This months reads

I had to return HP and the Deathly Hallows a few times before I could get through the first few chapters. I was HPed out. But I finally got through it this month. The first half of the book was boring for me. It picked up half way but I must say the ending was great.

I really liked Breaking Dawn. Yes, it needed a fight scene. I liked the twists the book had. And I would love to see a R/Jacob series. What do you think?

The Goose Girl was my favorite for the month!!!!! I was happily surprised. I purchased it in the afternoon and was done by midnight. The imagery was amazing. The storyline perfect. It never got boring. I cried and laughed.


I just picked this one up at the library. Have you heard of it? This is a preview copied from the back of cover:

"How have I been lucky enough to come here, to be alive, when so many others are not? I should have died... But I am here.

1945. Surviving the brutality of a Nazi prison camp, Marta Nederman is lucky to have escaped with her life. Recovering from the horror, she meets Paul, an American soldier who gives her hope of a happier future. But their plans to meet in London are dashed when Paul's plane crashes.

Devastated and pregnant, Marta marries Simon, a caring British Diplomat and glimpses the joy that home and family can bring. But her happiness is threatened when she learns of a communist spy in British intelligence, and that the one person who can expose the traitor is connected to her past...

In this dramatic follow-up to the bestselling Kommandant's Girl, Pam Jenoff writes of a time of uneasy peace and rising paranoia, when love and desperation could make liars of us all."

Read an excerpt from the first chapter!

First Grade

The first day of school didn't go the way I thought it would have. First of all, K had a big black eye. His brand new shoes were not so brand new anymore. We went up the canyon last night for dinner with some family and friends. He wore all his new stuff and ruined them. He and A also ran into each other resulting with a nasty injury to his cheek bone and eye. He was still a few inches shorter than the other boys, dangit. And I didn't cry like I thought I would have and saw that plenty of other parents were. I did choke up when I saw my friends balling but I have been not looking forward to handing my child to the state for a while now and preparing myself to miss him a lot. He is my first born and I've really enjoyed having him around all the time. It makes me want to be at school with him to just be a part of his day. Well at the end of school I was expecting him to tell me every little detail. Nope. He couldn't, wouldn't, didn't want to tell me very much. I was able to pry some stuff out but I'll just have to get involved somehow.

Summer

Here are some pictures of life in August when I remembered to bring my camera. There was so much I didn't get to capture. I don't want to forget the moments and this thought of not remembering the details helps me to want to be better about taking pictures. We did a lot of soccer. K's team had a 2 week break all year and have been hard at it since winter. L's had a couple games and practices. He's definitely a four year old. He hangs out in the net quite a bit. He's with a bunch of 5 year olds that have played one year of soccer now so he's not getting a chance at the ball unfortunately. He's a great runner and has a lot of potential. As for now he's being my funny 4 year old. We went camping with the ward and stayed up way too late playing games and keeping our poor neighbors awake. The boys played a lot with sticks and stones and of course with their Legos. Chris has done well this past year at work and we're happy with the result. We've been training for a triathlon, my second, Chris' first. And I've been training as well for my first marathon. We had an Ericson family reunion and met lots of people I've never seen before. We spent time with Chris' parents who came down to help Loyd with his big move to sunny California.

