Swallow Family Reunion

Yes, my dear sweet readers, that picture was taken yesterday.

August.

Although, to be fair, I shouldn't delude you into thinking it's snow. 

It's just hail!

Yesterday, Cass and I headed up Cedar Canyon for the Swallow family reunion. It's Swallows from Cass's great-grandparents down, so there were some folks I hadn't met before. Everyone was really nice and it was great to meet and spend time with everyone. The Fillmore cousins came down, too, so it was great to see their familiar faces!  

Cass left my camera in the car, though, and then it was raining, so I didn't get any pictures.  But despite the rain, thunder, lightning, hail, and short power outages, 

 it was a nice afternoon. In fact, the lightning was pretty cool to see! 

Sheri, one of Morrell's cousins, is the family historian. She put together some packets with stories and information about some of the ancestors. She told us a few of the stories and her mom, LaDawn, passed around an old silver teacup. It was really neat to hear some of the Swallow family history and it's a great asset to have those packets in our home. It inspired me to do a little more research into my side of the family, but that might be short-lived . . . 

Michael's Home!

My little brother Michael got home from his mission last week, and while we 

weren't able to make it to the airport, we came up the next day to spend
time with him & the family and attend his homecoming.

 After running some errands with everyone, we picked up Jordyn from Art Camp. 

Proud artiste Jordyn

We had a great weekend with Michael home and the whole family together! Two of our cousins, Whitney and Tara, trekked down from BYU-I for the fun. We hardly ever get to see each other, so it was great for them to come visit. We played lots of games (I royally lost at Five Crowns), ate lots of food, and spent lots of time just hanging out and catching up on Saturday.

Michael's talk on Sunday was really neat. He shared some great stories 
and I really felt the spirit! It was great to see some folks from the old 
neighborhood, too, who I don't ever get to see. Homecomings are the best!

And now, of course, for the pictures! 

Sisters!

Matthew, me, Whitney, Cassidy

the whole gang! 

crazy face!

Whitney & Jordyn "being puppies!"

We had such a good weekend and I loved seeing everybody!

Welcome home, Michael!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

This novel tells the story of two children, one Chinese and one Japanese but both American, during WWII. They become friends and puppy love takes over. But racial differences during the war make it hard for them to even see one another. And then they start placing the Japanese-Americans into Internment Camps. 

Ford's novel bounces back and forth from the 1980s - "Present" - and the war years as the Panama Hotel is re-opened and belongings from Interned Japanese are found. Memories are sparked. And then the ending is exactly what you would suspect. 

The story had a few good moments and a very sweet succinct ending. Yet at times I was bored by the story and found it rather predictable.  Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. Not sure I would recommend it, but I won't berate you if you love it.

Cuz crazy is perfect, so I will be perfect. . .

So . . . my life is a little crazy. I've been a little busy. But here's the run down on my haps as of late. 

Saturday I took the kids to 7 peaks. I sunscreened them and totally forgot about myself.  That sure hurt, and I learned my lesson! It was nice to just relax and read in the sunshine though. 

Tuesday I headed up to Salt Lake to have dinner with Cass and his boss. BBQ -- Delicious!

Wednesday the lovely ladies in the ward threw me a shower, and I was pleased with the attendance of ladies from the old ward and some friends -- as well as a very special friend's mom! Highlights were my new cookie press, my stack-able cooling racks (which I'm way too excited about!) and being able to chat it up with Nattie Cat :) Downside: I don't know Cass we'll enough, apparently, and ended up having to stick about ten pieces of gum in my mouth, which really isn't that big!!

Saturday was a crazy busy day! I had the eye doctor- lovely- and am not too much worse (yet I never ever ever! drive home from the eye doctor -- not safe!!). Then Cass came down and we headed to the Stone Family Reunion for lunch and some games. For dinner we headed up to meet Cass's best friend (and his wife, sister, and brother-in-law) who I have never met before. I was a little nervous.  I don't like meeting new people.  But I think it went okay.  They were nice. I don't think I was too weird. Afterwards we continued north towards Cass's homestead for the night.

Sunday we went to church and played with Cass's fam.  His baby sister is a doll. She's hilarious and I love her.  She's crazy fun. However, that evening I fell ill.  Cass drove me home and I took to bed for quite a while.

