CHRISTMAS 2013 PHOTOS




Is it really Christmas yet ?

 


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Smile its time for Christmas Photos Nov.1, 2013



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Real Pearls



Ron giving me advice

 Ron giving me advice.

Fall of 2013



Walking from the Mesa Arizona Temple

 Walking from the Mesa Temple.

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Enjoying the cool fall weather.

My 75th Birthday

May 7, 2012
 My younger sister Julie Marchant came to visit for my 75th  birthday.We had a great time. We celebrated both my husband and my birthdays.

We had an Ambrosia cake which my niece Claudia Thelin had made for us. It was delicious with Ice Cream.Some of the grandkids and family came to celebrate with us. There were about 25 present. Several small gifts were appreciated from our family. Dozen red roses from my daughter for Mothers Day.

    The day before my birthday our fridge freezer went out. So we were off shopping for a new fridge freezer combo. We found the best deal at Spencers store. It was getting dinnertime so we decided to stop at the Organ Stop Pizza, for some great Organ melodies and great Pizza and Root Beer.

Superstition Mountains where the Gold is hidden

The next day Ron, Julie and I went to Mining Camp about 30 minutes from our home. We had all you can eat Barbequed Spare ribs, chicken and Ham Potatoes, Green beans, roll, milk or lemonade to drink.

The four MacNasty Brothers entertained us for 1 1/2 hours after we ate dinner. They were hilarious and very musical on their banjo, mandelin, and mandacello and quitars. Terrific clean jokes were told, we laughed so hard. They gave me a Oatmeal cookie piled high with whip cream with a candle in it .This was wonderful music and entertainment for all of us.


My Birthday cookie

     It wasn't dark yet, so we toured the desert scenery taking photos of each other in front of various cacti. A big thunderstorm was approaching. So we hurried home before we got drenced.

                                   See the black storm clouds in the background
                                                  My Sister Julie

Barrel Cactus

Saquaro Cactus in the storm



Ron with storm approaching



                                    Julie, Ron, brother Jay, and Me 


Phoenix Temple

  My brother Jay and his wife came for a quick visit on their way to visit their boys in Texas. Dennis and Marriane Thelin came for a quick visit too this week.

Gilbert Temple

We went site seeing the new Temples being built here.
We made necklaces, did puzzles, cleaned out my deepfreeze bought a new fridge in the week my Sister was visiting. What a wonderful time we had together. .

Trip to Payson, Arizona



The Fountain at Fountain Hills





The tallest fountain in the world



Arizona Palm Trees

Saguaro Cactus

Beautiful fluffy clouds

More boulders





Giant rocks by the road


       We celebrated no more Cancer, by a quick trip to Payson, Arizona. Stayed for two night at The Days Inn Motel. I enjoyed the big beautiful pool to swim in. We relaxed a lot.We had a hard time trying to eat vegetarian meals in the restaurants. Salads or soup without any potatoes, pasta, or meat or fish of any kind. So we went to the Safeway store and found some delicious soup and fruit bowls. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the highway. Ron was chased by a big brown spider when he got up to the bathroom in the night. That was pretty scary.
          When it poured down rain the big water beetles came out and were everywhere on the sidewalk. On the way home we stopped at the town of Fountain Hills, where we saw the worlds tallest Fountain. Ron got really dizzy and found it was altitude sickness.

Stem Cell Transplant,Seattle Washington Trip October 2012

Puzzle fun

                                                    Her birthday   We travelled three days by car to Seattle, Washington . My youngest Sister who is 61 needed care givers, when she had another stem cell transplant, for her Multiple Myeloma which came back, since her last stem cell transplant 12 years ago. We went and had a wonderful lunch a top the Space Needle.       I went with her to the SCCA Clinic every day for her clinical appointments. There was a lot of preparation to do before she had this transplant done. They gave her a large dose of Chemo to kill all the cancer cells.Then they harvested the 4890 million stem cells.They put her blood into a spinner machine which separates the stem cells from the other blood cells.
     Then they did a lot of testing, lab work, to Dental work, Cat scans, MRI's. Brain scans, because she had a stroke from some Chemo medication. We left to care for my Sister in law in Portland, Oregon, for two weeks we took her to her Dr. appts. She had very high blood pressure and had several silent strokes. Her sight was very bad and she had a problem seeing very well.
      After two weeks of testing. My sister was ready for her transplant. They gave her back all her stem cells they had removed and frozen for two weeks through her IV port. They gave her medication to counteract her getting shingles from her low immune system. On the 5th day after her transplant she went into the hospital for critical care.She was dehydrated and needed more Professional care. Her temp went up to 104 for 4 days in a row. She was semi conscious for that week. Then the Doctors gave her Tylenol, and more antibiotics to get her temp to come down. After being in ICU for a week she started improving slowly. She had severe edema in her legs and hands from being immobile for a week. She was getting fed by IV and blood was infusing slowly. Her digestion system was raw from the Chemo, and she was bleeding out the bowel. The Mucitis improved in her throat so she could swallow and talk. Dennis and Marianne came to visit her, she could hardly talk, her voice was very deep and hoarse. Dennis challenged her to sing a song for him. I nearly died she can't even speak, so how can she sing. Well she paused for a moment and sang two lines of " I know my Redeemer lives."  I couldn't believe this miracle I had just witnessed. Dennis and Marianne were in awe too. Her Daughter Kali stayed with her after we left for Arizona to care for her. Then her Husband took good care of her until Jay and Dana came for the month of January.


Stem Cell Transplant smelling an orange peel to keep the garlic smell down.

        We left Seattle it had been a rainy season for us to deal with. We left December 11, arrived home safely, December 13. Wanted to get home for my oldest son birthday he was turning 50. We had been gone for six weeks and Tina had watched our home.