I love sunflowers!

 

After all, who doesn't like sunflowers?  I was taught to love them by my mother who loved them, too.  She especially liked black eyed susans which I think are a type of sunflower, certainly similar to them.  We would stop along the roadsides in Oregon and California to look at them when I was little.  I have planted a number of different kinds of sunflowers over the years we have lived here in Utah where they grow well.  And I love to see where they pop up from year to year.  I have had one or two growing in the same window well for a number of years.  This year has been a banner year and I have them growing all over the place.  I love it although Gary doesn't always like them crowding the sidewalks and patio.  The best place they showed up is a rock garden that we have between our deck and patio.  I tried to grow three bushes there last year but it was way too hot with the cement, rocks and white decking. I thought it would always just be rocks.  This spring a green plant started growing and I really thought it was a weed because it branched out in so many places.  It grew and grew to the point when Gary was wondering why I was growing a weed.  I just liked the green plant there.  Then during my dad's birthday celebration, my sister-in-law assured me that it was some type of sunflower (Lea is a plant person.)  I decided to transplant a few other sunflowers into the same spot and now I have this awesome sunflower wall.  The flowers just begun blooming the past couple of weeks and I love to see it from my kitchen window.  This week the finches have arrived and I can watch them eat from the flowers along with thousands of bees.

 

The view from the patio
Our deck is behind it.  It is fun.

You are all invited to come and see it.  I will provide the lemonade and cookies!

"Fiddler on the Roof"

Do you see the theme of this summer---musicals!  And on Friday, July 19th, Gary and I headed to Logan with Gary's mom and his three sisters and their spouses.  We stayed at the same hotel we (the girls) had stayed last year and were able to walk to the Utah Opera House to see "Fiddler on the Roof" with Michal Ballem (a famous opera singer who now runs this opera house.  We have traveled with him on cruise and love to hear him sing.)  It was a great show and we enjoyed being together.  We ate at some nice places including Maddox in Perry on the way to Logan on Friday night.  We played games that night, had a slow morning on Saturday and went to the matinee of the play at 1:00. ate dinner at the Beehive Grill and then headed home.  A quick trip with no pictures, but a sweet time being together and a great memory.  (And don't remind Jena we didn't take her.  She loves plays and "Fiddler on the Roof" is a favorite.  But how many plays do we really need to see in three weeks!)

We appreciate our older kids who all took a turn hanging out with Jena.  Ben covered both afternoons, Jessica and Elessia spent the night, Tosha had the morning, and Scott took her to the movies.  Fun time for her as well.  The kids texted me pictures but I don't know how to take them from my phone text to my computer blog.  Jessica said she could teach me sometime so perhaps I will add them later.

We are home for now.  We might still try to add a few quick trips with the RV to the mountains but nothing set at the moment.  Maybe the painting can really begin in Jena's room (if I would ever catch up with this blog.)

Cedar Break National Monument

Karla had heard that there was a spot to see wildflowers between Cedar City and St. George.  We had never heard about it, but while we were at Zion's I saw a poster for the "Wildflower Festival" at Cedar Break.  We found it on our map and discovered it was about 30 miles east (and up) from Cedar City.  We were going to save it for another trip as we were trying to get home before the rush hour traffic, but Wednesday morning Gary and I decided to try it.  We are so glad we did.

I don't remember ever hearing about Cedar Break although I had heard of the nearby ski area of Brianhead.  I can't believe that more people don't talk about it.  It is awesome and amazing.  Everyone in Utah should see it sometime in their lives and July is a great time as it is wildflower season there.  I have probably told 6-8 people about it since I got home.

It is basically an overlook with trails and wildflowers everywhere.  There is a small range station with a shop, but the actual spot is small....the views are spectacular!  The pictures don't do it justice at all, but here they are to make you want to go there in person and see it.

They had a solor telescope set up so we were able to see the sun
and the sun spots and learn more about the sun form the rangers.
It was "cool".

