Monday's Heroes

Today I am going to write about heroes I know little about except from hearsay. But what I hear is good and I am proud to be related to these heroes.

On Sept 2, is my husband's nephew, Brian Warne's birthday. He has been our family's hero since he was quite young and conquered cancer. We have watched him grow and become an outstanding young man. Happy Birthday Brian!

Brian's brother, Steven has also turned into quite the young man. I can't believe he is in college but he has been for several years! Their parents have done a good job in raising these young men. Hopefully I will soon have pictures of these guys.

The picture above is of the Bailey family - without Clyde. Garret is the tall young man in the left corner. He too is an amazing young man - his parents have also done an amazing job! So hats off to my husbands young nephews. They are my heroes today!

Tuesday Book Review

I have read more than these two books but because I am currently on the quest to read all of the Aunt Dimity books by Nancy Atherton and the books in the "Quilter's Apprentice" series by Jennifer Chiaverini - I will not bore anyone with my delight in the reading of several more in each of these series. They take me no time to read - so even when my day is full, I can still polish off one a day. I also read "Echoes" by Maeve Binchy and decided the reason I quit reading Maeve Binchy in the past was because I didn't like her. She is a downer and I don't have to read depressing books if I don't want to.

I was bored - waiting for Clyde to finish up his meeting a week ago Sunday. I was trying to find something to read on my Kindle when I ran across "The Crowning Glory of Calla Lilly Ponder" by Rebecca Wells. Since I thoroughly enjoyed the "Yaya Sisterhood" books - I thought I would download it. It is not a part of the Yaya sisterhood series. It takes place during my lifetime in Louisiana though - that being the only similarity. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It runs you through all the emotions from joy to tears.

"Cockatiels at Seven" by Donna Anderson was a book I downloaded out of boredom this last Sunday! I looked for books that if you liked Carolyn Hart novels what other authors were people reading and she popped up very consistently. This is way down in Nancy Anderson's series but like most of these mysteries the novel stands on its own. I am ordering her first books from the library and have found another series of books to read!

In the meantime I have been waiting for over a week for "The Well of Lost Plots" - the next in my Jasper Fforde series. I don't know if they are all checked out and I am on a waiting list or if my request got lost in cyber-space - even though I have requested it twice. If I have not heard about the book by tomorrow though, I am downloading it onto my Kindle. I cannot wait to find out what happened to Thursday Next, very much longer!

Happy Birthday Sam!

I am so lucky to have 9 grandchildren! But along the way I have acquired other grandchildren that are not of my blood but of my heart. Sam Carpenter is one of those. His parents came into our lives a little over 9 years ago and we have been blessed with their presence ever since. We were as delighted about Sam as we were about any of our grandchildren. He is a special young man and we love him dearly. Happy Birthday, Sam and may the Lord continue to bless you!

(I am sorry that I don't have picture of him but just go to Carianne's blog - she has a picture almost identical to the only one I could find but I couldn't get the computer to pull it up.)

Book Review Tuesday

The best books/stories that I read this week, were by Pam and Heidi. Both read smoothly and kept you engaged. Heidi left you hanging (she hasn't finished hers yet) but hopefully soon you will all be able to enjoy "Metta and the Moon-Witch" with me by Pam.

I read "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" by Fannie Flagg. This was a fun read but it reminded me that life is right now - don't waste it. We can fret over what others are thinking or we can live life the best way we know how.

I read "Silver Wedding" by Maeve Binchy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book but had forgotten that Maeve Binchy writes quite serious books. I haven't read a Maeve Binchy book for probably 10 years or more. She was one of my mother's favorite authors and whenever Mom got her new Book of the Month Club order - I would read it. Heaven only knows when the last time was that she ordered Maeve Binchy since she died almost 9 years ago.

I also read the next in the Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, "Lost in a Good Book." I found out something interesting out Fforde's books. The books that were released for the US audience do not have the foul language that the British books have. I know I have been reading the British copies because there are no explanations of what the British call their inter-state system, and other little things. I was looking at Harry Potter. When they do something as simple as vacuum a floor - that is how it is described - vacuuming. In this book they are 'hoovering' which is the British word for vacuuming. There is no explanation that is the word for vacuuming - the assumption is there that you know that. I ran into someone other than my daughter that had read the books and they confirmed that I must have been reading the British versions. I have been getting my copies from the Rhode Island Library system. Oh, and this book is as good as the first and I can't wait to read the third book in the series.

I also read "The Quilter's Apprentice" and "The Round Robin Quilt". I am not quite sure why but it has been over 5 years since I read the books and I thought I would read through the series again. I loved them as much the second time as I did the first.

