Issue 31 591 Stanton Drive, St. Helena CA 94574 (707) 967-0606 Winter 2013

2013 has been an ‘event’ year for

all three of us. We hosted a huge

family event in our backyard in

June– Em’s cousin Jessica, who

went to Europe with us back in

2007 (and became our second

daughter), got married and we

worked on preparations for sev-

eral months. Katie wrote and de-

livered the ceremony.

In July, Katie was once again

involved in the non-profit event

Wine Women and Shoes.

In October Emily finished re-

cording several original songs in

preparation for launching her ca-

reer in the entertainment biz.

And in November we made the

commitment to lease a home on

the beach in southern California

for the first three months of 2014.

December started with a bang for

Katie as she was featured in a

Wall St. Journal article about

winery and vineyard real estate.

Not 24 hours later she was inter-

viewed live on the local CBS radio

station.

It will be challenging on all of us

to be living in two places at once.

Ron will miss his hot tub, Em

will miss her boyfriend and Katie

will miss her cats. The plan is to

“Home Sweet Second Home”- view

from our balcony on Mandalay

Beach in Oxnard Shores, Ventura

“We’re ba-ack!”

divide our time, spending as

much time at the beach as pos-

sible. Em will be there full-time.

We had one family vacation this

year. We spent about a week in

Puerto Rico on a small island

called Culebra. Our casita was

steps from the beach, and, aside

from some kind of sand flea that

dined extensively on Katie’s

flesh, it was a total paradise. As

per usual Ron and Em made sev-

eral friends from strangers and

we had dinner guests nearly every

night. Cooking in a very limited

kitchen with food purchased from

the only “store” on the island

(think 7 11 with wilted lettuce

and rum). We made the best of it

and had some truly inventive

meals– beef jerky spaghetti any-

one?.

After Puerto Rico we flew to Mi-

ami to attend the pre–wedding,

wedding and post-wedding fes-

tivities of an Ewart family wed-

ding that raised the bar on party-

ing-gawd it was fun.

It’s been a good health year. All

three of us are trying to quit

smoking (yeah!). Next year we’ll

focus on our weight.

We wish you all love and laugh-

ter, today and always.

The Somples

Ronald, Katie,

Emily, Mae and

Phoebe

CASA SUENO Page 2

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Em’s World

H ooray hooray she’s on her

way. Her L.A. adventure

starts today. (a la The Berenstain

Bears).

Em has had quite a tumultuous year mak-

ing the big decision to move to L.A. and

go for the brass ring (that’s what Ronald

calls it– she hates the phrase).

In preparation for launching her career in

entertainment she completed her EP con-

sisting of three original songs and a jazz

standard. You can buy them here for $1.29

each. http://www.reverbnation.com/

emilysomple.

In addition to her EP she has signed on

with a casting company who created a

profile for her to use for auditions and for

promoting herself. You can take a peek at

her body of experience at http://

hollywoodauditions.com/cast13/

somple_emily.htm

She bought a car in November– a reliable

but sporty Honda that she can depend on

for getting her around L.A.

She’s still working at the same restaurant,

Rosso, in Santa Rosa and did a fun but

short-lived stint for a Princess Party firm.

Little girls swarmed her in public dressed

as Cinderella.

She has been with her beau Joe for a

couple years. They’re not sure how

they’re going to manage the long dis-

tance thing so that’s something they’ll

have to discover.

She’ll be looking for her own place

somewhere around L.A. once she gets

established and some kind of depend-

able income. Starting in mid-January

she’ll be living at the Oxnard Shores

beach house with me and Ronald and

commuting to auditions and interviews.

Break a leg Em!

A Family Wedding!

COMINGS AND GOINGS

FEB- We spent our anniversary at a converted military base at the

foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, Cavallo Point Resort, courtesy of

dear friends Monica and David Stevens. While there we hosted a

visit from Eddie Merrick and Phil and Miriam Kazan.

APRIL/MAY– Family vacation to Puerto Rico, then on to Ft.

Lauderdale/Miami to attend the wedding of Joe and Vivian Ew-

art’s daughter Ashley.

SEPT– Ron and Em had to abandon annual plans to attend Straw-

berry Music Festival due to the Yosemite Rim fire, and instead

spontaneously headed down south stopping along the way in

Ventura to visit cousins Mike & Lin, then to the valley to catch

up with The Greenes, then on to Torrance and Hermosa Beach

to hang out with Tony Tellez and cousin Troy Alarcon.