Some of the wild flowers

The trail to the overlook..
you can see the break!

 

It is called Cedar Break---because of the cedars of course, but also because the ground literally was broken and created these amazing landscapes.  You look down into them from the overlook.


Gary called this "The Temple"
It is hard to see it but the area in the middle
reminds us of the Salt Lake Temple

The edge and the break



Jena and I posing on the bench near the beginning
of the trail into Cedar Break.

More wildflowers
 

 The festival goes throughout the month of July.  We missed the day when you could register for a class and go on a wildflower hunt.  They would teach you how to sketch the flowers you saw and to make a plant journal (they promised that you did not have to be an artist to learn how to do this).  I would love to do that so I have added "Wildflower journaling" to my bucket list and hope they offer it again next year.  Karla said she would go with me.  Anyone else want to go?

It made us a bit later getting back to Salt Lake and then home to Syracuse, but we got Gary to the bowling alley to help with the league and Jena to Young Womens.  However we were a bit too late to get to the Davis Chapter Swim party which I had wanted to go to but we were all tired and Jena wanted to go to Young Womens anyway.

Cedar Break---you don't want to miss it! 

Merry Christmas, Dad and Karla!

You might wonder what Christmas has to do with July 15th, but we were heading to St. George as part of the Christmas present we had given them last year.  We had given them a choice of a number of plays to see and they chose to go to St. George to the Tuacahn Outdoor Theatre to see "Mulan" and "Thoroughly Modern Millie".  Despite being St. George in July (which is almost like being in AZ in June--Hot), it was a great trip and I think we all enjoyed it.

Gary, Jena and I left Syracuse Monday morning and picked up Dad and Karla in Midvale in our motor home.  We had a nice trip down which seemed to be quite short since Gary did all of the driving and I just talked to Karla and Dad.  We stopped at Cove Fort on the way down to eat lunch.  Here is a picture of the lovely hollyhocks along the picnic area.  I love hollyhocks and it made me determine to find a good spot so they can grow in my yard.  Mine is not doing well.

We arrived in St. George and dropped Dad and Karla off at their hotel and then we went to the Templeview RV park where we had stayed last October.  Jena and I got a quick swim in before we had to get ready for dinner (at Kneaders) and then off to see "Mulan".  Now since I am the one recording this, I could totally leave off the next part but Gary would tease me about falsifying the record so I might as well admit to my mistake.  When I got there to pick up our tickets from Will Call and order dinner for the next night, I grabbed them and headed over to join the others at the door.  ("Mulan" was being performed in their indoor theatre.)  It wasn't until I got to the door that I realized that I had only four tickets for the play....and it wasn't their error.  For some reason I had only ordered four tickets for each play.  I ordered them back in March but I must have been half asleep, because apparently I had forgotten about Jena although the plan was also that she would come with us.  I headed to the nearest box office and was able to get another ticket for each play (and in both cases the tickets had just become available).  Gary (the good sport that he was) got to enjoy "Mulan" from the back row (we were on row 2) and sat behind us at "Thoroughly Modern Millie".  We were so lucky that it worked out.  I would have felt really dumb if we couldn't have gotten the additional tickets.  Oh well, these things can happen!  Both plays were enjoyable and we enjoyed the buffet before "Millie" as well.

Pictures from Tuacahn:

The SHOWS!

Karla, Dad, Jena, me, and Gary
(names are for my descendants who might not know us)

Although the menu items don't change much from
night to night they have different names depending on
the production.

They are also doing "Mary Poppins".  I think Jena is
sad we didn't see it, but we recently saw it at the
Capital Theatre in a Broadway production so that was
good enough for me.

Some of the cast from "Millie"

We wondered about what to do during the day on Tuesday because of the heat.  We decided to head to Zion's National Park.  Even though we had just been there last fall, it was still enjoyable to enjoy the beauty of the park.  We mostly rode the shuttle and looked out the windows although we did get off at two spots and look around a bit.  I know I posted a lot of pictures last fall from Zion's, but here are a few more.  It is an amazing spot of the earth!

