What? A New Year Again? 2012

I wanted to pin this cake picture on Pinterest but couldn't do it from FB. I made this cake for the granddaughter of a friend. She was turning one and Grandma wanted a Princess cake for her little princess.

A New Year!

There's been quite a lot that has happened since I last posted. The problem is Facebook. I was playing too many games, didn't feel like doing anything really...


My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer only because she finally went to the pulmonologist, after my hounding her for quite awhile, to see what was wrong with her lungs. They did an MRI and found she had a couple suspicious areas which did turn out to be two areas of breast cancer. That was October. At this point she's gone through a mastectomy and is receiving no further treatment. They say with her tissue type there's no real proof chemo would help her at all. They do think they got all the cancer so we'll wait and see. She is having reconstruction done and will have surgery for that in about 5 weeks. She's taking it like a trooper. She'd been feeling so bad for so long, my poor sister. I TOLD her she was sick!


We had Christy here for Christmas and she helped the grandkids decorate a gingerbread house. Well, in truth they "helped" HER but it came out really cute in the end. See?


Before Christy arrived I worked really hard to make her a very special quilt. Our old dog, Floyd, died this past May. He was one of those dogs who wears bandanas. His wardrobe consisted of a wide variety of bandanas in all sorts of colors, all of which I was still hanging onto. There were a lot that Christy had put his name on as well. I'd asked Christy what she thought I should do with them and she told me I should make a blanket out of them. "What a great idea!" I thought... Christy was always the child who loved that dog best so I thought what better gift could I give her than a quilt made of her favorite dog's bandanas? It was a time consuming task but every stitch was made with love. She absolutely loved the quilt and didn't even take her jacket home with her so she could fit it into her suitcase. :) You can see she's holding onto it here in the family Christmas photo.

And so a new year has begun nearly leaving me behind in the process. I didn't get a single Christmas card or the annual letter written. I had good intentions but those were all used up right here at home with the family, the visit, the baking, watching over my sister and my family. That IS what is most important after all.

I love you all and appreciate you checking in to see how we're doing. We're hanging in there! We're having FHE with our kids and their kids. We're getting more involved in how we interact with one another in our household and making plans for the future. We're doing alright!

Packin'

Jeff and I recently received our concealed weapons permit to carry. Ever since we've been Packin'! Wouldn't you? Here's us packin' at Lowe's... Don't we look cute? You would be amazed at the amount of people around you who carry concealed weapons! Thank goodness most of them are law abiding citizens. The ones you have to worry about are the ones who do not bother with a permit as they want to "stay off the grid", if you know what I mean. Nobody would ever suspect a grandmother of 2, aged 51, who looks like a Sunday school teacher to be carrying a concealed weapon everywhere she goes (except for church and to the pool... hello!) now would they? So this is our latest adventure and we're happy to share with you! One of my friends even said, "I want to go places with you..." when she saw my post on Facebook. How cool is that?! LOL! Have a great day!!

Look At The Babies Now!

Ellie is too funny. We were on our way to the Pizza Factory last week when, from the back seat, we heard, "Oh man! I tired!" She's just so cute! The next time we went out Jacob lost a

tooth in his pizza. The last image, which is a little scary is something I saw on AFV and took a shot of the screen. Jacob in all his 5 year old innocence asked me if that was Papa when he was a baby. He's adorable!

Facebook

So... Ever since I logged on and got an account with Facebook I've neglected my blog. Sorry y'all but you can find me there! I'll try to work harder on this but I don't spend that much time on the computer anymore either and have not taken a lot of pictures for that matter. Last week we lost a beloved member of our family, Martino Julio Fasciotti (Martin or Julie to family and friends). We'll miss his dry wit and sarcastic sense of humor. I adored him. Anyway, we took a quick trip to Wisconsin for his services. Otherwise, things just go along as they go. We've taken up the hobby or sport of target shooting. That's a lot of fun. We still ride our scooters around now that the snow is gone and the gravel and dirt has been cleaned up off the surface of the roads. It was a big hazard. I'm trying to do a better job as the Ward Specialist in Family History and so I'm working on a project for one of my neighbors. That's always fun! I guess that's the update!

Wii Love To Have Fun!

So, did you know that with a Wii Speak, wireless internet and certain games you can play with your family or friends far away? It's a blast. I get to play with my daughter who lives in California at least 4 times per week and we stay caught up on current events while we play Animal Crossing. It's such a blast! Of course, we get Katie or Jacob from downstairs playing too and we have fun visiting one another's towns and talking while we play.

Yes, I admist it's a great time waster but still, it's all about family and togetherness for us and we love it. You should try it!

Even More Medical Stuff

So on my last visit to the Neurologist, I got a prescription for a medication called Keppra. It's an anti-seizure medication they give for epilepsy. I don't have epilepsy, but the medication seems to be working for me in that I've stopped having the left sided weakness and muscle spasm's. After doing some research I find that the white matter in the brain is where you have axons and glia. The glia substance forms a sheathing around the axons, which are nerves. Once the sheathing starts to unravel the nerves act like wire that's lost its insulation. That causes sporadic electrical issues in wiring and it's been causing it in mine!

The medication is working and I'm happy! I've been swimming with my sister most every day so we're getting some exercise and trying to make ourselves more healthy. Unfortunately I now have a respiratory illness but that will pass, I assure you! All is well.