Sunday, September 30, 2007

Boys in the Kitchen

That's right you read the title right. A Sunday tradition started by Melanie is to make cookies and deliver them to people who did something nice for you, had a rough week, or just because. Ben has picked up on the tradition and invited his

friend, Wade, to help him make cookies. They made no-bake cookies and delivered them to four girls and a guy who was depressed about a girl. I am not sure if this a purely Sabbath day service project, but it was sure a nice thing to do. The girls didn't seem to mind.

David's Weekend

David had quite the weekend, he had a tennis tournament Friday and Saturday, admist homecoming activities. He won a 3-set match against Sugar-Salem's #1 seed that put him in a bracket to play Skyline High Schools #1 ranked player.

It was a combination of the good, the bad, and the ugly. His first match was a little ugly as he should have easily won in 2 sets.




The good part was David played brilliantly against Skyline's player, who has trained all summer with a professional, but he felt bad he lost, as every point was hard fought for either player.


Saturday night was the homecoming dance. He has to rent a tuxedo for the year ($100) for acapella choir, so he got that a little early to use for the dance. He asked Chelsea Cook, a junior at IF by making up a crossword puzzle, the solution had certain letters circled, which unscrambled spelled David's name.

Bryce on the Beach


Bryce loaded his motorcycles into the truck and left the family nest in September. He moved to Manhattan Beach, California. His apartment has an ocean view from the window so that he knows when the surf is up. He just walks 500 yds to get in some wave action. Loriann says that she will be a frequent visitor as Bryce completes his studies as a mechanic at Red Stone Aircraft College.


David and Loriann toured the facility which is about five miles from his home and found it VERY IMPRESSIVE. Bryce's goal is to graduate at the top of his class because that is who gets the job when the recruiters come.

Meet Moke




Moke Mahaio Hyde Gabrielsen is the latest grandchild of Ron and Gary Gabrielsen. Moke was born in Victorville, California on Oct 24, 2005. Loriann fell in love with him when she flew down as a volunteer to pick him up for an adoption agency. Arrangements were made for him to be part of our family.



Moke's ancestry is part-black and part Hawaiian. He really loves the water whether it be the swimming pool or soaking in the sink while Loriann picks up the kitchen.


Pictures that I wish we had would be of Moke playing "golf"; he does know how to hit the ball. He shows amazing hand-eye coordination as he moves a soccer ball around the yard.


His favorite play partner is his niece (?) Ashley. At times he gets a little amorous and she will say "No, Moke!. That's enough.:

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Grandpa's Grape Juice



A fall tradition at Grandma and Grandpa's house is picking grapes and making juice. We all have had the pleasure of tasting the "fruit of the vine" when we go to visit. This year Grandpa (Dad) is recovering from myasthenia gravis and needed help for the mammoth project, that in years past he has done mostly alone. I had no idea the amount of work involved in the process. The picking had to be the hardest step. It took four of us and 13 hours to replace Dad. His home teachers did the lion's share, I only had to pick for 2-1/2 hours to get the juicy ones on the top, how I could have used Dad's long arms to reach across the 5-foot wide arbor. I just kind of sprawled across the top stretching for the beautiful grapes, just beyond reach.



The juicing part was the easiest. Dad was master commander, he sat in his chair and told me step by step what to do. I kept trying to get him to go inside, worried that he might overdo, but he did not miss a bottle.








We all had our duties. Mom unburied and washed the bottles (personally my least favorite task), I washed grapes and ran the steam juicers, and dad unclamped the juice lines and filled the bottles with steaming, hot, 100 % pure juice. It was grand team work. Two 10 hour days and 150 quarts later the job is finished.