The rocks

The Virgin River which makes this all happen.

In the water

Karla (Nana), Dad, Gary and Jena

We did manage to swim three or four times while we were there.  We headed back home on Wednesday morning with the goal of beating the rush hour traffic in Salt Lake City.  We might have made it but we took an awesome side trip---next post!

And Merry Christmas, Dad and Karla!

Geeky

I know this is geeky but here is a picture of the first tomato sandwich of the year. It ripened in the middle of that crazy week I just posted about.

Gary and I both love tomato sandwiches when the tomato is fresh picked from a garden.  It is probably the only reason that I persist in trying to become the gardener that I am NOT.  I love the tomatoes and strawberries.(another reason is that we have been commanded to garden where possible and just in case we actually need to some time I need to have some skill.  Either that or I will plan the parties and entertain the children while others work in the gardens.)

Tomato with the last of the peas for the season.

Like I said, geeky...but that is who I am.  The good and the weird.

July 4th and beyond

We got home from our trip on July 2nd and July 3rd was spent catching up with laundry and emails and more emails.  Being the UDSF President has tripled my emails on most days.  It is busy.  However July 4th, 5th and 6th seemed open and so we decided to tackle Jena's room.  We had decided to paint it early in the year but time didn't ever seem open enough for that type of project.  We spent the 4th cleaning out her room and moving everything except her bed, desk, and dresser to the dining room....

where it is still sitting.  The cliché "The best laid plans of mice and men..." applied as July 5th, I woke up feeling okay but within an hour or so became sick with a stomach bug which lasted for 3-4 days.  No fun.  The unfortunate thing was those were the days that were open for painting.  Since then life has been way too busy so everything is still in the dining room.  Hopefully the painting will start tomorrow (July 24th) but I can't make any promises.  Life happens as it does on most days.

We did see an amazing display of fireworks in the nearby Bluff Ridge Park.  Some families in the neighborhood invited everyone to come watch the display and seriously it was great.  It lasted about an hour and include some really fun and big fireworks.  From where we were sitting we could also enjoy fireworks in every direction including the Clearfield City fireworks in the distance.  It was fun to enjoy that with many of our neighbors.  We guess there were about 150 people there.  There will be another great display as Theron Watson (our friend and neighbor) sets off a big display on Friday night at the same place.  Theron runs a firework stand and lights off everything he has left two days after July 24th.  We are looking forward to that as well.

So the next week was busy with--
Monday--laying around being sick
Tuesday--rushing around getting Jena ready for girls camp before I headed to a Webinar in Salt Lake about Down syndrome which we sponsored (UDSF).
Wednesday through Saturday-Jena at Girls Camp   (which once again she loved)
Wednesday--I had a meeting at BYU broadcasting about a brief segment they are doing about UDSF then I joined several of my friends from Hong Kong for a luncheon down in Mapleton.  Then Sandy Lai and I went to Provo to spend time with our good friend Eileen Bradford.  A sweet day visiting beloved friends.
Thursday--I spent the day in an all day conference which was training for my new responsibilities on the Utah Special Education Advisory Board.  I am so excited about that as there are so many great people involved on this board who I will learn so much from.  We will meet four times during the year and develop policy recommendations for the Special Education Board of Utah.  I am excited about that.  Gary spent the day at Webelos camp with 10 boys, a mom and another leader.  They had a wonderful time.  This is supposed to be Gary's last official act as the Webelos Leader although he has not been released yet (nor has he been officially released as the Stake Employment Specialist although that is suppose to happen soon as well.)  I will miss the boys coming each week as I loved them from serving in the Primary.  Gary will really miss that although I think he is enjoying being the Ward clerk as well.  It is a new challenge for him and that is good for everyone.
Friday--Ran around like a crazy person trying to catch up from being sick and being gone.
Saturday--Jena came home in time to go with us to West Point Park for the 2nd annual Hall Extended Family Reunion.  It was very nice and one of Gary's cousins talked about the history of their Grandfather Jick.  He was the first generation who joined the Church.

