Richard Edward Bybee

I just want to take a moment to remember a wonderful man whom we lost recently.  Richard was a beautiful soul and was always so happy to see my family and I.  We lost Richard on May 21st.  He was one of the toughest guys I know and will be so greatly missed.  Last Saturday we drove to Smith Valley, NV where we got to pay our respects to a loving man.  I still tear up everytime I think that we won't see his smiling face again till we meet in Heaven.  Luckily, we have the knowledge that we do and I KNOW that I will see him again someday. 

Richard we love you and will miss you dearly.  May you Rest In Peace with our loving Heavenly Father to comfort you!

Richard at the family reunion 2009

Friday's Faces of the Past - Maria & Jacob Hitz

Hi all...man it feels like forever since I have had a minute to sit down and work, and while I feel good.  Recovery is going good but I still have bad days.  Today is going to be a busy day but I have a few minutes here this morning and I wanted to share something that has happened lately.

A few months ago right before my last surgery I was contacted by a Wahl relative.  She is the daughter in law to my father in law's aunt...following me lol.  Anyways, she is the family historian for that side of the family.  And she found me on ancestry.com, I had a few mistakes on my Wahl family tree that needed clearing up :/, and she wanted to share information.  We emailed for awhile but my Wahl research is in it's infancy really, as I have spent most of my time on my side and the Thornton side.  She was oh so wonderful though and had a lot more information than I did.  She said she would send me some stuff.....well I got it a couple weeks later and was astounded at what she sent.  Pages and pages of family group sheets with notes and pictures included.  But the coolest thing by far was a picture that was sitting on the very top when I opened the box, it was the wedding photo for my husband's 2x Great Grandparnets Maria Zehnder and Jacob Hitz.  What a wonderful photo! They were married on 7 Aug 1886 in Butte, MT.

There was also a cd included with tons of other photo's but this one is one of them that just stands out.

Maria (Zehnder) & Johann Jacob Hitz wedding photo

Memorial Day!

In honor of Memorial Day, I want to spotlight another one of our brave soldier's, James Elliot Thornton.  James or "Jim" as he went by is Theron's Grandfather.  He was born on October 10th 1926 in Fitchburg, Mass.  There he met and married Beverly Hadley on Christmas Day 1945 in Orange, Mass.  They had 9 children, one of whom died in infancy.  He drove truck for most of his life and was a hard worker, having built two of their homes, one in Mass and one in Montana where they moved sometime between 1955 and 1960.  He lived out his days in Montana with his family. He passed away on the 1st of Dec 1995, from complications of lung cancer.

This great man that my kids get the privilege of calling their Great Grandfather, served in the Navy during WWII.  I just want to take this moment and say Thank you! Thank you to Grandpa Jim and all the Brave Men & Women that have served protecting our freedoms...peacetime and wartime.

The coolest story I have heard is that the day the war ended, Jim was on leave, he was in time square when that most famous of pictures was taken...you know the one, of the soldier kissing the nurse. :)

http://creativeroots.org/2010/06/wwii-time-square-kiss-picture/

I am still alive!

Hi All,  I know it has been quite awhile since I have been on...hope you all are doing great!  I just wanted to let my wonderful followers know that I was still alive. :D  I have not been well lately.  At the end of Jan., the dr's decided that I need to have surgery.  So from then till my surgery date on Mar 26th, I was on pain management. Yuck! And now I am in recovery.  I had two discs removed in my neck and they replaced them with "cadaver bone" (which Theron finds ironic and hilarious lol) and then they fused them together.  Not altogether a pleasant operation, but I am working on getting better. Next week, I hopefully will start PT.  Loads of fun for me.  I will be getting back to work as soon as I am up to it.  So look forward to more award winning posts ;) lol.  I love you all and hope that everyone is doing just wonderful!!

All because Two people fell in LOVE!!

Well, in this case all because FOUR people fell in love!

Today, is the day of love, the day of hearts, flowers and chocolate.  I am not a particularly ooey and gooey kinda gal.  I don't want or expect flowers and a gushy card on this or any day of the year.  To me, this is just the time of year to teach my kids about loving all God's children.  Yes, occasionally my husband has been sweet enough to bring me home a bouquet of flowers and I love them.  But more just because of the thought and time it took him to stop and get them.  He works long hours and is usually exhausted by the time he gets off work.  We always try to show our love for each other all through the year.  We take time out of our day to stop, hug and tell each other we love each other AND mean it! And when possible we go out on dates. So no, I don't put much thought into celebrating our love for each other one day out of the year.

