Grandpa Anderton

Linda mentioned this in a comment to a previous post but I thought it might have been missed. Dave's dad (our Grandpa Anderton) passed away on Sunday night/Monday morning. It was a bit expected although we weren't sure when he would go. I know Grandpa is in a better place and no longer suffering now.

This picture is from our visit back in May.

Ross and I will be coming in on Friday a couple days before the funeral. Weather depending, of course, we'd love to see those we can from the McGee side on Sunday. (We will be leaving late Monday night.) The passing of a loved one, as we all well know, makes us appreciate our loved ones still with us.

We love you all.
Love,
Cherry

Christmas Letter

We didn't send anything out this year, so view our digital Christmas letter here:

http://girlsgonemild-ataleofsuburbia.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-letter-2008.html


Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

We had a Christmas party yesterday up in Brigham City. It was a lot of fun. We had good food, and even had a celebrity guest! That's right, Santa showed up! And he made everyone sit on his lap . . . even grandma and grandpa. However, there were a few rebellious teenagers (ok they were mainly adults) who didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, so he sat on them instead! I didn't get a lot of pictures at the party, so maybe someone who took more can post them, but these are the few I snapped with my phone. I couldn't resist these Kodak moments. Excuse them because they are cell phone quality pictures:On another note, we talked a little about the upcoming McGee Family Reunion set to take place sometime in the summer of 2009. We have a few dates picked out and need everyone to let us know which dates work best for you. We are thinking either July 31-Aug 1 (Friday and Saturday, these are all Friday-Saturday dates), Aug 7-8, or Aug 14-15. Respond to this posting ASAP and let me know which days work best for you. If you don't voice your opinion, you have no excuse for not coming when that time comes around!

Disco Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Charleston Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Local Celebrity -- for a week

Last week I was in our local paper and I thought I'd share . . . Our paper does a weekly column on Saturdays where they interview random people and ask pretty random questions. My friend was in the column a couple weeks ago and I told her that I thought it was so cool! I had always wanted to be in it. So when the reporter called her looking for a last minute replacement, she suggested me. I sent him a photo and the filled out questionnaire and voila, I was on the front page of the paper the next day. The best part was that I surprised Ross and didn't tell him until he saw it. It was killing me not to say anything because I was so excited. He was pretty surprised to see his wife on the front page. It's been fun having everyone tell me they saw the article. Click here to read the article.

Job Hunting

Just to let everyone know, i was let go from my job today.  Cummins has decided that due to the economic situation they had to let go of a certain number of employees.  I just happened to be one of the unfortunate ones that was let go.  We would ask that during this time that you pray for us as we look for a new job.  We both went to the employment office today and are both looking for full time jobs.  In the meantime, my hours at Gamestop have been bumped up to 40 hours and i will be drawing unemployment and recieving a severance package.

Kleigh

Robert Peck, Jr 10th Great grandfather

Robert Peck was born 28 Nov 1548 and died in England in 1593.

Here is an extract from his will:

In the name of God Amen The XXIJ day of March in the year of or
Lord God according to the computation of the church of England
1592 and in the XXXVth yere of the Reigne of or moste gratious sover-
aigne Lady Elizabeth by the grace of god of England ffrance and Ire-
lande Quene Defend or of the faith etc. I Robert Peck of Beccles in
the countye of Suffhole of mynd and perfect of Remembrance thanks
be to the maiestye of god therefore Although sick and weake of
body at chemisfforde in the cowntye of Essex at this prsente of a
pluresye not knowinge whither it will please god to take me awaye
here or not, do for the better orderinge and dispocision of such goods
cattels chuttells plate lands tenements and other heriditaments wift
the appertences do make and dispose them as followeth fflrst I
bequeath my sowle to the Infinite mercye of Almightye Gode trustinge
assurealye to be saved by the meritts death and passion of Jesus
christ his dere sonne, and my bodye to be buried where it shall please
god to call me. ...

