"It's Snowing!!!"

Doesn't Mother Nature know that after Christmas it is only suppose to snow up in the mountains? It can snow in the valleys up until Christmas Day to get us all in the spirit of Christmas but, after that it needs to stop! It has snowed here straight for the last couple of days and I am the one who has to shovel the walks and driveway. Yesterday just as I started to shovel the driveway our neighbor down the street pulled up on his ATV with a snow plow. I thought, "God bless him." He looked at me and said, "you beat me to it," turned around and drove off. I thought, "You've got to be kidding me, right?" I kept thinking any minute he would come back and finish what I had just started. "WRONG!!!" This morning I thought Les will have to get up and shovel the driveway or he won't be able to get out. Wrong again!! Being retired has it's draw backs, I have to shovel the drive way to get out.
The dreaded driveway!!! This snow is so heavy it would make a great Snowman!!! For you people who love the snow and are chanting Let it Snow! Let it Snow! STOP IT!!!!! I say stop it do you hear me?

The Annual Wanlass Family Christmas Party

I have always loved Christmas, I think I got that from my Mom. She always made it a special time of the year for us kids and she loved it just as much as we did. We always picked out our Christmas tree around the first of December. It had to be just the right tree. All the branches had to be even without any holes or bare spots. If there were any holes, Dad would cut off the bottom of the tree, take a branch, drill a hole in the trunk, and glue or attach the branch in someway so our trees were always perfect. We had special ornaments that we put on the tree every year like our Santa Clause ornament. We would fight about who got to put Santa on the tree so we had to take turns. I think even after Santa was placed on the tree if no one was looking we would move him to another spot. Icicles were a tradition back then and they were made from tin foil. We would rub our feet across the carpet causing static electricity, then we would walk towards the tree. The icicles would stand straight out as did our hair from all the static electricity. We would sit quitely on the couch together and stare at the Christmas tree as if in a trance. It was as if the Christmas Tree transported us to a fairy land where christmas wishes and dreams really did come true. My sisters and I would lay on the floor for hours with the Sears catalog and dream about what we wanted Santa to bring us for Christmas. We didn't need computers or electronic games to make us happy all we needed was the catalog and we could entertained ourselves for hours. Mary Pulley's Hill was another Christmas Tradition. Mary was an old maid that lived at the top of a large hill in a beautiful home. The grounds were decorated with the nativity, and all the pine trees were adorn with Christmas lights. Christmas Music was piped onto the grounds and as we waited in the long line of cars we could listen to the beautiful music which always made us all the more excited. At the top of the hill was Mary herself with Santa Clause and Santa would quickly ask us what we wanted for Christmas and give us a candy cane. The ward, stake, or maybe it was the town put on a Christmas Pageant in the old American Fork Tabernacle. One year Dad was one of the three wise man and he and two other men sang We Three Kings. As I close my eyes I can see them walking down the aisle carrying their treasures for the new born King. There was always a trip to toy land where we could see, touch and feel all those wonderful things we wanted Santa to bring us Christmas Eve. Usually last but not least, was our family Christmas Party at Grandma and Grandpa Wanlass with all our aunts, uncles and cousins. It was one of the highlights of Christmas. We exchanged gifts, put on skits and just plain had fun together because we were with our family. Mom and Dad carried on that tradition with our own family. My siblings and our children would get together at Mom and Dads or one of our homes and exchange gifts and enjoy one anothers company. As our families grew, we started meeting at a church, and then Mom started renting the Senior Citizens building. There we have all the comforts of home plus it's decorated for Christmas. This year was no different. I don't know if all the adults look forward to it but I know that I do and I know most of my grand kids do. Keagan asked the other day, "when Grandma Wanlass is gone does that mean that we won't have the Christmas Party any more?" I asked her why she asked that and she said, "I like getting together and seeing my cousins, especially the little ones." I assured her that I was pretty sure it would continue to go on.
Look at Grandma surrounded by these beautiful Children. What a posterity!!! And that's not all of them. Bonnie and Mark started the Pinata last year it as you can see by the pictures above it was a great success again this year. Deb and Jim brought it back by popular demand. I'm sure it has now become a standard tradition.

As you can see kids of all ages love the pinata!!

Chris, my grandson took the swing that sent the candy flying to the delight of all the little ones!! Megan and Mandy, Deb's daughters had crafts for the kids to do as well. I've never seen the kids so quite and attentive, this gave the grown ups time to visit. Look at these beautiful kids.


