Faith in God for Girls

For the last 2 years I have been teaching the Faith in God for Girls at Church. I have had some amazing girls. We are jum roping in the above picture. I bought a little camera to just have in my purse and it didn't realize it didnt have zoom or focus. I should have invested a bit more money.

Here is another angle. We had just finished planting flowers around the Church. The woman on the far end is my associate, MaryAnn Kohl.

This is a funny picture of two of my girls that have moved or are moving this summer. I am going to miss them terribly. They are Sarah Workman and Zoe Truscott. Sarah's family is moving to San Diego and Zoe's dad is going to be teaching at BYU.

Tuesday's Book Review

This was a fun book. It was a free download on my Kindle and a quick read. Very predictable but still a delightful book to read.

Another "Aunt Dimity" book, hurray! I read this Saturday and was so sad it was over when I finished it. Nancy Atherton knows her stuff with these books. I love this series. By far my most favorite book this week.

"Home to Italy" was a free download on my Kindle. I probably would not have read it otherwise.

"The Big Over Easy" by Jasper Fforde is one of my favorite reads this week. I love the way Fforde writes. This is a 'nursery rhyme crime' and it just catches you off guard with the clever writing. Jack Spratt is a detective that just doesn't look at crimes from an angle I would look at them from. This might not be a bad thing. I look forward to the next in the series, "The Fourth Bear".

This was a free download on my Kindle. I didn't finish it. Life is too short.

"Winter's Passage" is truly a fairy tale. It is about fairies and trolls but takes place 'today'. This is an electronic book download only. I am not sure when and if it will be published in hard copy. It is well written and I enjoyed it. If you have an e-book reader - get the book. You will enjoy it. It is part of a series of books that are in hardcopy. It is just and novella so it takes no time at all to read.

On My Soapbox

I know that today is Tuesday and I will do a book review in a little while but I want to vent a bit about the oil spill in the Gulf. I do think that BP should be cleaning it up but what ever happened to the people that they were RENTING the rig from? They have ended up blameless in this and have not had to pay a dime. The frightening thing to me is that all of these wells are interconnected (which is why they couldn't just blow the hole up and stop it in the first place because it would cause a chain reaction to all the other wells) and the wells are NOT all owned by BP BUT THE RIGS ARE ALL OWNED BY THE SAME COMPANIES! By neglecting them we are setting ourselves up for another spill just as sure as I am sitting here. Only 3 companies make the oil rigs so even though I couldn't find out which one make that one - that does not leave a lot of companies to point fingers at. I think we are wrong by boycotting BP. We need to keep them a viable company until after they get the Gulf cleaned up - then you can get boycott all you want. But until then I want them to have plenty of money to get the job done since they are the only ones investing in it. I guess my point is - and I have to admit that my son-in-law, Andy is the one that has had me ruminating about this - we jumped all over BP but are they the only or real villain? What is preventing this from happening tomorrow? It seems to me a deserted well is a dangerous well.

Happy Birthday Nathanael!

This is the picture of all of the kids at Julianna and Jared's wedding. Nathanael is just to the right of Julianna and Carlye. I am having a hard time finding a very recent picture of Nathanael. This comes from the fact that I am lucky to see him twice a year. Nathanael turns 8 today. He was born while I was flying down to take care of his mom for his birth. I was flying down in plenty of time but he decided he would be there for my whole stay! I cannot believe it has been 8 years. I can't wait to see you in a few weeks, Nathanael. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

More California Pictures

These are pictures from the Wedding Rehearsal. This is Sara and Todd with the Pastor during the rehearsal. We were told it was going to be close to 100 degrees. It wasn't even 80 and there was a very strong breeze. Needless to say we were all chilly. I was ready to go and get my sweater.

David Burke paying close attention. Right behind him is Todd's sister.

Here is the bride!

Sara and her daddy!

Sara and Todd's mother.

Johnny, Carol and Susan.