His aunt had made these nice photo box for each of the granddaughters.  It had a picture of their grandparents and a small braid lock of their grandmother's hair.  Grandmother Hall had long white hair which she wore in a braid wrapped around her head.  Many of the older grandchildren can remember her brushing her hair out at night.  Here is a picture of his grandparents.

Jick and Ruby Hall
If you look closely you can see her braids.

I only met her once and by that time, she was very elderly and suffering from dementia.  I believe Gary's grandfather died when Gary was quite young.  Rudy was 50 years old when she gave birth to Gary's dad, Wayne and then had another daughter when she was 55.  I can't imagine.  I feel old to have a 16 year old.  I can't imagine how it would be like with a 3 year old.  She had 7 children who survive, I think.  It was fun to be around the Hall extended family and to see them share stories and enjoy being together.  Gary brought the fun, as usual.  This year it was water balloons which kids and adults liked.

By Sunday we were ready for a break.  I had a quiet day but Gary was busy with doing ward clerk stuff and handling the financial clerk stuff as he has been out of town for 3 weeks in July.  Gary will be glad for Brian to get back.

However the rest didn't last long.  Sunday night we began to pack our motorhome for our next adventure!

The summer just ...

keeps on coming!

Jena finished up Youth Conference and came home on Saturday and actually got to sleep in her own bed.  She was excited!  She got three whole nights in her own bed and then she and I were off again.  My niece, Kristen, was getting married on June 28 in the Mesa Temple and we got to be there. 

We drove down in two days--spending the first night in Las Vegas and then on into Mesa on Wednesday.  Gary had encouraged me to leave earlier than I planned to be able to not travel so long on Wednesday in the hot AZ sun.  I was so glad because it enable me to arrive soon enough to have a special family history experience in the temple.

Even though it can be hot, the scenery is amazing.
I love the cactus.

Jena had taken 11 family names to Youth Conference and completed the baptisms for the women and some young men completed the four men's names.  As Kristen was taken out her endowments on Wednesday evening, I hurried to get to the temple early and was able to complete 6 initiatories in time for us --Kara, Landi, Starla, and Tosha Ipson and I-- to take them "do the endowment" in their behalf.  As I was starting the work for one of our Owen in-laws, I had a sweet feeling overtake me and the statement "The Owens were good people." This was a member of the Benjamin Franklin Owen clan and I have been reading about him and his family in the past few months.  They were good people and we are lucky to be a part of them.  It will be exciting to meet them all someday.  I believe that this is the first time that I personally have done work for my relatives in which I helped in some of the research.  I have done names which Valerie has prepared before but not ones that I did.  It is a great feeling.

We stayed about a week at Valerie's mostly playing games and talking (just ask Jena--we did a lot of talking.) 

Jena hanging out while we were talking.

The highlight was the wedding which turned out great.  Kristen and Nate were darling and you could tell that they were so excited for this day to finally arrive.  They have been engaged for almost 2 years as Nate is in the military and is stationed in Japan.  He has gone back to Japan now for 2 months and then to Georgia.  Kristen is staying in Mesa to complete her student teaching and then graduate in December and join him in Georgia.




How many Ipson girls can you fit in the bathroom?
Quite a few...
Kara did Kristen's hair for the wedding day and it was
beautiful all day long.

Entrance to the reception
People wrote advice to them
and hung them on the trellis in the
background with clothes pin.

Jena with Kristen and Nate

 



Audrey (my great niece) with her sparkler to say
goodbye to the happy couple.

And for the record, it was 117 the day they got married.

We have tried to explain to our nieces and nephews that the winter is

a great time to go to AZ, but not much luck.  It is okay.  We love being with them

even when it is 117.