His will is included in a book on the genealogy of his son Joseph Peck, the immigrant ancestor of many Peck families.(including ours). This genealogy goes back 20 generations(to about 1126) in England. Joseph emigrated to Massachusetts in 1638 with his family.

Our Plymouth Forefathers

Recently, I came across a surprising connection to the Mayflower Pilgrims. Surprising since I've been collecting family group sheets since 1970 and this is the first I had heard of it. Judah Bowerman (1723) is the grandfather of Alpheus Gifford (1793). His mother had been listed as Jane Harby (with no further links). Using the internet, however the mother seems to be Jane Clefton as the wife of Thomas Bowerman. That marriage is still a little iffy in my documentation but if she holds up as Judah's mother, then the connection extends back to William Brewster as our 11th Great Grandfather. This picture is a painting of him in the US Capitol. (On the male side of the Bowerman line, we connect back to Anthony Annable who came to Plymouth on the third wave that landed in 1623 via the ship 'Anne'). So regardless we have connections to the Pilgrims in Plymouth.
While there are many things that can be said about the settlement in the new world, the thing that struck me most was the account of their escape from England to Holland that took place in about 1608. Google Books has a digitized copy of 'Our Plymouth Forefathers' and chapter 2 mentions William Brewster and describes the religious and political situation leading to their desire to leave England. I found the escape attempts very exciting and hope you'll enjoy the link, especially at this time of Thanksgiving. Let's appreciate what our forefathers endured to create the society we now enjoy.

Solon Huff McGee: 1st Great Grand Father

Solon Huff McGee, our Great Grandfather was born 26 Nov 1853. He married his wife Emily Lucretia Robinson in 1876 when he was 22 and she was 20. This picture of him is labeled age 23. They lived in Missouri where their first 6 boys and one girl were born. Soon after 1890 they moved to Oklahoma. The next boy died at about 6 months. They completed the family with two more girls. A year after the last child was born, they joined the church in Oklahoma and then moved west to New Mexico. I showed the kids before. Here is a photo of them at their home in Kirtland New Mexico, dated 1903.

Azar Nash born 24 Nov 1780

Azar Nash is our 4th great grandfather. He was the father of Anna Nash who married Alpheus Gifford. There is ambiguity in the records about who his parents were. And his name is recorded in various ways as Azar, Azor, Ezor. Perhaps there were multiple Azor Nash's near the same time and place. Using the internet, it is a lot easier to track these old records. if someone is interested in following up on this issue, let me know and I'll help you get started. You might learn some interesting history along the way.

William Fitz-Robert : 24th Greatgrandfather

William Fitz-Robert 2nd Earl of Gloucester was born 23 Nov 1116 and is a 24th great grandfather. He was a great grandson of William the Conqueror. We come through his daughter Armice who married into the de Clare dynasty. Her grandson is Richard de Clare. William died on his birthday in 1183 at age 67.

Family Time

With no family birthdays to highlight for several days now, I've come across some old pictures from the 1950's. This picture is from near Thanksgiving in 1959 (assuming Linda is around 4 months old). Enjoy.

Joseph Knight Family Event: Privatized

Subject: Uninvite to Knight Cane Event

Correction!
It has become necessary to rescind the invitation to the general Knight family to attend the Knight cane donation ceremony
at the Church Museum on 11 December 2008. We have been corrected that it was to be a private event according to Charmaine Higbee and Jill Vance-Droubay.


Please forward this email to other Knight family members who may have had interest to attend.


Joseph Knight is our 4th Great Grandfather. Here is an announcement from the Knight Family organization:

Through the remarkable efforts of Knight relatives Vicky Knight, James Knight and Julie Snetley,the original cane given to Joseph Knight, Sr., by Joseph Smith, Jr., on the streets of Nauvoo, has been secured and will be donated to the LDS Church in a special PRIVATE presentation in the auditorium of the Church's Historical Museum in Salt Lake City.