SEPT- Em and Katie visited Katie’s dear friend Karen in south-

ern Cal, then on to the San Diego to visit friends Don and Lidia

McGrath.

NOV– We spent a long Thanksgiving weekend in Ventura at

Mike & Lin’s with a smaller than usual family crowd, but had so

many belly laughs! (See face switch photo of Ron and Katie on

next page). Emily and Katie went to several appointments in the

L.A. area making contacts and connections for Em’s career

launch.

We were privileged and proud to host

niece Jessica’s wedding to Jeremy Rich-

mond on June 29th .

Much of the Spring and early summer

was spent sprucing up the property and

house, with visits from the bride-and

groom to be, extended family and

friends.

The wedding day was the hottest day of

the year and the hottest day on record for

June– 103 degrees, but you’d never

know it by looking at the bride. Hands

down THE most stunning bride ever. It

was particularly special because Katie

was the officiant.

We love Jessica’s partner choice and

welcome him into our crazy clan.

CASA SUENO Page 3

Wait. What?

Katie’s face on Ron– His on hers.

(Caution: Urination of undergarments

possible when viewing this photo)

The World According

to Ron!

Ronnie has had another year of retire-

ment bliss (going on 15 years now). He

did experience some significant chal-

lenges however. His beloved spa was

‘down’ for most of the year due to bro-

ken parts and a complete DIY overhaul.

This year’s projects included finishing

his precious garage door, having solar

panels installed, having the house trim

painted and building a gazebo over the

spa thanks to the Herculean efforts and

talents of bro-in-law Ed. Most of this was

done in preparation of hosting the back-

yard wedding, so a deadline was, well,

stressful for one and all.

His road trip with Em to southern Cal

was apparently quite eventful but they

don’t tell me everything and I really

don’t want to know. Their father daugh-

ter adventures are their special thing.

His Bruins beat USC for the second con-

secutive year so that makes up for many

ills and disappointments. His annual

football pool had record participants and

absorbed a record number of his leisure

hours coordinating.

He continues to get excellent health care

from the VA, treating it like a hypochon-

driac’s all-you-can-get buffet. We can

hardly believe he’ll be 70! in August.

We particularly enjoyed a Somple family

reunion this year tailgating at the Stan-

ford/UCLA football game.

His daily routine remains the envy of

the working man.

JAN- Heather Anderson– New Year’s

John Pierce

FEB- Mike and Linda Malloy

MAR-JUNE -Jessica (Richmond nay

Diggs) and most of her bridesmaids!

JUL- Troy Alarcon and Lindsay Bullock

SEPT- Guests from Spain: Danny and

Monserat (Don and Lidia’s nephew)

OCT– Heather Anderson and friend Jess

from England

Casa Sueno

Guest Register

One of Em’s many postings of

her dad on Facebook Father daughter road trip to

So Cal

UCLA sc Game

Hanging in the Oxnard man cave

with Mike Malloy and Troy Alarcon

CASA SUENO Page 4

See Casa Sueno in color at http://issuu.com/katiesomple/docs/sueno2013_plus_photo_gallery

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Never one to be outdone

in accomplishments,

Katie’s year was filled with achieve-

ments in business, community and

volunteer work.

In December she took the gavel of the

Chair of the Board of Directors for the

St. Helena Chamber of Commerce for

2014.

That same week she was featured in a

Wall St Journal article, and then inter-

viewed live on CBS radio regarding her ex-

pertise in winery and vineyard real estate.

The first half of the year was very busy as

the economy improved. She was laying a

foundation for retirement soon but with all

the recent press she’s not sure how busy

she’ll be or how much time she’ll be able to

spend down south with Ron and Emily.

CASA SUENO

The Somples

591 Stanton Drive

St. Helena CA 94574

So Cal here we come!

Katie makes national news

Emily is ready for her close-up

HO

W K

AT

IE

RO

LL

S

Em’s new ride– making the deal

Dubai Barbie and Silverback

A surprise NYE visit from Heather

“All I want is to stay home with my

cats and cook and write, but they keep

pulling me back in!”

Alicia, Katie, Debbie and Jackie

at Jessica’s bridal shower

CASA SUENO Page 5

CASA SUENO PHOTO GALLERY 2013

View from our casita in Culebra,

Puerto Rico

Ronnie on Flamenco Beach in

Culebra

Emily on the set of House on the Hill

Post Thanksgiving family dinner with

The Bonpanes in Santa Monica

Father Daughter beach time

Mr. & Mrs. Richmond

Em with Joe near GG Bridge

Jessica & Emily