Grandma Gibson: 1917 - 2010

Phyllis Johnson Olsen Gibson, 92, passed away March 25, 2010 at Atria Assisted Living Center in Sandy, Utah from congestive heart failure. She was born October 30, 1917, in Hatch, Idaho, to Frederick and Estella Simons Johnson. She married her sweetheart, Harley George Olsen on December 6, 1939 in the Salt Lake Temple. They were married 34 years before Harley passed away on February 26, 1973. They raised four children, three daughters and one son. Phyllis was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where she served in many music and leadership callings. An accomplished soloist, Phyllis also enjoyed music, crocheting, needlework, gardening, and reading.

Grandma Gibson with great-grandchildren Christian and Ava—February 3, 2010.

She loved her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and spent many happy hours with them. Phyllis was an active member in the Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Grace Literary Club, and the LPN Organization. She worked for many years at the Caribou County Memorial Hospital. She married William Doris Gibson on November 15, 1979. They were married for 26 years before Doris passed away on April 15, 2005. Phyllis is survived by three of her children, Sherrie (Duane) Rubink, Helen (Joe) Harris, and Fredrick (Kristy) Olsen; 19 grandchildren; 42 great-grandchildren; and one sister, JoMarie Smith. Preceded in death by her other siblings, daughter Louette (Doug) Trotter, and grandson Jed Olsen.

Katharine Eve

Katharine Eve Olsen was born Friday, March 19th to Elissa and Jordan (Krista's younger brother). She weighed 6 lbs. 14 oz. and measured 19.75" long.

Katharine is Ava and Christian's seventh cousin on the Olsen side of the family, their eighth cousin overall.

When we showed Ava this picture of cousin Annissa holding her new little sister, Ava told us that she wanted a new baby too. We reminded Ava that she already had a little baby brother, to which she replied "but I want a boy baby and a girl baby."

Congratulations Jordan and Elissa on your beautiful baby daughter. We can't wait to come visit you all in Denver. Although you should be aware that Ava may try to smuggle Katherine home in her suitcase.

Girls vs. Boys: Round 1

In commemoration of our 200th blog post, we are introducing a new installment here at Together Furrever called Girls vs. Boys. For round one, we are asking you (our faithful and loyal readers) to vote for who you think is the best-dressed pair—the boys or the girls. Let the voting begin!

Winners receive absolutely nothing.

Christian's Half Birthday

Christian turned six months old this past Monday. Today he had his six-month checkup and weighed in at 16 lbs 9 oz (25%) and 27.25 inches long (75%).

Some of Christian's favorite things to do as a six-month-old are bouncing in his Jumperoo...

...sitting in his Bumbo chair...

...modeling cute outfits while striking a pose...

...eating in his big sister's highchair...

...rolling around in his crib and playing with his toes.

Christian is such a happy little boy and brings so much joy to our lives.

Firsts

Ava and Christian each experienced firsts recently. Christian's first was eating. He turned out to be a natural.

In fact, after just a few bites, he was holding onto Krista's hand trying to keep the rice cereal coming as fast as possible.

Ava's first was getting her hair cut and styled.

She was pretty excited at first, but soon realized that sitting still for several minutes while having your hair combed, yanked, cut, and dried isn't all that it's cracked up to be (although she loved driving the pink car).

She was, however, quite pleased with the final result. She chose the "princess pony" style, which apparently has nothing to do with a pony (or ponytail for that matter), but had the word princess in it, which instantly appealed to Ava.