This historical donation of the Prophet's cane has been a long-awaited dream of the Knight Family Organization.

We recognize again the tremendous efforts of Vicky Knight, James Knight and Julie Snetley for making this all possible.

We are hoping to have the event written up in the Church News.

Haloween Pictures

Here are some pictures of Haloween. we went to Adam and Betsy's for haloween.

Here is Jasmine (Fairy) Alex (fireman) and i am holding daniel

This is a guy who dressed up at Hagrid The kids thought he was a monster and so we had to get a picture of them together (He is actually Betsy and Adams Bishop). Jasmine wouldn't stand there without me holding her.Jasmine saw this other girl dressed as a fairy and was really intrigued by her.Betsy gave Daniel a sucker and he opened it so she just let him have it.Here is another picture of Jasmine.

Making up for lost time!

So sorry I've missed so many! My computer takes forever to get up and moving and I haven't had the energy or the time to post. It is at least a 45 to 60 minute project just to post from my computer and that doesn't include looking through pictures to find the best to send ;-) So here's my attempt to catch up (since i have an extra hour because an earlier meeting was cancelled for me tonight). :-)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL M.!!!! Hope you have an awesome day and make your kids (including Bob) treat you like royalty (or at least allow for some peace and quiet for you)!

Belated Happy Birthday LARRY! Thank you to all of
you who filled in for the birthday patrol during my absence.
I know there are other really good pictures of Larry but when I saw this one it made me feel like I could just hear the interesting comment that was about to come from his mouth. I think it is the mischievous glint in his eye. Also Happy Birthday to Jesse too!

Congrats to the new baby Wolf!

Here's pictures of our new family additions. Frank is holding Sadie. She is definitely his favorite and he spoils her royally!Here's our other girl, Molly. She is our basket case that we are working on. She is smart but has a lot of psychological issues to work through. (Katie-dog is laying on the floor behind Molly.) I am also working through my psychological issues. Frank is being understanding but I still end up getting sad when I watch them play because just the most odd and unexpected things will remind me of Ashley or Nikita.
So hopefully I am caught up. Love ya all!
Patti

Samuel K Gifford ; 2nd GreatGrandfather

Samuel Kendall Gifford born 11 Nov 1821 was a participant of much of early Church history. His family moved to Missouri when he was 11. He was baptised there. They were driven out eventually to Nauvoo while he was a teenager. He was a young man while the Temple was being built. He received his endowments there in Feb 1846. He married his wife Lora Ann Demille in 1848, on the plains during the emmigration to the west and their first son was born during that migration. They settled first in Manti and later moved to the area of Zions Canyon in southern Utah. His journal makes for very interesting reading so I encourage you to follow the link.

Here is a sample:
The saints were driven enmass across the Missouri River
into Clay County. We camped on the banks of the Missouri River
on the night of the 13th of November 1833. There I beheld a
strange and beautiful scene. To all appearance, brilliant stars
or balls of fire falling like rain upon the earth and upon the
water.

[Side note: The night of November 12-13, 1833, not only marks the discovery of the Leonid meteor shower, but it marks the actual birth of meteor astronomy.]

He lived till 1907 when he was 85. My grandmother, Elsie Gifford was 11 when he passed away and had the chance to hear his stories.

Jane Holder Sabine: Great Great Grandmother

Jane Holder Sabine was born 6 Nov 1825 in Widenham, Wiltshire, England. She died in Salt Lake City in June of 1891. She joined the Church in 1859 in England, soon after her first child was born. That son died two days before his second birthday. We come through her second child, Selina who was born 18 months later. Her last child was born in 1864 still in England. She married James Sabine in 1853. Her husband joined the church in 1875 when the two kids were teenagers. They were in Utah by 1876. The youngest son joined the church in 1884 when he was about 20 and the family was sealed in the Logan Temple in 1892.

Jesse: Happy Birthday

Jesse of Jesse and Laura celebrates his birthday on 3 Nov. Here's a photo from Laura's blog of him watching over his girls.