Clyde's mother was horsing around and put on this baseball cap. It ended up being the only picture Clyde took of her with her daughters. Here is Thelma with Susan and Sara.

Our Visit to Alameda

This is Clyde and me with Johnny and Carol heading out to "Wicked". From left to right Sara Burke (the bride to be) Denny in the green shirt, me in the white sweater, Clyde in the blue shirt, Susan in the middle, Carol in the blue and Johnny in the brown jacket.

This is David's wife, Alison. She had come over to do some laundry.

This is Sara's dog, Ruby. She is a labradoodle. Susan has a dog named Jackie but I don't see any pictures of her so far. She probably wasn't still long enough to take a picture. She is constantly in motion. She is part retriever and part poodle.

This is Sara and me. I am discussing my favorite things - the Kindle and books. She has gotten into reading again and she wanted some authors. She was also interested in the Kindle. Since the Kindle dropped in price yesterday to $189 she may be really interested now.

This is Clyde's uncle, Johnny. He is Clyde's mother's youngest brother.

This is Johnny's wife, Carol.

Here is Clyde's sister, Susan.

Tuesday Book Review and Movie Review

Yesterday afternoon, Clyde and I went to see Toy Story 3. We went to the non-3D version so I can't review whether it popped or not. We loved it. But I was sobbing at the end. It does tie up the story nicely but it is sad to see it end. As always with Pixar it is very well done. (The short at the beginning was a bit bizarre but you can decide for yourself.) There are some quite intense scenes in the movie but it could be that I am an adult and read more into it than a child would. After all it is a G rated movie. For that reason alone everyone should rush out and see it!

Because my Kindle is an electronic device I have to have an actual book when I travel on a plane because of that span of time when you cannot use your electronic devices at take off and landing. (I personally think it is a dumb rule where the Kindle and Nook are concerned but I guess if they are out then others will take license too). "Death Threads" was my book. It lasted my whole trip to and from California and even after I got home - in other words it is not my most favorite book. I can't even put my finger on why. It could very possibly be someone else's favorite series of books. It had a glowing review by two of my favorite mystery writers so my suggestion is to try it. There is a pattern for a re-usable gift bag pattern at the end of the book.

"Death at Daisy Folly" by Robin Paige was a fun read. Robin Paige is really Susan Wittig Albert and her husband. They have a series of books that take place during the late Victorian era. This was a joy to read. I highly recommend it. I read this one on my way to California.

This was by far my favorite book of the week. I read it on my way to California. It is another in the China Bayles series but this one took place in a Kentucky and in a community that did re-enactments of Shaker Activities. To learn more about the Shaker life style was fascinating. The Shaker's were celibate and depended wholly on converts to keep the religion growing. There were other interesting facts as you read the book. They also prayed to 'Mother' because "Mother Anne" started the religion in the first place. I highly recommend this book as I always do my China Bayles books.

This was a free download on my Kindle. Even then it was not worth the price.

This is a compilation of President Uchtdorf's talks on womanhood. It was quick read and beautiful. I highly recommend it. He has such a way with words. It was very uplifting.

The newest book in the China Bayles series. Also the darkest. I read it on the trip home from California. I still loved it even though it wasn't quite as humorous as her others in the series.

Sara and Todd's Wedding

This is going to be a very picture heavy blog for very obvious reasons. I will try and blog quite a bit for the next few days (maybe weeks!) and get as many pictures of our trip to California out there as I can. This is the happy couple - Todd and Sara Peralta

This is our beautiful Alison Burke!

David and Alison together at the wedding rehearsal. David has just flown in from Thailand the night before. He is heading back the first part of July after his best friends wedding. Alison will follow in a couple of months. They are still happy newlyweds!

Todd and Sara at the wedding rehearsal. They seem so happy. We wish them nothing but the best.

A fat bag lady digging in her purse. The hat is Susan's.

