Worth a Thousand Words

My Goals

“Never let the things which matter most be at the mercy of things which matter least.” –Marion D. Hanks

Ever since my mom sent me a binder full of stories about my ancestors I have had a desire to know more about them. Who they were. What they were like. I also know the importance of recording our own lives so that those we leave behind can have a part of us and know what we loved and valued. My dad passed away when I was 14 and he left very little of his own thoughts behind. Although others can tell me his story it is not the same. It is their story and not his.

Procrastination. It is far too easy for me to say, “I will write in my journal next Sunday” or “I will call Aunt So-and-So next week.” Pretty soon, “next week” has turned into months. I need to make an effort every day to record something and get over putting it off for “just one more day”.

Short term goal: write in my journal at least once a week

Medium: Gather stories and pictures about my dad from my siblings

Long term goal: Find ancestors who need temple work done

Challenges that may derail my goals:

Journal: simply forgetting or too tired at night

Stories about my dad: getting siblings to commit and follow through with getting me their stories and pictures

Find ancestors: will be very time consuming, to find ancestors whose work is not done will require going back several generations to where it is difficult to find information

Plans that will enable me to realize my goals:

Journal: set journal next to bed where I will see it every night, set aside a specific time on Sunday to write (immediately after Sunday dinner)

Stories of Dad: call brothers and sister and explain what I want, email my nieces and nephew who were old enough to remember him, send weekly reminders (occasional phone calls) until information is received.

Find ancestors: make sure my files are as complete as possible, contact every aunt and cousin who could help me track down work that has already been done, set aside time monthly (for now) to spend on searching (on internet or go to family history center)

My Goals:

Get accepted into Social Work program at BYUI

Daily:

· schedule time for homework everyday

· make sure assignments are in on time

Weekly:

· Check GPA

· Research possible career paths

· Talk to professors to see how I am doing

· Write down ideas for application essay

Other:

· Meet with academic advisor to discuss my status and requirements needed (by first week of May 2013)

Deadlines: Before Summer 2014

· Take Social Work 260 (req. B- or higher)

· Math 221C Statistics (req. C or higher)

Application by March 2014 (for Fall 2014 semester)

Go on a Caribbean vacation

Daily:

· At least 45 minutes of exercise (5 days/week)

· Follow healthy eating program

Weekly:

· Research destinations

· Set aside $150 each paycheck (twice a month)

Other:

• Find babysitter to stay with children
• Make reservations by June 31^st

Compile a Book of Remembrance about my Dad

Daily:

· Keep all collected information in box next to computer so easily accessible

· Use extra free time to work on book

Weekly:

· Email reminder to siblings, nieces and nephews until I receive all requested information

· Schedule time weekly to work on transcribing, photos editing, etc.

· Research printing and binding options

Other:

· Email all siblings, nieces, and nephews asking for stories, memories, and photos about my dad

Deadline: Have books printed by end of November 2013 and give as Christmas gifts to siblings and mom

Vaun Buxton Hillman

Born on June 15, 1938 in Driggs, Idaho, Vaun Buxton Hillman was the youngest of seven children born to Gheen Hillman and Eva Buxton. (Birth Certificate) He was raised on a farm at the mouth of Darby Canyon, just a few miles south of Driggs, Idaho. (Woolstenhulme 2013)

Vaun met Velma Avonne (Avon) at a party at Vaun’s house when he was a junior in high school and Avon was a freshman. They quickly became friends and started dating. They loved to dance and would go to the Gold and Green Balls held all over Teton Valley. In high school Vaun played on the football and basketball teams for Teton High School. He was voted best dressed his junior year and was Senior Class President. After graduation he attended Utah State University. (Woolstenhulme 2013) Two years later, after Avon graduated, they were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on August 27, 1958. (Marriage Certificate)

Vaun loved to tease and play jokes on others, just like his father. One of his favorite tricks was to make divinity candy out of soap. The Hillmans were all great candy makers and Vaun made wonderful divinity, which means he got a lot of people with that trick. He also loved to sing (although he could not carry a tune) and he had a little song or saying for every situation. (Van Orden)