Hope you had a good day..

Love

Larry and Michele

Daniel is 7 Months

Hey everyone I just wanted to let you all know that I posted a new entry on out blog, and you should all stop by and see it. Love you all and hope to see your comments.
adamandbetsym.blogspot.com
Love Betsy

Happy (late) Birthday Larry

Here's a picture I have from the Reunion. Happy Birthday!

Louis II, King of France (The Stammerer)

Louis the II born 1 Nov 846 is our 35th to 40th great grandfather. He was a great grandson of Charlemagne.
He was crowned on 8 December 877 by Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, and was crowned a second time in September 878 by Pope John VIII at Troyes while the pope was attending a council there. Louis the Stammerer was said to be physically weak and outlived his father by only two years. He had relatively little impact on politics. He was described "a simple and sweet man, a lover of peace, justice, and religion". His final act was to march against the Vikings who were then the scourge of Europe. He fell ill and died on 10 April or 9 April 879 not long after beginning his final campaign.

Larry McGee

I don't have a picture, but I thought someone ought to say Happy belated Birthday to Larry.

So Happy Birthday!

Our Coming Attraction . . .

Meet the newest member of our family . . . . our baby boy, due March 16th.

We think he's not a morning person, he kept rubbing his eyes during the ultrasound. But this one looks like he's praying for the person to stop poking him. (That or for me to stop laughing.)

I'll spare you all the gender photo. Needless to say, we know he's a boy no question.

Love you all,
~Cherry, Ross and "Shammy"

PS Shammy's short for Shamrock since originally he was due on St. Patty's day. A real name is still in the works.

Elsie Gifford McGee: Grandmother

Elsie Gifford McGee was born 29 Oct 1895, the youngest of 13 kids of her parents, Alpheus and Sarah Elizabeth. This is a photo of her at age 58 in about 1953. She was born in Springdale Ut, which is surrounded by Zions National Park. At the time, the park didn't exist and her father and brothers used to haul timber out of the high places for use as lumber.

The picture is of a mountain called Cable Mountain. They used to run a zipline off the mountain to bring logs down to the valley floor. Occasionally they'd ride the cable themselves.

She married Ross McGee when she was 26. She got a whole family all at once and then added 6 more of their own.

Grandma McGee was a great cook. She had a large coal burning stove in her kitchen. They raised their own chickens and grew vegetables. They had the fattest carrots I've ever seen and her pickled beets were pretty remarkable as well. She passed away in 1976 at age 80.

John A Maynes II: Greatgrandfather

John A Maynes II was born 28 Oct 1859 in England. He and his family joined the Church in England. He was baptized in 1875. Soon thereafter he came to Utah where he met his wife, another immigrant from England Selina Jane Sabine. They were married in the Logan Temple in 1882 which seems unusual. (It was dedicated in 1884. Dad, can you find out if it was being used before its dedication?) They had 6 kids in 8 years and then a straggler 13 years later. We come through his oldest, John A Maynes III. The youngest was Dorothy born in 1903. John and Selina served a mission as a couple back to England in 1913-1915, taking their youngest with them. John died on his mission in 1915 at age 55. His slightly older brother Joseph(born Aug 1858) had also returned to England as a missionary with his wife in 1910 and died on his mission in 1912 when he was 53. Both brothers had been members of the Tabernacle Choir in Utah, but before the days of recorded performances.

Rachel Chase 7th Great grandmother

Rachel Chase was born 25 Oct 1679 in Massachusetts, already 2nd generation in America. She was a granddaughter of Elizabeth Philbrick. She married Samuel Knight in 1700. Together they had six kids. She died in 1724 at age 44. We come through her son Samuel who was 14 when his mother died.

