

I wish I could say that I was hit by Santa's sleigh or run over by a reindeer, but the truth is...an elf hit me in the nose!!!
This was day 1...sadly, I'm in the same shirt day 2, but w/ little dribbles of coffee:)
Here's the real scoop bloggy friends, I bounced down the stairs & tripped, twisting
my foot. At 2 AM I woke up with intense pain in my foot, but tried to hobble
to the bathroom. All I remember is calling out Roger's name & then
I passed out. I woke up with 7 firemen & paramedics in our room, but had no idea what happened?? When I fell, they think I hit the sink counter HARD and broke my nose, the bone under my nose, which fractured my 4 top teeth. I'm especially proud of my black shiner.
My foot was confirmed fractured, as well. Can you believe an elf could hit this hard!?

Please pray for me Tuesday, I'll have oral surgery to repair my mouth.
Unfortunately, they won't be able to save my 4teeth:( but have some great
procedures to help me look like new!!
My Christmas celebration/expectations have changed dramatically, but the best part...Family & Friends!!! I'm really being spoiled:)
I was told that my teeth acted like an "air bag" and saved my neck from possible serious injury!! God was watching over me!!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours

ps: I just found out that my poor hubby had to chase down the ambulance
down the road...they missed our house!!!

Zoie loves Santa....ho ho ho!!

Its tradition...we anticipate every year visiting Santa at Silver Dollar City!! We head to the theme park for a special photo with Santa....for the past 15 years its been the same jolly, merry, blue eyed Claus. Its enough to make *me* believe. The line is always long & several elves entertain to keep the crowd happy.

Last year, I got in a little verbal scuffle with a grumpy elf who had the gall to point to me & announce I was the cut-off & to come back next year. I tried to explain that this was our 14th year in a row & I NEEDED the pic with Santa (last day the park was open!!) The elf was not going to budge, so I tried negotiating with a sprinkle of Christmas spirit a win/win plan. That elf meant business....go home- the big C was heading back to the North Pole!!! Santa's not-so-jolly helper pushed my button & we loudly agreed to disagree!! I really wanted to pull on her pointed ears & tell HER to come back next year, but instead a kind, sweet reindeer came to our rescue. All was safe & photo#14 is hanging on the tree. This year, the family made me promise to be nice or I would have to miss out on the mountain cookie, bag of kettle corn & the famous SDC "the works" hot cocoa!! I was a good girl....we had plenty of time to spare and only stood in line an hour.

The best part, Zoie met Santa for the 1st time. How did she do.....Zoie HATED him!! She cried & reached out for a rescue mission. Can I say it was totally adorable & we have the pics to prove it:)
Thank you Nanny & Grandpa G for enduring the thousands of tourists to help us get photo ornament #15!! We love you & miss you already!

Do you have a funny Christmas memory?

Happy 11 months Zoie!!!

Five months & 3 days ago we met our beautiful daughter, Zoie Senait for the first time!! She weighed only 8 lbs....just like a newborn!! At rapid speed, she has blossomed & thrived in our family. She weighs 20 lbs, cut 5 teeth, jabbers baby talk non-stop, smiles constantly, waves hello, giggles, GI Jane crawls everywhere, adores her big bro & sis....just to name a few!! Are we proud or what!!!! :)
Happy 11 months Zoie!! Enjoy your 1st snow day!

Santa's Toffee (Thanks Aunti Erin:)

Do you need an easy, yummy-curl your toes recipe for your cookie party??? Do you need a treat that your kids will BEG for you to make daily (but you can't!!)
Well, thanks to Aunti Erin....here you go!!!

Santa's Toffee
Ingredients:
40 Saltine or club crackers
2 sticks of butter
1 cup of sugar
12 oz bag of chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375, place foil over a cookie sheet. Layer crackers in a row. Melt butter & sugar in saucepan until it boils.
Pour melted butter/sugar over crackers. Bake in oven for 12 min. or until golden brown. Take out & pour chocolate chips over the crackers. Place back in the over for ONLY 10 seconds. Take out & spread chocolate evenly. Place in fridge or freezer until cooled or chocolate is firm:))))
Enjoy Santa's favorite treat!!!! Let me know how it turns out....

We Give Thanks for Family *Photos*

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thrilled to have the entire family here in town for this special day! Zoie's first American holiday with her new family was a JOY!

Zoie loved her Aunti's sweet potato casserole & corn bread stuffing!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Bloggy friends...we pray that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family & friends! We have so much to be thankful for...
1 Corinthians 1:4 ( Thanksgiving ) I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.

What are you Thankful for today? I want to hear...

Happy Driving!!

