GRANDKIDS AND LOVE

Well, hello again, Alert Readers! First of all, I want to thank our sweet Rory for filling in for me the last couple of blogs. I was just too tired and lazy to write, and she is always willing to help!  She is such a wonderful baby girl! 

It's not like I have a TON of fun stuff to write about today, but I wanted to stake my claim on my own blog again, so here I am! 

Our fabulous grandkids (including Nick's fiancée, Emily) came over and decorated our house- inside and out! Our son-in-love Chris came to help Trevor put up our outside lights! He used to do the outside lights ALL BY HIMSELF in Santa Monica. And that's when he covered our whole house (even the spine of the roof!) in lights! Our house was right across the street from the college, and the students absolutely LOVED the "light house", as they called it. Chris put hundreds of lights up year after year.  Wow!  Even the bushes were smothered with lights. Sooooooooo pretty.  Here in Mesa, we don't put so many lights up. We live in a cul-de-sac and, really, no one sees our house except those who actually LIVE in the cul-de-sac. Our neighbors' house and our orange trees hide us from the big street. So we put up some cute red plastic bows (lighted, of course) and some lighted snowflakes. It looks pretty and festive, without being too much work for the guys.

Ali's hubby, our grandson-in-love Andrew put our tree up. Every year, Trevor decorates it. This year, he had HELP!!!!!  Rory sat in his lap and helped him decide where to put the "pretties", as she called them. Ali climbs up on a stool and put up our big Annalee dolls on top of our entertainment center and bookcases. She knows just where to put them, and does a great job every year. Nick and Emily came over to tie down the big, lighted red bows outside. They get caught by the wind and get blown up onto our roof, so they need to be tied down with string to our plants. Decorating our house, inside and out, is a family affair!  We really appreciate their help!  Denny and I can no longer handle it. Oh, AGE, how you let us down!!!!!!! Oh, how we LOVE our grandkids!!!!!!

To cap it off, our house is now fully decorated and gorgeous! A 4 foot tall Annalee mouse stands guard with two smaller friends in one corner, two 4 foot Santa and Mrs. Santa reign over the whole house from the top of our entertainment center, and a bevy of various-sized Annalees hover on shelves everywhere. And Annalees COVER our tree! Top or bottom there are Annalee Santas, elves, mice, reindeer, snowmen, angels, gingerbread men, penguins, a hippo wearing a wreath, even a koala bear. OH! And a monkey!  Love it! Love it! 

WARNING TO ALL GRANDCHILDREN!!!! I will be wrapping presents on Friday! YOU ARE NOT INVITED TO COME OVER! :-]  HO HO HO!!!!

'Bye to all!  Love, Sue ;-]

"WALL-TO-WALL PEOPLE, AND TERKEE!"

This is me in my new Exersaucer at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Nooooo, I am not spoiled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Day After Thanksgiving, Alert Readers!  This is Rory again. My GG says she is too lazy to write, so she asked me if I could please fill in for her again.  I am happy to help my GG because I love her the MOST of all- except my Mama, my Daddy, my Grandma and Grandpa, my uncles and my Papa!  But, besides all of them, my GG is my very most favorite!

Yesterday was my very first Thanksgiving. I really don't know what that is all about . . . but I heard my adults talking about things they are grateful for, and they seemed to think that YESTERDAY was the day to talk about it . . . so maybe THAT'S the whole deal! It made me very happy to hear them say that every one of them is thankful that I am in our family.  :-] 

My Mama, Daddy joined my Grandma and Grandma and uncles to go see a moo-vey, whatever that is!  I didn't feel left out, though, because they dropped me off at Papa and GG's house on the way. So I got to spend some time with them! I watched some football boys on TV with Papa.  I like the bright colors and the activity. Then my GG held me and I jumped up and down on her tummy.  I like to jump- but after a couple of minutes, my GG said, "Ouch, Bitty!" (Sometimes she calls me "Bitty Boo")  . . .  so Papa came and put me in my Excersaucer.   I have learned that I can jump all I want in my 'saucer, and no one complains about it. So for a loooooooooooooong time I played in my 'saucer- chewing on the brightly-colored toys and bouncing as hard as I could.  Whee!!!!!!

After a while, I announced –LOUDLY!- that I was hungry. Papa got me my bottle, and gave me to GG and she fed and rocked me.  I didn't WANT to take a nap. I tried real hard NOT to take a nap. But GG is nice and soft, and she rocks me back and forth and back and forth- and before I knew it, I was sound asleep. GG continued to rock me, but I only slept for about 25 minutes. Then, I was ready to roll! Papa put me in my bouncer, and I jumped and jumped until my Papa and GG said they were getting dizzy watching me. We played and laughed at each other until my Mama and Daddy came back to pick me up. Papa and GG kissed me "goodbye", but said they'd be seeing me "later"- so I was confused.

