short update

I have been in Omaha and out of Omaha for the past few months. Kay works there so I
go 1-2 times a month.

Rachael- my daughter, me, Jenna, Seth and baby Chester aka Aaron.
Watching the game? or talking... Ethan #5 has a hard time concentrating when the camera is flashing..... an interesting dribble turned roll. Ah the life of a 6 year old basketball team player... Go team.

Janell (far right in the red dress) participated in a Young women's modesty fashion show at the church. She wore a dress we had someone make from 2 skirts and 1 immodest top.

Janell interviewed her great Aunt Vivian about life in a internment camp. Janell had to write about something in history and get a life story. Vivian was newly married and taught school at Topaz Japanese internment camp in Southern Utah for a few months while her husband waited for his assignment. After the 20 minute phone interview we taped, she said "that was so cool" even great Aunts are "cool" Vivian remembered lots of things, she lived in a barrack, ate in the mess hall, the children didn't have toys, she would buy cheap toys and give the toys to the children. A moment in history.Vivian and Winnifred's sister LaPrele added: The thing I remember about Topaz was they wouldn't let us take ANY pictures inside the internment camp. We had to be outside the fence AND the photo had to be taken looking away from the camp. The water was "nasty" (probably highly chlorinated) so Vivian always had lemonade for us to drink. They lived in the same barracks as the Japanese people did. I've included an attachment of the picture taken in 1943 outside Topaz. Vivian & Elbert were married 4 Sep 1940.

pictures of the twins in a picassa album, click link below

http://picasaweb.google.com/kayjanae/D2009MarchTwins?authkey=Gv1sRgCLupvJ7Qi-SKSg#

twins

These are the twins. Claire and Alice. I have been going to their home to hang out with them 1-2 times a week.

More bumps

inspired by Kay's archaic medical practices, our oldest daughter Rachael (mother of 4) revealed she has a bump on her head, we looked at it and were alarmed. Kay insisted SHE see the doctor. She found a doctor on ratemds.com and went to a highly rated local dermatologist/surgeon. he was sure it was cancer but after the biopsy it came back as cylindroma. A skin tumor growth that would just keep growing taking over her whole head if she lived in a place with no medical care. He has only seen one other case in his career. Thank goodness for a biopsy. She will have the tiny bump removed before it takes over her pretty little head and will need no other treatment or have any other worries. The doctor in Omaha revealed he was from her home town and went to the neighboring high school and BYU. Small world. Dr Kyle Van De Graaf.

Omaha, bump remedy and shoes

I am in Omha for the weekend. We did a switcheraroo right after I landed and Kay and I drove the kids home in Rachael's car while they attended the temple. Rachael told me Aaron cries a lot at night so I put him in a bouncy baby seat and bounced him really hard with my foot and he was OK. Shaking baby syndrome? The kids were very helpful. Ethan came in with a bottle all made up, we questioned him, he said he watched his mom do it and he wanted us to tell her that he made the bottle all by himself. That would be mixing the proper amounts of powder and water. If you do it wrong constantly it is bad. Who knows if he put the right amount in or not. I guess Aaron won't die.

I went to free Saturday at a local Omaha Art museum. I took a tour of Diego Rivera's exhibit. I really enjoyed it. When Seth and Rachael arrived, I played with the kids while they went through the exhibit. The museum is free on Saturdays from 10-12. My kind of museum. It made me want to get trained on the permanent exhibit at BYU and share some of their ideas with BYU.

Last week Kay had to wear his sneakers to church as he forgot his Sunday shoes. I know he had an extra pair of shoes that I don't like so I had him search his closet floor. I got here and saw in his open closet a shoe bag hanging with 8 pair of shoes on it right in full view of the whole room. He now has 4 pair of Sunday shoes and discovered 3 more pair of sneakers. Rachael is related to her dad. Kay and I went to church and decided to walk home with the kids in the 35 degree weather. Rachael grabbed the coats on the rack all in a row and handed them to us. When we got home they discovered Jenna's coat was in the car and looks nothing like the coat they hijacked from church, Rachael said they were both pink. Seth was sent back to church to bring it back. 2 and a half year old Jenna seemed like she was enjoying her coat, who knew this wasn't hers, she wasn't about to tell us. She especially liked the new pockets.

Kay hates going to doctors. He had some bumps growing on him that were beginning to annoy him. (old age reminders) 2 on his face, 2 on his stomach, one on his breast. Naturally, he did what only he would think to do, took out a razor knife and removed them. He says the only difference between what he did and what the doctor would have done was anesthesia and a bill. They look like holes on him. with scabs over them. He knew to do it when I wasn't present.

Kay's sister has thyroid cancer and will have surgery next month with radiation and hormone replacement checks. We think she will be eligible for the downwinder settlement. It is the most treatable and curable cancer to get.

we are across the Atlantic

We have been out of touch with the world for about a week on our transatlantic cruise. After spending a day at Casablanca Morocco and the island of Maderia Portugal the ship has been going strong. We turn our clocks back an hour every day or so. We are on an MSC ship, the Orchestra. It is a newer ship that caters to the Europeans and is going to spend the winter in the Caribbean. They have a lot to learn about customer service and with us just coming from a Disney Cruise we have been disappointed in quite a lot of things… They said they want to know how they can improve and Janell finally asked that we not write our cabin number on our suggestions. We are having a great time and have met many people from many countries. The entertainment team on board is wonderful and our cabin with the balcony has been fun. I may not be able to go back to an inside cabin. We can watch the ship dock and enjoy the sunrises and sun sets.

Kay and I have been sleeping on the balcony, we have a larger than single mattress from the couch hide-a-bed that we throw out and the temperature has been about 74 degrees at night. We enjoy the water and waves right outside our door…kind of like Lake Powell. Janell slept out once when we were still in the Mediterranean and she got cold so now the balcony is ours.

Christmas….. We watched the Nativity Story movie Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning we read what we had just watched, From Isaiah to Samuel the Lamanite to Luke 1 and 2. When I said we could read it or act it out it was unanimous, read. These teenagers who would have thought? We brought a string of lights we plug into our room and have a picture we brought…. our grandchildren dressed up as Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and a wiseman. We have a wooden 2 piece tree you slide the two flat pieces together to make a 3D tree. Christmas morning we opened the few gifts we brought/bought and had a nice morning taking our candy canes to the buffet and sipping hot chocolate through them… An Anderson tradition (I think it came from Cynthia Clark) we enjoy.

Finally we are at an internet cafe and Kay can get his BYU scores. We have had no TV signals for most of the transatlantic trip. Now we are in Guadeloupe, some French Islands with an active volcano.

bags

sorry about the computer, in Casablanca the keybords are different. we got the bags and have been having a great time, this computer is driving me crazy so i will write later: janae