Sunday, July 15, 2018

Giberson Family Reunion-Salt Lake City Center

This was our Friday day activity--visits to Temple Square, photo taking, and the Family History Museum...and for us a nice lunch at the Beehive House.

The Gathering of the Gibersons at the Reflecting Pond....
Sophee Giberson, Alison Neerings
Uncle Mike's grandchildren
 It takes awhile for about 50 Gibersons to arrive....

Max Giberson, Sophee's twin
the first set of great grandchildren twins
Our first Giberson group shot of the reunion--taken by a nearby "passer-byer"

Years ago, we took a picture of Jena and Kylie at the Reflecting Pond which is actually one of my favorite pictures I have taken (are you like that--where you remember certain photos you have taken, even years later.)  We couldn't remember exactly what it looked like so we tried a few different versions.  I can't find the first picture yet for comparison, but these two have grown up to be lovely young women.

This is Blake WIlliams with his signature wrinkled nose look--- (Aunt Valerie's grandson)

Two brothers--Max and Jay Giberson
And this is the place where it started.  My parents, Richard and Eileen, were married here on September 1, 1954.  It was a sweet remembrance and a good place to gather almost 64 years later.
We had tiger lillies in our backyard in Richland, Washington, and they often remind me of my mom, so it was fun to see them growing on the Temple grounds.


We headed to the North Visitors' Center and first gathered around the diorama of Jerusalem.  Valerie and Lance and their family lived in Israel many years ago and attended Church in Jerusalem so it was fun to ask questions about what they had seen, even very briefly.

Down in the basement, they have displays about service and things that we are individuals could do as well as some of the things that the Church has done.  As you can imagine if you know me, tears came quickly to my eyes as we watched the short videos about service, big and small, in our neighborhoods and in the whole wide world.  All of it matters.  I loved these quotes:


I hope at the end of my life here on this earth, that it would be said, that I tried to live my life by these principles.

The highlight of our visit there was the Christ statue on the top floor.  It is a beautiful spot to stop and think about all that He has done for us.


I even like paintings of clouds.....

Sophee, Jay, and Max Giberson

My brother, Mike, with the Neering family and Sophee

Sharing the moment with Gibersons

I love this photo of my brother, Scott, standing
with Jena at the base of the statue.  It was a sweet
moment when they shared a quick hug together.
We then headed to the Family History Museum and the first floor displays.
Jena, Scarlett, Ben and James behind Scarlett
Ben loved spending time with his niece and nephews
over the weekend...and his cousins
My brother, Mike, in one of the activities
Ben, Jena, and James and Scarlett posing in front of the green wall.  You could pick your background.  They did it several times and didn't quite manage to get one in which everyone was looking.

Aunt Lea Giberson showing her daughter, Kayley, some family history while Ryan "looks" on...or is he distracted by something else?
Ben and Tillie Giberson checking out the family tree....
Tillie found the record of her ancestor for whom she is named--Tillie Grace  Murphy
Ben and Jena standing on "the spot" where brides and families often stand to get a picture with the Salt Lake Temple in the background.
 More flowers on the grounds...


 After having a nice lunch at the Beehive House, we all went our separate ways.  Some headed off to other locations such as This is the Place, City Creek, or to visit family members on the other sides of their families.  We headed back to the KOA to get ready for the evening activities.

Friday Night:

We had a Pavilion which we used both evenings of the weekend which had these nice walls to provide shade and some protection when the winds blew.  Here the kids are playing with hula hoops while dinner is being cooked.

Emma, with Landi--their foster mom and my niece
It was fun to meet her and her two older sisters.

Jena trying out the hula hoop

Sophee was one of the masters of hula hoops
Jordan Giberson Hearn (below) was trying it out as well

And of course, there were games and more games for all that would like to play.

Liam enjoyed his first Giberson reunion.
Zander was sick so he and Elessia stay home
on Thursday and Friday.
And the great-grandchildren are also game players...Jay, Owen Neerings, and Max looking on.

After dinner, we had a short gathering and one of our traditions is for the siblings to sing the family song.  We are not good singers, but it made me cry in a good way to sing this song, written by our mother so many years ago:
We are standing in birth order from right to left
Rick and Scott are hugging while we sing their part.

The words (generally):  "This is the story about Mom and Dad who met one winter day.  They fell in love as I remember and they were married the next September and story goes this way.

First came Judy with two dimples and a smile and big brown eyes like Dad

And then came Daddy's proud and joy, a bouncing blue eyed baby boy and Todd was the name of this lad

Shortly there after, sweet Micky came along to add to this melody

In a couple of years, wasn't it fine when Robin-the-bobbin was the next in line to even up the family.

In 1961 we added Valerie on a sunshiney April day.