All in all the party was a great success and worth all the time and effort it took to put it on. We don't see the end results right now but as these kids grow into adulthood they will look back on these times and remember the love and happiness they shared with their family, and isn't that what Christmas is all about really. Our Savior came down to earth and gave his life because he loved us so much. He did that so we could be with our families forever. What a wonderful gift!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know, I'm always behind, here it is just weeks away from Christmas and I am posting about Thanksgiving. And to top it off, I was so busy scurrying around making the dinner and getting the tables ready that I didn't even take ONE PICTURE!!! We had a great time though. Doug and his family, Rod and his family and Ashlyn and her family were here, and this year Mom and Christopher, Dave's nephew shared our Thanksgiving with us. It was great. The only thing that would have made it better is if Jer, Bec and the kids could have been here as well. We probably would have had to rent a place or have it at the church to fit everyone in but it would have been great. Dinner was delicious as usual but doesn't it just amaze you how we can spend all those hours slaving over the stove and preparing those favorite dishes and have them devoured in just minutes?!?! We had a lot of fun visiting with each other, especially the kids. They love seeing and spending times with the cousins. Keagan wrote a play, How The Turkey Got it's Gobble which had to be acted out twice because Nana forgot to video it the first time. But it was great fun for all of us. Special recognition goes to Rod for the sound of the Turkey's gobble and Tristen who really got into his character - Doctor Expert Turkey with accent and all, and Aunt Raquel who was Tiny Tim - the littlest Turkey. But Bravo to all the turkey characters. Then after the Play we played our annual Thanksgiving Bingo. Last year Tristen walked away with most of the gifts, this year it was pretty even. Anyway...we had a great Thanksgiving and have so very much to be thankful for!

You have to watch this video!!

Wedding Ceremony - My Waffle Wedded Wife this is great!

"Amazing Kids"

Monday night the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra presented Tunes to Tap to. It was held at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. The place was packed. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. There were three groups that performed. The Utah Valley String Sinfonia, the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra. This is the group that Keagan plays with, and the Utah Valley Youth Philharmonia Orchestra. I was amazed at how good these kids sounded. It was great!! You know that these kids are going somewhere. If they are this disciplined and can play this good now, think of what they can do in the future!!!

Keagan and Mr. David Beck her conductor. This guy got down to Keagan's level for the photo he is 6 ft 4+. He is a TALL guy and it was so fun to watch him conduct, he literally danced to the music as he lead the group. I think I embarrassed Keagan because Mr. Beck was talking to people after the performance and I had her wait to get the photo. I'm sure she'll be glad in years to come:-)

We we're close enough to get pictures of Keagan with the whole group but I had to get one of Keagan on stage. This little girl has so much confidence and is so talented, I know she is going to do well if she keeps it up. Bravo Keagan, Bravo.

Jean's Golden Girls

I was looking on utube today and found my dance group! It was Feb 2, 2008 at the Utah State vs Nevada game, was I there? Yes, but I can't really point me out because of the way the camera was scanning and I'm not on the front row. I was on the outer right hand side, probably the third row back. I just wanted to give you an idea of what fun we have and how the crowd loves us:-)

Ashlyn's Christmas Candy

As I mentioned earlier Ashlyn has started taking orders for her Christmas Candy and it looks like she will be as busy as every. Here are some photos of her NEW Christmas Gift Ideas.
It's hard to see how yummy this looks all wrapped up so heres another photo without the wrapping, it also show how cute the plate is.

Doesn't that just make your mouth water!!!! I kid you not, her cashew turtles are to die for!!! And they are so addicting.

And try this cute little Christmas mug full of peanut brittle or toffee. What a great gift and a great price too.

Or, how about a bucket of candy! We took samples and photos and order blanks around to different business' today. I'm sure she is going to be sooooo busy. As if she wasn't busy enough as it is.

The Empty Nesters have a full house:-)