But I thought it might be nice to take time out to pay tribute to the two couples that have made the love my husband & I have for each other so special, by example and by creation.  Without both of our parents who first found each other and "fell in love" to "create" us.  And then lead by example, neither Theron nor I would be the people we are today, to love and cherish each other the way we do.  Was it all peaches and roses....no, of course not.  But through their struggles we have seen how strong couples can be and make it to last. 

So thank you to my parents Bob & Sandy Adamson and Theron's parents Earl & Marge Wahl for being who you are and loving each other! We learn by example, and you have both been great examples.  We are blessed to have you both in our lives and in our children's lives.  WE love you!

Lloyd & Helen Timbrel, Sandy & Bob Adamson, Wavel & Bill Adamson

Earl & Ramona Wahl, Earl & Marge Wahl, Bev & Jim Thornton

Yesterday's history was "Real Life"

As modern day people, when we look back on the past, it's easy to put it all in a box and take out the emotion of the everyday lives.  Everyday, we have to deal with emotions.  Whether, it's the emotions that comes from spilling the salt shaker or seeing the morning news.  And lets be honest the morning news hasn't been all that peachy in quite a while.  Or seeing our kids getting along and laughing together.

But sometimes we can look back at past events and put it in a nice and tidy box and not deal with the emotional part of life that came with that time.  Maybe we want to know but we still manage to separate ourselves from the emotions of them.  Maybe because to us they weren't "real" or "before our time" or "un-imaginable".  Some of our ancestors went through things that we can only imagine in our wildest dreams...bad or good. 

Genealogist try to seek those times out.  We want to know what made our ancestor's tick.  What made them mad, or sad or more importantly happy.  I sometimes wonder where did that Timbrel temper come from.  And when dealing with my children how many generations back did the Wahl temper go....Genealogists or family historians, whatever you want to call us want to know these things.  

I have spent a good part of the past 5 years digging into the lives of not only my ancestors, my husbands but also random stranger's.  I have investigated the "everyday folk", murder's, robber's, the "cream of the crop" and even cities and have been touched and moved by a lot.  I have been brought to tears and laughed and stunned with the best.  A couple years ago when researching a particular relative of my husband's it suddenly occurred to me that I was looking at the face of my children's 6th Great Grandfather.  A rather moving moment. I mean he wasn't my blood but he was my kids' and that was amazing!

I had another one of those moment's today.  A rather sad one, I must admit.  I was looking about for an obit for just a "regular" fellow and his wife when I ran across this article.

Elko Daily Free Press 19 Nov 1976 Courtesy Northeastern Nevada Museum

The story of Patty Hearst is a sad one.  And I am not sure why this one in particular affected me today.  But it occurred to me that this was headline news back then.  This was real life for the people living.  Today we deal with President Obama and his medical care, gun bans, and school shootings.  This is what we are living today.  My kids are being taught in school today about segregation and  Marin Luther King Jr.  and in Nov 1976 they were living through the Patty Hearst saga.  Through all time we have been living with emotion, the key is find the good ones and try to concentrate on that.  We can't ignore the bad, as the saying goes "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," George Santayna. 

So what is your point Mindy, you ask?? Well, I think, one way to get out of our emotional box is to pick an ancestor and learn about them.  I am not encouraging you to go out and fill in your entire family tree.  Just one person in time.  Whether, it's someone that lived through something that makes the hair on your arm stand up or just someone that had the patience of a saint or just someone you have always heard about.  This is my call to my friends and family to get involved in learning about your past.  It is important!! Don't decide to become the super obsessed weirdo (not that there is anything wrong with being that person as I AM that person lol) family historian.  Just learn about someone, one person, that is related in bringing about the fact that you are here today. :D

Treasure Chest Thursday!

On the 25th of August 1995 my Grandparents, Lloyd & Helen Timbrel, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary (a great goal for Theron & I).  My Mother, Sandy, and her siblings had worked together before hand to make them a wonderful gift that they would treasure because it came from the heart.  Each of my Grandparents children made their own squares, then my Aunt Dolores put the blanket together and quilted it.  The result the most beautiful blanket.

Helen & Lloyd looking over their beautiful gift.

This was taken today

Near the center of the blanket is their wedding photo and marriage license.

I was 15 when I wrote this.

When I went to visit my wonderful aunt, she was prompted to give this blanket to me.  She felt that it would be truly treasured with me.  And it is! I feel so honored that out of all the grandchildren, I should be the one to end up with it.  Thank you!