Summer Book Trek 2008

So the end is here for the Summer Book Trek 2008. The books I read were:

FarWorld by Jeff Savage
Modest Proposal by Michele Bell
Fool Me Twice By Sephanie Black
Desire of our Hearts by Sariah S Wilson

I was able to read all of the books except FarWorld. I still plan on reading it...it's just not available to me right now. LDSFiction asked us a few questions - here are my answers:


1. How many fiction books by LDS authors did you read? 3

2. Did you read more than you would have read if you hadn't participated in this book trek? Yes, it's hard to get LDS books.

3. Did the reviews posted by other participants influence which titles you read? How? The reviews didn't influence me on what I was going to read.

4. Did the Whitney awards influence which titles you read? How? Nope.

5. Did the many, many virtual blog tours that happened this summer influence which titles you read? How? Yes! I looked to see what books other people were going to read and I chose some that sounded interesting to me.

6. Did you finish all the books you had planned to read? If not, why? No, I wasn't able to get a copy of FarWorld.

7. Did you discover any new authors whom you now love? Yes, I did.

8. Did you nominate any of the books you read for Whitney awards? Yes.

9. Would you be interested in another LDS themed reading challenge either this winter, or next summer? I would love to do another challenge.

Tilghman Island

On Saturday we went to Tilghman Island with Operation Second Chance. We had a BBQ party at this beautiful house right on the pier. Our friends the Wilson's came across from their house on someone's boat (the same people who own the beautiful house we went to after the guys went fishing a couple of weeks ago). Even though it was straight across the bay from Chesepeak Beach we had to drive over the Bay Bridge to get there. It took about 3 hours from our house. I tried to get a couple of pictures of the Bay Bridge but I was using Rich's camera and it doesn't like me. Here are some pictures that I did manage to get.Brandon playing.
I think he was doing a cartwheel.
We had gone swimming in a neighbors pool when Brandon's "girlfriend" arrived.

Here they are playing on the hammock.
The news had reported that the jellyfish were really bad this year. Something about overfishing... anyway there are more jellyfish in the water than everbefore so it is very dangerous to be in the bay (we never went in). This is off of the pier. When you stand on the pier you can see at least two jellyfish in the water at all times. This one was scooped up to show us how long the tentacles were. The first one we saw was purple (it was very pretty).

The sunset.
More sunset. All in all we had a wonderful time and we can't thank Cindy from Operation Second Chance for all that she has done for us during the two years we have been here. Thank you Cindy from the bottom of our heart.

Hey all,

Well it's official - were out of the Army! We clear housing on Sept 19th and head for Utah! My parents are coming up to see some sights before we leave and will be taking someone home with them on the plane. Rich and I (animals too) will drive and drive (and drive) all the way home. Rich is looking into a future job with the forestry so we don't have any idea where we will end up unless he decides to go to U of Montana to go to school.

Brandon

I can't belive how big Brandon has gotten. It just seems like yesterday that he was placed in my arms. I guess he just seems big because next year at this time he will be starting kindergarten (sigh). Anyway here is a picture of me holding Brandon for the very first time. The last picture is of Disneyworld....

Far World by J Scott Savage

If anyone is interested in winning a copy of this wonderful book go to SherMeree's blog and leave a comment.

For all of you out ther who love LDS Fiction but just don't know what to read check out these web sites:

http://ldsfiction2.blogspot.com/ - review of lds books
http://www.sixldswriters.blogspot.com/ six lds writers (talk about their books and life)
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ review of lds books

If you are interested in childrens books check out SherMeree's blog.

Happy reading :)

Fishing and a BBQ with Operation Second Chance

The little ones weren't allowed on the boats to fish so we went to the beach and played until lunch time.Brandon playing.
playing
playing

hot! hot! hot!
bouncing at the BBQ
Kaitlyn riding a horse at the BBQ
Brandon riding a horse at the BBQ
go horsey go!

Video of Brandon.

BBQ

So yesterday was the base BBQ. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of food and did a lot of standing in line :)Brandon in bounce castle....
Brandon climbing the rock mountain.
Entering the worm tunnel.

Jumping in the bounce castle...

His legs just weren't long enough but at least he tried :)

squirrels

A couple of days ago I was sitting in our living room. I looked outside and saw this squirrel in the tree next door. I watched him climb on the roof and lay flat. I grabed my camera and took a couple of pictures because I thought it was kind of funny. He was very nice to pose for me, as soon as I turned to show Brandon my pictures he left.
Today we are going to a BBQ and then may go swimming... I will take my camera and show you pictures on Monday. Enjoy your weekend.

Test day for floaters

Yesterday I went grocery shopping. Brandon stayed home with his daddy :) I bought Twinkies. I don't think I have ever bought Twinkies because I ate one as a kid that was stale and it was gross! I saw on the foot network that Twinkies are only good for two weeks after they are made to I decided to look at the expiration date on the back before I bought a box. The first box was only good for another week the second box for two. So I bought that box. A couple of hours later I opened one up for Brandon - he had never had one before and he wasn't sure what it was. I just told him it was yummy and it had cream in it. He loved it! Later he told me he wanted bread for breakfast - I thought um OK if you want.

Now it's Wednesday, I cut him up a fresh peach for breakfast and gave him his fruit loops. "Mom, I want my bread too." I look at how much food he already has and tell him I will give him some when the other food is gone. "Mom, you said" (I could have one) Okay, I get out the bread from the freezer. "No, Mom! the bread and butter you bought yesterday." Hmmm I only bought two loafs and some hamburger/hotdog buns.....what was he talking about? Bread with butter, bread with butter, bread with butter - TWINKIES lol Brandon do you mean these? I get into the cupboard and show him the twinkies. "Yes, Mommy those." I then explain that they are cake and whipped cream not bread and butter and that if he ate his lunch (not breakfast) he could have one later. :) cute kid huh!!!!

So last Wednesday the floater class had their test. I think that half of the class graduated to Strokers, one of them being Brandon - Yeah!!!!! Of course half of the class were kids taking floaters a second time lol. One thing that was funny is that the teachers were going over the rules of swimming and trying to get the kids to answer the questions. They would say "tell me some rules." The kids would answer "no running, no horse play" ect one that they talked about was life guards. The teacher asked who were the life guards and Brandon raised his hand and said "MEEEEEE" we all laughed. When the other teacher asked the same question about 5 minutes later Brandon said "Meeeeeeeeeeee" again. I told him that if he wanted to be one when he grew up that would be fine. lol

Anyway here are pictures and little movies of Brandon during his test.

Gathering all the toys.
Putting them on the side of the pool.

This one is floating (Brandon is swimming) for 5 seconds.

Floating on his back.

lesson 5

So ummm last week Brandon finished his swimming class :) He passed the Floaters class and if they offer it I can put him in the Strokers 1 class. I think I will post last Wednesday pictures this Wednesday. It looks like we may be out of here soon, we will have to see how everything goes. If all goes well we should be home in a couple of months.

So here are last Monday pictures. This week they are focusing on floating on their backs. Here he is outside learning how to float on his back.
More practice on their backs.

Jumping in 3 foot 8 inch water (I think) outside.