A Kingsolver Affair

Friday night I went with some of the girls from my book club to hear Barbara Kingsolver speak in Bainbridge Island. She was promoting her new book, The Lacuna, and read a few excerpts from the book. I have only read two of her books (Animal Vegetable Miracle was AWESOME), but she has written 13 books, all of them very different. It was very interesting to hear her explain how she writes a book. She actually has the ending of the story in mind before she begins and fills in characters that are capable of reaching this conclusion. Also, she believes that we can gain empathy in reading books since we internalize what the characters are feeling as we read. Very cool. I even got an autographed copy of her new book. Hope it is a good read.

Say Cheese

Today I made cheese quesadillas for lunch; Grace only nibbled one little bite off the corner of hers before she scurried off to play. I smiled to myself and thought, yep, that's my mousie girl. Minnie Mouse was the perfect Halloween costume for little Grace.

Sam Strikes Back

Sam is all about Star Wars. He bought the blaster gun last spring after riding the Star Tours ride at Disney World. The obvious costume choice was none other than a storm trooper.

Ape Goes Bananas

Jared and Audrey have a strange affection for monkeys and bananas. They were quite amused with themselves on Halloween and really hammed it up for the camera. All but Grace enjoyed watching their shenanigans. Grace howled in fear if the ape was anywhere near her sight.

Here Banana hangs from the tree...



Much to Banana's horror, Ape now has her in his clutches.

Jake and Serena are married!

Jake and Serena were married last Saturday in the Timpanogos Temple. They are such a handsome couple and it was so neat to see them sealed in the temple. Hope you are ready for a major bombardment of pictures. I tried and tried to upload one of my famous Smilebox slide shows, but I couldn't get it to work. I have at least a zillion pictures; the following are just the HIGHLIGHTS!

One Swinging Time

The kids spent the entire reception romping on the grass and swinging on the playground. They hardly knew that they were at a formal event.

One Great Party

Mom and Pops pulled off one really great party at their home. The reception was held the night before the wedding and so the bride and groom could save more important things for the day of their marriage. Wink. wink. Oh, and did I mention the cake buffet? YUM! I think I gained at least 10 lb. that night.