 

 

While we were in AZ, there were a couple of dangerous wildfires and one that claimed the lives of 19 firefighters at one time.  It was very sad to watch the news.  There are so many people who do very dangerous jobs to protect people and property that they don't even know.  As we headed back on Monday, July 1st we passed near to that fire and close enough that Jena could smell the smoke.  About 2 hours later, we actually past another wildfire that was burning south of the freeway (I-40) just before Kingman.  We stayed the night in Kingman and we ended up at a Marriot because our usual cheaper choices were all full.  We had an interesting room--quite space age looking. 

 

The sleeping area with a posing Jena

When I first looked in the bathroom, I couldn't believe the sink.
Turned out that this was the "toilet room" and there was another room with
a tub and a nice vanity.  For a minute I was wondering if we were in a cruise ship.

It was a fun although very hot trip.  We sang a LOT of Voice Mail songs coming and going.  Jena is a great traveler and I enjoying driving so we are likely to do it many more times in our lives.  After all we still have more nieces and nephews to get married (and then we will have great nieces and nephews...it just keeps going!)

Giberiginal Press announcement of Dad's 80th Birthday

80th Birthday Announcement for

Richard Creighton Giberson

 

(I decided that I should include the text of our invitation.  This is a bit out of order but I didn't think of it before.  Meet my Dad.)

 

 

Richard Creighton Giberson of Midvale, UT, celebrates his 80^th birthday on June 18, 2013.  He was born in Long Beach, California to Harry Hollis and Viola Grace Morgan Ollie.  Shortly after his birth his mother passed away and he was adopted by James Earl Giberson and Gladys Ramona Ackley Giberson.

He and his mom lived many places while he was growing up, spending the most time in the west coast notably the San Francisco bay area and San Diego.  He graduated from La Jolla High School and attended BYU where he graduated in chemistry in 1955.  It was there that two significant events occurred.  He joined the LDS Church which became the overall guide of his life.  He also met and married Eileen Jane Owen.  They were married on September 14, 1954 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.  They had eight children. After Eileen’s death in 1995, he married Karla Buckmiller.

Richard spent his working life in scientific research first at the Hanford plant in Richland, Washington and then at Mason-Hanger outside of Amarillo, Texas  where he retired in 1995.  He received a masters degree in chemistry from the University of Idaho.

 

He is active in the LDS Church serving in a variety of leadership and teaching callings.  He and Karla served a mission to Sendai Japan, fulfilling a dream of his to be a full time missionary.

Richard loves games and his children have many memories of him teaching and playing games with them. He has written for game playing magazines and also created some of his own games.  Richard enjoyed writing and the theatre.  Over his adult life he wrote and performed within the Church and in the community.  He also loves trains, traveling, computers and reading. Most of all he loves his family—his eight children and their spouses:  Judy (Gary) Hall, Todd (Lea) Giberson, Michael (Andrea) Giberson, Robin Giberson, Valerie (Lance) Ipson, Lynette Giberson, Rick (Linda) Giberson, and Scott (Sandy) Giberson, his 33 grandchildren, and 9 greatchildren.  In addition, he has three step children and their spouses: Kim (Layne) Rasmussen, David (Dawn) Dodson, and Dana (Joe) Bolin and their 11 grandchildren who call him grandpa, too.

 

His family will gather to celebrate his birthday on Saturday, June 15 at 3:00 p.m. at the home of his eldest daughter in Syracuse, UT.  Those who are expected to attend include several of his children and grandchildren.  The celebration will extend over a number of days and will include game playing, sightseeing, and family history.

 

 

My niece Lisa came up with the cute template with balloons etc.  We want to make sure it looked like a birthday announcement and not an obituary.