Mama and Daddy took me to a whole different house, and I met a bunch of brand-new adults. My Grandma and Grandpa Mills were there, and they seemed to know everybody.  I didn't like the crowds- it was noisy and kinda scared me. So I LET THEM KNOW- at the top of my lungs.  I wanted to make a really good impression on everybody, but I think I didn't.  But Grandma and Grandpa Mills love me anyway, and I know I will get used to the big family crowds.

We left from that big party and went right back to Papa's and GG's!  This time, it was my Mama's side of the family.  It's a much smaller crowd- since my Grandma is Papa and GG's only child, and she and Grandpa had only three children. There were not wall-to-wall "cuzzins" there. Plus, I already knew all of them –even my Uncle Nick's new girlfriend, Emily. Someone said she is his "fiancée", but since I don't know what that means, I'll just call her "Emily". She very pretty and very nice.

It was weird. All of my adults sat around tables and ate the SAME food they had eaten at the OTHER house!  It was called "terkee". I don't GET it!  But as long as I get my bottles when I need them, I don't care what the others eat! Everybody ate so much that no one had room for "deezert".  We just all sat around and chatted with each other- the men in the family room, and we women in the kitchen. After a while, my Mama put me down to bed in GG's "parlor". My Grandpa was in there too. Everyone else just continued to chat, I guess . . .  but they didn't wake me up until it was time for my Mama, Daddy and me to go home. I didn't like being woken up- and I wanted even the NEIGHBORS to know it!  GG is sure they did! Everybody left the house at about the same time, carrying big plates with bright silver paper on them. I
think there was some "deezert" on the plates.  

It was a loooooooong day, but I enjoyed being with all of these big people who love me. I have learned that it is called a "kiss" when they press their lips onto my cheeks or hands or legs.  I just have sit there and endure the kisses until everyone is done. Maybe if I weren't "so stinkin' cute" (as my Grandma always says), I wouldn't get so many kisses. I try to give kisses back, of course- but I haven't yet figured out how to put my lips together, so my adults squeal a little about my "slurpies"!  ;-0 

I hope ya'll had a wonderful day.  My adults all said it was good, and I think it was too. My Papa promised me that NEXT year, I can have some of the adult food.  How are they going to squeeze it into a bottle??????  

Well, 'bye, guys!  I am very tired and need to rest. My GG said she'll write maybe tomorrow. I love you all!  Rory  ** M'wa! **

RORY'S "CHRISTMAS CHEER"!

Hi Alert Readers!  My name is Aurora Rose Mills, but everyone calls me "Rory".  I am my GG's favorite li'l person (as she keeps telling me), and I am writing her blog tonight!  She is doing the actual TYPING because I haven't figured out how to manage my fingers very well yet. So I whispered my thoughts into her ear, and she is telling you.

Today was a Banner Day in my life. My Mommy, Daddy, and tall, dark and handsome Uncle Trevor took me over to my Papa's and GG's house. They said something about "decorating". I didn't know what that meant, but when we got to the house, the furniture had all been moved around. I didn't know where to find my TOYS!  AND a big green plant thingy was standing right where my GG's rocker usually sits. That's where she feeds me and rocks me to sleep!  But I finally found it- when GG took me from Papa's arms and sat in it with me. I sat with GG while everybody else was busy-busy-busy dragging boxes into the room and taking pretty things out of them. My GG says her favorite color is "red", and LOTS of the stuff in the boxes was red- so I knew she was happy!

But the most FUN thing that happened was when the big green plant thingy all-of-a-sudden turned BRIGHT with lots of colored lights!  Then my Uncle Trevor grabbed some boxes and started HANGING pretty things all over the big plant thingy! He called the big thingy a "tree", so I guess that's what it is. He would know, because he is very smart! I was soooo excited when he took me from my GG and sat me down in his lap and let me help him hang the pretties on the tree. He would pick one out of the box, show it to me, and ask me where we should hang it. I took this very seriously, but mostly I really wanted to CHEW/SUCK on the pretties.  When Uncle Trevor wouldn't let me put them in my mouth, I really DID try to show him where the pretties should go . . . I would flail my hands around and show him JUST where to put them!  We must have been a pretty good team, because before too long, the whole tree was covered top to bottom with lights AND the pretties! I just couldn't look at it enough!!! My eyes kept going back to the tree . . . over and over!  I felt proud that I could help my Uncle Trevor "decorate" it. 

