Olivetti

 

Olivetti by Allie Millington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This sweet novel utilizes a writing technique that I love. I first was introduced to this technique when I read “Hitty, Her First Hundred Years” years ago. It was a story told by a chair. I loved the idea that a chair could tell all she hears and sees through the years. Using personification, an object tells the story. Olivetti is a typewriter. She, and Ernest (a boy in the family) takes turns telling the story from their perspective. It is cleverly written with interesting characters who, together, solve a mystery and mend their family with great help from Olivetti who they discover can communicate with them. Who knew a typewriter has feelings? Anyone who has read this book does!

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Escape from Germany

 We rarely go to a movie in the theater, but recently attended this one.  It is intense from start to finish.  It also is very faith-promoting.  We highly recommend this one!

One Good Thing

 

One Good Thing by Alexandra Potter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At first, Liv, the main character, drove me crazy as she made one “bad” decision after another. But, in the end, the bad decisions were made good. This was a delightful book about starting over and developing new friendships in a new environment. I really enjoyed it.

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The Library

 

The Library by Bella Osborne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this sweet story about an unexpected friendship between a teenage boy and a spunky older lady who meet at the local library. Tom really needs a friend and finds just what he needs in Maggie, who takes him in and provides stability and love in his difficult time. Maggie and Tom, along with many others in their little village, work together to save their local library. They also work through personal difficulties together. I could picture the setting in the beautiful English countryside.

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Just Mercy

 

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A winner of many prestigious awards, this book is powerful. Bryan Stevenson writes of his experiences overturning convictions of innocent black inmates on death row. Though he certainly never claims so himself, Mr. Stevenson is a modern-day hero. Against all odds, he commits his life to serving the abandoned, downtrodden, and innocent. I won’t be forgetting this one any time soon!

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Young Valedictorian

 Painted around 1922, this was a Rockwell painting that was never published.  Editors later titled it "Young Valedictorian."  Reminiscent of a Rembrandt painting, the details are exquisite.  

Look What Landed in Our Backyard

 

And then a couple of days later:

What Did the Prophet Ask Us to Do? April, 2024

 What Did the Prophet Ask Us to Do?

I hope you will repeatedly study the messages of this conference throughout the coming months.

"I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house."

This significant promise apples to every dedicated temple today.  I invite you to ponder what the Lord's promise means for you personally.

Consider how your life would be different if priesthood keys had not been restored to the earth.  Without priesthood keys, you could not be endowed with the power of God.  Without priesthood keys, the Church could serve only as a significant teaching and humanitarian organization but not much more.  Without priesthood keys, none of us would have access to essential ordinances and covenants that bind us to our loved ones eternally and allow us eventually to live with God.

Let us rejoice that priesthood keys are once again on the earth!

I invite you to consider carefully the following three statements:

1. The gathering of Israel is evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere.

2. The gospel of Abraham is further evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere.  He invites all to come unto Him-"black and white, bond and free, male and female; . . . all are alike unto God.

3. The sealing power is supernal evidence of how much God loves all of His children everywhere and wants each of them to choose to return home to Him.

I encourage to study that prayer, recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 109.  That dedicatory prayer, which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is "a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."

This list of attributes is much more than a description of a temple.  It is a promise about what will happen to those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord.  They can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge, and increased power.

Since 2020 . . .

 William recently announced to his mother that he has had a tummy ache since 2020.  That's a long time, William.  A very long time!

William in 2020.  He looks okay to me.

This kid says the darndest things!

Total Eclipse

 April 8, 2024

This picture was on the Internet.  It is amazing.

This picture is also amazing.  It was taken by our teenaged neighbor.  Their family went to Texas to view the eclipse.

