Happy Birthday Julianna and Dena!

Today is the birthday of two of my favorite people, Julianna Dittmar Foote, my niece and my sister-in-law, Dena Brugger.  I only have pictures of Julianna and that is because of her wedding.  What a joyful day that was!  She is such a beautiful and happy young woman.  I am so proud of her (I sound like her mother but I am really her aunt).  Julianna has been a joy in my life since that day she was born.  I have to admit even when she was little and in pain she used to make me laugh (she would cry 'owee, owee, owee' and it was really quite funny.  We still do that in homage to Julianna when we get hurt!).  I am proud of Julianna and all she has accomplished so far.  She is well on her way to becoming a remarkable woman of God.  Happy Birthday, Julianna!

I don't know Dena quite as well but I do know that I am glad that she married my brother.  I have not seen him this happy in his whole life.  Even when things don't go perfectly, Dena is a rock and and helps Bob move forward.  Bob is a much better person because of this remarkable woman.  I am very grateful she is a part of our family.  Happy birthday, Dena!

Happy Birthday, Marianne!

Today is my sister's birthday!  She has truly been my best friend all of my life.  This is Marianne her first year at BYU, sporting the purse she had made and her brand new haircut.  I loved it when we lived closer and we could do things together.  But Marianne will always be my dearest and most special friend because she is my sister.  I am so blessed to  have her in my life!  She is the epitomy of a Christlike example of a sister, mother and wife.

Sometime it Hurts

Sometimes it hurts to be a mother. You want to take the hurt away from your child but you can't. You would do anything in your power to be there for them but you can't. You would magically make everything better but you can't. It makes it hard to be a 1,000 miles away and you can't wrap your arms around you child and hold them - no matter what age they are hurting. This is the hard part of being a mother.

This and That

I was supposed to do my book review blog yesterday. I would feel really bad about it but I don't think anyone reads it anyway. The excuse - forgot it was Tuesday. The kids were off from Seminary and it totally threw my week off.

There are a couple of new studies out. One study says that if you read as a family for at least 5 minutes everyday, you children will be smarter and better adjusted and feel more loved. I thought about this. We always had family scripture study every day and that was the only formal reading we ever did as a family. On occasion we read other books together but our consistant reading throughout our daughters' lives were family scripture study. I think I have 4 quirky but very smart, well adjusted daughters who know that we love them. The thing that I love is that they are carrying on the same tradition in their own homes. I look at other families that do scripture study and see very smart and well adjusted children and I would say they come from homes that they feel very loved. I am sure the study meant to read something else and yet isn't it interesting that scripture reading could bring about such wonderful benefits and there is a study to prove it!

Another study is that families of sisters are closer knit than other families. This one made me laugh. They were studying women after the youngest sister of more than 3 sisters turned 21 and seeing what the dynmics of their relationship was. Whether they lived close to each other or across the world, sisters were close as adults and needed each other. They tended to turn to each other before they even turned to a best friend because they knew how their sisters would react but the best friend was still a slight unknown. I watch our daughters and sometimes I feel out of the loop because they are always calling each other about what is happening in their lives. Every once in a while they include me as an after thought. But in truth I love the fact that they have each other and love each other so much.

This One is For Heather

It is a small world. For the last several months we have enjoyed the fellowship of Mike Monteith at Church. He is here going to the JAG school on base until December. Mike was transferred here from Okinawa and had been our granddaughter Genavieve's nursery leader. According to Heather (and Mike) he is one of the only leaders she has warmed up to. Two weeks ago Mike spoke in Church. For that occasion his wife Desiree and their two boys came up from Virginia. Desiree and I literally did not stop talking from the minute we met until they walked out the door. She and Heather had been friends and it was good to hear about the Nordells from someone that had just seen them. We visited with them for 4 hours! I would have taken a zillion pictures but my battery was DEAD! This is the one and only picture I could get. So Heather, here is proof positive that Mike is here and how much fun we had. Love you and miss you. (There is a game called 'The Seven Steps to Kevin Bacon'. A couple of people in the ward said they could play it with people in the Church and me. I laughed and said it is only because I have traveled so much and have such a far flung family - this was after my sister's ward member showed up for Church last year.) Oh and Desiree is hoping to have the baby Thanksgiving weekend so Mike can be there. Otherwise she will be on her own.

Tuesday's Book Reviews

This was another free download on my kindle or I am not sure I would have read it. However I am kind of glad I did. Cybill Shepherd was a big star and we are close to the same age. It was interesting seeing the behind the scenes things that went on in her life. I do have to admit that it was not my most favorite read of the week but I have read worse books.

Last week I wrote about another one of Melody Carlson's series. This one intertwined that series with this one. I found it delightful and a very fun read. I am now going to have to read both series from the beginning.

This was a fun book. It is like the 13th in the series. It was a free download on my kindle and I have found another series too look into.

I have found a new author that I enjoy! This was obviously a free download on my kindle. "The Girl on the Beach" was a short story but there were excerpts from other books by Charles Todd that I cannot wait to read!

This is another of the Kate and Charles Sheridan mysteries that I have been reading. I LOVED it!

This was an interesting book. I am not sure I would have just picked it up but it was a free download on my Kindle. It was about the Shaker's in the early 19th century - not too long after they began. It gave me some insight into a religion that I still cannot comprehend why anyone would want to join. I do highly recommend the book.

Here Come Hurricane Earl!

Clyde and I are bracing ourselves for Hurricane Earl. So far it look more like an inconvenience than anything else. I think our days and days of rain last March will be doing more damage, but just in case, I thought I should let everyone know. We will be fine. It seems interesting to me that we are facing a hurricane (in truth we will get hit with the outer bands so we will get the 'tropical depression' of the hurricane) and our daughter in Okinawa was hit with a typhoon the beginning of the week. It has been an interesting week in our family.