And we're blogging...

So the time has come when we must enter the 21st century. Yes, the Gibsons have finally started a blog! I'm not sure why it took us so long, but here we are. Just like everyone else, I think I finally realized that a blog can be a great way to keep in touch and up-to-date with friends, family, and loved ones. In fact, almost every day something happens and I think, "I should put that on our blog. Well, actually, I should start our blog and then put something on it." Of course, I don't mean to imply that I'll post every day; I'm not convinced that would be good for any of us! I've never been very good at keeping in contact with people as I should, so I hope this will help to partially fill that gap. And what a better time to start than when the temperature hits 0F with a wind chill that makes it feel like -25F. As they sing in the Frank Loesser Oscar-winning duet, "Baby it's cold outside." Yes, this is life in Ann Arbor, MI.

I should simply say that I feel we are very blessed, regardless of how cold it's been. I'm in my third year of my graduate studies at the University of Michigan going after my PhD in biomedical engineering and aiming for graduation in 2010. Kirsten is an absolutely amazing wife and mother. Eden just had her 4th birthday and is full of non-stop energy and conversation. Sam is nearly 20 months and is always exploring everything from high how he can climb to what he can find in those never-before-seen-nor-touched nooks and crannies. Life is exciting for all of us.

I have to admit that I feel a bit sheepish about not getting a Christmas letter or card out this year. I did put together a little slide show with photo highlights of 2007 set to some of my favorite music. I love folk Gospel music. I'm convinced that it's in my blood from my West Virginia roots. I've included the video here. It's also currently posted in a directory at UM in higher and lower resolution sizes (www.umich.edu/~mattgib/2007), but I'm not sure I'll keep it there. The video is about five and half minutes. If the saying is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then I've just given everyone the equivalent of over 100,000 words, which is roughly the same as about 400 pages of text. Not bad. The video proceeds chronologically with pictures from family outings, birthdays, our summer in the Philadelphia area for my internship at Merck, holidays, vacations and other fun moments. I realized that I should have made a narrated version or added captions. Maybe I still will. And maybe not.