Happy Mother's Day!!

It makes sense that this first Mother's day of giberiginal that I post about Mom. I had a big plan to scan some more pictures to share but I didn't get to that this week. I will use some of the pictures which I already have on my computer.


You may not know but mom was not often a big fan of Mother's day......mostly it was the plant that she often got for having the largest family, especially once we moved to Texas. She complained that everyone knew that she had the largest family so why did they always give a flower in that catagory (this was back during the days of Sunday School in the mornings separate from Sacrament Meeting.)

I pulled out a couple of journals of mom to see what she may have written around Mother's day and one happened to discuss one of her pet peeves about the day. 11 May 1986

"My talk in the Sunday School Mother's Day porgram was hardly a match for the fancy words that preceeded it. But I was not intimidated. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread! I'm a firm believer that somebody needs to be somewhat realistic on these Mother's Day grograms.

I forgot to ask Bro. Kite the Question of the ages: If Mother's Day programs are so wonderful, why don't we have more Father's Day programs? But it would have been cruel to do that today. Let him feel good that things went O.K. One thing I should make clear. It's not Mother's Day I am against. It is the programs that, as I said in my talk, hold up an ideal of which we fall short. It may be silly but it makes us depressed."

The college days!

She went on to report that Todd, Joann, and Jordan had come to visit, Mike and Valerie called. She got a package from Valerie the Friday before, Dad gave her some "delightful" piggy salt and pepper shakers, Lynette gave her some favorite candy.......I was feeling bad that I didn't do anything that Mother's day but luckily she recorded on the next day that a card and family photo arrived from me (whew! That postal service must have been busy that year.) She got a letter from Robin on Tuesday (Robin was on her mission and this was before the days when missionaries got to call home on Mother's day and Christmas.) Rick and Scott were still at home as teenagers so I am sure they were part of the day's celebrations as well.

Mom, Grandma Owen and Aunt Lois

As the kids were on the way.....

I can actually remember getting this picture taken in downtown Richland at the only photographer in town, I think. I am so glad that Mom made the effort to get family pictures taken. It is great to look back on them over the years. (And to steal a line from Jessica: "Mom and Dad must really love me best. Afterall, I am in all the family pictures. " (the oldest child can always say that.))

"Eight is enough" turned out to not only be the name of a popular TV show but also for Mom. She was happy with us all and worked hard to let us know that she loved us and was proud of us.

A "windy" day in Amarillo as we took this family picture in our back yard.

I can't imagine my life without having the mom that I had. I never had thought myself as being much like her. She was musical and talented in many of the ways that I am not. She brought music into my life as a small child and I would hear her play the piano after we had gone to bed. (I didn't know until years later that they sold that piano so that they could buy a bigger house. It was a few years until they could afford another one. I was glad to hear her play again.) She could write poems and plays, give great talks and lessons. However as I have grown up and become a mother myself, I see that parts of me come directly from her. I love to find wild flowers and point them out to my children, I like to look at rainbows and sunsets--both in nature and in life. I make sure we get family pictures taken every three years or so so we can watch our family grow from year to year (and share them with the grandparents. I always loved to see my picture at Grandma Owen's house.) I love to read and talk about books. Friends are important to me and hold on to them in good times and bad, following Mom's example. Like Mom and Dad, we have shared our home with other people who needed a place to stay. I don't like to cook just like her (She told me once that she got smart and tried to teach the other girls to like cooking so they would want to cook for the family.) Probably each of us has a part of Mom with us through our daily living. It is how it is meant to be....things past from generation to generation....talents, dreams, likes and dislikes.

Happy Mother's Day to Mom and to all of the moms who follow her!

A poem from Mom:

Reflections on Praise

A word of goodly praise

Is a shot of sunshine,

Like a lizard on a rock

I bask in the warm rays,

Turning, toasting; thinking

This spot uniquely mine.

Father,

I know you are not displeased

with kind words from a friend,

But let me not linger too long

In this pleasant sunbeam,

Lest it become a beam of another sort.

Only you, as Hopkins fitly penned,

Know what to avow, what to amend.

So let me seek your approbation,

Let me shape my self-esteem

In the light of revelation.

