Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Happy Birthday Nana!!

Today is my Grandmother's birthday.  She is 98.  To all of us, she is Nana.  Our sweet Texas Rose.
I got the old "valise" down from the garage rafters this morning to look for photos of Nana when she was young.
Here she is as a school girl of perhaps 12 or 13.
I have always thought that my Erika looked so much like Nana when she was young.  You can really see it here.  In fact, in the first photo of Nana, my Erika is sitting to her right.  And if you look at their profiles you can see the resemblance. 
This is her high school graduation.
And another one as a  young lady.
Her name is Mary.  And we all love her so much!!!  We will be celebrating her birthday on Sunday at my Mom's house with the whole family.   She is looking forward to that.
While I was going through photos, I took a couple pictures of some of them.  Because I don't know how to scan!
This is my Great Grandma and Grandpa.  I remember them well.  These are Nana's parents.  They lived into their late nineties.
Clara Eliza and Eltie Wright.
Grandma had the most beautiful blue eyes.  And Grandpa was huge fun.  He was so playful with us.  Mom said he used to have water hose fights with her in the summer, and one time drug the hose right into the house after her.  Mom was laughing, and Grandpa was chasing with the hose, and out comes Grandma, yellin' at him to get that hose outside!!!!     We are so fortunate to have known our great grandparents!  And to have our Nana so involved in our lives.  Here is a picture of  us taken right after our first granddaughter, Hannah Faith was born.
Erika on left ( pregnant with Noah) Gennifer, Nana in the center holding Hannah, my Mom, and me on far right.  Five generations!  I wrote a little story and sent it to my home town newspaper.  They came out and interviewed Nana and published this photo. She was so proud!
This next picture is one of my all time favorite pictures of Nana.  It was up at Bass Lake.  Nana loves to feed the ducks.  She would blow the duck call that Uncle Chester got her, and they would all come to circle her.  She could feed them for hours.  I loved to watch her do this.
Nana went with us on a cruise one year.  This is the year that our daughters met the Hass boys.
Erika was 17, Genny was 19 and Drew was 11.
As far back as I can remember, Nana was going places with us, and always having fun.  I remember on her 80th birthday, we were at Bass Lake, and I went into town and bought her a string bikini and gave it to her for her birthday because she said she would ride the jet ski on her birthday around the lake if only she had brought her swimming suit!!!  Oh how I wish I could have found the picture of her with her new bikini!!!!  She is always such a great sport!!!!
In this next picture, Nana was meeting Hannah for the first time.  I took this photo, and loved it so much.  My good friend Ally took this picture that I sent to her on the computer, and had this beautiful ornament hand painted for me to replicate the picture exactly.  Right down to her manicured fingernails!!!  It is something I will cherish forever!!!
We love you Nana!!!!  We will celebrate big with  you on Sunday!!!!!!!!
XO  Kristy

28 comments:

Bethany said...

Wow!!!!!!

Unknown said...

oh I loved this Mom!

Gloria Baker said...

Happy birthday dear nana:)) and blessings!

Sunny Simple Life said...

Happy Birthday to Nana!

Holly said...

What a blessing to have her. My grandmother passed away not too long ago, just a few weeks after her 100th birthday. Happy Birthday Nana!

Kelli said...

Today is my grandmothers birthday as well...she turns 93. She is in the final stages of cancer so it will be her final birthday with us. Grandmothers are so special. Have fun celebrating with your grandmother this weekend!

Deb~in~Denver said...

Happy birthday to your Nana! What wonderful memories you have of her and your great grandparents! I LOVE the ornament, it's gorgeous!

I don't know how to scan, either! I take pictures of pictures as well! :)

Eileen said...

What a wonderful post for such a beautiful lady. How great to have her in your lives for all these years. Enjoy the special day with her, she is fortunate to have such a loving family.

Debbie said...

Happy birthday to your sweet Nana! WOW 98! What a blessing she looks like she is to all of you. Love the five generations picture!

From the Kitchen said...

Happy Birthday to Nana! I like her already. What a joyful event her birthday will be!!

Love that crazy crew in your header!!

Best.
Bonnie

podso said...

