Monday's Heroes

Today's heroes are the Jubeck family. Lamont, Nicole, Elise and Kray are members of our ward. I had the privilege of having Elise in my Girls' Achievement class for a few months after they moved here until she turned 12. Kray is in Cubs and his parents are the Cub leaders. For the first time in years the Cub program is going extremely well in the ward. Lamont is an officer in the Air Force and is here to attend the War College. The family moved here from San Antonio, Texas where they had been stationed at Randolph Air Force Base. It is fun to talk to them about people we know from years past but especially about the beautiful San Antonio Temple. Nicole is also the secretary for the Relief Society.

The Jubeck family are one of those families that just jumped in and became one with the ward. We dread their leaving this summer. They have been quick to render service and kind to everyone. They are examples of Christlike love. We are all truly blessed for having them in our lives and the influence they have had on us.

The Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. and other odds and ends

I just got finished reading "The Rocket Boys" by Homer H. Hickam, Jr. It is the book that the movie "October Sky" is based on. I couldn't put it down. I love the movie and we watch it quite often. The book was a close match to the movie with just the background filler. The two major differences were there were 5 boys (and sometimes 6) that shot off the rockets and it took place over a 3 year period. The boys actually shot off the last rockets at the end of their Senior year in High School. Since the book is so close to the movie - there really isn't a lot to say. However if you are interested in finding all of the background information on all of the boys and more about the other characters then I do recommend the book to you. You will not be disappointed.

I also have read "Pollyanna" and "Pollyanna Grows Up" by Eleanor Porter. The reason I chose to read these books was because they were my grandma, Sarah Tuttles favorite books as a child. As I read the books of the little girl that played the 'glad game', I realized how these books shaped my grandmother's life and made her the remarkable person that she was. I am so glad that I read them. I only wish I had read them when I was much younger. Maybe I could have been the same kind of woman that my 'Omi' was.

My next review is not of a book but of a movie. The other night we checked out the movie "The Illusionist". I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed it! It has been a long time since we have both been caught up with a movie so much we wanted to sit through it twice. I could watch it again as a matter of fact. I don't recognize anyone in it except for Jessica Biel but if you want a fun movie to watch then go for this one - it will get you! It is rated PG.

Monday's Heroine

First of all, I answered the 'quotes' because I must have made it too hard and my movies are too obscure. So scroll down if you want to know.

My heroine is obviously Heather Lou Bailey Nordell. These are pictures I picked for fun. The first one if a current one of her and the family in Okinawa. The Second one is the most angelic she has ever been (Heidi is standing to the 'little one' beside her). The picture was taken in North Carolina when Heather was 5 and Heidi was 3. The bottom one was when she first started crawling taken at our home in San Antonio.

Heather is our second born daughter. In a sense she it is a miracle she is here. When I was 5 months pregnant with her, my thyroid goitered and it looked like it was cancer (which it turned out to be). Some DR's wanted me to terminate the pregnancy and have the surgery to remove my thyroid and start on massive doses of radiation. Fortunately my family, my OBGyn and I, all knew that was not an option. My father kept bringing me home medical reports (he is a physician) and telling me everything was going to be OK. Heather's due date was May 5. She came March 28, 1979. Though she was one of my biggest baby's at 7lbs 2ounces, she had no eye lashes and her fingernails were only half-way up the nail bed. She was very early. She was quite jaundiced for the first several weeks. My thyroid being out of whack had made her grow faster than normal but her body functions were still on track as a normal fetus. We unfortunately didn't realize this until years later that technically she was a preemie. But we were very grateful to have her. (Clyde's sister, Susan was due the middle of April and didn't have her daughter until May. She was very mad at me!).

We should have known that Heather was going to be opinionated and hard-headed because of how she entered this world. If she hadn't been a fighter - it would have been very easy for her to give up and just float away. But when Heather wants something she usually gets it because she works and fights until she has it. She is also very giving and loving and the most loyal friend you would ever want.