It is still the 22nd of April...

and not too late to wish Scott a happy birthday (hint to two siblings who spoke to Scott today but didn't remember it was his birthday at the time....:).

The story about Scott was one day Mom was sitting at the dinner table watching us all "adoring" Rick and decided then and there that Rick needed some competition to keep him humble......and then entered Scott into our lives. I not sure if Scott is the reason Rick turned out to be a good man, but Scott is great as well. It seemed so reasonable to have two boys at the end of our family. (I have been partial to the name "Jill Erin" ever since which would have been his name if he had been a girl. However when you marry a Hall where there are already two cousins-in-law named Jill, it didn't ever make the "cut") Scott's middle name is Aaron after the Call family's father who introduced the Church to dad, I believe.

(can't figure out the font size although I have tried to fix it several times, enjoy anyway.)

Scott graduated from University of Texas and currently lives in Austin, Texas. As he was just over 2 years old when we left Richland, he is one of the "true" Texas Gibersons. Here are some more facts about him:

If you have been wondering what Scott does at work, he says that he is a: “compliance manager”—oversee the various groups for the company, contacts, gov’t affairs, and ligation. Now you know!

Hobbies and interests: sports—playing watching, kid’s sports teams, outdoor with family and dog,, volunteer /community service

Favorites:

color black

food-home : “Ribs”

eating out: anything BBQ

TV show : “The Office

sport teams: . professional/college--- Steelers/Lakers, Texas

snack food nuts and chips

vacation spot New York City (place where he served his mission) or most any beach in the world,

game any family games

Something you are planning to do this year (before your next birthday) Working to get out of debt

A Giberson memory: When I asked Scott about a memory, he said that one he had thought about recently was: Scott said that when he and Rick were little, they would get so excited for the JC Penney's catalog came in the summer. They would spend hours looking at it and choosing clothes for school in the fall. After they circled the ones they wanted (and Mom pared it down a bit), Mom would place the order. Then they would wait until they arrived at the JCPenneys at the Sunset Center (In Amarillo). He liked going to pick up the order with Mom and getting 3-4 packages of new school clothes for the year.

This could be one of those shirts from the JC Penney's catalog.

Scott and Sandy have been married for almost 14 years. Here is a shot at the 2009 Family Reunion with their son, Scott. They also have Ashley and Angela who aren't pictured. (He will try to send a picture with them all.)

Recent picture of the Giberson Scotts

Happy Birthday, Scott...glad you "ended it off just right."

Chasing DW

How many of my grandkids no they have a "famous Name" grandfather? (Actually on both sides, but someone else can pursue Benjamin Franklin). What I want to bring up here is Daniel Webster . . . Giberson. I've never really been satisfied that we have identified his parents. For those who might not know, like some of my grandkids, DWG was my grandfather, so that would make him a couple of "greats" to them. At any rate, I am "working" from 11:30-2:30 each Friday at our local genealogy library and decided today to chase DW. Found this interesting bit of information, in the Census of 1900 (or maybe it was 1910?) he listed as having his parents born in NEW YORK! Now we know he was born in Canada, in 1840. The 1860 NY census lists a DW Giberson, 20 years old, with also a James Giberson who is 24 at the time. Bingo! I find in a Canadian census a family with a James, and Daniel sons 4 years apart of the appropriate age!

Apparently the parents headed to Canada some time from New York, had some kids up there and some of the kids came back to New York some 20 years later. Parents a William and Mary Giberson. Maybe we are getting closer . . .

LONG--FIT

There was also a Long street in Richland. We used to say our's was called Longfitt because they couldn't find the rest of Long. One memory from that location is we would sometimes walk down to the community swimming pool. After we moved over to Agnes it was too far.

Notice the pictures? Two different times? That little "wall" had holes in its top for a while. Someone dropped the keys down there once!

Yes, there was a little "pass through" for garbage in the back.

You might say Valerie pushed us out of that house. LOL. We were fortunate that private developers were finally able to build, and we found a good place out on Agnes.

Longfitt Memories...

This will probably only apply to Dad, Todd, Mike and I as everyone else was too young to remember. However, as we are trying to collect new and old history on this Giberson site, can you all contribute one or two (or more) memories you have of this house.

Add them as posts so that they will print in the hard copy version we will make this year.