 

 

 

995.  He received a masters degree in chemistry from the University of Idaho.



Party on.....Monday and Tuesday

Monday morning we had to say good bye to Todd, Lea, and their youngest three kids--Ryan, Kaylee, and Tillie.  This made Audrey very sad and she told us that it was not a good day for them to leave because it made her sad.  Lisa pointed out that she would be sad on Tuesday as well, but Audrey really was sad to see her cousins leave.  It reminded me when our kids were all much younger and share those same feelings when we had to go home after family reunions on either side of our families.  I hope they can get together for our next reunion in 2015 and renew their friendships again.  I was sad, too, Audrey, I don't get to see my brother Todd very often either and I missed him when he left (as well as Lea and the kids, of course.  We just need more time!)   (We took a picture of their family but it is one Gary's phone because mine was dead at the time. Will insert later)

We mostly talked and watched the kids play.  My brother Mike who is a professor at Texas Tech headed into Salt Lake to visit with another professor friend who lives in Salt Lake.  He had some extra time so he walked around downtown and discovered the "Jack Mormon Coffee Shop".  He thought that was a catchy name and tried out the coffee and reports that it was amazing.  On face book he took a picture of the shop and posted about it.  He is still comparing new coffee shops to this one he found in Salt Lake.  It makes me smile to think that was one of his highlights in his trip to Salt Lake.  We took my sister Lynette and Lisa with Owen, Audrey and Alison to the bowling alley and had some fun. 

That evening we ate dinner together and played more games.  We did get this picture of my brother, Rick with Dad before they left.  Rick headed back on Tuesday morning.

Dad and Rick

Over the weekend all of our kids were there but at different times.  Scott and Chantel came early on Saturday but then had work, Jessica with Elessia came up after work and joined us at the park on Saturday evening.  Tosha and a friend, Tyler, joined us for games late on Saturday and then again on Sunday evening, Ben was there Sunday and Monday nights for dinner and some games, and then Scott and Chantel joined us for dinner on Dad's birthday on Tuesday in Midvale.  Of course Jena got to be there all of the time and loved it.  Crazy schedules but I was so glad that they all had some time to spend with my dad and the rest of their Giberson extended family!

Tuesday Jena, Lynette and I headed down to Salt Lake with Mike and his daughter, Lisa, and her three little kids to the Hogle Zoo.  We had a great afternoon despite the heat (which actually wasn't bad compared to other places--more about that in a later post.)  The zoo has a Lego display that was quite amazing.  I wondered if I should have encouraged Scott even more in his Lego building.  I didn't realize it could have been a career for him.  Legos have come a long way.

Lego snakes---two of Scott's childhood loves combined

A Lego polar bear



This peacock is so beautiful and even with its coloring
it can blend better than you think into the bushes and shadows.

We have thousands of pictures of the animals
in this zoo so I am not posting all the animals
we saw, but I thought these birds were cute.

Meet Jena Gorilla

Owen loves the giraffes and here they were able to
get close and watch them eat.

On the way out--Jena, Owen, Grandpa Mike and Audrey

After the zoo we stopped for some "upper class" shaved ice on 9th Ave in Salt Lake which were yummy and then headed down the street to the Liberty Park.

Audrey in the sand box

The final event of the celebration was dinner at Beto di Beppo, an Italian Restaurant in Midvale close to where my dad and Karla live.  It is a "funny" and "fun" place to eat and the food is great.  This is the only picture I took and it was when dinner was just about done.  We had 18 people at this meal.  Mike and his family got to spend the night with Dad and Karla in Midvale before heading back to AZ (where Lisa lives). 

Robin and Lynette spent one more night with me and we fit in a trip to Desert Book and the Distribution Center on Tuesday night before heading back to Syracuse.  They left on Wednesday about noon and were able to stop in and see Dad for another time.  They then drove almost straight through to Amarillo with just one stop in Cortez, Colorado for a few hours of sleep.

