Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Here it is Christmas eve, with another raging blizzard outside, wahoo!! (no, I did not pray for this one!!) Randy is out running the snowblower, the kids are all trying to make their way to our home for our traditional clam chowder, rolls, custard, pie, cake, etc, etc!! The roads are a mess, but wow - we're really having a white Christmas, I can't remember when it was quite so snowy and perfect for the holiday!

The girls had a fun time sledding in our backyard Saturday. Sofi wasn't happy about any of it, although Risa got her to take one run! Kaylee and Lucy enjoyed the small hill, Eric packed it down so the sleds would run a little farther. After a few runs however, Kaylee informed me she was tired of dragging the sled back up to the top, she was ready to go in!! Lucy was scared at first--- I reminded her she was the one who rode all the scary rides at Disneyland, this hill was nothing!! No luck with a snowman, maybe another day! We missed Max, he was home helping his dad get a present ready for Suni (besides snow is old hat for him!!!)

I send my love to you and your families and hope this evening and tomorrow you are surrounded by those you love, Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Please, just enough snow to go sledding....

Ok, it was 45 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, any snow we had was pretty much gone. The Bills arrive tonight from California and we really need some snow, otherwise how in the world would we be able to go sledding Saturday?? Well you know me--- I prayed for some snow. Well holy cow, am I ever blessed, take a look at these photos....it started snowing last evening and hasn't stopped yet! Now I turn my prayers to making sure the flight can land tonight! Merry Christmas to you all, may you enjoy your family and friends at this wonderful time of year and cherish the birth of our savior! Enjoy a cup of cocoa and be safe everyone!!

The cats (or Bills) are out of the bag!!!

Well, enough with the laundry room post! Now on to more important things.....our out of state family, the Bills, are coming home for Christmas!! Marisa and the girls gave up the secret yesterday to the family and we are all SO excited! They will arrive next Friday and we'll have Eric for just a few days and then Marisa and the girls for a few more days!! It will be a great time to have all of my kids under one roof again, families are what it's all about!! I am a richly blessed Nana Sue and hope all of you are able to have your family near by this holiday season!! Many photos to come, stay tuned!!!!

The calm before the storm....

My kids are saying "Oh my gosh!!" The rest of you are saying...."Is that her laundry room?? And why in the world is she posting a photo of this room?" The door to this room is ALWAYS closed, you are not allowed to see this room because it is where I stash EVERYTHING, important papers, unimportant papers, books, clothes, make-up, hair products, receipts, oh and of course laundry supplies, well you get the picture!! Randy told me if he would have known that the room would be a magnet for everything he only would have designed a laundry closet, very small! With Christmas approaching you can only imagine what it might look like in just a few days!! So soak up this photo, burn this image into your brain, it may be a long time before I dare post a photo of my favorite room!!

Cold pillows and clean sheets.....

These are the wonderful people who gave me life and raised me, Gramps and Nannaw (Doug and Yvonne), my cute mom and dad. It was almost like being an only child since my only brother is eight years older than me. My folks didn't have a lot of money, but I always seemed to get great gifts for my birthday and other occasions. One gift turned out to be one of my very favorites of all time and has led to another simple pleasure!!! Thanks mom and dad, I miss you both!

One year they gave me an awesome new sleeping bag for my birthday.....it was awesome because it did NOT have that heavy flannel on the inside, instead it was soft, slicky material. I was anxious to use it, so I took it into my bedroom, put it on my bed, unzipped it, pushed my window wide open, walked out and closed the door. It was a very cold fall night. When it was finally bedtime, whoa, was my room ever cold and was that slick material even colder!! I closed the window and snuggled down in my new sleeping bag......it was heaven!! My mom thought I was really weird, I think I slept like that for quite a few days!! Now I love to have a cold pillow to sleep with, I'll even turn mine over during the night!! That along with clean sheets, ahhh what a great night's sleep zzzzz! Simple pleasures anyone??

Thanksgiving Day with Family and Friends!!

I got up at 6 to stuff this huge bird and get it in the oven. I'm no Martha Stewart, but I think the finished product looks pretty good. My helpers look pretty good too!! Max was so excited to see the BIG turkey!!

