December 2010

I keep checking our blog to see what's new with us but Tobi hasn't written anything. I guess it's my turn.........again.........

We had a fantastic trip home in November. We left Kuala Lumpur just after midnight on my birthday, November 10th. It was probably my most memorable (and longest) birthday ever. Between midnight November 9-10, until midnight November 10-11 I spent time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Paris, France; and Salt Lake City, Utah. How many people can say that they spent their birthday on three continents? Or that it lasted 39 hours.

We were greeted at the airport by Dane, Annie and their 3 girls, Leah (6), Bella (4) and Giada (2), and that evening we had a mini-reunion of all of our kids.

On Friday, the 12th we drove down to St. George to visit with Nolan and Treo and little Jaylee (2) and we were introduced to our newest grandson, Kash Christian Sanders, who was born in July. Jennie and Brock and their boys, Jace (5) and Nixon (2) and little Leila (who I also met for the first time) joined us for the trip, as did Julia and my sister, Robyn and her husband Craig. We had a great 3 days in St. George, saw Nolan with his primary class in his ward's Primary program, found the grave of my Great Great Grandfather, Moses Martin Sanders in the St. George cemetery, and climbed around on some of the red hills behind St. George with my grandsons Jace and Nixon and their dad Brock.

For the past several years (say 10 to 15) I have been wanting to rebuild the wooden steps that go down from our back deck to the ground. They weren't built very well originally and have deteriorated over the years to where someone was eventually going to get hurt (most likely me). So when I got back from St. George, I went right out back and tore them out. Being thusly committed to rebuilding them I made several trips to Home Depot to buy materials. (I'm not a one-trip-to-the-hardware-store kind of guy. After I cut the first 2x12 board too short I needed another one, etc.) Anyway, the result before I left the U.S., was a brand new staircase out back that is firm and solid, with perfectly even steps and rails that don't wobble. I invite all of you to go try them out. Dane will finish the job by painting them in the spring when the weather warms up sufficiently.

We had a Sanders Family Thanksgiving Reunion that was very memorable thanks to the hard work and planning of my Sister Robyn. We all met at Aspen Grove, which is located up Provo Canyon near the Sundance Ski Resort. We had an entire floor of a lodge to ourselves with rooms for each family/couple and a great room and kitchen centrally located. When we arrived at around 5pm on November 24th the temperature was already below 0 degrees Fahrenheit and by the time the late arrivals got there it was about 10 below. The next morning was Thanksgiving and my son Justin had planned a traditional Turkey Bowl football game. It had snowed about a foot during the night and so that was a very cold affair.

Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous. We had three turkeys and all the stuffing, potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and umpteen kinds of pies to eat. We could have lasted through Saturday just on leftovers, but we didn't.

Robyn and Ron had planned some really fun games and activities for us, including a game in which you had to try to pick up a paper grocery bag with your teeth while standing on one foot. Nearly everyone made a valiant effort, and quite a few succeeded. They were rewarded with the same challenge after cutting 2 inches off the top of the bag. The game proceeded like that until there was literally one centimeter left, and three people actually managed to pick up the bag, thus shortened. Abby Cates (my nephew Brian Cates's wife), my daughter Jennie, and my son Dane. Abby and Jennie are understandable, they being young and lithe, but Dane, although young, is somewhat shy of lithe.

My dad was there overseeing the whole shootin' match. I think he especially enjoyed seeing all the little great-grandkids running around and getting to know one another. I know my granddaughters, Leah and Bella found a soulmate in Whitney Cates.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Robyn's son, Joshua and his fiance Kira were married in the Draper Temple. Many of us left Aspen Grove on Friday night so that we could make it to the ceremony and it was well worth it. They make a very happy and beautiful couple.

Tobi departed on Sunday the 28th of November to fly to Houston to see her sister Candy, who is undergoing chemo treatments for ovarian cancer. She reported back that Candy is doing remarkably well and is very upbeat and lifts everyone's spirits. In other words, Candy is just being Candy, minus the hair. Tobi makes sure that we never miss mentioning her in our prayers.

On December 3rd we got on the plane to head back to Malaysia, our second home. We have people here that we have come to love very deeply. The fact that we only have about another 15 months here causes us to think about how much we will miss it when we leave.

I must have good friends in a lot of countries that I have never been to. Maybe I'll meet them one day.

That's all for now. I'll try to load some pictures later.

Love from the other side of the world,

Scott