Then Valerie and I met up at Dad's that evening and spent some time talking about family history together.  Valerie, Lance and Kylie left Thursday by way of Manti and the Pageant there.  I think Mike was actually the last one to return home as he spend some additional time after the road trip to Utah in Mesa with Lisa and her family and Paul and his family.  It is quite fun to watch my siblings as grandparents. We got to see some of their adventures with Mike on Face book.  I think Mike went back to Lubbock the following Tuesday.

And "thus ended the sage of the 80th Party Celebration for Richard Creighton Giberson".  We are so glad to have you for a dad and for all of the great things that you have shown us and taught us and shared with us.  We are lucky that you like trains and games, books and theatre, vacations and baseballs games!  Most of all we are glad for your commitment to our mom, to our family, and to the Church---for these are the things which really matter the most.  Happy Birthday, Dad.  Let's do it again when you are 90.  Love you all!

Father's Day 2013

I guess it turned out to be very handy for us and Dad that his 80th birthday (on Tuesday June 18) and Father's Day were so close together.  That enabled those here who wanted to go to Church with Dad on this Sunday to be here for both.  An extra bonus was that my Dad was teaching High Priest lesson that day.  My brothers, Rick and Todd and my brother-in-law Lance were able to go to his lesson (Gary had responsibilities at our ward and couldn't join us until time for their sacrament meeting so he missed High Priest ).  I didn't make an exact count during the Sacrament meeting but I think there were about 27 people there with Dad.  It was very nice.

After Church we had dinner at Dad and Karla's and then all headed different directions to go to Temple Square, visit other family, visit with Dad and Karla, or in our case, take a Sunday nap.  Then we gathered again at our house for dinner and some time to play games together.  Dad, Karla, and Rick stayed put in Midvale and missed out on some of the fun times although I hear they enjoyed their (quiet) time together as well.

(Uncle) Justin and Evanie

Jena swinging with her Aunt Valerie
 (I guess swinging is a Giberson thing.  Our mom love to swing, too.)
That is Kylie whose hair is flying as she is jumping on the trampoline.

Of course we all know that only one person should jump on the
tramp at the same time.  But it is SO much fun to jump with
your cousins.  This is Audrey, Tillie (in the air) and Owen.

Ben, Justin and Uncle Todd enjoying a game of pool.

Jena (posing)
She loved having her aunts, uncles, and cousins here
even though she had to give up her bed for a few nights.

The sibling picture--unfortunately we took this on Sunday night
without Rick because Todd had to leave in the morning.
From left to right:  me (Judy), Robin, Mike, Lynette, Valerie, and Todd
They are all great people you would love to meet.

We tried to get a group shot and this is who we gathered in:
Same siblings, Owen and Audrey with their grandpa, Mike; Kylie, Valerie's daughter;
Ryan, Tillie, and Kaylee, Todd's youngest three children. 
The dog is ours--Mowgli.  He decided to be in the picture, too.

Valerie's family who came:  Valerie and Lance Ipson
Kylie, Megan, Jarom, Starla and Evanie, Justin and Tosha

Usually after a Giberson reunion there is one game that we played for the first time and everyone fell in love with .  Former favorites have been "Apples to Apples", "Wits and Wagers", and "Telestrations".  This birthday celebration it was "Reverse Charades", although I did love the chance to play "Ticket to Ride" some of my extended family.  In "Reverse Charades", all of the team acts out simple words or phrases and one of the team tries to guess as many words as possible in a minute.  The team can work together but they can not talk.  It was great fun.

Guess what this is!!!

After we played for about an hour, the younger kids were finally getting into the whole idea and they were so clever and dramatic that the rest of us just set back and let them act away.  Todd served as the reader for the younger kids and helped explained words they didn't know.  In the phrase above, he actually got into the act as well.  Did you guess---it is "The Brady Bunch".  We laughed for about an hour straight as we went through almost the whole deck guessing the words these guys acted out.  The kids are grandchildren--Kylie and Kaylee, Tillie, and Great-grandchild Audrey.

I highly recommend this game for groups and families.  Have fun!