I thought I was going to Die

So Chris and I are on our way home from the gym when a crazy driver almost hits us from behind. We're less than half a mile from our home when this person proceeds to tail us and we're wondering what's going on. Chris pulls over to let the car pass and we follow it. It takes off turning onto a street we know well. I wasn't expecting my husband to follow so closely, flashing his brights at the guy, basically picking a fight in my eyes, which was freaking me out. The guy pulls over we're guessing it's his home and then Chris parks it right behind him. I could touch the crazy driver's car. Chris gets out and yells, "Are you drunk?" no answer...."ARE YOU DRUNK?!!!" OHHH man I'm freaking out. "ARE YOU HIGH?!!!" The guy starts answering him in slurred speech. Chris, he's drunk let's get out of here. repeating myself over and over, Chris not budging. The guy gets out of his car. I thought I was going to die. After a few seconds, the guy realizing, that he wasn't going to be able to take Chris on, backs off and tries to kiss up. He had his hand under his shirt like he was going to pull out a gun. Oh Man. Let's just get out of here. But, no, this man, my husband, was not going to budge. They exchanged some words, Chris basically told him to go sober up in slang I have never heard of and I thought I knew it all. Chris surprises me with the stuff he knows sometimes. Then we start taking off, whew, I thought. But no Chris wanted to hang out a little more. He pulled up barely enough to let the guy park. The guy parks and starts yelling "Come here, come here." Chris not budging once again. "If you don't start driving, I'm getting out and walking home," I said. Of course, I had to start opening the door before he took me seriously.
1. Drunk Drivers are BAD, BAD, BAD
2. My husband is a crazy man
3. This reminds me of one of Chris' highschool buddies that used a hammer on a drunk guy trying to get into their house. The same bold, crazy, fierceness.
4. Why can't Chris channel this fierceness when he calls Qwest with complaints of overcharging us.
5. Which reminds me, I loathe Qwest.

Amaca

Amaca, I don't know if I spelled that right, is a hammock. My mom brought me this pretty, hand made one from her hometown. Some of my childhood memories include sleeping in these, while we visited my grandmother in Mexico, in hot and humid temperatures. The homes I stayed in are made out of cement walls and floors, no carpet of course. The water would just fall from gravity when I showered, no water pressure. I remember seeing the colorful, large iguanas scurrying across the walls, eating grilled fish the adults caught, watching my grandmother prepare chicken for dinner after picking it up from her country home, killing it, plucking the feathers, and so on. Everything was simple, simple furnishings, always clean and orderly, and relaxing.

Pretty

It has been a mild August with plenty of rain and cool nights. We're enjoying it and still trying to be good.

Today's Pic

the Jehovah Witnesses

Bobby called me on his way out Monday, "I just saw the J.W.s proselyting. Heads up." So I closed everything up to be able to pretend no one was home when they came by and went about my day not even noticing they didn't come by. But, I didn't realize that they were housing out the area and I had let my guards down the next day when they came knocking on my door. I opened it having completely forgotten about Bobby's warning call the day before.

Hey, I figure I knocked on thousands of doors as a missionary why not be nice. I know what it's like. So I listened. They're approach was "Do you ever feel like the world is in chaos and it's affecting you?" She brought up the fighting that's going on with the Russians. They tried to make the approach that the Bible has the answers to help us feel peace in this chaotic world of doom and gloom.

After looking around me and seeing what a beautiful day it really was here in this cute, suburban neighborhood and how peaceful my street was with no one around but us, and hearing my kids playing nicely together in my clean house as I finish up a book, my reply was, "Not really. Sadly it's out of sight and out of mind." I don't want to be unempathetic or indifferent to the terrible things people are going through but right now (today at this moment) things are good and I'd like to enjoy this moment in my life without feeling guilty people. Haven't I been through enough already?

So I was feeling guilty afterwards. We really are blessed. Yes, we have trials. I know I have. I struggle through them all the time and am grateful when they pass and I feel better. What comes to mind is the teaching from the scriptures that goes something like the following--where much is given much is required. Surely the boss upstairs can't be too disappointed in me for being comfortable right now, I have 3 young boys for crying out loud. But it's true I need to reach out more especially to those who are struggling as I do or as I have in the past with life, pregnancy, post partum ness, etc. I probably should make an effort to serve others and actually apply the principles of the gospel in my life. We pray, love our kids, don't break the law, but there's more that I can do. I should have given water to the guy trying to sell magazines today. Small acts of service, a good place to start.

