Book Review

I just finished this book. It is an insiders look at a "modern" polygamist family. Very interesting. I have to admit I liked the book and read it super fast. I think it would be a fantastic book club selection. SO.MUCH.TO.DISCUSS.

From Goodreads:

From a family that inspired 'Big Love's' story of Bill Henrickson and his three wives, this first-ever memoir of a polygamous family captures the extraordinary workings of a unique family dynamic, and argues for the acceptance of plural marriage as an alternative lifestyle.

Polygamy is not something I have ever really wanted to think about let alone read about. I am LDS and I get annoyed by people who think that people who are LDS practice polygamy...we do not. We haven't for over 100 years and anyone who does is excommunicated. But still it is there...lurking in the past. That said, my Great-Great Grandfather was a polygamist and I am a descendant of one of his plural wives, Jane. (After reading her life history it didn't sound like she was a happy plural wife but that it was a sacrifice that she made.) So while this practice makes me truly uncomfortable, I still am curious about how in the world people subscribe to and practice this lifestyle...especially in our day and age.

I have never seen the TV show Big Love that was inspired by this family because it was about...you know...polygamy and I was sure it was filled with all kinds of fallacies about the Mormon Church.  But, somehow, I did start watching the train wreck that is the TV show Sister Wives. It is infinitely more intriguing to watch a show about actual polygamists than watch actors pretending to be polygamists. Every time I watch Sister Wives I think that they are crazy!! (and I really think they are) This family, though, the Dargers seem so much more intelligent and normal. They are able to articulate why they live this way and why it is important to them to shed light on this particular practice. They feel compelled to bring it out of the dark and dispel the myths so that people will know that it is only a very tiny population of practicing polygamists who are the Warren Jeffs of the world and that they too (the Dargers and most all other Fundamentalists) are appalled and repelled by his actions and crimes.

I guess that was what was so interesting to me. Hearing these seemingly normal people (not living in a compound somewhere in a long dress, french braids, and being child brides) talk about their beliefs in a way that made me have a deeper understanding of their choice of lifestyle and how it works for them. 

I found their day to day logistics fascinating. I loved learning how they run their household, raise their children, buy their groceries, coordinate three families integrated into one large family in one large house. I feel like I can barely do all I need to do taking care of four kids and one husband and here they are throwing in homeschooling, religious instruction, running a business, educating the world about polygamy, serving in their community, and helping the state of Utah work with polygamous families, getting 24 kids to various extracurricular activities, and grinding their own wheat and making 7 loaves of bread a day. Hello? How? They explain it all which was very satisfying.

They are also very open about honest about things that are hard. They talk very candidly about the difficulties and struggles they have had to overcome. Jealousy, persecution, wayward children, prejudice, dealing with the state, and particularly standing up for what they believe even when it is in complete opposition with the rest of the world. Unlike the Browns of Sister Wives that come off as somewhat false...don't tell me that Janelle is a happy wife. No way. I don't buy it. But...I do buy the Darger's story. I think they are sincere. Hearing all four of their different perspectives including the perspectives of their three oldest children was interesting and compelling. I found myself liking and caring about this family.

I do feel sad for them though. It has to be a lonely lifestyle even in mainstream society and surrounded by wives and children. To never be able to give yourself fully to one person and have that one person give themselves fully to you is very sad. Joe has to be the loneliest person of all. I was surprised to feel so much empathy for this family (and Joe) but I did and I do.

I found this book to be unusual and affecting. It gave me a different perspective on polygamy and those who practice it.

My Rating: Good

 Hey Go Team...Go Go Team...Hey Go Team!!

We've been cheering ourselves hoarse around here lately. We've been watching various games on TV and going to games, both high school and college. There has been a lot of cheering and yelling around here. Sports are making dull, dreary January a bit less dull and dreary.

First off...

Well...it was fun while it lasted. Poor Kam. He's a die-hard fan and he was seriously bummed.

Second...

We are some serious BYU Men's Volleyball fans!! I have been since college. I loved going to those games. It was the place to see and be seen. How I loved Hugh McCrutcheon back then...you know...when he had hair. These days I am still a BYU Volleyball fan but throw in the added enjoyment of watching the head coach and it's golden.