Steven and Sara. Isn't Steven handsome?! He turns 21 this summer. He wants to be a golf pro. Uncle Denny truly believes he can do it. In fact Uncle Denny is caddying for Steven this week at a tournament because Uncle Stan couldn't leave Brian. Pretty Cool! It was a wonderful trip aside from the pain of Brian's trauma. Sara was thrilled we came and it was good to connect with these nephews and Sara again. They are pretty amazing.

Drama at the Warne's

Brian Warne is in the hospital with a flesh eating infection in his leg. He has had surgery and will have to have more surgeries until the infection is completely cut out. Please pray for him and his family. This is the nephew we almost lost to cancer. He will be a senior in High School this fall. We love this family and they need to feel the peace.

Happy Birthday JoJo!

9 years ago our daughter and son-in-law gave us a wonderful gift. They introduced us to the Carpenters! Today is Jodi's birthday! We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

Wicked

As a treat, Clyde's mother paid for tickets to Wicked. We were able to go with her and her brother Johnny and his wife Carol. We had a wonderful time.

I have read the book. I read it about 6 years ago and enjoyed it. I have been listening to the music about as long. I have to say that the musical was almost as I envisioned it. There were a few surprises but not too many and the surprises were all good. It was a fun evening.

Tuesday's Book Review

This weeks books are kind of slim pickings. I have had a sinus/migraine headache off and on since Friday. It is not conducive to a lot of reading. Plus we have had a very busy weekend. Maybe I will get some more reading done this week.

This another China Bayles book. Gave me some great ideas for when we retire in the Texas Hill Country and nature-scape with natural plants from the area. This is the series of books that takes place in the Hill Country that I love so much. I like the way the Susan Wittig Albert writes because I love her Beatrix Potter mysteries and her books she writes with her husband under the pseudonym Robin Paige.

"Daughter of Joy" was a free download on my Kindle. It was a delightful book and I will probably read the other books in the series.

What can I say! This is the book series that is based in central Texas, in the Hill country between Austin, San Antonio and Fredericksburg. I love reading these books! This is the one that made me cry as she described the drive down I-35.

This was a free download on my Kindle. I tried and tried to read it and after a month I have only gotten 14% through the book. Maybe at some later date I will be able to read the book but right now it is too wordy and going no where very slowly.

"Dreaming in Black and White" was a fun read. Laura Jensen Walker is one of my favorite authors and she writes in a style that I enjoy. I recommend this book

Favorite Scriptures

Yesterday in Church, our youth speaker, Devon Mello spoke about his favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon. I realized my all time favorite scriptures all came from the Book of Mormon.

My most favorite verse: Moroni 10:32

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

My favorite chapter is Alma 5.

My favorite book in the Book of Mormon is 3 Nephi - especially when Christ visits the Americas. My favorite verses are when angels and the Savior minister to the children and the words are so special they cannot be written. My second favorite book is Ether. The faith of the brother of Jared is quite amazing.

Part of the reason the Book of Mormon has my favorite scriptures is because I read it all of the time. You tend to have favorites in books you know well.

Why Do I Read So Much?

Clyde asked me the other day why I loved to read so much. It kind of threw me. I had never thought about it before. I said because my parents read. But it is more than that. I have read for several hours every day for most of my life - since I first realized I could read a chapter book. Once I realized I could get through a book like that, nothing was going to stop me. I am a bit like the young girl in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" who was going to work her way through the library from A-Z. When I was 8 that was my goal - read every book in the school library from A-Z. But a horrible truth was forced on me. I could only check out 2 books a week! So I decided to read all of the biographies from A-Z instead. By the time we moved from that school I had read most of the biographies plus the required reading from the library. I had fallen in love with books about the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. What I really loved were the dress styles - the long dresses and full skirs with the fancy hats.

Jump ahead to Washington DC - where we spent the next two years. Every chance my father got, we went to a battlefield of the Civil War. It didn't register until later that this was the Centennial of the Civil War during our stay there - so quite frequently we were there for the 100th anniversary celebrations. I kind of lost my zeal for Civil War novels about this time and switched to pioneer books. This is when I fell in love with my most favorite book ever, "Mrs. Mike". This book has everything a good book should have in it. In my opinion a good book should run you through all the emotions: love, happiness, anger sadness. "Mrs. Mike" has never disappointed me.

