The Most Stubborn - Ana Angelica

After losing Joey in October 1999 we laid low for a couple of years before we decided to adopt again. I contacted Tree of Life Adoption Agency and told them we were interested in adopting a little girl with cleft lip/palate. The agency sent us two pictures of waiting children in Romania. One was a little 6 year old girl that looked so sad, the oter an infant with dark hair, with unrepaired lip and palate. I showed the pictures to Jerry and he immediately picked our little Ana the 6 year old girl. Her adoption was much quicker than Mindy's and Jerry and his mom traveled to Romania in July 2001 to bring our little girl home. When she came off the plane she took one look at Andy, pulled her ears out to imatate large and pointed to Andy implying that he had large ears. Andy then suggested we take her back! But of course we did not and it soon became very apparent that she had a very stubborn streak in her little personality. We would try to teach her english words to which she would say NO then repeat what we had just said in english in Romanian. We would say Ana Angelica Gibbons and she would say NO Ana Angelica Moise! Ana had been spoiled by a family in Romania that would take her to their home on occasion for holidays, weekends, etc. and she spoke of her Nasu and Nasa (Godparents)often. They even surprised us on Ana's first birthday in the US by phoning to talk to her. By then she had forgotten how to speak Romanian but could still understand it. They would ask her questions in Romanian and she would answer in English, the peoples son would translate for them. Now Ana is 16 or will be Dec. 30, and she is still stubborn and sassy, she still has a very dry sense of humor and enjoys shocking her brothers when they least expect. Ana is a beautiful young lady but does not appear to see herself in that light. She is much more athletic then her sisters Mindy and Marina and much more maternal and therefore a big help to me when it comes to watching her younger brothers and sister, and of course they adore her too. Ana is simply amazing, everyone who meets her loves her and wishes they could take her home, but she is mine and her daddy's girl and we don't share.

International Adoption Poster Child - Mindra

Finally after 8 years of asking, nagging and trying to convince Jerry that we should adopt a little girl, he finally agreed, I was so excited. I had decided to work through HOLT Children's Services since I didn't know of any other adoption agencies and so we began. We decided on a special needs child and would preview the HOLT HI families magazine every other month when it arrived, looking through the special needs kids pictures and short bios in search of our little girl. And, once we found some little girls we were interested in we had to send in our request to be considered. October 31, 1996 Jerry was home for lunch when he received a phone call telling us we had been chosen for a little girl from Romania named Gabor. Her name was actually Mindra Gabor and she was a petite little Gypsy, we announced our good fortune to the family on Thanksgiving that year. The first of many scowls and why's were forthcoming. We were sent some great medical information on her and I took it to a pediatrician and then a psychiatrist for input. The psychiatrist said he thought she was mentally retarded, the pediatrician thought probably just failure to thrive. Jerry wasn't worried at all stating his gut feeling was she was fine and not to worry. We made the decision that Jerry would travel to Romania alone and I would stay home with the boys, and in July 1998 he left to go get our little girl. After a few days of not hearing from him I began to get worried and contacted the agency who in turn contacted their contacts in Romania. The first few days with Mindra had been eventful for Jerry, Mindra had contracted food poisoning and ended up in a Romanian hospital for a couple of days. In Romania men did not care for children so Jerry staying at the hospital with Mindra was a little unusual but I think they were pretty impressed by it. After she was released from the hospital her and daddy stayed at a hotel where Mindra was not quite content. She wanted to go, go, go and daddy didn't know where to take her but they frequented a park nearby and she made friends with the hotel staff. When I spoke with Jerry after the agency contacted him, his first words were "oh Kathy, she is so sweet, she should be the poster child for International adoption." Mindra or Mindy as she quickly became known and her daddy arrived at the Denver Airport July 17, 1998 to be greeted by her Grandma Alice, Uncle Dan, Aunt Therese and cousins Alyssa and Eric and her very excited mom and brothers who adored their little sister and actually still do. She really was a sweetheart and her brother Joey loved her beyond measure, she had been home 10 months when Joey had become sick and a year when we headed to Disney World for Make a Wish. She still remembers Joey and writes poems for him. Mindy loves to dance well actually she loves to wiggle, swing, flip, well move, she never stps moving she dances when she does dishes or on her way to her room. And she is a beautiful dancer, lyrical ballet, jazz and tap. She is also a really good student and although she is not as sweet as when she first came home shw is still sweet (most of the time). Mindy is currently a Junior in high school and this year will compete in dance competetion and travel to Washington D.C for a school trip. Mindy is hoping to become a dentist after high school and is working hard toward that goal.

I hate that baby!

