My Dad

This has been an extremely hard week for the Fuller Family.  My Dad went in for open heart surgery on Friday, Aug 30th.  They put a bovine valve in his heart and all went great.  On Saturday they got him out of bed, stood him up, put him back to bed and things were looking good. 

Suddenly he changed for the worse and the brain team was called in.  He was rushed to their department where it was discovered that there was a blood clot in his brain.  They were able to suction it out.  He had a stroke and we are waiting for the damage that it caused. 

A couple of days ago he was mouthing words and moving both legs, which was a fantastic sign, but then yesterday he slept all day long and is now back to what he was a couple of days ago. 

This has been a set back that is so hard for Mom.  She so faithfully does not leave his side for long periods of time.  I know that she is tired as I can hear it in her voice and see it in her face but her loyalty keeps her going.

We have so many family members and friends that are showing their love for Dad and Mom by their constant out pouring of prayer and thought.  Thanks for you diligence in doing this for my parents.  It is appreciated more than you will ever know.  Friends and family have been a constant at the hospital visiting with Mom and cheering her up.

Mom and Dad have been married for 64 years and in October they will have known each other for 65.  What a legacy they are to our family.   Their love runs true and deep.  It is the Cinderella story of all times.

A picture of true and tender love!!

I love you, my sweet parents. 

Dad, please hurry and wake up.  We miss your sweet voice and your funny jokes.  We miss your hugs and tender kisses.  I am counting the days till I get moved closer to you.  It will be so fun to see you every day.  We will go fishing and walking in the mountains.   We will go riding and counting the deer.  I love you with all my heart and am praying for your recovery constantly.

Our Future Missionary…Elder Canyon Madsen

WOW!!  What a handsome stud this boy is!!!  Canyon or C-man, as I call him,  just had his 11th birthday on Thursday, August 1st.  He is practicing looking the part of a missionary because in 7 years he will be doing this exact thing.  When he gets his mission call, he will be wearing his white shirt, tie and dark pants and riding his bike as he takes the gospel of Jesus Christ to others. 

I love this boy and he has truly been a joy in my life.

Haboob and Monsoons…

Today we got hit with a haboob (strong dusty winds) and a mild monsoon (just a different name for a hard rain storm).  It came in fast, did it’s destruction them left as quickly as it came.  There was lots of thunder, some lighting and really strong winds.

I looked out the window just in time to see my birdbath take off around the side of the house and the garbage in the can go flying off to the neighbor’s house.  Dick went running out to rescue our garbage can and the birdbath and came in to tell me a tree had blown down and was blocking the street.

Here are some pictures of today’s storm.

 

Our house is the one with the white van that you can see.

The wind just pulled the tree out of the ground.

This storm came quick and then left.  The air is now has a clean fragrance after the rain.  Love these Arizona storms but would rather see them than be in them like last year when we got stranded.  Was not a fun afternoon.

New Chair…

This past week I have been working on a project for myself.  This never happens….so this makes me happy.

I was at an event and seen this chair for sale in another booth and I WANTED IT….BADLY.

It was love at first sight and I had a vision going off in my mind of what I was going to do with this chair.  I brought it home and my craft master tighten the rickety chair for me with some glue and clamps.  I washed it down and got it all cleaned up.

I had some fabric that I wanted to make a padded seat with so the craft master got some good plywood from the orange  warehouse store and cut a seat for it.  Since I had lost my staple gun, we had to go to blue warehouse store and buy a new one.

Did you know that the orange store has 3” foam there now?  Way much cheaper than the same thing at the sewing  or craft stores.  SO… I got a sheet of that and cut out the padding for my chair.  3” was to thick so I cut it to 1” and wrapped it with quilt batting to hold everything in place.

I got my seat all done and this is my first time ever trying to upholster anything.  Then my craft master painted the chair a yellow with a brown glazing over it.  Love it!!!

Here is my finished product.

   

I am in love with this chair and it will go in my bedroom.

My Cute Nephews

My nephew and niece, Jon and Kelsi Fuller, have  two of the cutest little boys.  I have been waiting until Cohen was nearly 3 to send him a cape.  Well I got it sent and he was thrilled to get one cause he wanted one like his best friend.

Isn’t this just the cutest smile ever?  It says it all.  He is one happy boy and I love him to pieces.

 

This is my little Rayden…he has the cutest, kissable cheeks ever and I could just kiss them for hours.  I made him the little blanket he is on.  I wanted something light weight and had this fabric that was just perfect for this little blue eyed punkin. 

Thanks Kelsi and Jon for letting me be an aunt to these two precious little boys.

I am so thankful for family and even though we live miles and miles (hundred and hundreds of miles) apart, we still can be part of their lives.  Today I am thankful for electronic media that helps us keep in touch with each other.

Rasmussen Family Comes to Visit…

We got back from our trip to Utah on a Monday night and Danielle, Tony, Tiffeni and Cody came to visit us on Saturday.  They got to stay for a few days before heading back home to Nevada.

