Thursday, August 18, 2011

Vacation reads

Zach Barlow, a young returned missionary, didn’t want Caden Pendleton to join his group of friends on a hunting trip to the High Uintahs. But the newcomer’s offer to help pay expenses changed Zach’s mind, despite his misgivings. Yet when Caden’s temper stirs up trouble in camp, Zach’s misgivings turn to regrets. And when Caden is found dead in the woods, shot with a hunter’s rifle, those regrets turn to raw panic. Zach’s hunting camp has become a murder scene, and the murder weapon’s owner—a young woman named Bria—is nowhere to be found.
As Sheriff Lee Rutger and his deputies confront the mystery of the dead man and the missing girl, more disappearances follow. Can the sheriff stop the relentless hunter before he himself becomes the hunted?

I enjoyed this book.  It is fun when the story setting is familiar to you!



The Walk:  - "My name is Alan Christoffersen. You don’t know me. ‘Just another book in the library,’ my father would say. ‘Unopened and unread.’ You have no idea how far I’ve come or what I’ve lost. More important, you have no idea what I’ve found." —
What would you do if you lost everything—your job, your home, and the love of your life—all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he’s tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he’s known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life—and inspire yours.


Miles to Go: - Alan Christoffersen, a once-successful advertising executive, wakes one morning to find himself injured, alone, and confined to a hospital bed in Spokane, Washington. Sixteen days earlier, reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and his business, Alan left everything he knew behind and set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. Carrying only a backpack, he planned to walk to Key West, the farthest destination on his map. But a vicious roadside stabbing has interrupted Alan’s trek and robbed him of his one source of solace: the ability to walk.Homeless and facing months of difficult recovery, Alan has nowhere to turn—until a mysterious woman enters his life and invites him into her home. Generous and kind, Angel seems almost too good to be true, but all is not as it appears. Alan soon realizes that before he can return to his own journey, he must first help Angel with hers.From one of America’s most beloved and bestselling storytellers comes an astonishing tale of life and death, love and second chances, and why sometimes the best way to heal your own suffering is by helping to heal someone else’s. Inspiring, moving, and full of wisdom, Miles to Go picks up where the bestseller The Walk left off, continuing the unforgettable series about one man’s unrelenting search for hope.

The first book is very short and not very fulfilling if that is all you read.  Continuing on , I did enjoy the books.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Trip to Boise: Sunday

Ann invited Chris and family, as well as Frank and Dean over for dinner on Sunday.  Here are pictures of Reese on that afternoon.

Reese is playing Barbies with Grandpa!









Saturday, August 13, 2011

Trip to Boise

Reese wasn't sure what to think of us when we first arrived.  She was VERY shy!

Here is my sweet Aunt Florence.  Florence is my mother's sister.  She is 94 years old.



This is Chris's new son, Cole Christopher.  He was 8 lbs 2 oz. and was born on the 18th of July!





The following photos are of the first time that Cole is being held by his Great Grandma.  
What a precious site!









Pinkilicious!





My brother, Frank!

My brother, Dean!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Aging isn't all that fun

I had an hour appointment on Thursday to hear the results of the previous weeks' blood tests.  I knew it wasn't good when Lori walked in shaking her head with a frown.


On one hand, my blood pressure was good.... 110/80, and my thyroid and chlosteral levels looked good.


My Vitamin D levels were horrible again....  15 when normal is 30.   I am on a blast for the next four months, will be retested, but will need to start taking supplements.  (D3 over the counter)   Since I didn't do it last year and am in the same situation, I will definitely do it. I learned my lesson the hard way.


The uric acid was way out of control.  The high is generally 6 and my number was 9!   I have to take a daily pill to get that level down.  Advil is what I am to use for flare ups.  I thought that gout was only the swelling and pain around my big toe.  It is more than that!  Just last weekend, my right foot was hurting so much that I could barely walk.  That apparantly was a gout flareup.


My glucose (sugar) levels were out of control, too.  I have three months to get it down before we go to more drastic means.


She wanted to make sure that I take a 81mg aspirin each day.... although I had already started that.


The amount of prescription slips that I walked out of there with was huge.  I take quite the huge handful of pills any more.  I wonder what the new coverage will be this year.  I am sure that it won't be better than what I have and that isn't saying much.  The insurance company doesn't cover prescriptions until my $1500 deductible is met.  Talk about depressing.... aging isn't fun for me.


Thank heavens the deductible was met though because the blood tests would have been over $400 out of my pocket.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Garden addition

This is the new stand I bought to display the lamps the Gardner girls gave me for Mother's Day.


Classroom 2011-2012

I have been going over to and working in the classroom for the past several days.  Since Cassy and I wll be on vacation, I wanted to have the physical aspects of the room completed and I think that I will be close.


This year we will "Leap Into Learning!"












Thanks to my friend, Terri, for letting me borrow these posters and border for the year!


Click to go to the  link to my classroom website.