My Friends

 

Fiction   Audio book

For warmth, literary development, characterization, compelling story= 5 stars.  It is a beautiful book of friendship and acceptance.

For foul language= 2 stars   Wow!  It’s terrible.  Mostly the bad language comes just from one character. One very foul-mouthed character.  I think it makes it worse when you listen to an audiobook.  Very well-read audio, by the way.

So what do I rate it?  I guess a 3.  But that is sad because it is so good.  

Papa Married a Mormon

 

Non- Fiction Physical book
Years ago, our family read the Great Brain series together, written by this same author. They are great family books! This book is the beginning of the story. Fitzgerald recounts the history of the silver mining town in our county, Silver Reef. It was called Silverlode then. He tells how his father came there and courted and married a Mormon girl from the nearby Mormon settlement. It is such a great story. He then gives their family’s history, ending with his father’s death. I loved this book. It was informative and so entertaining. I add Mama to my ever-growing list of literary heroes. She is such a great example in so many ways. 5 stars.

A New Day is a New Start

 

Keep Trying

 

A Christlike Love

 

Wish You Well

 

Historical Fiction   Physical Book

This is the first book I’ve read of the prolific writer David Bidalchi.  I understand that this is very different than his normal genre.  If you are a teenager or even pre-teen, you should read this book.  It is a well-written beautiful story of two children who are in a terrible accident and go to live with their great grandmother, Louisa Mae in the mountains of Virginia.  They learn to work hard and learn what is important in life. I add Louisa Mae and Cotton Longfellow (the lawyer that helps the family) to my list of literary heroes.  5 stars

Genetic Deficiency?

 

Elder Mackrory Report

 

It has been a while since I reported on our grandson Nathan.  He is serving a mission in Ohio and is currently in the Cincinnati area.  He and his companion are serving in the "hood."  And he LOVES it!  Most of their contacting is done by driving around and talking to people (almost all African Americans) out their car windows.  He describes it as an entire different culture.  Even though he is serving in the US, he is in a whole new culture.  He loves it.  They have mission conferences in the Kirtland temple!  The new Cincinnati temple will be dedicated in his area!  He is having so many great experiences and they have baptized several people.  We are so proud of Elder Mackrory!

No Time for the Mysteries

 

Life and Other Inconveniences

 

Life and Other Inconveniences by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Modern Fiction Physical book
I really like Kristin Higgins books. They are good stories with real characters. She’s a good writer. I’ve only read two of them so far, but I’ve enjoyed them. It seems her pattern that there is one sex scene in each book. But you see it coming, so it is easily skippable- which is what I did.
This story is of family, forgiveness, and love. 3 1/2 stars.


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Faith

 

Birding in Arizona

 Ken loves to go birding in the Tucson, Arizona area in the springtime.  He has gone several times.  We didn't have an assignment in the temple on the weekend of May 6-9th, so he booked flights.  I took him out to the airport early Wednesday morning and picked him up at about midnight on Saturday night.

He had a wonderful time hiking and birding.  He went with a target list of 30 species of birds he hoped to see.  He saw half of them.  Four were new life-listers for him.  Those are distinguished with an asteric*:

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Cassius Kingbird

*Botteri's Sparrow

Scott's Oriole

Bronzed Cowbird

Townsend's Warbler

Hermit Warbler

Mexican Jay

Wester Flycatcher

Lesser Nighthawk

*Mexican Whip-poor-will

*Whiskered Screech Owl

Rivoli's Hummer

Copper-Tailed Trogan

Red-faced Warbler

*Elf Owl

He got pictures of two of them:

Female Costa's Hummingbird

Coppiery-tailed Trogon (this is a highly sought-after bird.  Ken talked to many fellow birders searching for this beautiful bird.)

He keeps a life list and, with these four new ones, his life list now totals 1,192 bird species.

He also had a bear encounter.  He took bear spray with him, but of course it was in the trunk of the car when he saw the bear.  He had hiked up the trail a bit and when he came back down the bear was on the trail coming his way.  Ken stopped, clapped his hands and yelled.  The bear was duly impressed as it ran away from him.  Ken was close enough to it that it could see grass on its haunches where he had been laying in the grass.  EEK!  

I enjoyed the four days, getting a lot done: spring cleaning our bedroom and bathroom and closet (and taking donations to DI), choosing Keynote Christmas music, filing music (not my favorite), reading, thrifting and LFLing for books, working on family history, and blogging of course.   And I even watched a movie!  But I saw no birds . . .or bears!

Books Every Day

 

Singing in a Choir

 

Loving Kindness

 Loving Kindness  

This has been the mantra of our temple since it opened.  Temple ordinance workers are reminded again and again that this is how we treat the patrons- with loving kindness.  

Jay and Debra Ence, Red Cliffs Utah temple president and matron

Loving kindness is what is of most importance as people come to the temple.  And you feel it in our temple.  The workers display this in a powerful way.  This makes a huge difference in the feeling in the temple.

At a recent training for the sealers and wives, President Ence said something powerful, "There will only be kind people in heaven."

"O Lord, I want to be in that number " Help me be kind.

Loving kindness.

How to Achieve Greatness

 

Heath Full of Love

While we were visiting Camerons, we started talking about candy bars.  Everyone was naming their favorite kinds.  Hannah asked me, "Grandma, do you like Heath bars?"  I said I did.  A few minutes later she disappeared into her bedroom and soon came out and presented me with a Heath bar, obviously one she had been saving for herself.  I felt so loved.  Sweet Hannah!

 

DNF

 

A Redbird Christmas

 

My husband and I listened to this delightful book on a road trip.  It is read by the author.  We both thoroughly enjoyed it.  It has a similar feel to Theo of Golden.  I love the sense of community and how they all come together to help a little girl.  5 stars 

The Book of Lost Names

 

The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Historical Fiction Physical Book
WWII books are not my favorite. They are so hard to read. But this one presented characters with courage to join the resistance in France and put others before their own safety. That’s inspiring. This book is history and romance with a most satisfying ending. 4 stars.


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