Sunday was Easter and we had dinner at Brook’s house.  Danielle brought her big table to Brook as she no longer needed a table that huge.  It was nice to have two of the children and seven of the grandchildren with us for Easter.

On Monday we went shopping for a prom dress for Tiffeni and a suit for Cody.  Brook took us to a mall that was rather neat.  Dad could just sit when he needed to while the others continued with their shopping. 

On Tuesday we all went to the zoo.  We didn’t need to go to the monkey section as we had five monkeys with us all the time.  The Rasmussen’s and Hayden took off and went one way and the Curry’s and us went the other way and we met up at the end of the day.  It was a very enjoyable time and everyone had tons of fun and was totally exhausted at the end of the day.

  

  

  

  

Wednesday we took a tour of the Olive Mill which was very educational.  We learned how they make the olive oil and infuse different flavors into it.  We got to sample some olives at the end of the tour and some olive pesto…yummy.  We celebrated Cody’s 16th birthday (which was on March 18th) at the Olive Garden in Casa Grande.

Thursday morning came and the Rasmussen family had to leave.  We had a wonderful visit and fun times.

Thanks for coming to see us in Arizona. 

Just a Little Catch Up!!!

I am embarrassed at how long it has been since posting to my blog.  I know how upset I get when months go by and those I follow have not updated on their blogs.  Sometimes this is the only way I have of knowing what is going on in the lives of those that are dear to me.  Please forgive my slothfulness in this area.

In March we made a very fast trip to Utah for the funeral of our dear niece, Ariane Dunlavy.  Cancer came quick and just as quickly took her away.  We took Brook and the three children with us.  Since Brea was off on spring break, we were able to spend a few days on this trip instead of just up and back.

We left  Arizona on Thursday and traveled to St. George that night.  Along the way we were able to enjoy Joshua trees, lots of desert and more desert.  The kids got to feed peacocks and some big honkin fish.

  

We stayed with Meghan that night and she was a very gracious hostess.

 

 

We left St. George and headed to Salt Lake.  As we arrived in Nephi our worst dreams happened as we came head on into a snow storm.  This was exciting for the three little ones as they had never seen snow before nor had they ever played in it.  We arrived in SLC safe and sound and had to go find a coat for Hayden as all he had was a light jacket.  They had so much fun throwing snowballs and getting cold and wet.

We met Danielle at the motel room that she got for all of us.  Thanks Danielle…that was so sweet of you and Tony to provide this for us all.  We had a huge sleep over and all slept well.

We went to the funeral which was beautiful and it was fun to see all of the Madsen family.  We met new nieces and nephews that we had never seen before and they sure are a cute bunch of little ones.

After the funeral we left and drove to La Sal where we spent a couple of days with Mom and Dad.  I had told the children that they were going to meet their great grandparents and grandma’s brothers and more cousins.  Oh how excited they were to get there.  We arrived about 8 pm and Kendall’s family was there waiting to greet us.  When we left AZ it was in the mid 80’s and now we arrive in La Sal and are greeted with 20 degree weather.  Brrrr…cold.

The bigger kids took the little ones outside all dressed in Great Grandpa’s coats so they could jump on the tramp.  They had a ball and did not want to come in even though they were freezing.

The next day we went to church and had the most enjoyable time seeing old friends then on to our big family dinner in our honor.  Lane came over and Bobbi and Kalista came up from Moab and Kendall’s family were there.  What fun we had all together.

 

 

 

The kids got to ride four wheelers and got to see chickens.  We even found out that eggs come from chickens butts and sometimes we don’t eat yolks cause they smell like chicken butt.  We helped Aunt Tami bring wood in for the fireplace.

 

 

We loved our time with family and it was hard to say goodbye to them and head back to AZ.

We stopped on our way home at Fort Bluff in Bluff, UT and had the most wonderful time.  The kids got to pull  hand cart, we seen the cabins from the pioneers that came through the Hole N the Rock, we learned so many things about the people that were called to settle the San Juan area.

 

 

We had a great trip and it was fun…even when Brook had to crawl under the bathroom door to unlock Brea’s stall door in Tuba City.   

This was the kids first road trip and they did great until the last hour and Payton wanted to go back and see “Grandma’s brothers” again.  Thanks for making this such a memorable trip for our family.

SOLD

We sold two dressers this last week.  Sometimes it is hard to let an item go that you have worked hard on.  You always have an item that steals your heart.  That is how this blue and white dresser was for me.  It reminded me of a blue eyed girl.  This dresser went to a little baby girl and her Mommy was so happy with it.  That makes it so much easier for it to leave.

We had a yard sale Saturday and this gold dresser finally sold.  We have had it for a few weeks and almost repainted it but thought of giving it another swing at a yard sale.  Waa Laa a sweet Mrs. came by and loved the dresser.  We took it to her house and she was thrilled with it.

We finally sold our first piece of glassware.   This is such a delicate piece and was purchased for a Mother’s Day gift.

Thing are finally starting to pick up in the craft business.  We are selling things pretty well in our yard sales.  This is a good thing.