Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Book Review - Lady Anne's Quest by Susan Page Davis

Lady Anne's Quest was a great story on perseverance.  I enjoyed it.  We live in times where things can come too easy.  Then when life does throw us something we need to persevere through, we do not know how to cope.

The foundation of the story is Lady Anne's search for her Uncle David who has inherited the family estate in England.  Uncle David has not been in contact with the family for ten years, so Anne follows his trail across the United States.  She finally ends up in Oregon.

Along the way, she meets up with Daniel Adams who is instantly smitten and goes above and beyond to help Anne in her quest to find her uncle.  I appreciated Daniel's character.  H was in love, but not to the point that he would allow Anne to walk over him.  He even challenges her at one point in the story when she is ready to  give up.

One thing I found discouraging in this Christian novel was the lack of Christ.  I do not need my stories to flow with scripture and prayer, but this one had no scripture and very little prayer.  The characters in this book faced some great challenges and yet then never seemed to turn to God for his guidance.  I felt this story would have been that much better with heartfelt prayers to God for guidance.

Overall, this is a great read.  It has love, adventure, and mystery.  Almost everything a great story should have.

Thank you, Mrs. Davis for sharing.

NetGalley

I found a great new site that I am excited about.  It is called NetGalley.  I am excited to for this opportunity to read books and give a review that might make a difference.

Here is some information from their website:
What is NetGalley, and how does it work?
NetGalley is a service for people who read and recommend books. Publishers upload their galleys, plus any marketing and promotional information; then invite contacts to view their title on NetGalley. Readers can also find new titles through NetGalley's Public Catalog, and request to review those titles from the publisher.
Who can use NetGalley?
Any professional reader: book reviewers, journalists, librarians, professors, booksellers, bloggers, etc. Anyone who reads and recommend books can use NetGalley for free. You can register here.
How can I register on NetGalley?
If you are a professional reader, you can sign up today by completing the registration form. If you are a publisher, email us at info@netgalley.com to learn how to get started.


Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Vow

How long will it last?

There is a new movie out called "The Vow."  It is based upon the real life story of Kim and Krickett Carpenter.  I have linked to the story People did in 1996.  It is an incredible touching and challenging story.  Jim Daly of Focus on the Family also did a blog post that is worth reading.

My questions was "How long will it last?"  Does the thought of something like this happening in your marriage make you think twice about your vows?  Could you stick with it?  Give up what needed to be given up to stay with your spouse?

It definitely gives one something to think about.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

FitBit Activity Tracker Giveaway at Make It and Love It

One of my sister-in-laws was the first to bring the FitBit to my attention.  I have been wanting one ever since.


Ashley, over at Make It and Love It, is doing a giveaway for one.  I, one, highly recommend her blog.  She has awesome make it yourself projects.  I love her blog.  Two, would recommend getting in on all the giveaways she has been doing since the first of the year.  I am very excited by this one and hope to win.;)

Monday, February 13, 2012

Swapping Rooms

 A couple of weeks ago, we decided Luken would begin bunking with Makayla and Sam would get her own room.  There were two main reasons for this: One, Sam was getting old enough to have her own room; Two, Makayla needs to rely on herself more than get Sam to do things for her.

This weekend we went about rearranging things.  I thought while we were at it we should just shuffle rooms, so we did.


 The above room is the northwest corner room.  It use to be the little girls room, but is now Bailee's.  Bailee was babysitting on Saturday, so she did not get a chance to pick it up.


The is the northeastern corner room, which is now Sam's.


This is the southeastern corner room, which has become the "family room."


And finally, this is the southwestern corner room, which belongs to Luken and Makayla.  They now have the largest room.  It will be interesting to see how Makayla handles cleaning it on her own.

It took all day Saturday to get this taken care of.  They love this new arrangement though.

These pictures were taken by with Jeremy's iPod.  It has an app that allows you take panoramic pictures.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Kerry and Theron Jensen


Kerry Jensen is a British friend of ours that goes way back.  She came to Lewiston several years ago to be a part of our church.  Now she lives in China with her husband of a year.  They are great people that I admire a lot.  She sent me this email recently on how they spent Christmas and I thought I would share it with you.  

HEY FRIENDS. THESE ARE PICTURES FROM OUR TRIP AT CHRISTMAS TIME IN THE MOUNTAINS. ENJOY!



HIKING THE TRAIL CHRISTMAS EVE TO JOIN THE CELEBRATIONS.


550 BROTHERS AND SISTERS GATHERED UNDER TARPS.


LOCAL MINORITY TRIBE SINGING CHRISTMAS SONGS


THERON AND KERRY WITH A MAN WHOSE PARENTS WHO HELPED THE FIRST MSSNRY FAMILY IN THE 1930'S


KITCHEN PREPARING FOOD FOR ALL 550 PEOPLE.


THERON AND KERRY WITH KIDS WHO RECEIVED CHRISTMAS BOXES.


A VIEW OF THE VILLAGE WHERE THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES TOOK PLACE.


MAKESHIFT CH. FOR CHRISTMAS


SONG BOOK USED DURING P&W.

Friday, February 3, 2012

John Carter


John Carter is a new movie Disney is releasing in March.  Jeremy and I have seen random previews and thought it looked interesting.

Here is the synopsis from IMDBTransplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.

The reason I post this is because I did not realize that this is an old series of books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  I know his name because he also wrote the Tarzan series of books.  I have always like the story of Tarzan, so I am hoping to like John Carter also.

The fun thing about the John Carter series is a portion of them are free because they were printed before 1923.  I am adding them to my Amazon Free Books page.  

I said I wouldn't add classics, but since they are relevant to the movie I thought I would.  I am excited to delve into the world of John Carter.  Maybe you will join me.  If you do, let me know what you think.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Amazon Freebies

I decided to move my Amazon Free Books.  I have made it a page.  It will no longer be found on the right hand side of my blog, but if you look above the post you will see tabs.  It will be one of those.

And like I said, some are only for a day.  One I posted yesterday is no longer free.  Also there are tons of classics.  I am not going to post those.  They are easy to find on Amazon.com.  Happy Hunting!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Amazon Free Books of the Moment

I have decided to keep a list of some of the free books I find on Amazon.  It is on the right side of my blog and I will try to update it often.  Just remember, the free books on Amazon change often, so I apologize if I have a link to one that is no longer free.  Also I may not have read all of the books listed, they may just look interesting to me.  Read and your own discretion.

Physical Activity


I have been thinking a lot lately on the amount of physical activity the kids get.  All of the girls are enrolled in dance classes, which gets them dancing at least twice a week.  But it being winter and cold outside, they do not do a lot other than that.  I have been wanting to get something that will get them moving for a decent amount of time each time.

I believe I have found it.  Sunday was Jeremy's birthday and we were just going to spend the day as a family.  Bailee talked Jeremy into getting this game for our Wii.  We had so much fun.  I think they kids dance for about three hours, while I put in a good, solid hour.  I am hoping to get this for the kids and then use it for our school p.e.

I would like to say I could give a great recommendation for the music, but I can't.  It is all secular music and depending upon your kids age and your preference, this might not be the game for you.  They do "drop" out any inappropriate words, but some of the songs we still skipped because of subject matter.

So with that said, I still plan to get it.  In my opinion, there was enough positive to out weigh the negative.  Next time we "Just Dance" I will take some pictures and let you in on the fun.