How is it possible that *my baby* hit 6'1 & received his driver's permit all in one week:)))) Congrats MG on this amazing milestone in your life!! We are sooo proud of you!!!
You've been dreaming of driving since you were 2 years old!!! whooohoooo

Welcome Home Sege!!!! xoxoxo

We had the honor of meeting an Ethiopian princess named Etsegenet (Sege) when we traveled to Addis Ababa in July. She is home now with her amazing family *VanWettens* & we just wanted to say WELCOME HOME SWEET GIRL!!

ps: Zoie's 3rd new tooth just peeked thru...that makes 5!! :)

Zoie update...a few firsts:)

Family...Zoie sat up in her crib for the first time today:) Her 2 top teeth have peeked thru & she had her first visit from a real Christian rock star (Phil Joel:) & family. We swear she said "sissssthy" to Hannah & "buubbuuub" to Michael! She saw her first movie "Madagascar" and first Ozark Christmas show featuring Lennons & Tony Orlando...

Phynley, thanks for the tiny red pillow!! We love you Joels!!

Top 10 questions about adoption...can you help?

Roger & I need your help.....iQuestions.com wants to advocate for adoption & foster care.
Please give me your feedback....

• If you could ask ANY question about adoption....what would you want to know? List as many ?'s as you can think from A to Z!!!

We want to help make this new site to be a helpful source to encourage, support, educate and provide quick answers from a lot of difference sources!!!
THANKS for your help!!

Fun night of fellowship & kisses:)

We had so much fun at the Neal's fundraiser for Wide Horizon Orphanage!! It was at a yummy pizza rest. w/ tons of family & friends. By the time we left, I think the count was at 210 people!!!! We are so proud of the Neals & congrats on their beautiful new sweet boy, Cruz!!! Zoie had another *smooch* with darling Jaden...2 yr old from ET!

Congrats Blackwells, Halls & Forrests who all received referrals last week!!! whoooohoooo

A *happy* for Duni from AWAA families

Calling all AWAA ET families....Duni is moving permanently Dec. 5th for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She's going to be a new addition to the ET in-country staff:)
We want to give her a big thank you, we love you, we appreciate you....our dreams came true cuz of you, going away gift "happy"
You can go to paypal.com
"send money"
account# gibsongroup@gmail.com
**add any amount of $$ & add "Duni's gift" in the notes.
We'll keep it open for contributions all this week. We're thrilled to purchase a special gift certificate (shhhhh:)

Snowy Day?

Its brrrrr cold here in the Ozarks!! It feels like snow! We're taking advantage of a lazy Sat. indoors...changing light bulbs, napping, baking scones, watching HGTV-how to sell your house that's been on the market for over a year (I'm taking notes:)
Zoie had her first sip on her sippy cup....more like deep gulps!! Way to go!!!

AWAA November Dinner

We had a wonderful night of fellowship & meeting new friends. Welcome Van Druff family to the Ozarks:)

AWAA Traveling Families

There are 7 more AWAA families traveling to ET this week to pick up their children.

Armstrongs - http://armstrongs2ethiopia.blogspot.com/
Juvinalls - http://www.bearla.com/talk/
Gambles - http://www.bjgamble.blogspot.com/
Pridemores - http://www.pridemore5.blogspot.com/
VanWettens - http://yellowblackandwhite.blogspot.com/ (traveled two weeks ago to pick up
their baby and are now going back to get their older daughter)

New Family Blog!!!!

We have finally joined the ranks of my fellow blogspot bloggy friends!! We thank Nikki for making it look sooooo good:)) I think it might take me a few days to add some of our things to the new spot, but you can still take a peek *zoiegibson5.com* until the end of the month.

We had so much fun meeting up with the Davids in Tulsa Monday. Sakari & Zoie met for the first time & LOVED each other. You can obviously tell by the kissing:)

Stay tuned...

Happy Birthday Michael!!

Michael, you have been the JOY of our lives since the day you were born. Your strength as a first born, your heart of gold, your LOVE of life and your passion for Christ is a daily reminder of God's incredible miracles!!!!!!! You can never do anything that will change our love for you....nothing!!!! We are yours forever!!!
You have made us so proud watching you soar this year in High School...you have exceeded all our expectations & more!!! You have taken personal responsibility of your academics, as well as your golf game!!! The thing that makes our hearts melt the most is your love for your sisters. I know it was a bumpy road for you the past 2 years preparing for the unknowns of adoption, but watching you become a man in Ethiopia and heart burst wide open for your Zoie has been an answer to prayer!!! God gave you an incredible gift for photography...thank you for blessing our lives with your talents!! We will never forget the moment you stood on the stage with your grandpa at JRA and spoke on Father's Day. We were so proud....how did you do it? (8,000+ people attended!) We embrace your gifts, talents & passions in life!!!
We love you just the way you are from head to toe!
All our love, Mom & Dad

My First Post on new blog....simply love you!!!

Bloggy Friends, thank you for your cheers, support & prayers the past year!!
I'm so happy to finally be a part of blogspot:)
Welcome to our new blog....Simply Love!!
To think I didn't even know what a blog was when we started on our adoption journey. This is a place to find encouragement, support, prayers, cheers & photo updates.
We have so many wonderful family all over the country, so its a special spot to let the fam know how we are doing & show off lots of pics & videos.
We will continue the journey....as a family of 5.
The Best is Yet to Come!!!!
xoxo