I marvel now as to what a devoted mother and wife she is. She has a wonderful husband, Brandon with two beautiful daughters, Bella and Evie. As with our other daughters', she is a much better mother and wife than I was at her age and an example to me every day. I am so grateful that 30 years ago, Heavenly Father saw fit to bless our lives with Heather.

Our kids are playing this and it has really been fun! So here goes!

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies

.2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie (one-liners are best).

3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.

4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie. (I don't know how to strike through. So, I colored the responses. Help me out someone?)

5. NO cheating. If you don't know any of them, that's just too bad.

I hope you have as much fun answering these as I did coming up with them! I am not tagging anyone because I didn't pick one specific movie for anyone. I think 10 will be easy for Heather and the rest will be fairly easy for anyone that knows me at all. Enjoy!

1. I was thinking about cuckoo's for some reason. It's odd. Heidi (Enchanted April)

2. The only people who grow old were born old to begin with. Carianne (The Bishop's Wife)

3. Writers write things to give readers something to read. The Answer: Finding Forrester

4. Does Jeff know? Carianne (Tootsie)

5. You're not meant to understand it. You're meant to accept it graciously. The Answer: Slipper and the Rose

6. Sorry I ever sent her to finishing school. I think they finished her there. Heidi (To Catch a Thief)

7. You think I'm going to leave you alone with a strange Italian? He might be a tenor! The Answer: The Gay Divorcee

8. I couldn't help overhearing. I had my ear to the door. The Answer: The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer

9. A girl can't get married in flannel. Holly, Carianne (Runaway Bride)

10. I know it is crazy, but I can hear him! I swear I can hear him! The Answer: August Rush

11. He is really out there, isn't he? We've got to be able to defend ourselves. The Answer: Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix

12. Eighty percent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in danger of contamination. The Answer: Hello Dolly

13. Now Father, you're living in the past. This is the 14th century. Heidi (Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty)

14. A very violent sport, isn't it, baseball? Heidi (Hook)

15. I like to think you killed a man. It's the romantic in me. Pam (Casablanca)

Tuesday's Book Reviews

As you fellow Kindle owners predicted - I am reading more books than ever now I own the Kindle - BUT two of the books this week were read the conventional way. They were not available on Kindle so I ordered them through the library. I apologize up front for this epistle. I will give you a brief synopsis here and you can pick and choose which paragraph to read. The first one is for our book group in a month or two, the second is a book about teenage suicide that apparently the RI schools are going to put on the must read list in the next couple of years for the High Schools, the third paragraph is a children's book series, The Bobbsey Twins.

Sometime in the next couple of months "Chinese Cinderella - The Story of an unwanted daughter" by Adeline Yen Mah will be the selection for our book group. Last year my daughter Heidi gave me "Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society" to read. Ashley Halverson and I enjoyed the book very much. Ashley especially enjoyed it and was asking to re-read it the other day. I couldn't find it so I hope it has returned home. The thing that struck me is that the structure of both books is the same. So her fictional "Secret Dragon Society" was really a fantasy she had made up because she had such a miserable childhood. I was also fascinated to find out Adeline was an MD. I imagine she was a good one. "Unwanted Daughter" was a very thin book - actually shorter than "the Secret Dragon Society" I think. Anyway I finished the book in just a few hours. I am glad I read the book.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is book that Pam recommended that I read. I had actually forgotten about if until I found out that it was going on many schools 'must read' lists. I decided I would read it. It is Young Adult fiction. I am not sure I would want the youth in our ward reading it though - however it is a book that I think their parents and any parents working with young adults should read. It is a book about a young woman that commits suicide. She sends out 7 tapes with both sides filled explaining why to 13 people and how they affected her decision. The protagonist, Clay, is a really nice guy and agonizes the whole time what he possibly could have done to have set her off. I was actually surprised that I finished it and I even wanted to read the book. Not only that - I finished this book in a day because I couldn't put it down. Maybe it was morbid curiosity but mostly I wanted to make sure that Clay was going to be OK. I am going to be more aware now and start watching our youth better and loving them more because of this book. I kept thinking, what if Cody, Devon or Josh received something like this and had no one they dared turn to. I want them to know they can turn to me and hopefully know their parents are there for them too.

