AN OPERATION FOR SUZANNE

Sue has been having a lot of pain many places, but especially in her right hand. It finally got to where the doctor said an operation is not really an option any more so today she went under the knife. We'll all say our prayers for a speedy and relatively free of pain recovery. Keep us posted Suzanne.

This is the "before" pciture.

The anesthetist administering his magic juice

The blue thing lower left is her hand.

Post operative recovery. Really sore fingers.

A treat for a good patient.  A shake.

She'd been fasting for quite

awhile  and this is what she was craving.

UPDATE ON SASHY (aka Alexandra)

Another lovely grand daughter to catch up on.  Let's hear it from SASHY.

After I finished my assignment working for the podiatrist, I decided to quit my job at Victoria's Secret (retail is not my calling in life) and quickly got a job as a server at Cracker Barrel. As of now, I am absolutely loving it as well as the fine tips I am able to make! I am also attending the singles ward with Danielle in which I serve as a visiting teaching coordinator and accompany Dano each Sunday to the family history center where we index a lot, a lot, a lot.

In my spare time, I go to UVU and though I am not a huge fan of my classes this semester, I am 51% complete with my associates degree and will be finished by the end of this year. (The average completion time for the assoicates degree is two years and I willl be finishing mine in one.) {Good on you, Sashy}

As for the miscellaneous aspects of my life... Curtis and I are no longer "together" but we have remained good friends. Brannigan is nearly a year old and though sometimes a menace, Mom is absolutely amazing with him, and just today, called him my "brother." How cute is that?!

Then Sashy sent me this great picture of her family.  It's a WOW!

If you have never looked at Sashy's blog, I encourage you to do so.  She is a very talented writer and it is delightful to read.  She has a flair!  (Just click on the right side of this blog, Sha-Sha Speaks).

Here's a delightful entry she made recently.

Do you guys remember over the summer when planking was a big deal? As much as I wanted to, I never participated because I thought it was much too cliche. (I know, I'm weird like that.) But now, planking has died down so ladies and gents, I present to you, my first planking experience:

Now that is using some amazing core muscles.

But then I took it one step further. Keke told me about 'Owling.' That's right. It's when you perch on things (like an owl, of course). It's almost funner than planking:

You have to be young and agile to do that!

Thanks Sashy for brightening our day!

UPDATE ON ARIA

I've been asking for and getting some updates on some of the older grandkids.  Today we feature:

ARIA

Here's her report:

"Of course I can spare some time for the blog, it's my pleasure! And so far we're doing okay, we're just working out some of the little kinks that come with the beginning of season. We will be traveling to Arizona over Spring Break (March 12-19) for a tournament and that should be pretty exciting. I am starting out as left fielder and I do occasionally get the opportunity to pitch. I think I'm hitting pretty well too.

I will graduate in May this year with my associates. I want to do wedding planning, so I am going to try and major in Event planning (I love the idea of being a wedding planner) and minor in business. We'll see though, it's pretty up in the air. I want to go to BYU Hawaii next year to play softball, but I'm not sure they want me or not yet. My friends and I have a good time, we make videos and think we are hilarious. Whether or not anyone else does is a different story, but we humor ourselves. I don't really know anything else to tell you, hopefully I think this is a decent overview of what I'm doing. Life isn't too exciting but I love it still! I hope you are doing well, I miss you!" (and we miss you too, Aria!)

Here's some shots of Aria.

Now that's some action!

Helping out at the chili feed.

Chili feed.  They are taking care of the cash box.

Traveling outfits.  That's their bus in the background.
She's the cutie on the left.

Dorm parents gathering.  Aria being a big sister.

Aria, front row, 2nd from right.

UPDATE ON MARK & LIZ SANDERS

We have been married about 4 months now and LOVING it. After a honeymoon in Mexico and a Christmas in Hawaii with Liz's family, we settled down in El Dorado Hills, CA.  We really like our apartment (see attached photos). We chose El Dorado Hills because Liz got a job in admissions at a skilled nursing facility call the Pines at Placerville.  It is roughly 20 minutes from our apartment - towards South Lake Tahoe.  She has worked there for a little more than a month and has already recieved a pay raise and promotion.  I have passed my real estate test and am now a Realtor.  I am deciding what company to work for and will know within the week. I like it so far and happy to be doing it.

Life is great here in California.  We miss the people in Utah, but happy to be home closer to both families and living it up here in El Dorado Hills.  We really like that it is 75 degrees and sunny today

Our study

View from the apartment deck

A WORK IN PROGRESS

Ruth's been working on a doll house, fixing it up and doing some redecorating.  Looks cute! A neighbor gave it to her and it begged to be worked on. AS some of you know, Ruth is writing a children's book that is going to be wonderful.  She is well into it and has some wonderful illustrations.  Ken and Dennis are being very supportive of the project. 

Here's what she wrote.

"A woman in town gave it to me a year or so ago when none of her children or relatives wanted it.  It was made by her father in the 1940's or so, and apparently he was also a member of the "good enough construction company" club, as I am.  Parts of it were wood from old drawers, parts of it were pressed cardboard.  I removed all the cardboard parts was left with the two sides of the house and the second floor pretty much.  I replaced them with plywood, the whole thing is CERTAINLY not level, the windows are crooked, both the ones cut by her father and the new ones cut by me. "

"The bucket under the kitchen sink is an old rubber foot that fell off my broken ironing board as I was taking it out to be discarded.  I was getting ready to throw it away, saw that it looked like old metal, and said, "Hey......"

I papered the walls with scrapbook paper. The kitchen's the most complete room, but there's still more to add! Best tip I've learned so far: clear fingernail polish on plastic sheeting makes WONDERFUL wavy-glass windows!

"It is PERFECT for "The Littles", as it's a little haphazard and homemade, and all the dolls that the Littles are based on will live in it.  I have a more elegant and factory made kit for a much nicer and grander dollhouse that will be for "The Petites".  They're going to be discovered later in the attic.  "Why didn't you yell?", the discoverer, possibly Elizabeth, will ask.  "We do not yell." The Petites will sniff.  They will be very proper in contrast with the Littles and I have storylines planned for both. 

"I also built some of the kitchen cabinets, the three-decker bunkbed (still to be painted) and the chandelier (on the floor in the nursemaid's room). The other things were either things I had on hand or from kits that I built and modified, including the stove and sink!"

"The three little bisque dolls I won for a song on ebay. They'd been dug up at a factory in Thuringia, Germany. I'm going to paint them and turn them into boy triplets! I am having SO MUCH FUN with this, and there is still so much to do. I'll send pictures every now and then as I make progress."

The fireplace was too short (I thought) and not "beefy" enough so I added the topper with an old paper clockface I had on hand and did the tiling, using the same little mosaic tiles I used in the kitchen. 

I made the orange humpback sofa from scratch, using spare wood from old drawers that were originally part of the back wall but that were piecemeal so had to be removed. I then tufted some furry old orange fabric, because of course orange is the first color you think of when it comes to humpback sofas.

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

Allow me to introduce the newest addition to our family.  ((here's a pronunciation that might help - Zane'zlee - long A and long E and slur the zlee together).  Lavona is Quinton's 100 year old -still living- grandmother.  Hope that's right Eddy and Rhiannon!

What a pretty baby and she looks like she's ready to take on the world.

Zaynzley LaVona Carlton born 01 March 2012 @ 7:57 AM

9lbs 14 ozs
21 inches in length
Rhiannon is doing great!

thanks for all your thoughts and prayers :)

HAPPY MARCH 1ST.

Did your March 1st come in like a lion or a lamb?