the Provo Trail Half Marathon

On Saturday K and I ran the 13.1 from the top of the road that takes you to Vivian park, through the provo trail, finishing at Riverwoods. Our goal was to not walk and we rocked. The start was rough. It was cold which I wasn't expecting. There were no toilets at the start and had to be bused up the canyon before we could use the porta potties. The trail was beautiful, nice and shady, and was diverse with downhill, uphill, and flat. I ran harder than I trained. My muscles are sore in a good way. Usually my goal is to get done and do the distance without really pushing myself. But, I shaved off some time per mile. K improved her time more than I did by keeping a good pace and not stopping like during the SL half. The last couple miles were killer. It was all mental to get it done from then on. Not having the mile markers played with my mind. I was so happy to see the finish line and booked it. Again, since we started dead last, we kept passing people, which helps in a twisted kind of way. They didn't have timing chips so the results will be skewed. We didn't start the race when the gun went off. We were stuck in line for the toilets.

the Gateway

My Tips for Shopping at Walmart

1. If you have a question, don't ask. You are better off figuring it out yourself. It will save you time and energy
2. Go with a good attitude and don't let anything bother you.
3. Ignore everyone and pretend you are the only one there. Don't begin to look around you because you will lose your focus. My husband always comes back with descriptions of unique people. They tend to shop at Walmart.
4. Don't wear tight work out shorts/pants, of any length to avoid creepy guys checking out your rear end. If you want people to quickly get out of your way and move behind you, it's a good tactic if you don't mind the galking.
5. People tend to try to make you move out of their way even though you aren't done trying to find your product and you were there first. Just get out of the way and don't make a big deal even though they should just wait or use another isle.
6. When you see people clearing an isle in masses, don't go through it. Someone has for sure passed gas. Get the hint and steer clear or else you'll pay.
7. Alway greet the handicapped greeter at the entrance/exit no matter how awkward
8. When the cashier hits on you, just pretend you don't speak English or play dumb
9. Go get your school supplies right now for dirt cheap
10. Don't forget to screw the cap back on after taking a sniff, because the checker will be very annoyed with the mess it makes on the counter and he/she will NOT give you a new bottle no matter how empty.
11. Use your ipod or be prepared to call DCFS for child abuse.
12. Bribe you kids to stay behaved. They get to pick a treat AT THE END. Give yourself a treat for making it through.
13. If you are hanging onto life by a few strings don't go to Walmart, you are sure to have a melt down.
14. Wash, Wash, Wash your hands when you get home and your kids hands. There are lots of nasty things going around and if you're going to get it from somewhere there's a good chance it'll be from Walmart.

Photography by L

Monopoly

K has not only beat Chris at Monopoly one too many times, fair and square, he just beat Loyd, fair and square. K has inherited Chris' Lucky side. Poor Loyd hasn't had much luck in the board game arena lately.
K beat Bobby at Monopoly fair and square. Bobby says "He got lucky." Lucky or not, you lost. Well, it's official we are breeding competitive, nasty gameboard players in this household.

Recent Lego Creations by L and K

An Old Man

Bobby is in town and staying with us this whole week!!!! Just as he got settled down yesterday we get a knock on the door. Out of habit I told Bobby to look out the window before opening the door. So the conversation goes as follows:

Bobby before you open the door look out the window

Bobby--after looking out the window--It's an Old Man.

Well, Karate chop him if he does anything suspicious

Bobby--after opening the door--Oh hey, Uncle Ray!!

Uncle Ray--It's just me an Old Man!!!

me--Well, for an Old Man, you sure have good hearing!!!!

Well, the lesson is don't underestimate your senior citizens. We had a good laugh and things haven't changed one bit; Bobby still has a way of being brutally honest and Uncle Ray still as controversial as ever!! After hitting on me, I gave him a good punch and we all chit chatted for a long time. He got a special treat with Loyd, Bobby, and my three boys all being there. Having heard about his first wife and everyone else, I got to know Uncle Ray a little better and know that being called an Old Man would not be too offensive.

So having said that here is a picture of the pavillion that we will be holding the family reunion at. Uncle Ray asked about all of you guys (Loyd and Norma's kids) and wanted to know if you were coming. There will be good food (roasts, BBQ meat sandwiches, Shrimp salad, etc.) We'll also have games and hopefully set up a volleyball net.

Brothers

Today's Hair Cut