Another blossom grew on our family tree, a little girl filled with lots of energy and  her name was Lynette Rae.

Now some folks would say that six is quite enough, but we just couldn't get along without our Ricky-o to make each day bright and Scott to end it all just right

And that is truly the end of our song."

Then it was the time for the Giberson Family Dance party.  We had never done this before, but I knew the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren had enjoyed dancing at wedding receptions so we thought we would give it a try.  Gary used his music on the computer that we have used for neighborhood and other events, plus grandchildren plugged in their phones and shared some of their music.  It was so fun to dance together.  I think we might do it again sometime.




This was a girls camp group dance-- Can you wigga?  It is a combination dance/clapping number. We all stood in a circle and then someone's name would be called and asked:  "Do you wigga?"  "Do I what?"  "Do you wigga-wagga (or something like that?" and then you make a dance move and then everyone repeats your move.  This isn't a great picture, but the two Pauls (Neering and Giberson) were standing next to each other and did their move together when Paul was called.
No picture of Jena, but she was ready when her name was called.  She calmly stepped forward and brushed her shoulder in that sassy way she has developed.  We all were rolling on the floor and loved it.

One of the requirements for the reunion was there needed to be a basketball court as we have a tradition of this competition shooting game.  There are two balls and two people take shots from the free throw line and then try to make sure that you get your ball in before the other person or you are out.  The next person in line grabs the rebound and starts again at the free throw line.  It has a name but I can't remember it yet.  We now have some great-grandchildren who are able to participate, plus a couple of random children who asked to join in the Giberson craziness.

Aunt Linda Giberson (Rick's wife) and Uncle Mike
even the "more experienced" generations still plays
Bad shot (photo shot, not basketball shot) but it is the only one I have of Scotty Giberson who was the winner of the night's basketball challenge.
His lightening speed prevent any good pictures of him!
Basketball is clearly more important than cell phones....
Although those with young children headed to bed, we played Rage on the deck at Valerie's until about midnight...fun times, great memories!!


And that is a wrap for the first full day of the 2018 Reunion.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Giberson Family Reunion 2018--the Gathering

As you probably remember from posts in 2012 and 2015, the Giberson side of our family has a reunion every 3 years (a tradition started by my dad who said that it was one year for Gibersons, one year for the spouses' family, and one year for your family to take your own vacation.)  Three years is a long time between visits, but it does make it all the sweeter to see each other again.  I have eight siblings who live mostly in Texas and others in Arizona.  My dad and his wife live in Salt Lake and then our family..Utah and Washington.

It has been since 2000 when we had our last Utah vacation and that was at Zion's National Park.  This time, we went for Salt Lake-City Center--with our main location being the KOA campground on North Temple and 1400 West.  I was feeling bad that we were staying inside Salt Lake when there are so many amazing campgrounds in the state.  However, it worked out perfectly and family members were able to enjoy several of the amazing things that Utah has to offer during their drives up and back.

We had 64 Gibersons in attendance for all or some of the reunion.  In addition we were joined by my cousin, Dan Gibson and his wife Raelene, and Karla's son David, his wife Dawn, and their daughters, Sierra, Danielle, and Jenna and grandson, Michael for different parts of the reunion. That makes a grand total of 72 people. For historical purposes, that means (if my math was correct) 33 family members not in attendance (including one spouse--we missed you Andi, grandchildren including one on a mission, and great-grandchildren.)  We had 16 people who attended their first Giberson Reunion which I believe is the largest group of "new" attendees.  It included grandchildren's spouses and great-grandchildren. And the final note is that there will be four grandchildren added this year--Jordan/Sarah with their #2, Jessica/Elessia with #3 and #4, and Tosha/Austen with #3.

My brother, Todd and his family came the farthest as they live in Buda, Texas, south of Austen, Texas.  That is a 1311 mile journey one-way if you come straight, about 24 hours of travel.  (Todd, Lea, and their younger children did not come straight here.  They headed to Oklahoma City, Mt. Rushmore, and Yellowstone on their way to Utah.)  Others added fun stops on their trips as well, stopping at National Parks, LDS temples, and other places of interest.  Many added visits to other family members, too, either on their way here or back home again.  A special shout out to my brother, Scott, and nephew Scotty who stopped in Amarillo to drive my other two sisters, Robin and Lynette up to the reunion.  We appreciated that so much, since they are not driving long distances any more.

So, Thursday, June 28, we started gathering in Salt Lake at the KOA.
A street inside the KOA-
it was a very clean campground that
suited our needs well
Sons in Law in their old Giberson Reunion t-shirts:
Gary in the 2015; Lance in 2012 shirt

Valerie's cabin:

We all gathered at her cabin which had a great deck which was perfect for conversation and game playing.  It was so great to see everyone and there were lots of hugs and introductions to the newest family members.  We have added a lot of great-grandchildren in the past few years.