I grew up with Chris in...that's right...SPRINGDELL. He's a dell kid and I love watching dell kids conquer the world. Just as we always knew we would. :) He is a great coach and I get quite a kick out of watching him...well...coach. Of course, the highlight is when they cut to a close-up of him and I regale my kids with stories about him. A few of my kids current favorites are: 1.) When he hit me in the head with a baseball and I fell to the ground as if dead and he pick me up and carried me home crying and apologizing profusely, 2.) When he ordered me out of my own back yard so he could make out with my friend... in my back yard, 3.) When he felt my leg and said "Gee Sasquatch ever heard of a razor?! (I was in 6th grade and immediately went home and attempted to shave my legs and nearly bled to death), 4.) In Jr. High when I got my hair cut into a short preppy bob and he nicknamed me Cleopatra and walked like an Egyptian (while humming the song) whenever he saw me for the next 6 months until it grew out, 5.) When he and our friend Kyle showed up uninvited to my jr. high band concert (they were in high school) and suddenly appeared on stage (in the wings) jumping up and down and calling my name flustering me so much that when my big french horn moment came I couldn't even squeak out a note...Then telling me afterwards, when I was screaming at him for ruining my concert, "Relax Kristin. We just upped your coolness like 110%!! You should be THANKING us!!", 6.) When he broke his leg in high school and wheeled himself around in a wheelchair (Nellie Olsen style) and demanded that I push him around the dell to which I pushed him in a dead run directly towards the pond (Laura Ingalls style) as he screamed like a little girl and tried to apply the hand brakes...oh I could go on for days!! Seriously though...he's a great guy and I am super proud of him and his success.

Third... Reilly's High School

We have had such fun cheering on the mighty Saxons this year. Last week it was the big rivalry spirit game..."Rubber Chicken"...and it was held at the arena. The girls basketball team played...then the big spirit pep rally in which Reilly's dance team did a fantastic job (you can see it on my fb page if you are so inclined) and then the boys basketball team played. It was quite a night!!

Fourth...

The other night we hit the road to Pullman to watch a WSU vs the U of U basketball game. Reilly's dance team was performing at half-time. It was a lot of fun and Kameron had a blast. We need to do things like that more often. My mom, Ken, Stacey, and Dane all met us there. Dane and Kam are true basketball fans and were thrilled when WSU throttled the Utes. We all were. Yes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Kam and Dane...serious fans

Sad day...Kameron was too old/cool to go pose with the WSU mascot for a picture. Luckily Dane still would. This poor cougar is no BYU Cosmo is he? Time to upgrade the costume.

 Now there's a studly cougar!!

 Stacey, Mom, and Ken (intently watching the game)

Reilly joined us after she was done performing

Whenever you use the function on the iPhone that allows you to see yourself when taking a picture you just look crazy.

Ahh... father and son at a sporting event. Warms the heart. Kameron is looking more and more like Ty every day.

Go Cougs!!

Prayers For A Friend

Our friends, the Thumstedters ,just moved to Illinois. In fact, we just had a big going away party for them and sent them on their way with sad hearts but best wishes. They had been in their new area for less than a week when Bill was struck by a car and seriously injured. He is currently in the ICU in critical condition with a serious head injury, punctured lung, 8 broken ribs, and a shattered ankle. The neurologist has given him a 50/50 chance of waking up and being himself. We are devastated for their family and praying for a full recovery.

Book Club Reviews

This was our book club selection for the month of January picked by Janyse. I thought it looked good...book about a bunch of sisters...and couldn't wait to read it.

From Goodreads:

As a child, Maggie Faraday grew up in a lively, unconventional household with her young mother, four very different aunts, and eccentric grandfather. With her mother often away, her aunts took turns looking after her–until, just weeks before Maggie’s sixth birthday, a shocking event changed everything.

Twenty years later, Maggie is living alone in New York City when she receives a surprise visit from her grandfather Leo, who brings a revelation and a proposition: He’s preparing a special gift for his daughters and needs Maggie’s help. When the Faradays gather from all parts of the world to celebrate Christmas in July–a longstanding tradition–Maggie uncovers unexpected family history and learns that the women she thought she knew so intimately all have something to hide.

I thought this was your typical chick-lit made slightly better as it takes place in colorful and interesting locations, and tells the story of a complex family of sisters, and spans several decades. I liked the premise. It was pleasant reading as the characters of the sisters were developed from childhood to adulthood. There were secrets, lies, and a few twists here and there. But I finished the book feeling underwhelmed. It just didn't keep my attention like I wish it would have over 600 long pages.