Vaun was well liked by everyone because he was such a good friend to all who knew him. He was a very caring man and would do anything to help anyone in need. He especially loved young people and loved his job teaching high school math. He loved his children very much and they knew it without question. Vaun also had a very tender heart and it did not take much to bring tears to his eyes. (Van Orden)

Vaun and Avon loved everything about the outdoors. They loved to ski, hike, and camp together as a family. One of their favorite pastimes was Dutch oven cooking. Together, they ran a Dutch oven catering business during the summers called Old West Catering. The business flourished and they spent many summer weekends catering for large events. (Van Orden) It was while cleaning up after one such job that Vaun had a massive heart attack and died on June 13, 1992. (Death Certificate)

Works Cited

Birth Certificate for Vaun Buxton Hillman, 15 June 1938, File No. 268700, State of Idaho Department of Public Health. Copy in possession of author.

Death Certificate for Vaun Buxton Hillman, 13 June 1992, File No. 3535, Idaho State Department of Health. Copy in possession of author.

Marriage Certificate, Vaun Buxton Hillman to Velma Avonne Woolstenhulme, 27 October 1924, Boise, Idaho. Department of Public Health. Copy in possession of author.

Van Orden, Mandee, knowledge, [Blackfoot, Idaho].

Woolstenhulme, Velma Avonne, interview by Mandee Hillman VanOrden. (March 12, 2013).

Gheen Hillman

Gheen Hillman was born on August 28, 1899 to Joseph Silas Hillman and Lydia Manette Robison. He was born in Mammoth, Juab, Utah. (Idaho 1960) In the year 1900, his family moved to Driggs, Idaho and he spent the rest of his life in Teton Valley. (Breckenridge 2013) He married Eva Buxton on October 27, 1924 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. (Idaho 1924) They were blessed with seven children, three sons and four daughters. (Breckenridge 2013)

Gheen was a firm believer in getting a good education even though he only finished high school. He was very gifted when it came to numbers and could logically think through any math problem until it was solved. (Breckenridge 2013) During his school years, he would ride his horse back and forth to school. To pass the time he would memorize short poems that he called memory gems. He kept the poems in small notebooks that he always carried with him. He always remembered these memory gems and would often quote them to his children during teaching moments. (Hillman 2013 )

Gheen was well liked by all who knew him. He was a tease and loved to pull jokes on others. He also enjoyed it just as much if the joke was pulled on him. He had a little electric box, which he would crank up to get an electric shock. He loved to get people to hold hands and feel the electrical shock. One of the jokes he loved to do was to pull someone out of bed and drag them to a nearby ditch of water where he threw them in. When the Darby Ward would go to the springs for a ward, party he dunked everyone young and old. (Breckenridge 2013)

Gheen was not a member of a church, but he would often say, “If you are not involved in church then you should be involved in community activities.” (Hillman 2013 ) He served as a member and chairman of the Teton County School Board for eleven years. He was president of the Teton County Farm Bureau. He served as secretary of the Garden Water Co. for about twenty years, starting at the age of sixteen. He was a director and secretary on the Darby Pipe Line. In Darby there was a community threshing machine. Gheen served as a member of the board and also assisted with the threshing. (Breckenridge 2013)

Although he was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Gheen was very supportive of all their projects and activities. The church house in Darby, Idaho burned down on a Sunday morning in February of about 1946. Gheen was there and generously offered to let the ward hold meetings in the house he and Eva were remodeling. When the Darby ward asked for donations for a new church, Gheen was the first person to hand them a check for $1000.00. He was also the first to volunteer his time and also his team of horses to help haul logs from the canyon for the new church house. (Hillman 2013 )

Gheen was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in February of 1960. When the bishop was interviewing him before he was baptized he said, “Gheen, when you join, you have an obligation to want to join for yourself and not because your wife and children want you to join.” He replied, “I want you to know when I join the church I’ll join because I want to and not because someone has pushed me into it.” (Breckenridge 2013) Just two months later, he died of a heart attack on April 8, 1960. (Idaho 1960)

Works Cited

Breckenridge, Ronelle Hillman, interview by Mandee Hillman VanOrden. (March 13, 2013).