As I said in an earlier blog we have Ash, Dave and our three grand children living with us while they are looking for a new home. It has been quite an adjustment for us empty nester's of 14 + years. Before they came to live with us we rattled around in our quite house, watching our usual TV programs, eatting on TV trays infront of the TV, leading a pretty boring lifestyle. Ashlyn, Dave and kids on the other hand live a pretty exciting none stop life. Ashlyn gets up in the morning, gets the kids up and ready for school, prepares their lunch's, takes Keagan to school about 7:15 then she gets home just in time to work on the second round. That is to make sure Jake and Lily are through with breakfast, hair combed, teeth brushed, homework in hand and off they go to be dropped off at their school. She comes home, gets herself ready and, Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work she goes. She gets off just in time to stop by Keag's school and pick her up, then pick up Jake and Lily Beans. Once she gets home there is no rest for the weary because it's time to do home work and get Lily and Keagan to practice their violin. After an hour or so she's off to take Keagan to her symphony orchestra practice. And on other days she take Lily and Keagan to violin lessons and Jake to soccer practice, then comes home to start making her Christmas Candy. Feeeeew!!! I'm tired just telling you about it. We play Nertz, a card game that Ashlyn is so competitive at, she is brutal:-) Keagan is getting really great at also, and Nana is just trying to remember and keep up with the two of them, and sometimes Papa. Jake is also learning how to play. We also play scrabble, Les, Keagan, Dave and I. I've been to soccer games, night of excellence, and trips to school to drop off forgotten items. I had forgotten what it was like when my kids were young and the minute I got home or they came home they were so excited to tell me about their day, it brings back so many wonderful memories. And, my piano that just sat in the living room and looked pretty has never sounded so good. I get to hear the most beautiful music everyday because not only does Keagan play the violin but she plays the piano too. Our home is once again filled with laughter and music and yes sometimes yelling and fighting as well but it's one of the perks of living with your grand children, and Ashlyn and I have gone shopping and had lunch together and really enjoyed this time.

As the previous photos show we spent the last few saturdays in the yard raking leaves together and it's been fun spending time and getting to know Dave better. Lily brings back the wonder and excitement of being a child again. She is soooo artistical, while we were raking leaves she would grab a leaf and say, "look Nana this is the most beautiful leaf!!!" or, "look Nana aren't these leaves AMAZING!!!!" I will never look at an Autumn leaf the same way ever again. She has shown me that there are so many different and unique ones. We are making leaf art, we are drying these most AMAZING leaves and we are going to put them on some pretty paper and frame them for Lily's new bedroom. I will have to share them with you when they are completed. I enjoy Jake and the new friends he has made. Jake is a great young man who loves video games and sports.

When the kids were little I loved to listen to their music and I think they enjoyed listening to ours. I take Keagan to school on days that Ashlyn is running late and we always listen to the radio. Some of Keagans favorite music has become mine. It's the kind of songs that can put a smile on your face and put you in a great mood for the rest of the day. I have put two of them on the blog to share them with you. Hope it puts a smile on your face and makes your day as well.

Autumn Time

A while back I went to Jake and Lily's school to drop something off for Lily. As I was walking down the hall I noticed Lily's cute picture with something she had written about Autumn time. I wish I could write what Lily had written word for word because it was so cute. She said she loved Autumn time because of the beautiful leaves, with all their brilliant colors but most of all she loved raking the leaves into big piles and then jumping into them. Last Saturday Dave, Ash, and the kids were out in the yard raking leaves. Little by little each one of the kids slipped away until it ended up being just Dave, Ash, and myself. We cleaned out all the flower beds and then loaded all the dead flowers and leaves in the back of Les's truck to go to the green waste. Just as we were loading the last load of leaves Lily came running out and she started to cry. She said, "I wanted to jump in the leaves." So we left the last little bit of leaves for her to run and jump in. She also jumped in the back of the truck full of leaves. It really doesn't take much to make kids happy does it? :-) It would be wise to take a lesson from them. The best things in life really are free.

Lily is our Autumn leave girl!!!!

Guess who's a TEENAGER!

October 16th Keagan became a TEENAGER, totally!! And yes, that is mascara she has on her eyes. Dave said, "over night her brain turned to mush." It seems like only yesterday I was at the hospital with Ash and Dave waiting for her arrival. She is a fun teenager!! She gets great grades (almost) a straight A student. She plays the piano, and the violin, and was accepted into the Utah Valley Youth Symphony. In February she will be going on tour with them. She and I went to lunch the day before her birthday and picked out her birthday gift. It was lots of fun, probably more so for me then it was for her. Happy Birthday Keags!

"September Birthdays"

I know October is almost over and done with and here I am writing about the September Birthdays. I had to wait until Rebecca put Brynlee's birthday on her blog so I could copy some photo because I never had any of my own. On September the 8th the twins, Chris and Ben celebrated their "15th" Birthday!!! I can't believe that they are 15! Next year they can drive, yikes!This is Ben. Isn't he a handsome young man! He loves sports of all kinds, he loves to read and play games. He and Chris are very close brothers.
This is Chris, an equally handsome young man. He loves math and also loves sports. They are very energetic young men but as well as being fun loving they have a very sensitive side. They are loving and compassionate. Happy Birthday guys!