Love your header! And this post just made my heart beat faster! It is amazing you still have your grandma with you at her age and have clear memories of your great grandparents (I only knew one). The photos are wonderful and it will certainly be a special day as you celebrate on Sunday. I just noticed the mug your grandma is drinking out of in the top photo! What fun she must be!

Dawn said...

Wow 98 years young. Giver her a Happy Birthday wish from me!

Petunia Pill said...

You just brought tears to my eyes! That photo of your Nana with her manicured nails...meeting the baby...there is so much feeling in her grasp/hold...and the nails...adorable! Love that ornament. What a fabulous gift that was! Love that you have all of your wonderful family heirloom treasures...we are a throw away society now. I'm afraid the treasures of today won't survive the test of time. Things are lost, things are ruined, the media for keeping treasures changes way too fast. I have many golden oldies...I hope, someday, my daughter will treasure them as I do. And, I hope they won't disintegrate too much with time. Lovely post, Kris...just lovely!!!! Hugs, Annette

Whosyergurl said...

Kris, Your family is so lovely. How blessed you are. Treasure Nana. I miss my Grandma (Dec., '06) I can't tell you the times I talk to her. I know she listens, still. xo, Cheryl

Teresa Kasner said...

Kris, you and your family are so special and lovely. I totally enjoyed seeing Nana's photos over the years. And that she is still sweet - so many folks get mean as they age. I intend to stay sweet. :-)
((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Gracie Saylor said...

Thanks for sharing Nana with us, Kris, and allowing us the privilege of celebrating her life with you.
Gracie xxx

Between Me and You said...

I hope my grandaughter will 'big up' her Nana the way you have yours. What a fabulous tribute to your Nana.Lovely all through her life and still lovely now.Three Cheers for all Nanas!!!x

NanaNor's said...

Hi Kris, Firstly Happy Birthday to your Nana. Oh what a wonderful family you have; you are not only blessed with your mom but your Nana too and to have know your great-grandparents, Wow is all I can say. I never met any of my grandparents and of course lost my parents many years ago.
What wonderful memories!
You asked about the book I reviewed and I forgot to put in that it isn't released yet.
You can pre-order it on Amazon though.
Hugs, Noreen

Sy and Shaunna said...

happy birthday to your nana! I still have my great grandmother, who came over from Germany. My great grandfather just passed last summer. I have many 5 generation photos around the house...my fave is the one where I was the fifth generation baby, and right next to it a photo of my first son as the fifth generation baby. Priceless photos, enjoy your celebration!

priscilla said...

Kris,
Happy Birthday to your Grandma ! Your family is beautiful and I enjoyed looking at all your photos !

Heather - The Good Life said...

Happy birthday to your Nana! What a nice tribute you did for her birthday. Enjoy your time with your family. Looking forward to hearing about the special day. Heather

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Oh Kris, Nana is a charm! Love the duck call pic. Yes, I do think your Erika looks alot like her. Aren't those old photos and memories precious? Priceless also. Happy birthday to Nana and have a wonderful celebration.
Hugs,
Jann
p.s. Love your new header!

Kerri said...

Loved this post Kris. Happy 98th birthday to your Nana!! I hope you all have a wonderful celebration on Sunday!

Just a little something from Judy said...

What a special tribute to your Nana. I love the story about the string bikini. What a lady! I like the picture of the five generations. I have one of those too, after our first granddaughter was born. How blessed we both are!

The family pictures you shared are beautiful! Good looking group!

Nicolle said...

So sweet! This made me tear up a bit. I love the 5 generation picture, and the one of Nana using the duck call.

Happy birthday beautiful Nana! Sending you lots of love from Texas!
xo

Libby said...

How wonderful to have such a close-knit extended family. I must admit my envy *s* I hope Nana had a wonderful birthday celebration.

Isn't funny how similarities pass through the generations. While I don't see a physical resemblance in my daughter to my mom - every once in a while, I see my girl hold her hands a certain way and she couldn't be more like mom *s*

Jill said...

Love this post! Happy birthday to Nana!! Many more!

Blessings,
Jill

annielizabeth said...

Happy belated birthday Nana, you beautiful lady!