Idaho. Bonneville. (1924) Marriage Certificate, Gheen Hillman to Eva Buxton, 27 October 1924, Bonneville County, Idaho. County Recorder's Office, Idaho Falls, Idaho. Copy in possession of author.

Idaho. Ada. (1960) Death Certificate for Gheen Hillman,16 April 1960, File No. 58943, Idaho State Department of Health. Copy in possession of author.

Hillman, John Alfred, interview by Mandee Hillman VanOrden. (March 12, 2013).

Four Generations

Sammy the Inventor

Sammy inherited the “creative gene” from my smoking hot wife.  He inherited his attention span from his father.  He was really excited this year to participate in the annual Invent Idaho contest, to be held during March.  Due to my work schedule, March is perhaps the craziest month of the year for our family.  Add into the mix that Mommy was in the process of finishing up her first semester returning to college, and you can imagine that the stress level was a bit higher than normal in our household.  Needless to say, a certain mother and father did not share in their son’s excitement for the contest.  We may or may not have even tried to bribe the child to get out of it.  Thank goodness that Sammy has a very creative uncle (thank you Gheen) that shared in his enthusiasm.  His masterpiece invention was the Legovac.

Other than some help from his Uncle Gheen on the assembly of the prototype, Sammy did all of the work for his invention on his own.  He was very proud of himself (and so were we).

His hard work and creativity were rewarded with the first place prize in his age and category at the local competition.  His invention was then sent on to the state-wide contest where he was awarded first place again.

We are hoping that he keeps some of his incredible inventing skills for the future so that he can be our “retirement plan.”

The beginning of my life story…

On my first day of second grade the teacher asked if any of us had a nickname that we preferred to go by. I immediately raised my hand and asked if she would call me Amanda. Unfortunately, she discovered that my name was not Amanda and therefore refused my request.
My mom had often told me about how when I was born she wanted to name me Amanda. My sisters, however, would not hear of it. I was born just five days before Halloween and they said Amanda sounded like a witch (because of a television show that was on at that time). Consequently, I became Mandee **. In elementary school I always wished my name was Amanda and would always choose that name when playing house or other games. Yet by the time I was in junior high, I loved that my name was not Amanda like all other Mandy’s, and I have loved my name ever since. I especially love the spelling. Mandee with two e’s just sounds so much better than Mandy with a y!
I was born on October **, ** in **** in the *** Hospital to my parents V and V, or A as she was known to everyone. I was the youngest of five children; born six years after the last child and a bit of a surprise.
As the youngest of five siblings I think I was pretty spoiled. We were pretty spread apart in age and so in some ways I often felt as though I was an only child. When I was born, my oldest brother K was eighteen, C was sixteen, J was twelve and G was six. By the time I was four, K and C were both married. A year later, J graduated from high school and moved out. After that it was only G and me at home until he left on his mission, when I was twelve. However, even before that, he was gone a lot with friends and involved in school activities. Although I would often daydream about finding a long lost twin sister (and would even imagine what her name was, things we would do together, how our room would be decorated), there were positive aspects of having much older siblings. Not only did I have four older siblings, but I have always viewed their spouses as older brothers and sisters as well.
I became an aunt at the age of five and loved visiting my siblings and playing with my nieces and nephews, who I adored. My parents always made a point to visit them as often as possible, no matter how far away they lived. When I was a little older, I would often get to go by myself and stay with C for a week during the summer. I was even able to stay with K a few times before they moved to Florida.

I would be the tall dorky one in front. Followed by my nephew Evan, and nieces Brittney and Maryn.

My relationship with K has always been a little distant. The night before K left on his mission I walked across the living room for the first time. I was eight months old. When he came home I was two and half years old and had no idea who this strange guy was. It wasn't too much later that he married D and they moved to Alaska. When I was about eight they moved back to Provo for a while and I was able to spend more time with them. However, it was not too many years before they moved to Florida and I was only able to visit a few times. The difference in our ages and the physical distance has made it difficult to develop much of a relationship. In the years since I have been married and they have lived in Arizona, I have been able to get to know my brother and his wife a little better. Through visits and following D’s blog I have really come to admire them both so much. They have such strong testimonies and have dedicated their lives to doing what is right and serving God. I also look up to them as parents and the bond that they have been able to develop with their children. I wish we could see each other more often because I love being around them.

