"Giberson Races" (our tentative name)

for the GIBERSON FAMILY REUNION OF 2012!

Mark your calendars for June 22-24, 2012.

Location:  Mesa, AZ

Activities will include:  5 K Run/walk and pinewood derby races

Hope to see all Gibersons or Giberson-connected there.

Watch for more details after the first of the year.

In memory of Mom

.....and fill in the blank with the memories you thought of as you noted today was the 19th of October. A day specifically set aside to remember Mom within the busyness of life. I had a meeting tonight in preparation for a stake workshop I have been asked to give on "Meaningful Traditions that bind us together." Thinking of traditions brings lots of memories of Mom to the forefront so it was fun to be able to talk about her in the midst of our planning meeting.

I read Mom's journal entry for her 60th birthday. Other years she would mention us by name for sending a card or calling. This time none of us were mentioned but she did say she had received lots of cards this year, including one from Dad which he made "with his new graphics on the computer." The day after her birthday she went visiting teaching and the sister gave her a vase of iris and daisies. She noted that she is "especially fond of iris" and it wasn't the season for them. "The Richards family does the most incredible things." I am glad that was a happy birthday for her.

I believe this was when they were dating--not sure.

This picture and the family photos were taken in our house
as part of a YW/YM fund raiser.

Family pictures at Aunt Lois--so glad that Mom
made this happen. It is something that
we do as well.

As you know, Mom had a big collection.



They got to share Hong Kong with us but couldn't go
into China on this route.



Happy Birthday, Mom!

Sidenote: (Feel free to skip. Just interesting in a detail sort of way)

On the title page of this her last early journal (I assume she is still writing up in the spirit world), she had the following things:

top corner--quote cut from a magazine

The moment for calm and rational discussion is past; now is the time for senseless bickering.

Then a stamp of "The Big Bad Wolf" with "This book belongs to Eileen Giberson"

her name is hand written

another quote: "I can't die: it would wreck my imagine" by Jack LaLanne

Remember Mom exercising with him!

another stamp with two little pigs

Date: November 3, 1993-

and a stamp of a fairy tale castle in the bottom corner.

Mom made it to the real fairy tale castle with our Heavenly Parents.

And I am sure she still likes pigs, and story books, wild flowers, and eveything else she loved here.

She is the same as she was but full of health with work to do.

Happy Birthday from all of us.

And we all know the line....

although Todd rhymes with odd, he was the only one born in an even year!  Of the eight siblings that is.  Just a little Giberson trivia to start off Todd's birthday post.  (I know, it is no longer his birthday in Texas but we have another hour here in Utah so hopefully I will get done in time to post today.)

I always thought this was Todd with me and Dad..maybe it is Mike?



The other piece of the set of pictures at our Owen relatives...
they had them displayed long after we grew up.


Todd was the one who carried Dad's middle name of Creighton which he passed to Niles.  It is interesting to note that Creighton is also a town in South Dakota as well as a university.

Here are Todd and Lea and their younger four kids in 2009 : Lora, Ryan, Kaylee, and Tillie
No shown are:  Jordan, Niles,  David, Sierra and Zech.

Todd and Lea have been married around 13 or so years (I forgot to ask) and parent the largest collection of Gibersons in our family with the total being 9 children, one daughter-in-law and one cute granddaughter.  He works for the attorney general's office as a system analyst, centered mostly around redistricting.  He currently serves as an advisor to the school district involved in redistricting for school boundaries.  And he also serves as an assistant stake clerk over special projects.  And those special projects are:   you guessed it--redistricting of ward and stake boundaries.  (Notice a theme in is life.  It is a great topic of discussion to have with Todd. )

He has many passions including:  religion, politics, and geography.  He follows blogs on these subjects and enjoys commenting on them from time to time.  He also will attend other churches in the area to learn more about their beliefs and lifestyle to expand his understand of religion.  He is the one family member who reads Mike's blog, although I hope to do so soon.  He also follows this blog and often makes comments here as well (which is how we all know he is still alive.)  He also can spell.

Todd trying to prove his point during the "Aunts and Uncles"
game in 2009

He also likes to read, including science fiction and "liberal classics" like Catch 22.  He has kept a list of all the books that he has read since the 1990s (Great idea!).

Favorites:

Color-- blue

Food at home--   spaghetti  (if he is cooking)  He likes basic meals like  southwest chicken,  and shepherd pie   (send recipes)

Eating out  Italian

Movie--        Todd is  a Hitchcock Fan!  At one time he had somewhere around the upper 40s  copies of Hitchcoock"s 54 movies  although some were just taped from the TV to a VHS tape.

TV show     football  and other sports ;   political- Fox news or other political channels.  He has taped the current debates to watch when he has time.

sport. (to play): basketball softball volleyball ;football

professional/college sport teams    BYU Cougars, 49ers, He tends to follows individuals Austin Collie,and John Beck.  He follows the Celtics for professional basketball.

Dessert/snack food  tin roof sundae ice cream; cracked pepper wheat thins

vacation spot   places with pine trees  hope to go back to Brazil  Yellowstone   

Something you are planning to do this year (before your next birthday) :  publish an article in the paper----Unfortunately, it might not be able to accomplish this goal because his work does not allow hi to publish articles related to any topic served by their office.  Perhaps he could find another topic like religion, Richland, or parenting to write about.

Church calling;s  .  An assistant stake clerk over special project  (boundary realignments) he calls this a dormant calling at the moment.  He serves as a counselor in the  High Priest Group Leadership.

One thing that you might not fully appreciate is that Todd has added singing to his new interests.  For years, he saw himself as only a good standing for a Ward choir.  But lately he has branched out and has sung in a quartet for a number of different settings.  He even occasionally will sing a solo part.  Awesome for him and awesome for Mom.  A real singer!