(Be sure you read down a few posts if you havne't visited for awhile as there have been a couple of posts recently.)

Speaking of our Longfitt house

I thought I might add these two pictures that I had scanned in a long time ago. It was on this very porch that I think I remember mom kissing me goodbye as they left for the hospital on the day Valerie was born. (see previous post about Valerie).

Not sure on the dates of these pictures but I believe that we lived in this house from 1956 to 1962. This house had three little bedrooms, a living/dining area, a bathroom and a kitchen. It was a prefab house that was built by the government to house scientists and their families as they built Hanford. There were lots of houses with the exact floor plan. I think the washer was in the kitchen and no dryer, just a very big clothesline in back. I slept in a bunkbed with Robin in the smallest room and Valerie shared a room with Todd and Mike after she arrived. We had an old piano which Mom played at night when we were in bed. Many classic piano pieces still remind me of being a child laying on the top bunk listening to her playing.

A funny memory of the house I have is that there was not a back door but there was a type of opening that we could climb in and out of. Does anyone else have a memory about that? Dad...was there really a door and I just remember it wrong?

Another piece of Giberson trivia to track down.............

"In 1961, we added Valerie...."

Valerie is actually the first sibing that I have a faint memory of being born. I can remember my mom kissing me good-bye as she left the house with dad in the morning and later that day learning we had a new baby sister. Her name was Valerie Kaye. Other names in the running at the time were Stephanie and Melanie as I remember. Not sure about her middle name, I think there was a change in the spelling of it at some point. Valerie will have to provide more details. Mom reported that Valerie arrived here the easiest and quickest of all of us kids....and it was a beautiful April day in Washington. Of course she was the middle of the famous "three little girls".

She currently lives with her husband of 30 years, three of their eight children and two turtles in Mesa. They are actually in the process of moving...not far however just to a home with an acre lot for Lance to garden (not sure if he has noticed all the rocks in Mesa....I think they put rocks instead of a yard for some reason, but that is for another blog.)

Valerie with Megan during visit last spring to Utah

This is Valerie showing off her walking skills in the side yard of our house on Longfitt. As you might not know, our small house had a huge yard mostly on the side which was a corner lot. There is the swing set and I remember a cement pad with a basketball hoop although I am not sure if that was on our property or not. I can remember Dad shooting basketballs there once. But this is about Valerie and I doubt she remembers anything about this house as she was less than two when we moved to our Agnes house.

This must be about Kindergarten.

Other than that her best friend was Molly, I don't know much about Valerie in the younger years. However nowadays, she likes:

Color: Yellow
Food: Mexican
Movie: no one favorite, but enjoyed Tangled recently
TV Show: The Amazing Race Sport: Volleyball (to play)
Professional Sport Teams: Jazz, Diamondbacks
College Teams: BYU
Snack Food: chocolate
Vacation Spot: I want to go to England, Italy, New York, the Oregon Coast and Israel again
Game- Rage, and too many others
Pets: No, thank you (we do have two tortoises) Something she is planning to do this year (before her next birthday): Continue loving life and maybe find an agent for my book.

Current Church Calling: Young Women's President
Job: What's this? (Sometimes I write for the Beehive Newspaper and sell vinyl lettering)
Interests and Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Family History, Blogging
Favorite Authors: I enjoy Shannon Hale (Goose Girl!) and too many others. She is currently reading "Characters and Viewpoint" by Orson Scott Card (No, it is not a new fantasy book but a non-fiction one, I asked.)

I also know that she loves to have visits from her siblings and to come to visit them (at least that is what she tells me!)

One of her favorite Giberson memories is the Family Nite Phantom. The Family Nite Phantom made treats and delivered them to different families' home on Monday night. This started in Amarillo, Texas, when I was at BYU. It became quite a event in the Amarillo Ward with people trying to guess and others making deliveries on Monday night as well. There was even the thank you note which was left on the bulletin board at Church. Dad had keys to the Church so he got it and brought it home to share and then put it back. Valerie wrote a story that was published in the Friend based on some of the events.

Rick is the baby in this picture.

Technical problems with the family picture....coming soon.

Happy 50th birthday, Valerie!!!

Valerie playing Pin the Tail on the Giraffe at her 50th Birthday Party.