By then, I was getting really tired, but I didn't want to give in and take a nap. But my Mama saw right through that, and had my GG wrap me up in my blanky and rock me.  I tried very VERY hard not to fall asleep, but the next thing I knew, I was waking up on my GG's shoulder. I looked up into her eyes and she said, "Well, look who's awake!"

. . .  I think she meant me!

'Bye, guys! I love you all!!!!!!  Rory 

LOSING MY MIND . . .

Hi Alert Readers! Okay . . . so sometimes I think my brain cells are escaping faster than I can capture them!  PROOF: last night I was serving in the Records Office at the Temple.  My job was to stamp the date on each of the ordinance slips that had been scanned into the computer.  About half way through the evening, I was stamping along, minding my own business, when I noticed that the ink was getting very light. I kept tapping and tapping it on the inkpad, but it seemed to be out of ink. I said, "Oh! I really need ink!  Let me find Sister Heywood" (she's the Office Supervisor).  My two fellow workers looked over and both began to laugh. I had been tapping my stamp on the LID side of the inkpad!!!  No wonder there was no ink!!!!!!  Oh my . . . .  it's sad to lose your mind!

BLING, LING-A-LING! A RING!!!!!

NOTE to Alert Readers!   Okay, so here we go! NICK IS ENGAGED!  Yep! Our grandson's been home from his mission for two months today, and he is engaged. The young woman's name is Emily Pratt, and she is a sweetheart.

 They are being married on Thursday, March 7^th in the Mesa Temple.

Here's a picture of her ring.

Nick and Emily have known each other for years, but never dated until he returned from his mission. Emily is part of Kristin's theatre group:  Actor's Youth Theater.  Love at first date??????  Well, we're kinda used to that in our family! Emily is the youngest of 6 sisters and 1 brother- has 27 nieces and nephews!  She is 12 years younger than her youngest sibling. YEP! She's an "OOPS!"  A very nice "Oops"! 

So Rory gets another Aunt, and Emily gets her 28^th niece/nephew!  ** Whew! **

Wanna know how Nick proposed??????  He bought Emily a set of scriptures and had "Emily Suzanne Bowler" engraved on the front. Then he took her to "their" place, a certain bench at the Mesa Arts Center (first kiss, first "I love you"- awwwwwwww!). He placed the book on the bench, she picked it up and looked at it, saw the name, and he went right down on one knee and proposed. She had NOOOOOOOOOO idea!  They had talked about marriage, but she had no idea he was proposing when he did.  NICE!  They are sooooooo cute together!

Even OUR little family is beginning to grow!  YAY!!!!! 

SANTA CAME EARLY!!!!!!!!

Good morning, Alert Readers!  Well, Denny and I just couldn't wait one more minute to give our beautiful Rory her big Christmas gift. She's only going to be 6 months old at Christmas and won't know  Christmas from Shistmas . . . so we gave her our gift EARLY! Actually, it was TWO gifts; one for our house and one for hers. We gave her two of those really fun Exersaucers!  And she loves it! She sits in the little seat, surrounded by fun toys . . . and bounces. Oh yes, she also has a jumper/bouncer here and at her own home. But she's a bouncer wherever she sits! She did immediately locate the toys attached to the top, and is learning that she can turn the seat and reach all of the toys all around her.

Her Daddy, Andrew, was funny with her the first time she played in the 'saucer. She was flailing her hands around trying to play with each toy, and Andrew said (reading Rory's mind), "Mine! Mine! Also mine!" He reached forward to touch a toy, and she gave him a baleful look. You could see it clearly in her mind- "MINE!"

This little girl has completely stolen our hearts. Papa is totally WACKO over her . . . and I am just as bad. When she turns those big, deep blue eyes on us, we will do anything for her.  And . . . do you think she knows it????  Oh my, YES!  We put her down on her tummy on our "Rory Blanket" for a nap, and she instantly turned over, looked at me with those eyes, and began to whimper.

When the whimpering became full-throated wailing, and those eyes were STILL directly on me, I gave in. Oh course. Just like she knew I would. I picked her up, wrapped her in a little blanky and rocked her to sleep. I know . . .  I know . . .  but that's the joy of being a great-grandparent!  If Papa and GG (Denny and I) can't spoil her, who can??????????

LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT BABY!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK . . . ACK!!!!