Then on the 18th of September my brother Burt celebrated his "45th" birthday. Happy birthday Burt! I remember like it was yesterday when Burt was born. A pretty important day because my parents had waited all those years and through five girls to have a son. It was an exciting day to say the least.

Then on September 21st Brynlee celebrated her "10th" birthday. Brynlee is 10 going on 18! She is an energetic sweetheart who wants to grow up way to fast. She loves to run marathons like her mom and dad. Here is a picture of her at one of her races.

And here she is at her "girls night out" birthday party where all the girls at the party were treated to manicures, pedicures and facials. Talk about pampered, wish I could have been there!! Happy Birthday Bryn!

Put a little Sunshine in your day:-)

A few weeks back as I was driving home from the temple and I couldn't help but stop and take some pictures of these beautiful Sunflowers. After that I noticed them all over town. A lot of people are planting them in their yard. Driving Keagan to School in the morning I noticed some other sun flowers just down the street from us. Now that fall and soon winter will be upon us I just had to post these photos of the beautiful sun flowers. I hope they warm your day as they do mine.

Still No Coke!!!

Just thought I would fill you in and let you know I STILL have not had a Coke!!! Are you proud of me?

The Start Of A New Year In Our BYU Ward

It's hard to believe that we have been in our calling at the BYU 144 Ward for a little over a year now. Les is 1st Counselor. The 2nd Counselor Brother Blackhusrt and his wife have the cutest little boy, Luke is his name. We received an email from Brother blackhusrt today that said, "I thought you might like to know that Luke is doing his part for the ward. See attached. He also likes to make sure Brother Smith is still there."
Here is Luke looking through the ward directory, he's pointing out his nursery leaders. Yes, even in the BYU ward we have nursery leaders for Luke.

Here's were he is checking the directory to see if Brother Smith is still there.

This is the cover of the ward directory, do you see Brother Smith??? Luke just like to check and make sure he hasn't fallen off the ladder, and he's still holding up the 9 :-) Luke has to be a sharp kid to be at BYU already:-)

The Twins Turned 80!

For those who don't know Les's Mom and her twin sister Auntie Dorothy well, saying they are horse lovers is an understatement. They are truly "HORSE" lovers, practically born in the saddle. I love this poster that cousin Pam got for the 80th birthday celebration.

This is a photo of Les's Grandmother Kiki, Les's Mom, and her twin Sister Dorothy it was their birthday party invitation. They celebrated their 80th birthday on Aug 2nd. They were born in Santa Barbara California and lived in a beautiful home there that reminds me of being somewhere on a pacific island because of the vegetation that grows around the home. About 6 years ago we took a trip there to visit all the places where Doris (Mom) lived, played and went to school. It was really very interesting. Their parents were horsemen.

This is Les's Mom's Senior picture, and below is Aunt Dorothy's Senior photo. What beautiful young woment they were.

And as you can see, how beautiful they are still.

Here's wishing them many, many more!!!

New Scales

Just as I said I went out and bought me a new bathroom scale. It's one of those that will hold your weight for up to 4 to 6 weeks so you can see your progress. It will also keep track of up to 4 peoples weight. Les saw it and wanted to try it out. It took a minute for us to get the hang of it but he became person #2. I was person #1 so when he stepped on the scales the first weight it brought up was mine. He looked at it and said, "Ya, that's about right for my weight." I said, "Les, that's MY weight." He waited a minute and then his came up. Thank goodness it was 20 something more then me. FWWWWWWW! I'm not going to give out our weight though, sorry. Les really wouldn't care but I would. I'll keep you updated on my progress:-)

Four Weeks Without a Coke!!!

I can't believe it but it has been 4 weeks since I last had a coke or any kind of soft drink for that matter. You got it right. "4 WHOLE WEEKS!!!" It's been even longer then that since I have had any Corn Nuts (my last craving) I was eatting on an average of 1 to 2 packages a day. I do have to have a little tiny piece of chocolate every now and then but I have sworn off sweets as well. Not entirely or I will set myself up to fail. I have been walking everyday and doing the 8 minute work out which you wouldn't think it would but it kicks my butt, and I dance 3 nights a week. I know your thinking HOW MUCH HAVE YOU LOST? It's discouraging to even tell you but I don't think I have lost anything. I am going to get myself a new set of scales and start keeping track. But I'm not going to let it get me down. I am going to get some of this weight off if it kills me! Keep me in your prayers:-)

PHASE TWO OF OUR TRIP.