I don't think I read to escape. I hope not because more often than not I read mysteries. If I am reading them to escape - I apparently would want to escape into a world of murder and mayhem. I know I don't want that. I do find myself more and more gravitating towards books about the South - especially Texas. I love reading about the warmth and hospitality of the Southern people. The other day I read a book and they were traveling down I-35 through Seguin, describing landmarks and the bluebonnets. I actually cried as I read that because I knew right where they were. That area was home for a long time.

I read all kinds of books. I change my genre's about as often as I change my clothes. It is interesting to me that I tend to go through spurts. I tend to read more fantasy and fairy tales in the winter. I read more mysteries in the fall and spring and novels and biographies in the summer. I didn't realize this until I started looking back in my journals. I would be curious to read my Tuesday Book Review to see if that still holds true or not.

Breakfast Tacos, Southwest Style

Be sure and look at the Pizza Rolls too, but I couldn't go without putting in this wonderfully delicious recipe too. We love Breakfast Tacos and have them about once a week. I have them with all of the fixings. Clyde goes a little lighter on his.

1 pound ground pork sausage
2 cloves garlic, finely grated (optional - I can't put them in - Clyde and I can't handle them anymore)
1 Tablespoon balsamic or apple cider vinegar
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
4 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 green onion, chopped finely (this is the same as garlic for Clyde and me - very annoying)
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 cup diced cooked potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces grated cheese (I use a Mexican blend but mild Cheddar works fine)
8 flour tortillas
Salsa

Fry sausage with garlic, vinegar, chili powder and cumin. Push the sausage mixture to the side of the skillet and add the potatoes. Brown the potatoes and mix into the sausage. Add the eggs and stir in until softly set. Add salt and pepper to taste. Warm tortillas in the microwave, oven, or on a warm frying pan. Fill the warm tortilla with the egg mixture, sprinkle with onion, tomato, and cheese and roll tightly (or fill as you like). Serve immediately with salsa. Make these in advance and these can be held in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for 2 months and then reheated in the microwave.

Salsa Recipe:
2 Jalapeno peppers (seeded and deveined if you don't want it too hot)
6-8 Roma tomatoes
Process in a food processor until the right texture and serve. Will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Note: If you don't have a food processor a blender works almost as well. Be sure and put the jalapenos in first so they are processed the finest.

Texas Proud

Did you know that Texas cooking is the hottest (spiciest) in the world?! Texans cook with chile's for breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks. They used jalepeno peppers to make everything from jelly to season their popcorn. When several university studies (one was from Australia and another from Japan plus several stateside) did culinary studies and had people come and eat hot peppers - including habanero peppers - most Texans could eat them straight when no one else could! Makes you proud doesn't it!

Did you know that chile's are members of the nightshade family? So are tomatoes, tomatillos, eggplant and potatoes (along with belladonna but that isn't on our plate every day- I hope!). I am not sure what classifies something into the nightshade family but that is why these foodstuffs took forever to get onto the plates in the countries they were not indigenous too - because they were considered poison. You probably ate something from the nightshade family today - didn't you? I had several things (we had breakfast tacos for breakfast so we had potatoes, chile's and tomatoes!)

My Top Favorite Movies

I saw this and thought it would be fun. You can choose between 4-6 movies in each category.