One difficulty we ran into was how to move all the bottles downstairs. Dad was not in shape to move them, neither was Mom; my back hurt so bad that one more heavy load would be miserable. With some creative problem solving, Dad came up with a solution. Any one watching would have laughed, but it worked. We decided the garage would be the storage spot. The transporting vehicle, a wheelbarrow and two orange crate boxes. Dad sat on the porch leaning against posts for support and handed the bottles to me. I, kneeling on my knees to avoid bending, loaded bottles into the boxes, pushed the wheelbarrow to the side door, sat on the floor and unloaded the 22-bottles per load. By that time Dad would be resting, lying on the cement; He'd push himself up and we'd start over.
I will forever treasure the opportunity to harvest grapes and spend time learning not only about grapes, but the fortitude of my parents. From now on I will not only savor every drop of grape juice but the memories that go along with it.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Randee and Family Gatherings


No one enjoys being part of the action at events such as a wedding, missionary return, or birthday celebration than loyal Randee. You can always plan on her presence at whatever event you have planned . She will support you even though it is not always easy for her to get there.

Troy Gabrielsen


Troy is working as a carpenter doing lots of building in the Park City area. In his spare time, he enjoys riding motorcycles and working on old cars.

Troy, at Saren's April wedding enjoys being with his two children McClane, age 6 and Timberly, who has just been baptized.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

About Vance and Diane

Vance and I are doing great. Here is a picture that was published in this month's issue of Modern Healthcare Fifteen years ago, Vance was selected as one of the nations "Up and Comers" of hospital administration/health care. They did a follow-up article about what Up and Comers are doing today. This picture was actually taken to be posted on the hall of fame at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. He is on the hospital board. It is something he was invited to do for a 5-year term.

Life at Rosetta Homes is stabilizing. He almost has the company in the black, which is quite a feat considering they were losing hundreds of thousands 2 years ago. He is doing more traveling than I like, but not near what he use to.
His current calling is on the high council. He works with YM and YW presidencies and is on the farm committee. This best part about his assignment is he gets to come to our ward on Sundays and to girl's camp with me! He speaks once a month in various wards throughout the stake.

One of the reasons we are meant to be in Idaho Falls is for Vance's family. His parents are aging and Vance spends extra moments helping them and his sisters. Mom Fager is losing her vision and Dad Fager is 90 years old. He fixes sprinklers, doors, fences, takes them to doctor appointments and shopping, stays with dad when his mom is away, to mention a few of the tasks. I complain too much, but Vance is always willing to help and likes doing so; it's one of my favorite things about him. Here he his preparing their fence and porch for a new paint job which he and David will be doing this week. The next picture he is trimming his dad's neck.










I know I don't look as good as Vance in his picture, but this will have to do. I am staying extremely busy with writing menus, my new callings, and doing the home making thing. I am finishing an 8-week new summer menu. therapuetic diets, and shopping lists for 2 multi-unit assisted living companies. To be honest it has been a pain, but I was asked to do it and it gives me another tool to be able to sell if I need to. Before I'm finished, I'll probably fix the old one I did 4 years ago to the same format I just developed. I get better each time as I learn more about the industry and what works and what doesn't.

I was released from my calling from Young Women's when the ward split a month or so ago. It's been a great thing and I enjoyed working with some pretty awesome girls, but I was ready after serving there 11 of the last 14 years. I am now one of three ward organists, which I thoroughly enjoy and a family history consultant, which I like even more and am having so much fun.

This summer I really enjoyed my flower and vegetable gardens. I took a couple of pictures, even though they are both past their prime. The more temperate summer weather (notice I said summer and NOT winter) makes for beautiful flower gardens. Here are my petunias, the boys tease me about how I feel about my flowers, but it's been fun babying them. It all started from just a couple of little plants. Vance also made me a cage for my beans and peas, patterned after Mom and Dad's contraption. I never understood the story of Jack and the Beanstalk and the bean seed growing into the sky until I planted pole beans. If Vance had made the cage 12 feet high, the beans would have cli
mbed up and produced even more. As you all know, I love green beans and it has been a great feast this summer.