Giberson memory--He remembers the trips mentioned before,  He liked going to cousins to visit each year.  He remembers looking forward to those trips to Oregon.  He also loved our trip to Canada when he was almost 13 years old.

Todd and I had a great conversation which I enjoyed so much.  Like everyone else, I learned so much by talking to him....more than I can put in one post. 

Happy Birthday, Todd, Happy Birthday from all of us! 

PS: And he loves pinewood derby races!!

I had no idea.  He was too excited when I shared the plans of the pinewood derby races at the upcoming Family Reunion 2011.  To get an idea...when Ryan had to build his first car, Todd made cars for Kaylee and Tillie as well.  (Then they took a fast race before the actual race to see which of the three cars was fastest and Ryan picked that one to race for the Pack races).

(Reunion note:  So everyone needs to dig up their old cars or start the building your new cars.  Kits can be found at Scout shops and also Michael's and other hobby stores.

We will probably have a "true Cub" class and an Open where most anything goes!

New Topic of discussion...

Moving to Texas and our house there on Carlton...what things to you remember?

Mickey, Mike or Michael?

This picture was one that was in
our Grandma Owen's and other relatives'
homes for years.

Whatever you call him-- it is "Happy Birthday to Uncle Mike day." Back in the day (meaning when we were all little), nicknames like Mickey were very common especially in grade school and younger. And although Michael was a very typical name back then, I don't think I knew anyone then who was actually called Michael. Mom said that Michael was a name that she had always liked and Allen sounded good with it. I think "Allen" was also in vogue at the time. Anyway, I can remember "Mickey" coming home from school (I think it was first or second grade) and saying that he was now only going by "Mike" and he was determined about it. It seemed like he would completely ignore us if we called him Mickey and we quickly adjusted to it. Over the years, I think he has been called by any of those three names, but I think to the nieces and nephews he has always been "Uncle Mike".

Mike was the third of the eight children and arrived just two days less than a year after Todd was born (and considering that I was only 27 months old at the time, things were a bit crazy for Grandma and Grandpa Giberson). Grandma Giberson often said that she was not planning to get pregnant so soon so she was grouchy the entire time. Then Mike turned out to be the sweetest and nicest baby (don't know what that implied about Todd and I!). She said she must have scared him so much, he decided just to be nice. And he still is.



Mike is the one perched up on a stool.



Mike and Andrea live in Lubbock, Texas, with Kyle. Will is going to Virginia Tech and Lisa and Paul (Audrey and Owen) and Paul and Randee (Jay and ? and ?) all live in the Mesa area. Mike is an assistant professor of practice in Energy Commerce at Texas Tech which is where Mike got is BS degree. He got his advanced degree from George Mason University. He met Andrea while attending George Mason University. They have been married almost 16 years if my math is correct.

From Giberson Reunion in 2009

Mike likes....economics (big surprise). He puts a lot of links on his face book page to economics articles and media. In talking to Mike, he mentioned that he does that mainly for his students. I was always wishing I had time to read many of the things he posts and was thinking he must have a group of very bright and dedicated friends who did take the time to read that interesting stuff. He also has a blog where he writes about economics. It is http://www.knowledgeproblem.com/. Check it out.

In addition, Mike likes New Orleans music which includes jazz, blues, and rock and roll. A band he likes currently is Bonerama. He enjoys New Orleans so much that he has begun rooting for the Saints in recent years in football even though the Redskins are still their family favorite.

His favorites:

Color- green

Food (home)-- If he is cooking it is usually pasta or an omelet (I actually didn't know Mike cooked.) If Andrea is cooking it is trying whatever new recipe that she has prepared. A recent one that he liked was---"sweet potato stew".

Eating out--(the two places they ate at this weekend for his birthday) Nora’s-- a Mexican restaurant for breakfast and then Triple J's for green chili burgers. Gary and I had Thai food with them once in Virginia which was excellent so I would guess if you were ever in Lubbock you would be happy with the food at these restaurants.

Movie -"Grand Torino" the recent Clint Eastwood movie. And if you are looking for a great economic documentary, he suggests "Power Trip". It sounds very interesting, but I am not sure if you can order it on Net Fix.

TV show- "House"

Professional/college sport teams-- Texas Tech/Virginia tech, Redskins and Saints, George Mason for basketball. (You will have to ask him his favorite sport. I forgot to ask as we moved right into his list of teams.)

Snack food- granola or cereal bars

Vacation spot- banks of the northern Carolina coast (and Mesa grandchildren, too)

Games- depends if you are talking about computer, PS3 games or "real time"- FIna Soccer 2012 and scrabble and card games of many kinds

Something you are planning to do this year (before your next birthday) --Go to Phoenix.

A Giberson memory --Our big vacation to California/AZ/Utah in 1967; growing up in Richland and not really knowing what a unique place it was until he was much older.

Taking a picture of Mike taking a picture
of the nieces and nephews
chasing down rockets.

Apparently Mike and Andrea keep a low profile
when cameras come out because I had trouble finding
one of the two of them together.
This is at "Texas" where I caught them in a conversation.
Maybe they could send me one to replace this one.

Mom was right...Mike is a kind and sweet person. I am sure it was crazy to have three children so close in age (and many more to come) but I always liked having two brothers near my age. We became a foursome with Dad as we attended softball and baseball games, played badmitton in the back yard, or played games.

He reported that he was a good birthday weekend, but if you forgot....call and wish him Happy Birthday, too.

(I actually had the text of this post done and posted on his birthday. However this morning when I went to add pictures, I realized that I had posted it on my hifromsyracuse. blog. So now it is done and in the right spot.)