Kelly and me at the airport as he returns home from his mission. 1980

C married P when I was four and I was an aunt at age five. She lived in Utah a few years, then moved to Washington state and then to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I didn't see her often but I loved going to stay with her during the summer. I liked to think that I was going to help her and to babysit my niece and nephews, but I don’t know if I was really much help. As I got older these visits helped me to have a stronger “sister” relationship with C. The summer before my sophomore year she decided it was about time that I started wearing makeup. She bought me everything I would need and taught me how to wear it. After I graduated from high school, they moved to Boise, Idaho. That was when we really became friends. My mom had just sold our house and was living in Island Park for part of the year and different places the rest of the year. C’s house became my second home. That is where we would spend holidays and I would often take off for a weekend and go stay with her. After I was done at Ricks College she convinced me to move to Boise and I lived with her for a month until I found an apartment and roommates. C became my stability and my home. Even now, years later and even though they have moved to another state, I still feel like I am going home when I walk into her house. We talk on the phone often and she is usually the one I want to call when I have exciting news to share or have need of advice.

Cindy and Me 1980

J always like to tell me how she is the reason I was born because she prayed me here. At some point she decided she wanted a little sister and would pester my parents continually about it. They would just shake their heads and tell her they were done having children. Nevertheless, she was determined and prayed constantly for a little sister and she even had a dream about her little sister. Eventually my mom discovered she was pregnant. When I was born J said I looked just like the baby in her dream. When I was five J graduated from high school and moved to Washington D.C. to be a nanny. I remember her living in Salt Lake City, Utah for a while and then in Denver, Colorado. I remember her always doting on me when we would see her but it wasn’t until she moved backed to R when I was fifteen, after my dad died, that I got to know her better. She was married to F and my niece S was just a baby.

Dad, Me, Mom, Jolene, Frank October 1990

G and I should have been a little closer, considering we were so much younger than the others, but there was just enough of a difference in our age that I never really got to know him while we were at home. I remember him building forts for me when I was little or letting me drive him like a car (while he was laying on his back I would sit on his stomach and put my feet on his hands like gas petals). However, as he got older and more involved with activities outside the home, he was not around much. I idolized him and thought he was just amazingly cool, but I was shy and terrified to talk to him. I would often avoid being in the same room with him because I didn’t know what to say or how to act. He married B when I was sixteen and she did a lot to help us become closer. They lived in R and even lived with us for a few months. B and I became good friends; in fact she has always felt just like a sister. I still feel a little intimidated around G, but our relationship has grown and I love to spend time with him and his family.

Me and Gheen 1979

I grew up in the same house through my childhood and high school. It was a white house with red trim on *** T Drive in R, ***. My parents loved to garden and we had a beautiful yard. In the backyard we had two cherry trees that were covered in pink blossoms in the spring. There were two apple trees, a plum tree and lots of quaking aspen. There was a vegetable garden in each corner with raspberry bushes in the back of one. There were beautiful flowers everywhere and I remember the smell of the honeysuckle and lilacs. I also remember eating gooseberries right off the bush and dipping fresh rhubarb in sugar. My dad built a fire pit that we spent many summer evenings around, roasting marshmallows and singing camp songs as a family.
One of my favorite memories in our backyard was the ice skating rink that my parents made during the winter. They would shovel the snow away and then spend weeks running sprinklers and moving them around until there was a thick layer of ice. Then they would spend more days running more water until the ice was smooth enough (at least somewhat) to skate on. We would have neighborhood or church groups over for skating parties. My dad would have a fire going in the fire pit and make hot chocolate over it. I would spend hours out there pretending to be an Olympic figure skater. In the spring when the ice would melt it would flood the basement. After a few years of this my parents gave up on the idea but I still remember those winters as some of my favorite.

Ice skating in the backyard with friends. 1988

My Family  1980