Classic Love Stories
Enchanted April
An Affair to Remember
Holiday (with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn)
Pride and Prejudice (the mini-series)
The African Queen

Dramas
Gone with the Wind
Casablanca
To Kill a Mockingbird
Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Roman Holiday

Mysteries or Suspense
Rebecca
Rear Window (the original)
To Catch a Thief
Key Largo, To Have and Have Not, Maltese Falcon (I'm counting these as one!)
The Trouble with Harry

Romantic Comedies
Bringing Up Baby
His Girl Friday
It Happened One Night
Joe and the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail (These all star Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, I am counting them as one)
The Bachelor and Bobby Soxer

Musicals
I don't think I can pick just one musical. I love most all of the 40's and 50's musicals I have ever seen. Some have special memories for me. I love all of Fred Astaires musicals - with and without Ginger Rogers. I love the spectacle of Hello Dolly and the Sound of Music as well. I do have to admit that some of the newer ones are not quite as endearing to me. If I had a favorite type of movie genre it would be musicals and Disney animation. Here is an attempt at a few of my favorites.
Singing in the Rain
Kiss Me Kate
Brigadoon
Gay Divorcee, Top Hat
Hello Dolly
Holiday Inn
I have to say Oklahoma but it has to be the one Hugh Jackman in it! That has to be the best production of that show ever made.

Animation
There are very few companies up until a few years ago that did animation like Disney. My all time animated favorites are Disney's:
Sleeping Beauty
101 Dalmatians
Lady and the Tramp
Beauty and the Beast
The Littlest Mermaid


Family Movies
I loved the Disney movies growing up. I especially loved Hayley Mills. In everything from Pollyanna to Moonspinners, I watched them all. I still recommend them. I bought Summer Magic the other day and loved re-watching it. Other than the old Disney movies here are some favorite family movies:
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Cheaper by the Dozen (the original one)
Flight of the Navigator
The Last Mimsy


Inspirational
A Man For All Seasons
Chariots of Fire
The Bishop's Wife
Lilies of the Field
Brian's Song (but way too sad)


Christmas Movies
Bishop's Wife (I know I already mentioned it but it deserves to be mentioned twice)
White Christmas
Holiday Inn
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
The Muppet's Christmas Carol

This was harder than I thought it would be. I have way too many favorites!

Tuesday's Book Review

This is the first of Livia J. Washburn's books. I am not sure I loved the book because it takes place in Weatherford, Texas, was about Texas Peaches or just about Texas in general or because the story was well written. It was fun to find another series of books about Texas. This was one of my favorite reads of the week. I am also looking forward to trying the recipes at the end of the book,

"Breath" is another Donna Jo Napoli book. I had a hard time with it for several reasons. The first was because there was a kitten named 'Kuh'. Kuh in German means cow. Every time I read that Kuh was sitting on someone's lap or shoulder - I had a hard time wrapping my mind around anything but a cow sitting on a lap or shoulder and that was hard. I literally had to stop reading and remember it was a cat! Very frustrating. The storyline was plodding. I have decided I just don't like the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin and that was what this was a retelling of. One of the things that I did like was that the German spellings were correct, down to the correct letters. I did finish it but I cannot recommend it as highly as some of her other books.

I only got about a third of the way through this book. I found it too wordy and couldn't remember what I had read when I picked it up from the day before. I was quite looking forward to reading this because I usually love Gerald Lund's books. I will probably pick it up when I have time but I needed to get it to someone to read before she left town so she could have it read before book group. I can always download it on my Kindle and read it when I want to and I just might do that at a later date.

This was a free download on my Kindle. I would have never read it otherwise but it was a fun diversion - even if it was very predictable.

"Murder by the Slice" was great book. It is the second book by Livia J. Washburn aboout 4 retired school teachers that live together in Weatherford, Texas - just outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I am sure that I loved it as much because it takes place in Texas as for any other reason. I loved this book!

"Gun Shy" is book 3 of the Raine Stockton series I have been reading about the rescue dogs. It was a great book, in fact one of my favorite reads of the week.

I didn't actually read "Dragon Rider" but Clyde did. He loved it! I hope to get to is sometime soon. We have decided that both like the way that Cornelia Funke writes.

This was an interesting book by Donna Jo Napoli. "Beast" is the story of 'Beauty and the Beast' with 9/10 of the story from the Beast's point of view. It was interesting. I had never realized that all the other versions of Beaty and Beast I had read were from Belle's point of view. Not my favorite book of the week but better than some.