December 25, 2024

Sanders Holiday News

Dorothy Turns 90!

While there were many highlights in 2024, nothing was higher than the GMA/SuperG/Dots/Dorothy 90th Birthday Celebration in August. All of the families(and more) came together to celebrate 90 years of Dorothy Patterson Fansler. There were many festivities including night with the Greensboro Grasshoppers where GMA started the action by proclaiming “PLAY BALL”! The celebration culminated with a lunch of NC BBQ for all the attendees and Friends Homes West. Hats off to daughters Claudia and Leslie for a memorable celebration.

Clare and Carter

Carter, Clare and Penny spent 2024 outdoors! They took a ski trip to Steamboat Springs and discovered a new love of powder and tree skiing. Carter ran his first marathon in the spring, finishing the 26.2 miles in 3:23. Summer brought a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska where they visited both Kodiak Island and Seward and got to see bears, otters, puffins and  whales. In October the two road tripped through New Mexico to get to Arizona and see the Grand Canyon before heading north to Utah to visit Zion and Arches National Parks, as well as the slot canyons of Escalante National Monument. Christmas will be spent on the ski slopes! Penny continues to be the best dog and is hoping for a winter with slightly less snow. 

 

---

The Ventas in St. Louis!

The biggest news from the Venta house in 2024 is that we welcomed two new family members.  Fern and Herb are box turtles who have become great members of the family. They love to eat lettuce and strawberries and keep Kaitlyn company when she works from home. 

Kaitlyn survived the FAFSA Fiasco of spring 2024 and is very grateful everything is working correctly this year.  My Scholarship Central continues to grow with over 16,000 students using the site last year.  Kaitlyn presented at the National Scholarship Provider Association conference about the great college affordability work going on in Missouri.  She continued her weightlifting journey and has some big PRs planned for 2025. Jose continues his work at Sidney Street. He also hosted multiple private dinners this year, getting the chance to showcase his own cooking.  He played baseball and softball any chance he got, and followed the wild roller coaster of the 2024 Mets season with much emotion. 

Sofia turned 6 and started kindergarten in 2025. She is learning a lot and very close to being a full blown reader.  She has reached the rank of blue belt at karate and her kicks and punches get stronger every class. 

Gabi turned 3 and bloomed into a real person this year. She loves taking care of her baby dolls and trying to keep up with Sofia.  

Leslie,Guy,Candy and GMA

Coming on December 25!

2024 was a big year for the NC Sanders. While the biggest event of the year was the 90th birthday celebration in August, there were also trips to Colorado and St. Louis to visit the Gunns and the Ventas. We were lucky enough to celebrate Clare’s birthday in November and a trip to Candy’s favorite place, In n Out Burger! Guy was also able to get his favorite Shoe from Carter at his store in Golden. It made the trip across Missouri, Kansas and western Colorado more than worth it.

In St. Louis, when they weren’t being taped up by Sofia, the NC Sanders got to visit the St. Louis Zoo and one our all time favorite destinations Ted Drews. But just spending time with the grandkids is always a joyous and exciting adventure.

Although we were all saddened by the untimely passing of Jimmy Buffett, we re-entered the concert scene with a trip to Long Island, NY to watch our new favorite artist Walker Hayes in concert. It was great to hear our favorite songs like Fancy Like and AA live and in person and to watch this country artist and his family perform. We also worked in a stop at the Hershey Park Chocolate Experience, which Candy truly enjoyed.

We re-visited the greater Hew York region in October to see UCLA win its first Big Ten conference game against Rutgers. Although winning the game was great, the pre-game atmosphere on the “Boardwalk” was incredible and worth the early arrival.

Back in Greensboro, Leslie continues here encore career as a server at Wellspring once or twice a week when she is not balancing care giving to GMA and Candy. She also returned as a certified laughter leader presenting to a couple of different groups. But nothing topped her efforts at making the 90th birthday celebration one which we all will never forget.

Guy recovered from his bike hit and run in December of 2023 and was back on the bike on April 1. He finished up his 34th year at UNCG in July and began his and 46th year in university housing. Finally they finished the year preparing cookie plates for 50 of Guy’s staff at UNCG.