The Bobbsey Twins were a favorite books of mine as a child. I was looking at the 'free' downloads and saw The Bobbsey Twins, Pollyanna and so many other books that I had always wanted to read. So I downloaded 13 Bobbsey Twin books for 99 cents and had a really good time for the about the first 5 and then it depended on the author whether I enjoyed the book or not. Laura Lee Hope is a pen-name made up by the original publishing company that came up with the idea for the Bobbsey Twins in 1904. When Grosset and Dunlap bought that company out in 1940 they just kept the concept going and wrote books into the 60's. Of the four 'original authors' there was one that made Freddie and Flossie (the younger twins) imbecilic in their antics and attitudes and that to me made it hard to read. They also made Freddie a little rebellious. If he was told not to do something - quite frequently that just set him up to do it anyway. I guess I really don't like disobedient children. This is why I REALLY had a hard time with Seth in Fablehaven. I don't like children that deliberately over and over do not listen and follow the rules. I know that all children do little things without thinking but Freddie was doing things like being told to 'stay right there and NOT get on the subway' because they were in New York and it was a strange city. He did anyway. Then when the guard found him at the end of the subway line, he told Freddie to sit and wait for his parents, Freddie wandered off again! He was told not hang over the edge of the banister at the big aquarium several times by his father (in the same book) or he would fall in. His father even pointed out the sign that said not to do that. So Freddie does it again and falls in. Page after page is what I didn't like. So when I happened on that author (which was 2 more times) I just read the first paragraph and the last of every chapter until the last two chapters. Amazing how much you can glean that way. I am glad I got those out of my system but as for reading to your children - DO IT. They will love them. They are all available at Barnes and Noble online or Amazon (or if you have a Kindle, download them and read them from that to you children one at a time for free!) The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport is a reprint of 1904 edition and the first one but was updated several times to be more timely through the 20th century (and now the 21st). I think children will find Freddie's antics funny and not annoying like I did.

Fourth Picture in Fourth Folder

Be sure and still read Monday's heroes but Carianne tagged me and if I don't do it right now I won't do it. This a picture of me holding my 9th grandchild - Dutch Bailey Davis, the day he was blessed. It was a beautiful day in Pennsylvania and a beautiful day spiritually. This was taken August 31, 2008. Chris' parents and his brother Josh were also there. {Two days later I had surgery on my left knee so this was pretty much the last fun picture I have taken upright for a while!}

The rules to this game is to go into the your 4th picture folder and pull out your 4th picture and tell us about it. I tag my sister, Marianne, Sara Walker, Annemarie Dittmar and Elise Cannon.

Monday's Heroes

I am a little late today. I had an appointment to get a bone density test done and was quite anxious about it. Then, about 90 minutes before the test, they had to re-schedule because the equipment was down and the repairmen were coming in today. I was also having a really hard time deciding which of my heroes to choose from. I sit on the stand every Sunday because I lead the music. As I look out over the congregation, I truly realize that almost every sister is my hero and their husbands are usually right in there with them (if they have them).

Today's heroes are Fred and Diane Campagna. Diane is our Primary President and she also teaches dance. Fred is the Chief meteorologist for our local ABC affiliate. They have 3 beautiful children, Alex, Dominic and their youngest is a daughter, Mia. Fred is not a member of the Church and yet if Diane is speaking or the children are speaking or performing - then Fred is there. They are one of the most united and supportive couples/parents that I have ever witnessed in the Gospel or out. Because Fred is not there every Sunday, Diane is by herself. Mia can sometimes be a handful (she is 3) and sometimes needs to be taken out. Alex and Dominic will very quietly stay in the pew and listen, quietly doing whatever it is they do every week. Some children I have observed (not so much in the this ward but in others) will actually beat each other up - especially two little boys when left unsupervised. Not the Campagna boys. They have been taught very well and actually set a very good example for the rest of the children in the ward.