I do think that the author did a great job of describing how complex sister relationships can be and describing how alliances form and reform in different configurations throughout the years...and how there is always usually one sister slightly outside the circle at different times. I just wish that she would have shown that to the readers instead of just telling us. Show us sisters calling other sisters, visiting sisters, and having private conversations about other sisters or Leo. That was completely lacking. I didn't feel like any of the sisters in the book were particularly close to each other as they had no idea what was really going on in any of their lives. I guess I was just hoping for more realism.  Sisters fighting, making up, pulling together, fighting, making up and pulling together again when they have to...that is real. I also didn't love the lackluster way that motherhood was portrayed by Tessa and most especially Clementine. All of the Faraday girls were somewhat unlikeable and that took away from the story.

The book gave me pause about keeping a journal or more particularly what I would write in a journal. It made me appreciate all the more my own sisters who I don't feel are at all like any of the Faraday girls...thank goodness...and appreciate being a mother who actually finds joy in mothering.

My Rating: Okay

This was our book club selection for November:

From Goodreads:

Natalie and Francois are the perfect couple, and perfectly happy. But after Francois dies suddenly, only seven years into their still blissful marriage, the widowed Natalie erects a fortress around her emotions into which no one can gain access. Until the most unlikely candidate appears: Markus, Natalie's Swedish, geeky, and unassuming coworker.

This is a translation of the French novel “La Délicatesse”. I loved that aspect from the get-go. Throw in that Delicacy is a quirky, quick read full of side notes and little details and I was sold.  Foenkinos' writing style is very spare and well...delicate. It was a fresh, charming read about love, loss, and finding love again.

My Rating: Good

 Oh Yes, There's More

 From Goodreads:

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill-prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

This what I would call a thoughty novel. It makes you think. It is a well-written and smart historical novel. I really liked it. It is beautiful and atmospheric. You felt what it must have been like to be young, in love, and living the bohemian lifestyle in post-war Paris in the 1920s. The book offers a fascinating glimpse into the unraveling of a marriage.  

I loved the character development. Hemingway, the flawed, driven and ambitious young writer trying to make a name for himself as he surrounds himself with other creative individuals who become literary greats of their lost generation. Despite Ernest's flaws and short-comings I never lost empathy for the man even though I disliked him immensely. I also felt that despite the book being a fictional "memoir" I thought that Hadley had a genuine voice. Watching the crumbling of their marriage was both heart-wrenching and poignant. The situation of Hadley was so achingly sad as she realizes the truth about her complex marriage to Ernest with his infidelities, post-war issues, and intensity. I found the book absorbing. I liked it. It isn't a happy tale but it is an interesting one.

My Rating: Good...and it makes me want to read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises.

 From Goodreads:

The Reading Group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books.Over the course of a year, each of these women become intertwined, both in the books they read and within each others lives.

Inspired by a shared desire for conversation, a good book and a glass of wine-Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly, and Susan undergo startling revelations and transformations despite their differences in background, age and respective dilemmas.

What starts as a reading group gradually evolves into a forum where the women may express their views through the books they read and grow to become increasingly more open as the bonds of friendship cement.

There are several types of books that are bound to always grab my attention and interest. They are:
1.) books about sisters (especially 3 or more), 2.) books about lake houses, and 3.) books about book clubs. So when I saw this book sitting on the shelf at the library I had to pick it up. I was looking for some light and fluffy reading. The Reading Group is that but it also came with a dull and slow moving story and a cast of unlikeable characters who experience nearly every mid-life cliche there is to experience. Big disappointment.

The book had a couple of things going for it that kept me reading. First, it was British chick-lit which was a nice change; and second I loved the organization of the book. The author divides the chapters into months and lists the books they were reading for each month including a little synopsis of the book and their discussion. That was fun but that was about as good as it got.

One other thing I loved was the quote at the start of the book:


"The real, hidden subject of a book group discussion is the book group members themselves"--Margaret Atwood

That I do truly believe but, unfortunately, in this book it falls flat.

My Rating: Mediocre

From Goodreads:
 
Traveling abroad with her mother at the turn of the twentieth century to seek a titled husband, beautiful, vivacious Cora Cash, whose family mansion in Newport dwarfs the Vanderbilts’, suddenly finds herself Duchess of Wareham, married to Ivo, the most eligible bachelor in England. Nothing is quite as it seems, however: Ivo is withdrawn and secretive, and the English social scene is full of traps and betrayals. Money, Cora soon learns, cannot buy everything, as she must decide what is truly worth the price in her life and her marriage.

I am completely sick of every book these days saying "If you like Downton Abbey you are sure to like..." Enough already. (You can add any Jane Austen-esque book too.)