Prepared Foods at Costco- Nikuman

 In a recent trip to Costco, Ken saw they sold Nikuman.  Nikuman are a Japanese dish.  They are steamed buns and have some kind of meat in the center.  We ate nikuman occasionally in Japan.  Ken loved them on his first mission to Japan as a young man.  They would stop at a small grocery store and get the warm, delicious buns on cold days for lunch. They were in every little store, stored in a glass, moist warmer.  That is true today as well.  They are in every convenience store. These had barbecued chicken in the center.  They were good.  We steamed them in our rice cooker for a few minutes.  It was fun to revisit Japan while eating these delicious little sandwiches for lunch.

Firefly Lane

 

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m conservative, so some of the content of this book was more than I wanted to read. But it was a good story and well-written. I know someone very much like Tully- very self-focused and hungry for the spotlight and fame. I felt the author must know her, too as it seemed she based the character on her. It is a story of friendship between two girls that maintain that friendship through adulthood. But to me, there were two other highlights to the book:
1) Kate’s mom. Despite Tully’s troubled life, she took Tully in and loved her as a daughter. She is a literary hero.
2) Johnny and his strong and unending love for Kate.
Those two people made this book worth reading for me.


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Barbara Bush

How I admire this lady. I admired her before reading this memoir, and even more so now. I love her down-to-earth view of life, her fierce love for her husband, her family values, and her humor. I was inspired when she was the first lady with her focus on literacy and I even did lectures on the importance of reading to children during that time. My criteria for rating a book 5 stars is that is a page turner and that it inspires me to be a better person. This was not a page turner for me, but I always enjoyed reading it when I picked it up. But I was inspired constantly throughout. Barbara Bush is inspiring! So much so, that I am giving it a 5-star rating. The book’s downside was that she obviously loves people and wanted to include EVERYONE in her memoir. So, there was name after name in it. Those were mostly meaningless to me. It would have been a better read without all of those names- but her book; her way! How I wish that we could have a president now that had the values of faith, family, and country exhibited by the Bush’s.

Pam and Roger: Our Story from our wedding-1985

 

Pam and Roger gave us their beautiful book, telling their life story through picture and words from their  wedding to 1985.  For months, they sat side by side at the computer and worked on this gorgeous book. They gave a copy to each of their posterity and their siblings. 

Pam is my oldest sibling.  I have always loved and admired her, but reading about her and Roger made me realize what remarkable people they are.  I loved reading and seeing pictures of so much of their history.  This book is truly a work of art.  I loved every page!  Thank you, Pam and Roger, for sharing your life with us through your book!

Our House Gets a Facelift

 We noticed that the stucco on our house was disingrating in places near the bottom of the house.  Even some of the grout in the brick was turning to sand.  We got a referral from a friend for someone he trusted and Kevin Hansen from White Glove Construction came and gave us a bid to fix the stucco and grout, put in cement borders and repaint the doors and stucco.  When it got warm enough about a month ago, they started the project.  We had been unhappy with our last color scheme, but had lived with it for about twenty years. We had a trusted friend (Marsha Burdick) who is very good with colors come over and help us choose colors from paint chips we had (before she left on their mission to Africa!)  We are very happy with the results.

First, they scraped and redid the damaged stucco.

Then they did the cement.  We had this little corner in the front for a small flowerbed.  But the wet dirt was causing damage, so they suggested we cement it in.

They put cement borders around the whole house to prevent damage in the future.

Then they painted the doors a dark brown.  You can see that before we had a light kind of pinkish brown.  Marsha suggested that we needed to get rid of that color as it was not matching the roof tile.  We like it SO much better now.  We couldn't figure out what we didn't like, we just knew it wasn't matching. We were so grateful for Marsha's help.

We love our new front door.

Then they taped and sealed everything and painted the stucco.

For one day, we were sealed inside our house.  We couldn't get out any doors as they were all sealed over with plastic and tape.

We were excited to go out when they let us out and see how it looked.

We are so pleased with how it turned out.

We were so happy with the company we hired.  It was expensive, but they did such a good job.  They were careful, respectful and meticulous in their work.  They came when they said they would.  I liked how they talked to each other, too.  I would overhear them.  There was no foul language and they treated each other with respect.  If you live in this area and need repairs done at your home, we recommend White Glove Construction.