This has been a hard year for Diane. She lost her father and her grandfather within weeks of each other but she is such a trooper. Fred took off work and stayed with the family while she flew home to Nevada and went to funerals and took care of family responsibilities out west. This family is a true example of love and togetherness and I cannot think of a better family to be my heroes this week

The Five Children and It - plus others books

Today is Tuesday so it book review day. I have read several biographies of C.S. Lewis in the last couple of years, finishing the latest just a couple of weeks ago. Several of them have said that E. Nesbit's books, "The Five Children and It"; "The Phoenix and the Magic Carpet" and "The Story of the Amulet" were his favorite. One even went so far as to say that he plagiarized the ideas of the "Magician's Nephew" from them. So I decided to download them onto my Kindle and read them.

First of all there was no plagiarizing. In the third book a queen does visit London but she is not a wicked queen, just a misplaced queen that doesn't understand why her whims are not met. If you read any books from the turn of the 20th century you would find quite similar themes. You could stretch and say he plagiarized from Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass or even Peter Pan if you really wanted too but you would be saying that using the time honored themes of fantasy is plagiarizing. In other words, I could see nothing that could point to C. S. Lewis stealing ideas. He might of had a suggestion in the back of his mind but who is to say when the last time was the he had even read the books. I doubt he picked them up and read them every year once he became a teenager.

Secondly - as they were first published in 1904, I found the archaic language as much fun as the storylines. I personally love reading old books. My youngest daughter, Pam, kindly points out to Carianne and me that there are other books that have been published since 1920. This I know and I do read them. But I love reading older books. I mix my older books with my new books and it makes a nice variety. In fact if you are looking for something to read to your children, I would highly recommend these. They have been reprinted and so they are out there now. You might have to explain some of the words used but not many (for example - these children live in the most modern home with gaslights! Our childen may not understand what gaslights are.) I loved that the children's wished brought them nothing but grief. They really made no one happy - even when they wanted they wanted them too. As the little 'sand fairy' said, "It was because they were not wise in what they wanted." Would we be wise in what we wanted? I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading these books. Edith Nesbit is also the author of "The Railway Children" for any of you that are familiar with those stories.

I am now reading the original Bobbsey Twin books - written during the same time frame. I am alternating my reading of children's books with adult books though. I find that if I don't I tire too quickly of reading (but it goes both ways). I have to keep it mixed up or go stir crazy. Maybe that is a good sign I am getting better and will finally be able to get up and moving!

Pictures of Bob

These go with Monday's Hero. My internet went down just as I was trying to get them ready and for some reason the pictures never showed. The top picture is of Bob and Jeff Priest and the bottom one is of Bob and his first birthday.

Monday's Hero

Today's hero is my brother Bob - Robert Maynard Brugger. When my parents announced that Mom was pregnant, I said I was going to pray for a brother. I was very specific. Every night I prayed for a brother with blonde hair and blue eyes (I was 4). Well, I got him. Bob was born about 2 weeks after my 5th birthday but somehow he has always been in the back of my mind my 5th birthday present and the best present ever! We have pretty much always been best friends. There have been times when he has been the pesky brother and couple of times when I wondered why I ever asked for him - but for the most part, I am and always have been thrilled he is my brother.

We have had the kind of relationship where we basically pick up where we left off. Most people say that with friends but whether it was yesterday or last year when I really had a long conversation with my brother - it just starts where we left off. When Bob was really little, he and I would play a really stupid game (but really fun for us) where we chased each other in my blue coat and yelled 'piggy wade'. He started doing that when he was 3 and need a diversion in the attic apartment in Germany- so I crawled around on the floor and squealed and chased him and made him laugh. Marianne tried to play it with us once but she found the game totally pointless and would never play it with us again. Besides - it was really best when played with 2 people.