But! I still made time to read in the last little bit, leaving me with these lovely reviews to dispense for ya'll:

The Center of Everything : A Novel
I have had quite an adventure reading this book. You see, I got to page 214. And I read it, and finished it. And then my eyes went up the next page, and it didn't make sense. I read it again. Nope. And I checked the page number. It was not 215.  So I trekked to B&N where they didn't believe me that I bought the book there-- but we finally got sorted. About a week later it came and I was finally able to finish this lovely novel about the coming-of-age of a Midwestern girl in a America with a crazy mom, a crush on the neighbor, and a hottie friend who  dates the neighbor.  Best part: the mom was a teenager when she had our main character and has younger sisters close to the age of her daughter. At a family dinner, the Mom's sisters think their dad called her a Horse. Nope. Not it. Not horse.  I found this to be a great novel with both hilarious and touching moments. It's cited as akin to To Kill a Mockingbird.  I'm not sure I would classify it as such, but close as a coming-of-age novel.

 

 

And now I try to ---

-finish my thesis . . . Oh Isadora Duncan. How you plague me. I wish we could be friends. But I think we're on to the easier part now. . . I hope.

-print, address, and send announcements.  They should be done on Monday from the printers, so I suppose I shouldn't stress until I actually have them in my possession. 

-I also work every day, which I nerdily spice up with my myriad of howstuffworks.com podcasts.

-I also babysit twice a week, which is a nice respite from life. :)

-I have a busy, busy weekend!

-My mom's gong out of town next week, which doesn't really require any extra work from me - unless there is an emergency

-Not go insane! :)  

Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart 

So. No lies. I picked this book up because it had Bette on it and cost a dollar. I originally took it with me to 7 Peaks on Saturday because  I figured it would be easy to read in a loud, crazy environment.  Which it was.  But it was still a cute book. I enjoyed it, as I enjoy most books about friends throughout the years. Beaches is nothing special, but don't let that turn you off.  It's still touching and cute.

 The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, Book 1)

So I guess Rick is starting to rival Philippa, but I really enjoy reading "Matthew" books! They're easy to pick up and put down with my schedule and don't require too much thought. This series is similar to the others of Rick's, but it is about the Egyptian Gods and magicians.  I did like that he switched it up with the mortals being "blood of the pharaohs" and magicians instead of being demi-gods. I also like this because I do not know as much about the Egyptian Mythology as the Greek or Roman. Similar to my prior review on Rick, I just love that he can get kids to read. I don't care what kids are reading, as long as they are. However, I did not like that the chapters switched back and forth between Sadie and Carter (the main characters are brother and sister), and at times the action got a little rushed. However, if you're into "Matthew" books like I am, I'm sure you'll enjoy this.  

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

I did not enjoy this book at all. It was not fluid. It was consumed with sex. It tried to be literary, and I just feel that it really failed. I will not be recommending this to anyone anytime soon, nor rereading it. So if you love it, maybe you can talk me into it. But I doubt it. I'm sure part of the problem was that I had misconceptions about the book when I picked it up, but even after I figured the setting and everything, I didn't like it. It took me quite a while to get through it for a book I thought I would enjoy. I almost didn't finish it, but I have moral issues with not finishing a book. So I trucked through and hoped it would get better. It didn't.  Don't waste your time.  

A Wedding in December

Anita Shreve

I read A Wedding in December last weekend.  It was a nice light read, what one might categorize as a beach or vacation book. I like to switch up reading heavy books and light books, and I knew this would be light from the get go, so I enjoyed it. It was a reunion-style book, high school friends meeting up after some 20 odd years for the wedding of two classmates who had been high school sweethearts.  And, of course, there is the secret. They allude to the secret multiple times throughout the course of the story, culminating with different degrees of the secret being revealed after the wedding -- which is kind of a let down -- and then the book ends.  It kind of bothered me that this book had no denouement.  I sort of think that was Shreve's purpose, to leave it open to interpretation, and to encourage the reader to evaluate their missed opportunities, their missed stories. 

Overall, this was a form book. But it was a nice distraction, and a light, easy read --especially if you have a high school reunion coming up, a secret, and lost lover with whom you'd like to reconnect.