Reading List

Twenty-three books read in 2012.
Here's the list for my book reading history... and for anyone who cares. :)

Charms for the Easy Life Kaye Gibbons  ****

Cutting for Stone Abraham Verghese  ****

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Jacqueline Kelly  ****

The Confession John Grisham  ***

Midnight in Austenland Shannon Hale  ***

Moloka'i Alan Brennert  ***

Belong to Me Marisa de los Santos  **

Star Girl Jerry Spinelli  ***

Cold Comfort Farm Stella Gibbons  *****

I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith  ***

The Beekeeper's Apprentice Laurie R. King  ***

Cinder Marissa Meyer  **

Night Elie Wielsel  *****

Wonder Girl Don Van Natta Jr.  **

My Life As Laura Kelly Kathleen Ferguson  ***

The Five Love Languages Gary Chapman  ****

Edenbrooke Julianne Donaldson  ****

Left Neglected Lisa Genova  ***

Keturah and Lord Death Martine Leavitt  **

Little Heathens Mildred Armstrong Kalish  ****

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag Alan Bradley  ****

The Thirteenth Tale Diane Setterfield  ****

The House at Riverton Kate Morton  ***

Book Club Books in Blue.

Merry Christmas!!

To anyone who may still read my blog...

HERE is our annual family Christmas greeting.

Enjoy!
Merry Christmas!!

Don't Blink

Kenny Chesney knows what he's singin' about.
Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did...
Don't blink
Life goes faster than you think.


This past weekend I felt like I was only a few blinks away from my own high school graduation 23 years ago. 
And even fewer blinks from sending my little four-year-old Amanda off to her first day of Kindergarten.
Don't blink. Life goes faster than you think.
Way too fast.

My graduation day - June 3, 1989

BLINK

With baby Amanda - October 1994

and April 1995

BLINK

First day of Kindergarten - September 1999

BLINK

Amanda's Senior Picture

Graduation Day - June 3, 2012

Trying not to blink for the next 12 years.

Grandma's Quilts

The first four days of April were pretty unremarkable. Normal everyday kind of days filled with lunch-packing, laundry, baseball practices and bedtimes. But in the early morning hours of Thursday April 5th we received a couple of emails that would change not only our month, but our lives. Erik's mom, who was diagnosed with cancer in March of 2009, was not doing well. Despite an amazing and fairly healthy three years her health was declining. Quickly. Dad wasn't sure he could care for her anymore. He was worried. By that afternoon test results revealed that there was nothing more doctors could do. Kathy had "days to weeks" left to live. To say the news was devastating doesn't even begin to describe it. It was way more than that.

By Friday evening Erik was in Utah, all seven siblings gathered to say goodbye to their amazing mom and support their dad. By Monday evening she was gone, a peaceful passing with her children and husband by her side. It was so hard to be here. So hard to not get to say my goodbye.

Somehow Erik flew back home to us; we made it back to Utah; we went to a viewing and a funeral; we cried and hugged; we missed school and work and games and contests. It's all a blur. It was sad and hard, but beautiful and inspiring as well. No matter how many times I've tried to write about the whole experience the words just get in the way of the feelings that were there. Feelings of love and gratitude for a woman who loved me, inspired me and taught me.

One of the last things I did before heading home to Texas was go into Kathy's sewing room. The sewing machine on the table was ready for quilt blocks that would never be pieced together by her hands. The iron was cold, waiting for seams that would never be pressed. Fabric was folded and stacked in the closet, each piece picked out with her hands and her heart; with love for a specific person, a specific project. The blue and yellow scraps from a birthday apron she once made me caught my eye and I collected them, as well as a few other pieces that I wanted to help me remember. It was my time, my way to say my goodbye.

In the month that I've been home I've thought a lot about fabric and patterns. I've looked closely at each of the quilts she made for Erik and our children for their blessings and baptisms and birthdays and pondered the thought and love that went into each and every stitch. Nothing Kathy ever did, in quilting or in life, was simply random or aimless. She lived, loved and served with a purpose. Her life was patterned after her Savior and pieced together with seams of righteousness that were a part of her life since childhood.

Her love and righteous example, like her quilts, are heirlooms that I will always cherish. My children may not, at least not right now, understand what each of these quilts mean. But I do. And for that I am grateful.

(Some of our "grandma quilts" L-R: Erik - with his baseball jerseys, a BYU shirt, and his baby Dodgers shirt & blanket; Jacob - designed by grandpa and grandma with BYU, Dodgers and Rangers logos; Amanda - Fun 1930's era fabrics and appliqued flowers - so Amanda; Shawn - the BYU and sports quilt she delivered in person in February - her last trip; Mason - a fun parade of African animals, hand quilted by Grandma on her mission; Ashley - beautiful floral fabrics and pieced star and diamond blocks; Ryan - a great African print. I remember her telling me that the orange just made her think of her Ryan.)

Pay it Forward

Pay it forward 2012.

I promise to make something handmade for the first five people who comment. They must in turn post this (either on their blog or facebook) and make something for the first five who comment. The rules are it must be handmade by you and they must receive it before 2012 ends. It can be something as simple a making a friend a cup of hot chocolate or a plate of cookies. Or if you're feeling crafty see what you can come up with to make and pass along. Ready...Go!

P.S. Don't respond if you won't participate please by posting this yourself :).

Happy Sunday

"It may be true that man is nothing

in comparison to the

greatness of the universe.

At times we may even feel

insignificant,

invisible, alone, or forgotten.

But always remember -

you matter to Him!"

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

World Book Night

I love, love, love the idea of World Book Night - where those who love reading may be selected to give away 20 paperback books to "non or light readers". I have loved reading for as long as I can remember and can't fathom life without books. As a child I would purposely do something just a little naughty to get sent to my room so I could read. Long road trips as a teenager meant hours of reading in the back seat of the van. I was in heaven in college when I realized that shopping for text books as an English major meant coming home with stacks of novels. Bliss.

Check out the World Book Night website for more information and to register for a chance to be a 2012 book giver.

A List of Twenty

Here's my List of the twenty books I finished reading last year. I did start a few more that weren't worth the time to finish. The ratings are out of 5 stars (*****). Don't forget to check out my goodreads list on my sidebar to see my reviews throughout the coming year.

***** Broken Things to Mend Jeffrey R. Holland

*** Saving CeeCee Honeycut Beth Hoffman

* Redeeming Love Francine Rivers

*** At Home in Mitford Jan Karon

**** Half Broke Horses Jeannette Walls

**** Book of a Thousand Days Shannon Hale

*** The Maze Runner James Dashner

***** Moon Over Manifest Clare Vanderpool

*** The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels Ree Drummond

**** The Adoration of Jenna Fox Mary E. Pearson

** The Diary of Mattie Spenser Sandra Dallas

** Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson

**** Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Alan Bradley

**** Uncle Tom's Cabin Harriet Beecher Stowe

***** Major Pettigrew's Last Stand Helen Simonson

** Matched Ally Condie

**** Austenland Shannon Hale

** The Rest of Her Life Laura Moriarty

**** I Feel Bad About My Neck Nora Ephron

** Night Road Kristen Hannah

*Book Club Books in Blue

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you and your families a very merry and wonderful Christmas and a happy 2012!

Check out our annual Christmas blog here.

Reading List

It's time to start compiling my must-read list for 2012 and would love your input. What were your favorite books you read this year? If you're in a book club which books prompted the best discussions? Anything you read that I should avoid? Please share!

Check out my 2011 Book List on my sidebar and all of my reviews on Goodreads.