From an early age, playing chess, checkers or Bob's favorite game, Stratego - were not fun because he alway won! In fact Bob could calculate things and win most games of strategy, so I became really good at the games of trivia so I could beat him at something. We both loved playing games and spent hours playing games and then I grew up and got too old for my baby brother for a while. Fortunately I got married and my sweet husband and my brother cared about each other too, so Bob would come and stay at our house for a couple of weeks here and there. That was always fun - whether it was for a couple of weeks or a month, we still had a good time together.

Another one of my favorite memories is after I had our oldest two daughters. I don't know if Bob wanted to go the Disney movies and didn't think a 'date' would go with him, so he would come and get Carianne or Heather and take them. Knowing Bob, he just liked taking our daughter's to the movie. They sure loved going with him. They felt so grown up and loved how he held the seat down with his knee for them. All of our daughters' have a special fondness for their 'Uncle Bob' and we all love him dearly.

My brother has an uncanny way of making lemonade out of the lemons of misfortune. Unfortunately in Bob's life he has not been handed just a few cups of lemonade to make but several 'vats' of lemonade. He would be the first to admit some he brought on himself but I am here to tell you - very little of it. He is an amazing brother, father, husband and son. I admire his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter what, he knows the Gospel is true and that he is a son of God. He is my hero, one of my closest friends and I am so glad he is my brother!

A Memory

When Clyde and I first married, he decided that our children would never be allowed in our room. I thought that was a strange rule but let it ride. After all we didn't have children yet. I had spent some of my favorite moments growing up and dreaming on my parents bed. My mother was sick quite a bit of the time and when she was out of remission - she was bedridden. If we had not been allowed in her room, we would have never had contact with her. It was bad enough when she was in the hospital for weeks and sometimes months at a time - because in those days children were not allowed to visit the hospital. Then Carianne came along. Her first morning home, Clyde brought her into our room. Not only our room but our bed! He visited with her and I realized he had not remembered his vow from 5 years before. The rule flew out the window from that day on. All their growing up years, the girls would come to us. If I was reading on my bed, sometimes they would read on the bed with me or other times just come and talk. My favorite memory is when everyone crowded in and got 'Morning loves'. That would usually break up when Clyde would scratch the girls cheeks with his whiskers. Good thing we had a king-sized bed then. I am glad that the girls felt close enough to us to talk to us whenever. I hope and pray that their relationship is as open with their children. If not - maybe the grandchildren can call and complain to 'Grandma'. She will tell them what wonderful parents they have and how blessed they are to have them - because that is how she feels.

So Far This Week

Is it really only Wednesday? I know I am strapped to this brace most of the day but this has been the oddest week. Monday went by like Monday's do and then we got a call from the Halverson's. Josh had broken his leg. Apparently he had gone to karate kick his older sister and she had blocked - breaking his leg in the process. She broke it where it had been broken about 20 months ago. By the time we had slid our way over to their house (remember we had that Nor'Easter blow through here Monday) - Josh was in great pain with a soft cast on and Ashley was just crushed. I hope I made Ashley feel better by telling her about the crushed fingers and close calls I had done to my siblings. I certainly had beaten myself up about things. When I slammed my younger sister's fingers in the basement door, my friend Buddy road up to the entrance of our housing area and told me he could hear Marianne crying from the emergency room. I was devastated. I realize now - WHAT A LIAR! From the Entrance of Infantry Post on Fort Sam Houston is about the farthest point from the emergency room you could get - his house would have been closer and it still would have been a good mile or more (I was 6 what do I know about distance!?). Even so, I beat myself up about the pain I had caused my sister - for years because of what Buddy Collie told me!

