Family Fun, Crazy Cousins, and Forever Friends

The preparation is on for our WilGibLo time!

What is WilGibLo? Let me give a short explanation....

A family of 4 (two teenage daughters) welcomed a new youth minister to our church in 1984. He had 2 young children himself. To make a long story short, these two families have vacationed together over the years and our lives have forever been intertwined! We may not be blood relatives but we sure feel like it!

A few marriages later, add more kids, move from this state to that and our time together is now an EVENT. G'ma labeled our events WilGibLo (an abbreviation of each of our last names Williams, Gibson's, and Logan's)! Get it?

We have gone from 2 families with 4 kids total in 1984, to 6 families with 27 kids in 2010. The latest was precious Hadley who only spent a few minutes in her parents arms. We are at the beginning stages of all the kids about to embark on their own families so it should be quite interesting in the years to come. Whether we will all get to spend time together or not, we will do our best to make the time happen! We will seize our moments, meet in the middle, and each time we rejoice in how these families have started a chain of events to develop some precious memories! Friends who love you like family and will always be there to encourage you, love you, and hold you during the good and bad times! That although you may only see each other 1-2 times a year, in a split second its like there was no time lost!

Our WilGibLo Event takes a little planning to turn a family home into a church camp so to say! Thankful the Lord provided a home that is somewhat accommodating to our crowd. It was much easier to cram kids in a room when they were under 4 feet. Now that the majority is over 5 ft and several over 6ft, it takes a little adjustment.

Sticky Notes to the rescue!

First off...create our guest list of 40 people! The kids and I just laughed and laughed as we called out name after name.

Those names turned into a pile on the bed!

NOW to get this pile organized?

Hallway door works great!

So we moved from the bed to the door to sort girls, guys, little ones, big ones, and who can sleep where/when.

WE DID IT! 8 in a hotel, 6 at G'ma's, 5 in pop up camper in the backyard, and 21 inside the house!

Grabbing a few more sticky notes we decided on the meals that feed a crowd and divided up responsibilities to keep 40 people fed and in sync for a week!

A plan has been created! Food has been decided! Chores have been divided!
Next up...shopping, cleaning, and waiting for their arrival!

Life is precious as we spend it with loved ones. This year will be extra special as we spend it with my family, the Gibson's and will travel to see Barry's family soon. We get to see EVERYONE and we are very pumped for such a blessing! We are honored to love on those who have loved on us for so long. It's a joy to open our home and watch these relationships thrive! It is the love of CHRIST at its best!

How else can you explain 40 sinners under one roof for a week?

Let us know if you want in on our fun! I am quite sure we can figure a way to make it happen!
I'm guessing it is gonna be a little bit of heaven while we play together, step on one another, and laugh like there is no tomorrow!