Hi Alert Readers!  Yep! I know Halloween is just barely past, and Thanksgiving is still a bit around the corner, but still and all . . . it's beginning to look a like Christmas around our house!  Good grief, Charlie Brown!  Our bedroom has been taken over by Christmas Annalee dolls!  As reported in my last blog, we brought some home from Den's mothers' collection (divided up between Den and his twin sisters). We unpacked them and laid them out around the bedroom so Krissy and Ali can come over and make their selections. There is a 4 foot tall mouse dressed in festive attire, two 24" mice (a man and woman), one 24" Mrs. Santa and a trio of 24" Mr. Santas.  There's also a few 8-12 inchers, and 8 quite small dolls.  The girls are coming over tomorrow morning to make their choices. PLUS, we may or may not have a little surprise for them, too! There may or may not be 4 brand-new ones awaiting them too! We caught a good sale a few months ago.  ;-]

We have kind of a curious tradition in our family. NEW members to our family sometimes have a couple of doubts about us . . . but we always decorate BEFORE Thanksgiving. Seriously- BEFORE Thanksgiving! By Thanksgiving Day, the outside Christmas lights are hung on the house, the tree is up and ready to go, our wreaths are hung around the house and ready to light, our bookshelves and tops of our cabinets are decorated with lights and Annalees, and lighted garlands are strung on anything that doesn't move. We don't actually turn on any lights until the actual Thanksgiving night, but we are always ready.  Our neighbors generally get a big kick out of us- our grandsons out on ladders hanging lights in the middle of November! Trevor decorates our tree every year (has done it for years!).  He has a real "eye" for that. Ali puts all of the big Annalees (and big heavy garlands that she calls "The Beasts"!) on top of our shelves and entertainment center, making them look very cute. Nick and Andrew hang the outside lights. FUN! FUN!! FUN!!! 

Sooooooooo, here we are on November 5^th, trying to plan a good day for our grandchildren to come over. It's hard to get all four at the same time . . . and we may have to do the decorating this year in bits and pieces.

No worries . . .  as long as it's done by Thanksgiving!  Tra la la la la!!!!! 
P.S. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Smith FINISHED their Christmas shopping today!!!!!!  ** whew! **  KIDS: Stay OUT of Grandma's office closet!!!!  

ANNALEES, "ISLANDS" AND MEMORIES . . .

Hello, Alert Readers! Christmas Annalee dolls were everywhere!  ;-] Mom's house in Tempe was covered in them. Jody and Jill (Denny's twin sisters) had spent 2 or 3 days organizing the dolls in preparation for us to gather together and divvy them up. Dolls were covering the dining room table, the counter in the kitchen, a card table in the family room and all of the furniture in the living room. Big ones about 4 feet tall, medium ones, small ones, and then –everyone's favorite these days- the tiny tree ornaments. Each Annalee doll is handmade, hand painted, and different from any other. Our family has been collecting them for about 40 years. Mom had a great collection, and we three families are going to enjoy them the rest of our lives. Each of us selected dolls for ourselves and mostly for our children and grandchildren. What fun to look at each doll and remember Mom, who got us started collecting in the first place! 

Half way through the Annalee division, Denny, Jody, Jill, Jiggs and I sat down at Mom's dining room table to look over and discuss Mom's will and estate. We started with a prayer- because we ALL want to get through this situation with absolutely NO hurt feelings or anger of any kind. And that's exactly what happened! Denny, as Executor, gave a report on Mom's bank accounts. We discussed the disposition of the house, furnishings and odds and ends. Decisions were made as to who would inherit what. Of course, we included our Pop's children and our own grandchildren. Even our GREAT-granddaughter Rory was given something cute! When we finished the discussion, everyone felt that the division was fair and square, and peace reigned- just as we planned and expected.  We've been blessed with a wonderful family!

Then it was BACK TO THE ANNALEES! What fun! We came home with two packing boxes and two garbage bags overrun with dolls. Denny and I will choose a few that we really want, and then give Kristin and Ali a chance to come choose. We are going to put a couple away for our granddaughters-to-be as well. Our grandsons are not interested, but we bet the girls will be when they see our houses decorated for the holidays. And, of course, we need a REALLY cute one for our REALLY cute li'l Rory!

We've heard of families being ripped apart during occasions like this. Brothers and sisters not speaking to each other! Cousins not even knowing who's who! What a shame. We decided from the beginning that we would be fair and honest with each other- no matter what. Denny's sisters are waaaaaaaaay more important to us than ANY piece of furniture or amount of money in the world. We are family forever! ;-]

We left Tempe, came home to unload our goodies and then hustled ourselves over to the Mesa Arts Center to see AYT's "Once On This Island". Our grandson Trevor had a featured part! The production was excellently done! Beautiful set and scenery- great costumes- and the kids did a WONDERFUL job! Of course, our eyes were on our Trevor and on Nick's favorite girl, Emily, but all the kids did well. We were both impressed! GOOD JOB, AYT! This was an excellent way to kick off your 10th season!  ;-]

It was a day of sweet memories- memories of Mom, memories of holidays past, and memories of each other. Family first?????  Yes sir, FAMILY FIRST! 

