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Scuba Diving in the Cayman Islands!
 The boys finally got their official PADI Scuba Certification so we headed off to the Cayman Islands again. It was incredible diving with them in the open ocean. We did caves, walls and even night dives with them. They are so relaxed and natural in the water. Check out some of the photos at Morgan's web site or at Cayman's web site.
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Deb honored by the San Diego Business Journal
- In 2003, Deb was the recipient of the San Diego Business Journal's "Women Who Mean Business" award for her many years helping San Diego companies grow. Click on the article link to read the full story.
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What were Cayman and Morgan Gibb up to in 2003?
- BMX Racing, RC car racing, PADI Scuba Certification and a great trip to the Cayman Islands, LEGO mania (Cayman), skate boarding and roller blading in the pool, and the memorable Cedar Fire!
Check out their 2003 adventures at Morgan's web site or at Cayman's web site.
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Season's Greetings . . . our 2003 Christmas letter.
 It's that time of year when we stop the daily hustle and bustle and take a moment to reflect on the past year and let our close friends know what we've been up to. We think about you frequently and will try to stay in touch more often in 2004!
 As many of you know San Diego had some horrendous fires in October. Tom had just returned from a trip to Korea on Saturday and was looking forward to a relaxing Sunday to recover from the jet lag. It was also the first day of daylight savings time so we were all looking forward to sleeping in for that extra hour. Around 7 am Morgan woke us all up when he announced, "Mom, Dad, get up! I think Mars is falling!". The sky was dark, mixed with red and orange and the moon was bright red. The air was starting to smell smokey so we immediately closed the windows and turned on the TV in search of news. Not finding anything, we figured there was a fire somewhere far off in the distance and the Santa Ana winds were just blowing some smoke our way. So, despite the colorful sky, we began our Sunday morning routine as normal. We kept the TV on thinking we might hear more news.
 About 8am Tom left on his usual run to get some Starbucks, donuts and a newspaper. Just for the heck of it, he took an alternate route toward the east. To his surprise, he saw flames on the hillsides and police were driving through the neighborhoods blasting "evacuation" messages. He called Deb from his cell phone and said, "Start packing. The fire is almost here!". No Starbucks today!
 Tom headed for home and as he turned down a road about half a mile from our house he could see a 30 foot wall of flames only a few feet from those homes. When Deb got Tom's call she assumed he was over reacting. Still, she told the boys to pack up some school clothes and that Dad was on his way home. Tom pulled into the driveway within seconds and started to describe what he had seen. He immediately ran to the neighbors to get them out of bed and make sure they prepared to evacuate. He gave Cayman instructions to videotape the house, inside and out, and told Morgan to get all the pictures off the walls. Deb's focus was on critical computers, backup disks, tax records and the safe. Within 20 minutes we had the car and van packed with just those items. We figured the rest was just "stuff". T he kids were just great. No panic, just action!
By now, the news of the fire, which had started in Ramona (some 40 miles away), was all over the TV and radio (but we were too busy packing to watch). It was very quiet on our street and we figured everyone was just at church and it would be all over by this evening. We'd have evacuated just as a precaution, and life would return to normal on Monday. Ha! Little did we know. We began to get phone calls from worried friends who had seen some warnings on TV about Scripps Ranch (our neighborhood). We were so busy packing the cars and chatting with the neighbors, we didn't hear the phone and we didn't realize how the Santa Ana winds had increased the speed and size of the fire. By 9am, the police were doing their final sweep of the neighborhood streets and came upon us chatting with our neighbors. They insisted we "get out now". W e were ready to roll, so we did.
 As we drove west (the only way out), we were surprised to see the fire just a few hundred yards to our left. It was actually keeping pace with the car as we drove out of the now abandoned neighborhood. By the time we reached a major intersection, about 2 miles away, the fire was ahead of us, but still to our left and about to cross the 12 lanes of Highway 15. The sights we were seeing were unbelievable.
 This was a picture we took as we came out of the ranch and had the fire to our backs. We still can't believe we had just driven through that and that it was moving so fast. Right then and there, the kids knew that the warnings we had prepared them for might actually come true. The fire was so big and it happened so fast. The firemen didn't even have a chance to react. The ranch was being consumed and many homes would be lost. Our home was directly in it's path and would probably not make it.
 We said our goodbyes and prayed that all our friends, neighbors and pets got out in time. In the days and weeks that followed the fire continued to ravage San Diego county and over 3,000 homes were lost (about 400 in Scripps Ranch). It was over a month before the fire was out.
Three days later we were allowed to return home and we found out our house had survived. The huge eucalyptus grove we call Scripps Ranch looked like a war zone. All that was left of our neighborhood was rubble, shells of cars and home appliances sprinkled with a few completely untouched homes. We were one of the lucky families. Now, nearly two months later, most of our friends have found homes to rent within 10 miles and their kids are still able to see their friends each day at school. Rebuilding will happen in mass almost as if they were rebuilding a new tract of homes for the first time. By next Christmas, we hope to have all our neighbors settled back into the neighborhood in their new homes. It was quite an experience.
 There were actually 3 separate fires burning in San Diego county at the same time. The Cedar Fire was the largest. In case you are wondering about the other Scribners well-being during this time, click on the map to the left and you'll get an overview of the fires, our family and the fire details.
The rest of the year was eventful although in a good way. After spending a year working from home Deb started a new job as Vice President of Operations for ProfitLine, an up and coming telecom management company. While she had every intention of making this a low stress job, she just can't seem to let her energy and enthusiasm slow her down. It's a great company with a great team. ProfitLine and was named one of the best companies to work for in 2003 and one of Inc. Magazine's fastest growing companies 2 years in a row. Deb was also recognized this year as being one of San Diego's Top 25 Women Who Mean Business! Go figure!
Tom celebrated his 5th year at Websense, an Internet software company. He was promoted to taking on Sales for all of their Asia-Pacific region. Tom gets to travel throughout Asia (China, Australia, Korea and Southeast Asia) while managing the sales teams based in those countries.
Cayman and Morgan are in 7th grade will have turned 13 by the time you read this. Morgan has continued to race BMX bikes and even had a summer job coaching at a BMX training camp. Cayman spends his time building LEGO's and enjoys going to the movies and roller-blading. In July both boys became Certified on SCUBA and we went to Grand Cayman for family dive vacation. We all had a blast diving (in spite of a 2-day break due to a tropical hurricane). We're looking forward to another dive trip this summer.
Tom's parents are doing well, and we see them often. Deb's Dad is also doing well and adjusting to retirement without Marcy.
All in all it was a year of excitement and change. We hope this holiday news finds you all healthy and happy.
Best wishes to you and yours from the Gibb Family.
Tom, Debbie, Cayman, and Morgan
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