In the Aunt Dimity series I read "Aunt Dimity's Good Deed" and "Aunt Dimity Digs In." Both were fun and I can't wait to go on with that series.

I have lost my list of the books I read at the beginning of the week. I really need to write this as I finish the books - but then that would be organized and on top of things - something I have never been. In fact I am anything but!

Monday's Heroes

In the last two weeks we finally have Elder Robert and Sister Dixie Wood home. They will be the new Boston Temple President and Temple Matron in November. It is nice to have them back - even if it is for just a visit. But it will be so wonderful to have them be in the Temple. It will be good to be enveloped with their love every time we walk in the door.

We almost lost them. They literally had a fiery car crash on the way here and if it hadn't been for good Samaritans - we wouldn't have the Woods in our midst. We are very lucky.

Elder and Sister Wood have an uncanny ability to pick up a conversation with from where you left off, whether it was yesterday or 8 months ago. They meet hundreds of people in the months of travel and yet as I was getting out of the car the other day I was having a hard time because I had been sitting for quite a while. Elder Wood walked over and then inquired how my knees were doing. How could he possibly remember about my knees and surgery!? He is amazing. Sister Wood is equally as amazing with her memory and love. We are so blessed to have them back and so lucky to have them in our lives. They are truly people to emulate - always.

Book Review Tuesday.

Could the pictures have gotten any more hap-hazard!? These are a few of the books I have read this week that I will write about.

I decided to re-read the 'Aunt Dimity' series. I have read all of the 'Cat who.." books and now I will read the 'Aunt Dimity' books up to the current one. That series of books starts with "Aunt Dimity's Death". You wouldn't think a series would start with a death but this one does and it is delightful. I read "Aunt Dimity's Death" and "Aunt Dimity and the Duke". I highly recommend both of them for pure fun. They are of course my favorite genre - light mystery.

I am now caught up with my 'knitting mysteries' by reading "Fleece Navidad". It was a fun read and I look forward to the next Maggie Sefton book. None of these have to be read in order - (including the Aunt Dimity Books) - they are great books on their own but they all have a continuous storyline that runs through them so it is fun to read them and know the background story as well as the current story.

My truly least favorite book this week was "The Water and the Blood". It is another Nancy E. Turner book. I was very disappointed in how dark and heavy this one was. With "These is My Words", she was able to take what could have been such a heavy subject and keep humor and lightness in it. This one just got heavier and heavier. It takes place in WWII in Eastern Texas - to begin with. The protagonist, 'Frosty' watches as some friends burn down a 'Negro Church'. The thing is - this is a place where she has found sanctuary all the time she has lived in this community and she stood by as they burned it down. It haunted her for the rest of the book and for good reason. Maybe it wouldn't affect others the way it affected me. The book was well written and I will be the first to admit it. As with Nancy Turner's other books , I could not put it down. I was just terribly depressed when I finished it. I hurried and downloaded what I thought was going to be an upbeat book (because our library was closed because of state holiday weekend). It turns out it is just as dismal as the "Water and the Blood" so far!

On a much happier note. Pam suggested that I read "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde. The only negative I could find in the book was some language - which is really used in a tongue in cheek type of fashion. The f-word pops up several times but all on one page - like a quota was needed so Fforde got rid of it all at once. The thing is - and this is bad - it doesn't really detract from the book. When you read the book - you will understand what I mean. What happens is that walls of literature and the real world are so thin - people can pass through them. So people from the real word try and change literature for ransom. There are Special Agents that are just there to protect literature and that is what Thursday Next - our heroine does for a living. The night I finished to book - dinner wasn't on the table until almost 8:00 because I just lost track of time. Why Clyde didn't say something - I don't know - but we survived and I finished a great book. I look forward to the next one!

Monday's Hero

I should have done this hero last week because it was closer to his birthday, but I felt very strongly that I needed to do Sara - so she won out.

My hero this week is Frank Joe Dittmar, III. He is my sister's husband. I remember when he came to ask my parents if he could marry Marianne (or as my mother kept telling everyone, to tell them he was marrying Marianne) and how much Omi liked him. Omi said, "He knows what he wants and goes for it." I was trying not to make a snap decision - after all my first impressions have gotten me into worlds of trouble and I knew I needed to care about this person for eternity. I am glad I was more reserved. I have always like Frank and he is the perfect husband for my sister. They are parents to the 4 most amazing daughters (other than ours) on the face of the earth. Frank is an honorable man. He is a wonderful husband and father and more than that he is honorable priesthood holder. He is fulfilled every calling I have ever seen him receive to the best of his ability - giving it truly everything he has. His testimony defines who he is as well as his family. Frank is constantly growing and changing for the better. He makes this a conscious decision. He is an amazing man and he is my hero today.