I hate that baby was the greeting that Will gave to his baby brother Joseph Dean every morning for the first 6 months I think. Joey was born July 19, 1988 and was such a sweet baby or at least compared to Will. Joey loved his big brothers and was very quiet more like Andy then Will. In the car we always had to have Will sit between Joey and Andy because they fought and aurgued, Will would fall asleep and since he was such a grouch no one needlessly bothered him and therefore the trip was much more peaceful. Joey or Joe-bear as I nicknamed him, was and still is my hero. If you ask his friends they will describe Joey as fair, nice to everyone and that he never spoke mean or bad about anyone. Joey always wanted to be a teacher, he loved school and taught everyone about faith and spirituality. When Joey was about 3 we moved across the street from Matt Landrum. He was just a few months younger then Joey and they were best friends throughout elementary. Joey was extremely shy and Matts' mom Lynda told me that when Joey first began going to their house to play with Matt she would speak to him and he would leave so she just didn't say anything and he would play. JOey and Matt were so cute when they played or fought, when they got mad at each other they would each stand in front of their houses across the street from each other and yell that the other was not their best friend anymore. This usually only lasted a short time but I found it extremely cute. As they got older they were almost inseperable and when it came time to eat they would find out which parent was cooking the best meal and that is where they would both eat, sometimes they ate at both houses if they liked what we were both having. When Joey was in the 5th grade our family moved to Alliance and Joey and his brothers with the addition of their new little sister, began school in Hemingford. Joey became sick and the Dr.'s decided that it was due to stress of moving and starting a new school. We moved him to Alliance schools so he would be closer to his dad and his little sister who was in kindergarten in Alliance. Joey made great friends and began to feel better then in May 1999 he became sick with what everyone thought was the flu but in actuality it was a brain tumor. Joey was flown to Denver Children's Hospital where he underwent surgery, chemo and radiation. After 6 weeks of treatment we returned home for his 11th birthday party with his best friends especially Matt and TJ Cline then we flew to Disney World in Florida where we attempted to enjoy our family time together. Joey was extremely sick most of the time, all the chemo and radiation was apparently still in his system and he felt awful. His funnest time I think was picking the fastest, scariest rides to make his Dad ride on since Dad does not like heights, or fast carnival rides. The trip was memorable but not great. The family returned to Alliance and in the fall Joey began 6th grade half a day. He loved school as I mentioned and therefore he loved being back into his routine with his friends, his dad or I attended everyday with him as by now he required a wheelchair to get around and other assistance. October 31, 1999 was the saddest day of our lives as we lost our angel Joey when he joined Jesus in Heaven.

The Host Child - Marina

We hosted Marina for a Christmas trip in 2006 from the Ukraine. That was quite an experience, there had been a blizzard in our part of the world and Denver Airport was closed so we had to drive to Omaha for me to catch the airplane to NYC to meet Marina. So I leave Omaha late due to the weather to Atlanta where I missed the flight due to the late take off in Omaha so I spend the night in Atlanta, contact Dan Roberts of Kids to Adopt adoption agency who had organized the host trip to let him know and arrangements are made for just in case I don't make it to NYC before everyone else takes off. Well I do make it and Marina and I hang out in the JFK airport in NYC for 6 hours until our return flight to Nebraska where Jerry and the other kids are waiting for. We arrive really late at night and Jerry decides rather than get a motel room for the night he will drive all night to get home. So once Marina reached Alliance she was exhausted as we all were but she had, had experience the jet lag from Ukraine, to NYC to Omaha to Alliance where it took her a couple days to rest up before she started to get to know everyone. Marina spent 3 weeks over the holiday with our family and we fell in love with her and decided to go forward with the adoption. After Marina returned to the Ukraine Jerry and I moved quickly to get all the paperwork in before her 16th birthday January 24th. It all worked out and in December 2007 Marina officially became Marina Grace Gibbons and came home to join the ranks of being the oldest daughter in a large family. Marina has had a rather difficult time adjusting to rules, the concept of family and not being the only child. She is currently working on her GED and preparing for her wedding Dec. 30, 2009 to Lyman Aguallo. She is doing great on her education and we are very proud of her.

The Birth of William

September 2, 1986 Jerry and I welcomed our handsome boy William Scott after a long labor. He has always been demanding, doing things on his own time, never in a hurry unless it suits him. Poor Andy he was so good and Will gave us hell from his birth when he came out screaming and he hasn't shut-up yet, but I still love him. He had the darkest, thickest head of hair but 23 years later it is not so thick! Will was small when he was younger, and loved to get his older brother in trouble. School was a challenge for him and I was so proud when he graduated from high school not just because he graduated but because two years earlier on Nov. 7, 2002 Will headed to school and rolled his car. He was apparently thrown from the car and broke his neck C-4-5 with a fracture to C 7. I can still remember the Dr. telling Jerry and I that he would never walk again or have feeling below his shoulders. Will being Will had other plans and although he came home from the rehab hospitial 3 months later and returned to school to finish his sophmore year, he parked his electric wheelchair May 23, 2003 and began using his Canadian crutches. He does everything on those crutches, hunts, hikes, fishes, dates, drinks, etc. He is a real wild man!! And as with his big brother Andy, I love him soooooo much. Will still lives at home but I think it is only because he likes the free rent and mom's cooking! That was a joke he is always complaining I never cook, but still he stays. I hope that someday he can find a women who will put up with his attitude.

The Kids in Order: ANDREW

I thought since I was doing this I would tell a little information about each of our children in order of their birth. Andrew Paul Gibbons was born to Jerry and I on April 27, 1985. Andy was such a good baby, he hardly ever fussed and loved everyone and everything. He was almost too easy, I should have known his young adulthood would be a challenge. Andy began school in Chadron, moved to Gering for 1st thru 7th grade and completed his education at Hemingford. Andy was my klutz I think I was in the emergency room with him every other day for stitches or x-rays for something. He graduated from Hemingford in 2003 and went on to Mitchell Technical College in Mitchell, SD where he graduated with an Associates degree in SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquistion), not sure how to eplain what he does except that he is my redneck nerd who is a brain on the computers or anything else technical. While Andy was in college he met his beautiful wife Cassandra Dawn Koch from Joy, Illinois and they were married in a nice family ceremony in Joy July 16, 2005. They currently live in Mitchell, Nebraska with their adorable children Joseph Ronald DOB: 10/31/2007 and his cute as a button sister Addie Nichole DOB:2/27/2009. (I'll have lots more to write about them later.