I always seem to forget at least one item for the Thanksgiving feast and this year was no exception.......it was the yams! I realized this just as everyone was sitting down to eat. I was trying to sneak into the pantry to find a spare can when I was intercepted by Papa Randall. Well I was forgiven and we simply had a great meal without those pesky yams!! Here are a couple of our friends, Marshall holding Randy the Dog!! Randy loved all the turkey that I managed to get on the floor during the carving process!! Ya gotta love those ears, he even puts mine to shame!! What better thing to do on Thanksgiving but catch some fast action football, Papa Randall and Marshall enjoying the game!!

After the big meal, a little rest, some pie and more football, we headed to Bountiful Bowl for some fierce competition!! Teams were as follows: Papa Randall, Suni, Janetha and Jake against Nana Sue, Marshall, Mike and Max (we all took turns holding Luke). As you can see Max has fine form and is able to actually throw the ball a long way down the alley!!

Suni, Jake and Luke checking out the score. The first game was tied right down to the last ball Max rolled.........oops, he missed getting his spare, so we remained tied going into game 2!!

Here's Mike trying hard to figure out just what we need to inch our score even higher. He tried giving Luke to Suni, Papa Randall and Jake to hold so they would be too worn out to throw their bowling balls!!

Finally I found the bowling ball that worked (a little too late into game 2)!! I got a strike, and another and yes ANOTHER!! How's that, a turkey on Thanksgiving!! It wasn't enough to help us pull ahead, the games were close but Papa Randall's team won!!



It was a great day, however, we were missing a few very important people to make this an even greater day. We had to share Doug, Linds and Izzy with her family this year - we missed having them here and Doug complaining that he doesn't even like turkey! Eric, Marisa, Kaylee, Lucy and Sofi were missing from our table too, they stayed in Dublin, Ca and enjoyed dinner with a family in their neighborhood.

Oh how we love all of our family members!! This is such a wonderful time to think about what we are thankful for. My list could go on forever, wonderful kids, spectacular grand kids, terrific husband, great friends, good health, warm home and the gospel of Jesus Christ which keeps us together forever!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

A Glorious Day in San Francisco!!

We started out bright and early but needed to stop to feed our little "bird"! Sofi is such a character and always has a happy and/or unpredictable expression on her cute face!




Touring San Quentin Prison has always been at the top of my list of "things to do". Little did I know that today was going to be my lucky day (or so I thought)!!



Here is a bird's eye view of the prison where Eric is working with Hensel Phelps to build a new hospital. We started our tour with much anticipation.......



We were able to make a quick drive through the prison yard (sorry no photos inside the slammer). The fence and barbed wire looked like a terrific deterrent to me, very scary, pointy and sharp!! Enough prison life, on to see the beautiful Golden Great Bridge (Lucy was so excited to see the Golden Great bridge)!

Looks like the slide at Yerba Buena Gardens got the better of Bills- he tried it out first to make sure it was safe for the kids!!

The Bills' family photo op on the slide!

Ahh, a little shut eye after our big day in the city. I think Eric may have had a small doze around as he drove us all home!!

We're home safe and all awake! Nana Sue got hugs and loves after a fun day in San Francisco!!

Here I am!

Well I am officially out of the blog stalker closet-- wahoo! It took a push from my blogging girls and help from Marisa to actually get it going. I went through a lot of different blog titles, it was painful....wake me at 8, i know it's here someplace, now where did i put it? and i don't care which car we go in, just to name a few. I'm sure all of these discarded titles will become posts someday! I decided that simple is better thus Nana Sue's News was born!! You will note that I LOVE using !!. I'm pretty excited about almost everything!

Well let me introduce my family to you from the photo: Front left to right, Lindsay holding Isabella (18 months), Doug, Jake (11) Max (4), Lucy (4), Kaylee (6). Behind Doug is Luke (1), Mike, Janetha, Suni, Nana Sue, Marisa, Sofi (18 months), Eric and behind us all is Papa Randall!!

I think this is a terrific way to keep a journal and share our lives with friends and family. I look forward to hearing from all of you, so welcome to Nana Sue's News!!