Who Has New Glasses???

Guess who got new glasses??? Lucky Olivia. She was so cute in these new purple glasses. She said she has 1 crazy bug eye (her right) and the other side (left) has just regular glass. She is super excited to have these- she has a case and has a place to keep them so Indie won't get a hold of them!

Carole's Surgery- Brain Tumor

We went to St. Joseph's hospital at 7 a.m. on Friday, Jan 24th for Carole to have her brain tumor removed. It took until 9 a.m. to get her ready, and then while in the operating room, it took an hour to get things in place (at least 2 more iv's, "cage" around her head, drain in her spine). She was in surgery for almost 4 hours. Dr. Murphy said it was a successful surgery and went just the way he expected. They did not have to do anything to the sinus cavity which was a blessing.  Carole had a "surgery buddy"- Nelson had his appendix removed and then was air flown to Primary Children's because of complications.  This picture was taken on Saturday- just 1 day after surgery.  Carole looks exceptionally good- sat up to eat and walked the halls.

After the surgery, they put a white gauze bandage on the incision (12 staples to hold it in place!).  I think she looks like she has a white headband on- she is a princess!

Carole got to come home on Sunday afternoon, and the staples and gauze bandage needed to be removed.  And then reality hit!  Her eyes turned purple, bruise on her right forehead, bruises under her chin and on her left neck.  She only had a few bites of applesauce to eat from Monday until the following Monday!

You can see her incision here.  It goes from one ear across the top of her head to the other ear.  What a miracle modern medicine and doctoring is!  It is still amazing and crazy that Carole came home just 2 days after brain surgery!  She does have a horrid headache and is very sensitive to light and noise.

Shen Yun

On Wednesday night, dad, Carole, and I went to see Shen Yun, a Chinese performance.  It was at the Orpheum Theater- a beautiful place in downtown Phoenix.  This performance is a set of dances and music about China's 5000 years of civilization.  The dancers are young men and women who perform for 6 months and then go back to school for 6 months and are based in New York.




One of the dances was "Sleeves of the Tang Palace" and the women dancers used their long, silky sleeves in the dance.  The costumes were wonderful- very flowing and in authentic styles and colors.



The men and women dancers were very agile and talented with lots of flips and spins and tumbling.  It is a very athletic dance form and is the classical Chinese dance.  What amazing talent!



There was digital 3D projection for the backdrop which has been patented.  It appeared to create an interaction with the dancers- they would drop down behind a wall and then appear on the screen as if they were in that screen.




It was a fun night- something very different.

Temple Day With the Missionaries

Today we went to the Phoenix Temple since it was time again for all the full-time missionaries to go. The best part for me was that Pres. Robinson, the mission president, has okayed dad bringing in Temple names for the missionaries to do! These 3 days was a new record- I had 50 Endowments done!!! YAHOO! I know that these people are so ready for their work to be done, and things keep opening up to allow that to happen. I told dad that for me it is like Christmas to see all this work done!

Brenley and Ballet!

We were invited to watch Brenley's last ballet class. She got this as her birthday present, and we could tell that she was a serious student. She knew just when to point her toes, knew what all the positions and directions meant, and did not goof off. Ruth brought her roses for her final class. I love living close to these girls!

What a Great Family!!!

A very special Sunday. Don was called as Bishop of his Mesa Ward. Dad went to Parowan with Evie on Friday for the twins' baptisms.  After the baptisms and after cutting meat at the grocery store, Mike drove dad and Evie back to  Phoenix so he could also be here for this special time.  What a great guy since their family is coming the next week for the marathon!  It was fun because Don knew dad was going to Parowan and didn't expect him to be back for Sunday (the original plans called for a flight home on Monday).  We stopped at Don's house before Church, and Don was surprised to see dad but then really surprised to see Mike.  What a special family we have- we now have 3 Bishops (Mike, Don, and Tyler), a counselor in the Bishopric (Mark), a stake president (Tim Taylor), and a YM Pres. (Ben Smith).  I think about this and cannot believe the blessings we have been given as parents to have such a family!  How humbling.  I know that each of our children is special.

Illumination!

Dianne Orr gave me a present of going to see Illumination- lots of lights (over a million) put up for Christmas. You drive your car up and down the "streets" to see the lights. It was for a carload of people so we took the Nay girls with us. This picture is of them with the special glasses that showed a present, a tree, or a Santa with the lights.  Dianne even gave us popcorn as a snack!  Very fun!!

These next pictures  are of the lights. It was a very fun night. You turn your radio to a certain station and hear Christmas music playing- the best part of the night was hearing the girls sing- at the top of their voices- and knowing words to all the songs!