New game of the evening:  Stipulations!  Look it up.  It is a very fun (and funny) game.

That night we were smart and headed to bed by about 11:00.  Many people had driven in from a variety of locations--personally, I drove directly there from work, but had been up late the night before packing and cleaning for the trip.

We had two big days planned and we needed our rest.

Friend to Friend Theatre class

Jena finished her semester at Wonderwood/BYU and is back at home full-time for the summer.  The timing was good because the first week she was back, she had theatre practices every evening (thanks, Gary, for getting her there.)  They were preparing for their two performances for "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat".  They performed it twice--on Friday night and Saturday morning.  It was quite a performance.  This group is a free theatre class for individuals with disabilities.  Shelley Davies and all of the amazing coaches who help truly know how to help these adults shine when they are on stage.

Jena was one of the many people who did the part of the narrator. She loved it, of course.  The costumes were amazing and everyone looked like they were having the best time.

Gary took this picture during a dress rehearsal. The young women you see behind Jena are
some of the coaches.  During the performance, they dress in dark clothes and help
the actors get to their spots and help with their lines if needed.
Gary went to the Friday performance and I went on Saturday.  I took Jena's friend, Emily.  This is Jena, Kaitlyn, and Emily.

Jena and Kelsey Hayden who was also a narrator.  Jena did not like the headpiece so took it off before she came out for pictures.  She loved the rest of her costume.

Kayla, Kelsey, and Jena
They are also on the same Special Olympics team.
 Cory--the tall one--is also on their Special Olympics team.  He was one of the brothers in the play.

So after the performance, we headed out for lunch and then came back to the theatre so Jena and I could usher.  Emily had to wait for us, so we put her on a chair behind Jena. Jena is often very quiet when she talks and I am always reminding her to speak up.  Emily started thanking the guests like Jena and I were doing.  At one point, Jena turned to me and said, "Emily is my announcer."  It made me crack up!  I love it when she says something funny...and she knows it is funny.  It is the best.
Then Jena and Emily spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening, singing and dancing to the Wii.  Emily is Jena's roommate in Provo and you could tell they were excited to spend time together.
You would have thought that Jena would have been tired of singing and dancing after three days of dress rehearsals lasting 2 hours each and then two performances.  But no, she just kept on singing and dancing.

I love that Jena enjoys the theatre so much and that amazing people like Shelly Davies and others are willing to share their time, passion, and talents for such a great cause.

Grandchildren Times

The first Sunday of June (yes, I am that far behind on the blog), Jessica, Elessia, Liam, and Zander joined us for dinner and presents for Liam's third birthday which was the next day.
I think my mom would love how much my grandchildren love
to play on the piano.   I really don't remember our children
playing on the piano like that.
Happy Birthday, Liam.  So glad to have you in our family.
He loved his new bat and t-ball.  Love his concentration. 
Playing on our new slide and climbing toy.  Yes, grandchildren are spoiled.
Later in the month, I meet Liam and Zander at Liberty Park while Jessica and Elessia headed up to the major ultrasound (twin babies still doing well.)   We went to the Aviary and then went to the playground.
Our selfie.  We tried to get Zander into the picture, but he was not interested.
Climbing the wall is one of Liam's fun things.
There was an area that had these bird shapes with facts about birds.  Zander went to each one of them as if he was reading them and then to the next one.  Liam and I just sat and watched him for several minutes.  It was serious business for him.
The playground was awesome, despite the hundreds of kids running around everywhere.
Playing the Xylophone 
They had a tunnel that went under a wall separating the playground from a grass area.  The kids loved it, but it made me nervous because if they went out one end, you had to run around a bit of a distance to get to the area (or go through the tunnel which would not have been a fast trip for me either.) While Liam and Zander were playing, a small little girl went quickly through it and out the end where I was and headed running away ...with her mom frantically calling her to come back.  I pointed the mom in the right direction.
 They loved this tunnel and played for a long time in it.
Such a fun day.  Liberty Park is a place that I can't wait to take all of the grandkids to some day.

I didn't spend as much time with Scarlett and James this month and of course, not with Niki and Cooper at all.  Some photos of their cuteness are below:

Summer fun in Seattle:



The Russells including Niki LOVE car shows.
Scott and Chantel and their kids love the lake, especially nearby Pineview Dam.
Image may contain: 1 person, ocean, outdoor, nature and water
Scarlett and Scott
Scarlett

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, child and outdoor
James
They are all growing so quickly.  Hard to imagine that by the end of the year, we will add three more little ones to the crew.