The book did give me more insight into the history of titled yet short on money British nobility marrying wealthy American heiresses to secure their positions and lands and in return giving the heiress the status symbol of a title. That was as close to Downton Abbey as it got. I also liked the juxtaposition of American culture versus English culture during the turn of the century. I found that quite fascinating.



This book is definitely not straight up historical fiction. I would categorize it as historical romance. Some loose ends weren't tied up as neatly as I would have liked at the end of the book and the brooding, contrived, and slightly unlikeable Duke was no Mr. Darcy but the writing was adequate. That said, I didn't feel that the author included enough depth and detail to make the story more compelling. Still, it was a good diversion and a quick read.

My Rating: Okay

From Goodreads:

It's the spring of 1938 and no longer safe to be a Jew in Vienna. Nineteen-year-old Elise Landau is forced to leave her glittering life of parties and champagne to become a parlor maid in England. She arrives at Tyneford, the great house on the bay, where servants polish silver and serve drinks on the lawn. But war is coming, and the world is changing. When the master of Tyneford's young son, Kit, returns home, he and Elise strike up an unlikely friendship that will transform Tyneford—and Elise—forever.

This was a book club selection from this fall. According to the cover this is another book that if I like Downton Abbey I am, again, sure to love this book. Fail. This book is nothing like Downton Abbey except for the setting of the English country house.

I did enjoy reading a WWII story told from the unique perspective of an Austrian Jew from an upper class family forced to escape Austria by fleeing to England to work as a domestic in the home of an English aristocrat.


Elise was an interesting character, not your typical beautiful but down on her luck heroine. I do think that her romance with Kit was far-fetched and never was exactly riveting. Perhaps it was the dialogue which I found to be awkward at times. I thought her relationship with Mr. Rivers was more interesting and real.

The storyline leaves the glittering bourgeois world of upper class Austria and moves to the English countryside and with it goes the life of the story. I thought the Landaus were, by far, the more charismatic and engaging family...not the Rivers... and I wish the storyline of the book would have stayed with the intriguing Anna and Julian. Throughout reading this book I found my mind wandering to what might be happening with them and hoping the storyline would turn in that direction. Sadly, it did not and I was left to read pages and pages of nothing happening in England. Austria was where the action was and I wish the storyline would have included what was going on there.

Even though the plot started out strong it seemed to fizzle and lose momentum about half way through but I still cared about the characters and wanted to know their fates. The author did a wonderful job of painting a beautiful picture of Tyneford and the English countryside. All in all, I enjoyed The House at Tyneford.

My Rating: Good

Quick Book Reviews


I'm doing some cleaning over on my goodreads account. Good-bye random "friends" I don't know. Good-bye books in limbo waiting to be reviewed. Good-bye books that I said I was "reading" but never finished and never wanted to try to read again. Good-bye books I said that I "wanted to read" but never really did. So that brings me to this post...these books have been lurking around waiting for me to write reviews but apparently I never really wanted to write them because they are all super old... as in...read a long time ago.

Here you go:

 From Goodreads:

Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.

I found this book to be okay. Nothing spectacular. I didn't LOVE it. My sister, Stacey, loves this series and gives it to her nieces and nephews. It has been met with mixed reviews around here. Reilly read it years ago and really liked it. Kameron thought it was okay. I, too, found it okay. I was curious to see what all the hype and book-banning was about concerning it's atheist writer and anti-religious themes. Again...meh. Didn't bother me as it is a fantasy book. Nothing to get all worked up over. Entertaining but no Harry Potter.

My Rating: Okay

**I am currently listening to the 2nd book on and off and, so far, it too is okay.**

 From Goodreads:

Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.

I found this book to be charming. A little dull at times but still charming. Kind of like Caddy Woodlawn (a fantastic book) goes all scientific... Or Laura Ingalls the science kid. I thought it was cute. I kept waiting for tragedy or something to occur...it never did. I loved Calpurnia's relationship with her grandfather and their collection expeditions. I really wanted to go into her grandfather's study. It sounded awesome. Her mother, on the other hand, was a horror story. What was her problem? We never found out why she was so nasty did we? I read it so long ago and now I don't really care.

So, while I found it to be charming, probably all of my children would find it boring. Not a lot of action.

My Rating: Cute and Charming...a bit dull at times.

From Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.
  