STEPPING OUT OF THE LIGHT . . .

Hi Alert Readers! Just a note to all of you out there who may be "of a certain age". ** You know who you are. ** This getting old thing is getting old!  . . . sigh . . .  We just taught our teenage Sunday School class about the Three Nephites- and about the NINE who were to live until they were 72 years old, and then pass immediately into the presence of God. 72????????  Denny and I are now 69- pushing 70 pretty hard!  72 is just maybe 30 months away!  We are not, of course, the Three Nephites . . . but just considering that their "ending date" was so close to our present age gives us a whole new perspective.

Now I have something to say: getting old is hard enough, but stepping out of the light is much harder. Just a few years ago, before we moved, Denny and I were involved in just about EVERYTHING in the Santa Monica Stake. We had both served in the Stake for more than 20 years. By the time we left, we felt like we knew nearly EVERYBODY in the Stake; knew their parents, siblings, grandparents, even their DOGS! (OKAY- that is an exaggeration!)  We were busy, involved, our phone rang constantly, we felt needed, and happy. Our sweet little Ward, Santa Monica 1^st, was "family" to us.

Then we moved into a very large Ward. Mesa 18^th Ward is warm, friendly, loving and kind. But our age has somehow put up a "wall" between us and all the things we used to do. Denny has done fine with this- he enjoys having so much time to himself. I, however, have had a tougher time. I miss the young men and young women who were such a HUGE part of our lives for so many years. I miss the opportunity to work on Ward/Stake productions and parties. I miss the sociability of my large group of friends to go to dinner/parties/showers/movies with and chat, chat, chat with on the phone. I miss the better health we had in Santa Monica. The past few years have been tough on us physically- both of us have had illnesses and surgeries that have sidelined us now for about three years.

. . .  I know, I know: "Do you want some cheese with that whine????" 

It has been hard to step out of the light into the fringes of a large, active Ward and Stake. But this is inevitable, I know. Our days in the sun are behind us. It's time now for the Kindras, Wendys, Debbies, Karens, Lauras and Susans to shine. And, boy!, do they! Our Ward is chock full of wonderful, talented young wives and mothers. I can't BEGIN to mention them all. Our job is to take a back seat and cheer them on, just as the "older" sisters cheered US on for so many years. Learning to enjoy activities without being involved has been a hard lesson for me, but at the "Trunk or Treat" last Monday, Den and I found ourselves laughing and enjoying the conversations around us without a single worry about the activity itself. ;-]  Pretty nice, actually!  . . . pretty nice, indeed . . .
 

TO "CROC" OR NOT TO "CROC"?

Dear Alert Readers!  Ya'll know that I've had a lot of trouble with my knees, hips and, now, FEET!  . . . sigh . . .  We went to our podiatrist (Brian Allen, whom we love!) because my right foot was swollen, red, hot and felt like I was walking on a golf ball.  OUCH! OUCH! And, by the way, . . . OUCH!!!!  Dr. Allen took a few ex-rays, thought it could be a stress fracture and sent me for an MRI.  No, it is not a stress fracture, just a good case of edema. So it's compression socks, ice, and "sensible shoes" for me. He suggested that I buy SAS shoes and Crocs!  Dr. Allen said that those shoes would definitely help my poor, huge, achy legs and feet.  ;-] 

. . . oh my . . .

Have you ever seen SAS shoes?  Even Dr. Allen calls them "frumpy", which is actually complimentary!  ;-[  We went to the SAS store and checked out every style there.  Uhhhhhhhh . . .  did I say "STYLE"? Okay, here they are: "Frumpy- Ugly", "Frumpy-Disgusting", "Frumpy-Just-Plain-Sad" or "Frumpy-Hilarious". After trying on several pair, I decided on "Just-Plain-Frumpy" and bought two pairs.

. . . so here I am, all set to go in my old lady compression hose and SAS shoes! No laughing when you see me, please. A nice nod and sweet "Hi!" would be greatly appreciated. Hysterical laughing can wait until I am around the corner!

Now for the question of the day: Crocs?????  Yay or nay?  Dr. Allen sells them right in his office, but I bet I can get them cheaper elsewhere. Do I want them? What do you think??????? To "Croc" or  not to "Croc"?