Elizabeth Philbrick 9th great grandmother

Elizabeth Philbrick, born 23 Oct 1621.
She was the daughter of Thomas Philbrick, an immigrant ancestor, although she is probably also an immigrant as a child. The Philbrick website has recently been updated with our line. They were early settlers in New Hampshire where she married Thomas Chase in 1642. They had 4 or 5 kids before she was widowed in 1652. She passed away in 1679 at age 55. We come through their son Isaac Chase.

William IX Duke of Aquitaine

William the ninth, born 22 Oct 1071 is our 25th Great Grandfather. William is often spelled Guillaume. He was known as 'The Troubador' and was the first troubador in the Occitan language. Eleven of his songs/poems survive. You can enjoy them here. For me, they must lose something in translation.

I endear all my friends to come to my death
and to honour me greatly
since I had and kept joy and disport
far and wide, and in my own abode.

He died in 1126 and was described in the 13th century as:
'... one of the most courtly men in the world and one of the greatest deceivers of women. He was a fine knight at arms, liberal in his womanizing, and a fine composer and singer of songs.'

We come through his second wife, Philippa Mathilda and their son William the tenth.

Kleigh

McDonalds

MCDONALDS IS OFFICIAL GONE!!!!!!
TODAY OCTOBER 20, 2008

BRIGHAM CITY MCDONALDS WAS TORN DOWN

IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!!

THEY WILL BE CLOSED UNTIL SPRING 2009.

Below are some pictures of the action

The beginning

we can see through to the other side

(This is my favorite picture that i have)

the aftermath it is all just a pile of garbage

Destination Flight

The planets finally aligned. Ross and I were able to go flying again (finally). And we were able to go somewhere. So this was our first "destination flight". Our destination started out being Siskiyou Airport in California. We went to Pelican Aviation and ran into these guys who were also going flying. They warned us not to go to Siskiyou--nothing there apparently. So we took their advice and headed for Montague, California. Montague is six miles from Yreka/I5. It's about 40 minutes flying from Klamath Falls direct line. Our map: .. Before we could leave, we had to contend with all the other planes on the runway. F15s included: It was very busy. The funny part was when the United/Sky West airplane had to wait for our little Cessna to take off. Neiner neiner! . There are a group of pilots from Klamath Falls who fly to Montague every Saturday. The Airport Operator's wife makes fresh home-made cinnamon rolls to share with all the pilots. It was rather ironic; before we knew if we were going to get to go, I told Ross I wanted to go get cinnamon rolls. So I got my cinnamon rolls after all. The people there were super nice! After cinnamon rolls, we walked into the main part of town about a half mile away and got there in time for their Farmer's Market (and a cool statue). Then we got back in the plane and flew home. Gotta love my pilot!!! And if that wasn't cool enough, last night Ross's buddy called him to see if he wanted to go flying. His buddy is a brand new instructor and needs some instructor hours. Ross being a new pilot can still use hours with an instructor. So they went for a night flight--and I got to tag along. It was beautiful flying over the city at night!!! And we got to try out a new plane (instead of the rental Cessna). It was so awesome.

Happy Birthday Bob!

I'm trying to get back on the ball! But apparently my computer is not cooperating. If I ever get it figured out I'll post a picture for ya! For some reason it is taking an extremely long time to upload pictures to the blog.

Sorry for slacking lately. Our house went through some major upheaval this last week. Frank and I went up to Las Vegas to the Renaissance Festival so Frank could add to his sword collection and the day after we got back we went to the animal shelters to find the new additions to our family. Frank promised me after Nikita passed that we could wait until after Vegas and he held to his promise :-)
So we now have Sadie (a four month old puppy) and Molly (a 10 month old puppy) training us on how to be puppy parents again.
Well pictures when my computer stops acting up
:-)
Happy late birthday Monty and Dad! (and also thinking about Derek who's birthday was the 12th too)

Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa!

Happy 82nd Birthday! Still young enough to ride bikes with the grandkids!
Love you,
Heidi

Happy Late Birthday to Monty!