A couple of favorites for me and then I am through. I love walking and I love catching up on what is happening in Jenn, Melanie, and Katie's lives while they are in Provo. So I combine the two. I plug in an earpiece (which is on the fritz, so I have to hold the phone, the earpiece, and my mouth just so for it to work) and walk and talk. You'd think we run out of things to talk about, but we never do.


This is my favorite room in my house, which I get to spend more time in now that I play the organ. I always have to figure out the figuring for the hymns and the correct tempo. I have been accused of playing the hy
mns too fast, but I can't help it. Although, this last Sunday, it was all I could do to stay with the chorister (a new calling for her too) on the opening
song, "The Day Dawn is Breaking." It was actually too fun, usually I pushing the chorister not to drag!!



About David

David is a senior and glad for the last year of high school. He is taking the typical senior schedule of Economics, American Government, and Senior English. Fun classes this trimester are acapella choir and weight lifting. Choir at IF is big and there are over 100 kids. They all wear tuxes and formals. The choir is quite good. David sings bass 1 or baritone although he has quite a good range. The first concert is a couple of weeks.



David really likes weight lifting and will have that class a couple trimesters. He has put on a few pounds since the beginning of school all in his upper body. I had to almost pull teeth to get this picture, you're lucky to see it.





Speaking of teeth. After 3 and a half years, David will get his braces off hopefully in 2 months. We are holding off on senior pictures until spring, nicer weather and braceless teeth.



David is also big into tennis. He will play in a tournament in a couple of weeks, I'll get some pictures and a video. He plays in the Men's 18-division which is a very competitive bracket. He did play in a few tournaments this summer and won consolation (3rd) in singles. That will make his USTA rating go up!



He worked for the city this summer on weed control (carrying a 30 lb pack all day and walking miles) and putting in a sprinkler system. He worked from 6 AM to 2 PM. My favorite picture of him this summer was with Katie at EFY. He wasn't in her company, but had a great time in spite of cryptosporidium. (He got that the day before he left and had to tough it out a few days.)


Friday, September 21, 2007

About Ben


Ben is FINALLY in high school (sophomore) after 4 years of middle school/junior high. He has also turned 16 and is enjoying the freedoms of driving at night and being able to hang out in "mixed company and even numbers." The only problem with turning 16 in late August and being the oldest in his class, is the girls are not yet 16.

Meanwhile he is staying busy taking honors English and Math, Biology, and a couple of other time consuming classes. He felt a little trauma when he did not make the varsity soccer team, only 2 sophomores did and one of them does not get much playing time. As it is, he is one of the captains on the JV team and rarely is pulled from a game since he plays sweeper (leader of the defense); soccer has worked out pretty good. Below are some pictures of a recent game and a video clip.

Clearing the balls is what Ben does in the back row of the defense


again , again , and again


















After the game





Ben in position to "head" the ball. He is notoriously good at it, perhaps because of a hard head.




Check out this video clip. IF vs Hillcrest (score 2-1 IF)



Thursday, September 20, 2007

Yay for PICTURES!!!

Okay so I have been invited to write on this blog...so I think that means I am FREE to post all the black mail pictures, right??? He He I think we will start with Diane (mom). Okay just kidding just kidding. But I thought it would be fun to start this blog out with some good ol' Gabrielsen family shots;-)I just thought this was a cute picture because it has the original Gabrielsen 7!! Plus Mel and Dave.
This was Kylee, Saren and in San Francisco in an old GHETTO limo!!!

Welcome to the Gabrielsen Family Blog

Hello Everyone. I want to set up a family blog so we can stay in better touch.

I'm not sure how to make it all cute yet, but I wanted to let you know about it so we can get going. I am attempting to make it secure so only people we want to view it can. I was also adding authors so we can all add to the blog. Those who have blogs already, we will make links.

Until I can figure it out Jenn and Mel are going to help me create it and make it all cute.

What do you think, are you all game? Let me know.

Diane

Keep checking this site and watch it get Better