It started at Grandma's table.

I grew up in a family that loved to play. My dad was one of twelve kids, so any time the family got together — and with a family that size, that was often — the card tables came out and we'd play for hours.

We played games at home almost every day. And when I met my husband, I learned that his favorite memories from childhood were the games his family played up at their cabin — sometimes they'd keep going right until the sun came up.

When we started our own family, the games came everywhere with us. Every trip, every vacation, the cards got packed first. And now that I'm a grandmother, there's nothing I love more than time around the table with my growing family.

A few years ago, two of my grandbabies — both just three years old — climbed up to the table and asked to play with us. But the face cards confused them. They couldn't tell the jacks from the kings, and after a few minutes they gave up and wandered off to play by themselves. It tugged at my heart.

So before our next game night, I printed out some pictures and numbers and taped them right onto the cards. And just like that, those two little ones could play right alongside everyone else.

After that, I made a whole game by hand — cut the cardstock, glued on the pictures, and colored every one of them in myself. My grandkids wanted to play it every single visit. Then their friends wanted a set. Then friends of friends started asking too.

So we decided to make it real, and Sugar Pine Games was born. Today we're a small, family-run company — and my hope is that someday my grandchildren will take it over and keep it going.