Then yesterday my day was going along as my days do and my phone rang. It was my brother. He never calls but there was no one there - just some babbling. I called back and it turned out, apparently I had been speed dialed by one of my toddler nephews. I ended up talking to my brother for over an hour. We seem to be able to pick up - no matter how long - as if it was yesterday. We have always been close. I also got to speak with Dena - so that would have made my day. Then Carianne called and we visited for a while so my day would have been great right then and there. However, a couple of hours later my sister called me from Disneyland and visited. Though we talk much more frequently than Bob and I do - we still had a wonderful visit. I was so happy. Not too long after that Heather called from Okinawa with some bad news she had to vent about. But for me on the plus side I was able video call the girls and talk to each of them - and so was grandpa. I went to bed last night a very contented person.

Our ward is putting together a cookbook. I offered our 'comb-binder' to bind the books - so now I am on the committee. We had a meeting this morning. Sam Spencer (1 year old) and Sophie Durham (4 years old - Her birthday is July 22, Heidi) came with their mothers to play here while we discussed the book. It was a fun morning. In 2 1/2 days I have squashed in what I usually do in a week. Hopefully soon I will be able to be free of this brace and then I will be free to do some of the things I really want to do. For now I will contentedly read and occasionally get up and write things on the computer when I just can't stand The Chair any longer.

The Friday Nigh Knittting Club

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs was the first I bought on my Kindle. I love the book. The only negative I have to say about it is that there was language but that was all. In this day and age for an adult novel you have to pick and choose and I will choose that. The story was beautiful and well written and it ended in a way that I totally didn't expect. The Friday night knitting club starts as an impromptu group that come into Georgia's shop to finish projects or learn new techniques but by the end of the book they have created a sisterhood. I think that is why I so thoroughly enjoyed the book. There are the prickly people that when you first meet them you wonder why you want to be friends with them and they end up being your best friend? That type of scenario is played out plus a best friend from High School appears. Guess what? You can't get the old days back. When I was describing some of the characters to someone, they asked if it was a biography. No, but it well could be - it is that real. It was a book I am glad I read, thrilled it was my first book on Kindle and I know for a fact I am a better friend for having read it. I had read another book that was a possibility for bookgroup and it was truly so bad that I cannot review it. I originally said that this blog would be upbeat and there was nothing positive to say about that book so I will leave it be.

On another positive note - I LOVE MY KINDLE! I so far have not found a down side to it - except my sweetheart did not order a cover for it. However Carianne and her family have ordered one for me so that will be remedied soon. Other than that I thoroughly enjoy everything about it. My next purchase on my Kindle is going to be - The First 30 Days but Ariane de Bonvoisin. It is a 'self-help' book but with a twist. It is supposed to help people in everything from a moving transition to health problems to trying to lose weight. I thought I might read it to see if we wanted it for our bookgroup. Those scenarios cover all of us or situations we find ourselves counseling others in.

Monday's Heroes

Today's Heroine is Becky Workman. Anyone that knows her will understand why I would choose her. She is married to Adam Workman and is the mother of 5 amazing children. Adam has been in Iraq for the last 6 months. We hope that the weather will allow him to return tomorrow. During the last 6 months Becky has held her family together plus run a marathon, cleared mice from her basement, had surgery on her leg and yet still managed to make most all of the bookgroups we have held. She is also a counselor in the Primary Presidency plus has to play the piano for the Primary. I truly watch her in awe every Sunday as she performs her amazing feats of juggling Church calling and motherhood. She is patient with not only her children but others too (something that I have always struggled with). You know when she is excited about something and it is contagious. She is fun to be around because she knows when to take things seriously but when to laugh too. She is great example of a mother in Zion. Plus she is the mother of Emma and Sarah - two of my amazing Girl's Achievement girls. I am blessed to know the whole Workman family but especially Becky.

On a sad note - one of my heroes died yesterday - Paul Harvey. I loved listening to his news reports for years. He had retired about the time we moved to RI but even then I was still saddened by his death. I will miss his very honest take on things. He seemed to be able to balance his reports and give you both sides of a story - something that is not given today.