After seeing the big redwoods in Yosemite we headed to Exiter California to visit my Uncle Kent and his wife Paula. This is a Kent, Paula and their new puppy Jada Elizabeth. Kent and Paula live on what Les and I consider to be a little piece of pparadise only you can't really say little. He lives in the middle of 100's of acres of orange groves. It is so beautiful and peaceful there. Jada is the cutest little puppy and won over our hearts and our feet:-) she likes to lick feet. We got to visit with some of my cousins, Gwen and Charlotte and meet Gwen's twins, Morgan and Shane who are two great 17 year olds.
Les took a relaxing swim in the pool before dinner. Kent also has a hot tub, sauna and tanning booth as well.
We enjoyed our stay at Kent and Paula's they truly roll out the red carpet for us! They put mints on our pillows provided us with robes (like they do in the expensive hotels) and made us feel like royalty.
Sequoia National Park in almost in Kent's back yard, another park of giant redwoods so we took off to Sequoia while we were there as well.

The Park was so beautiful and it was sooo cool there. The temperature was the best probably because we were so high up and shrouded in trees. We waved good-bye to Kent, Paula, and Jada. And were off to our next stop, Santa Barbara California, home of the twins for their birthday. Stay tune for the 80th birthday party!

YOUR FUNNY FOR THE DAY...THE LAUGHS ON ME!

We have had a sprinkler in the back yard that has leaked for years, yes you heard me right YEARS! At first it was just a little leak but then it became a big leak. It was even seeping into the neighbors back yard and he complained about it last summer, so the start of this summer Les took the sprinkler valve apart and put all new parts into it. WALA...it still leaks only this time the leak is even worse. Les will agree he is no handy man. What I'm about to tell you next I wish I had a picture of but I don't because it happened to me. Jake our 10 year old grandson wanted to earn some money this summer and asked if he could mow our lawn and even though Papa is very particular about his lawn he is even more particular about having young boys grow into responsible young men so he agreed. He just asked that someone trim around the fence and get things started for him. Last Friday Jake came over to mow the lawn and so I was doing the trimming for him. Well needless to say when I got to the place where the leaking sprinkler was it was muddy, as I stepped onto the muddy spot I could feel my feet slipping out from under me. I looked over at Jake as I was going down WITH THE LAWN MOWER mind you, and I wish you could have seen his expression! He looked as if he wanted to laugh but then remembered, "oh oh, this is my Nana what if she gets hurt," and the expression changed from laughter to fear. Needless to say I slide down still holding onto the lawn mower and the more I tried to get up the more I slid. I finally had to take off my shoes to even stand up. Now I have MUD all over my butt, down my legs, up my back and I am cussing (in my mind not in front of my grandson) this d--- sprinkler!!! I get back up, start the lawn mower and finish trimming the lawn covered in mud before I go in to change. Needless to say a plumber is coming to fix the sprinkler TODAY!!! I know your laughing but it's okay.

"GETTING AWAY..THE GREAT ESCAPE"

Ever since my retirement last January Les and I have been saying we were going to get away but something always comes up. Les's Mom and her twin sister were celebrating their "80th" birthday August the 2nd, the day after my Mom's and they wanted to celebrate it in Santa Barbara California where they were both born and raised. We decided that would be a great chance to take off early before their birthday and do a little sight seeing on our own. So Tuesday July 28th we loaded up the car and headed for California to Yosemite home of the giant Seqouia's. The first day we drove to Tonapa Neveda. What's in Tonapa you ask? Not really much of anything any more, the motel we stayed in, a restaurant or two, an antique book store, a couple of gas stations and that's about it. We spent the night there in a nice Best Western got up the next morning and headed for Yosemite. You would not have believed the road we drove on. I thought my grand kids would have loved it. It should have been titled the roller coaster highway because it was just like a roller coaster and if Les got going a little to fast our car did a jump (that must be where we lost one of our hubcaps). The scenery in Yosmite was breathtakingly beautiful.

As you can see from the picture we were pretty high up. The ole ears were a poppen all the way! The landscape and flowers before we got to the big redwood trees was so pretty.

I'm usually not in many of the pictures but Les did take a few of me because we were both carrying camera's on this trip. See, I really was there.

The Giant Redwoods were AMAZING!!! The pictures do not do them justice unless you have something to compare them with.

This is a picture of Les's great grandfather Horace Smith taken in the redwoods years ago. Les's father had his picture taken also but I don't have one of him to put in the blog. And of course this is Les. I wish I had the photo of Les's Dad because he tried to dress like Horace as well.

Stay tune for more of our trip as I find time to update :-)