My feelings about this book...NOT.A.FAN. This book comes with rave reviews (I have no idea why) and it is being made into a movie (again...why?) It has even been called a modern-day Jane Eyre. Yeah, right...My Aunt Fanny it is. This book is weird and disturbing and short and anything you would actually like to know about you never get to know about. If you like books about anorexia and incest with an apocalyptic twist...Hey! This book is for you!!

I wish the book would have actually been about what it CLAIMS to be about. The idea is great but the book goes to some weird and disturbing places. Not needed or wanted weird places. Therefore, I would never recommend this book to anyone nor would I want any of my kids to read it.

My Rating: Lame, Weird and Disturbing

 

From Goodreads:

To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it's not enough...not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son's bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

My friend, Lucy, suggested in her review of this book that you read it with as little foreknowledge as possible. So that is exactly what I did. I didn't read anything about the book besides her review. Perfect!! I liked trying to figure out what the premise of the whole book was about. I found the book very compelling. At times extremely claustrophobic, at times heart-breaking, and other times sweet.

I loved the story being told from the perspective and through the voice of 5 year-old Jack. It gave the book such a fresh take on this particular topic. This book made me think. I like it when that happens. It has stayed with me for a long time...particularly thinking about Jack's mom and what would I have done in that same situation. Wow. It was an interesting and haunting read.

My Rating: Good

From Goodreads:

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers, and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.
Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

Richly atmospheric, stunning in its complexity, and utterly convincing and surprising to the end.
  
This is not my usual genre of book. I am rarely, if ever, interested in reading a gritty crime mystery. That said...I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did I like it...I REALLY liked it. I couldn't put it down. Sometimes it's nice to broaden your horizons a bit.

 My Rating: Good

Christmas Break to New Years

After Christmas was over we continued to have a good time. Tyler took the week off of work and we had a lot of fun. Right after Christmas we headed to the lake to hang out with some cousins. Our family has grown so large that now you need to sign up years in advance for Christmas and highly prized weeks during the summer. Our Birch cousins shared the holiday season with our Ellersick cousins. One family was there over Christmas and then left and another family arrived to ring in the New Year.

It sure was pretty out there!! The ice was not good...so no ice skating or sledding on the ice this year but the conditions were perfect for regular sledding. It was great!! I love to sled and lucky for me so do my children and husband. Normally we sled down a hill and out onto the lake but since that was out of the question we found a different spot.

This hill worked out perfectly!!

I am lucky to come from a family where the adults are just as playful and fun as the kids. I have great memories of sledding and having fun with my parents, aunts, and uncles. I am glad that my generation of siblings and cousins are fun parents too.

Tyler dragging up my grandparents old runner sleds. They truly are the best and give you an awesome wild ride.

Tyler was having as much fun...maybe more... than the kids. He is still sporting an enormous bruise as proof.

If anyone was having possibly more fun than Tyler and the kids it was Ben. He is always scheming up all kinds of fun. My kids absolutely LOVE him.

 

 Ailey and Haylee

Kelley, Zoe, and Elle

 Tyler

 Kameron

 Haylee helping the little girls...Bryn and Peyton

Bryn was pretty fearless even after a big wipe out. She got over it pretty quick and then was ready to ride with anyone at anytime. In fact, people would just be settling down onto their sleds and about to push off when Bryn would suddenly hop on too.

Ben and Addie

Clear the track!! 

Whitney, Uncle Mike, Aunt Bonnie

(The family was a bit camera shy this year...you don't work with me people this is what you get!!)

We also went and saw this movie:

 Loved it!!

We said good-bye to some good friends who moved to Chicago. Sad for us...but we are excited for the adventure that lies ahead for them.

We had a good-bye brunch at our favorite restaurant Chaps with the Frerichs and the Thumstedters. It was nice to have this time together. We also sent them off with a big farewell party during Christmas break as well...didn't take a single picture...darn it. I'm sure Bill was really sad about that!! :)

He looks so thrilled/scared/uncomfortable to be in this picture!! He's clutching Ramona for dear life. He never did come around to my picture taking ways and I look like I am trying to steal something out of his pocket. He is going to miss me ALOT...I know it!!

The three of us became good friends after we were called to serve for several years in the Relief Society Presidency together. We really ROCKED that RS presidency!! We are going to miss Ramona a lot.

New Years we ended up hosting a family party at our house. We had some great food and a lot of fun. Once again...totally spaced taking a bunch of pictures. Except for these three cuddled up on the bed waiting to ring in the New Year.

Elle, Bryn and Ailey

Happy New Year Everyone!!