I know I'm late posting for Monty. He had a terrific birthday! I took a personal day and we took Noelle out of school for the day and we went 4 wheeling for his birthday. It was well worth it to have some fun quality time. Now I have proof that he does smile sometimes! :)

11 October or 11 December

I was going to post about a 9th Great grandmother, born a twin on 11 October 1641, but the family group sheet also shows them being born on 11 December. The better documented source looks like December is correct, but the discrepancy is based on some rational thinking. Most likely the original record didn't name the month but said something like born the 11th day of the 10th month of 1641. To us that seems like October. But if you think about the names of the months, you notice that Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec all sound like derivations from the latin for seven, eight, nine and ten. It turns out that in the 1600's, the first month of the year was not January, but March, which puts the last four months in the correct order with their names. So I'll wait till December to tell a story about Mary Allen.

Michele M. This generation

Michele, (my love) was born on October 10th, her grandmother's birthday (coincidentally, I was also born on my grandmother's birthday ).
Her greatest joys are in her family. Shown above with her mom and here at Katie's blessing with the whole clan. She worked as a nurse till we married and has worked even harder since then as a full time mom. She makes things happen and gets things done.

We celebrated our anniversary (and our October birthdays) with a trip to San Jose for the 'So You Think You Can Dance' 2008 Tour. For her actual birthday, we went to the local high school homecoming game (where Jerry Rice Jr. caught a touchdown pass against our team) and shared a serving of chili in a bread bowl.

Timothy Ide 8th Great Grandfather

born 10 Oct 1660 in Rehoboth Ma. son of the immigrants Nicholas Ide and his wife Martha Bliss. His father was one of the first settlers of Rehoboth, Mass. in 1643.

Timothy Ide gained fame and the rank of Captain as an Indian fighter, being a leader in several campaigns against the Indians.

He married Elizabeth Cooper in Oct or Dec 1687. Together they had 9 or 10 kids. We come through their daughter Elizabeth born in 1690.

He died in 1735 at the age of 74.

Monte P. This generation

Monte P.; Heidi's Husband celebrates his birthday on 8 Oct . Someone with pictures should put one up. The best one I have is the family photo from Noelle's blessing. Monte is sitting between Mom and Heidi with Noelle on Mom's lap.

Here's another group picture with Monte way in the back slightly off-centered.
Sorry this is late. But Happy Birthday.

Hannah Terry; 3rd Great Grandmother

Hannah Terry, born 8 Oct 1785 in Goshen, New York She married Parshall Terry in 1802 in Palmyra New York.
She was 10 years younger than Lucy Smith but their kids overlapped in age and they knew each other after the Smith's moved to Palmyra. The Terry's moved to Canada around 1820 so were isolated from the early events of the Restoration in Palmyra. But knowing the Smiths, they were open and receptive to the missionaries when they came to Canada around 1838. By that time many of the kids were grown and married, but many of these families joined the church and moved together to Illinois just as Nauvoo was being founded and the exodus from Missouri was underway. Hannah received her patriarchal blessing from Hyrum Smith (I have copies available for those direct descendents who value their own blessing.)Eventually the families moved west from Nauvoo and settled in Southern Utah. Hannah passed away at Rockville Utah in 1877, just 4 days before she would have turned 92. We come through her daughter Marilla. Another daughter, Elizabeth is the 4th great grandmother of a girl in Primary with Katie in our ward. So they enjoy being 'cousins' in the same ward. (Actually 5th cousins once removed).

Margareta Ten Waert: 8th Great grandmother

Margareta TEN WAERT was born 5 Oct 1608 in Amsterdam, Holland. She married David Provoost in 1630 in Holland. They moved as a young couple to the new world sometime around 1638. Together they had 10 or 11 kids. One of her grandsons David Provoost born 6 Oct 1872 became mayor of New York City from 1699-1700. We come through her son Benjamin and David's sister Marie.

Happy Birthday!

Another year older and wiser too! Happy Birthday to you!