Updates on Beth's health

For updates on Beth's surgery and recovery, please click on "Beths Journey" page to the right of this post.

Happy Birthday, Grandma Beth!

Boy, did the family roll out the red carpet for my birthday on Thursday, Sept 1! I woke up to the smell of bacon cooking and found that Katie and Candice had gotten up extra early to surprise me with a lovely breakfast with all the fixins.

I was spoiled right good...Candice did a lovely job displaying my new dutch oven to look like it was in a campfire and fire pit. Can't wait to start using this...I have always wanted one. Other gifts included a rolling handbag...birthday wall plaque..Teton picture collage...gift cards...and more. Wow, I am spoiled!!

This bouquet made to look like a birthday cake was delivered to the house. It is so unique I had to capture it on film. Thanks, Mom!

Brenna made this clever birthday plaque. It has hanging wooden discs with each of my family members name and birthday which hangs under the correct month.

We all met at the pavilion at Katie's condo complex and ate yummy treats and had some fun!

The grands especially enjoyed the playground equipment.

Mia and Ethan surprised me this original "beach in a box" which they made on their very own. They layered dirt and rocks and added little pinecones that look like palm trees. So cute and clever!!!

Crazy kids had fun playing Ninja game. How blessed I am to be part of a wonderful family that really went out of their way to make this birthday special. Thank you, children! My cup runneth over with love for each one of you!!

Sano Family Photo

We had family photos taken a couple of weeks ago and we are thrilled with the results! Our family has grown from Frank and I in 1977 to 17 in 2011. We could little imagine back then the amount of joy that comes from families. They are our treasures!

Weekend in Randolph

We had a great weekend in Randolph with AJ's kids the end of July. We visited Fossil Butte National Monument - a fascinating area that was once an underwater ocean. The millions of perfectly preserved fossils were found in the late 1800's when the cross country rail lines were being built.

We had all kinds of fun...painting rocks, playing in the sprinklers.....

...building a fort out of the bunkbed...

....visiting and feeding friendly goats...

....and riding horses (albeit wooden rocking ones)! It is always fun to hangout in Randolph!!

Annual Camping Trip

From July 2011 - This is the third year in a row that we have packed our camping gear and headed north to beautiful Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming. We were privileged to have Keith, Candice, Remi and Marshall join Katie, Jared and I on our yearly trek. The first and last stop on our trip was to our beloved town of Randolph which is conveniently located on the way to the Tetons. Grandma Beth and boys took time to hang out at the park and get some wiggles out. It helped with the 2 and 3 hour car rides that followed.

Jackson Hole is a favorite stop. Remi shows off his bag of candy treats from the Yippee-ay-oh Candy Store in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Ahhhhh -- There they are! The most beautiful mountains anywhere...at least in our humble opinion.

Keith poses as King of the Canoe. What a great time we had on String Lake taking turns canoeing on the crystal clear glacier lake. Sadly, Remi was not up for the adventure and chose to stay on shore with little brother and throw rocks into the water instead. Maybe next trip he will want to try paddling along.

There was plenty of dirt for the boys to play in and boy did they play.

This year we rented a tent-cabin to call home for a few days. With two solid wall and two canvas walls and a cement floor it provided a nice sturdy place to relax from our busy days of hiking, canoeing and exploring the park.

Katie gives Marshall a shoulder ride while we waited for Old Faithful geyser do its thing in Yellowstone National Park.

Who says you can't have clean kids while camping. Each evening we filled up the wash bin with warm water, let them play a while and then stripped them down and tossed them in. All the comforts of home in the out of doors!!

Keith and Candice fell in love with the Tetons just like we hoped they would. Candice was a good sport to give camping a try with toddlers. We all had a wonderful time!!