The Glass Castle

I think this could be my favorite book of all time. I found myself smiling, grinning from ear-to-ear as I read the first half of this book. I don't think you could make up a character as cooky as her dad. (or her mom for that matter) Their relationship was so disfunctional, it couldn't have been more disfunctional. I loved the things her dad would say and how he explained things. I was cracking up the whole first half. Then I would have to remind myself that this was a true story and these experiences really happened to this poor girl. I don't think you could make these things up if you tried. The second half of the book infuriated me at times!!! What were those parents thinking? The situations that they put their daughter in...were sickening as a parent of 4 girls. I wanted to ring their necks and call the child protective service. It's amazing to me that they survived at all, let alone went on to be productive citizens, making their own way in the world. It's a testament that if those kids could make it, then anyone can.

I also covet the author's memory. And to be able to put those instances into words and make the reader feel like she was there witnessing it all is a talent. I loved this book!

She won!

Sis ran for a 6th grade representative and won. She had to compete with 17 other candidates. She had to give a speech and she was so nervous. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Williams for coming up with her winning phrase "You don't have to go to Italy to vote for Sicilee". And thanks to Aunt Megan and Grandma Myrn for helping us make magnents to go on everyone's locker at school.

Ensenada, Mexico

We rented a golf cart in Mexico. It was the craziest thing I've done in a long time. It was like driving a golf cart down 17th street in Idaho Falls. The traffic was crazy and here we are in this little cart. I thought..."I'm not in America anymore!" The fumes were making Penny sick, Chad's driving was making me sick, it would back fire every time we stopped. Chad almost hit a poor man on a bicycle. He tried taking us to the slums of the city and we got on some back roads where I didn't feel comfortable...(imagine that). So me and Pen hit the shops and the guys did their own little tour of Ensenada via golf cart.

This is us in the middle of cars and intersections...in a golf cart.

This was another one of those moments when I thought "we're not in America anymore". We're in an open golf cart...these tigers, lions, panthers, etc. are in this caged truck right, I mean RIGHT next to us driving down the road. Pen was having a little anxiety over this.
We found a great beach. It was warm and the water was great. We had a great time playing in the surf. I am still digging sand out of my ears. This little creature climbed into the seat of my swimsuit...this was right before I felt it bite me and I had to get in the water and dig it out. It was a little transparent bug. We saw some black fins poking out of the water...turns out they were not sharks but dolphins.

Happy Anniversary

We never do anything for our anniversary...it's Dec. 16th. I remember my aunt Karen telling me not to get married this close to Christmas. But when you're young and in love, you don't care. But now...it stinks. We are always feeling poor because it's so close to Christmas. The weather is crappy. When Chad used to coach, he always had a ball game that night...Happy Anniversary...come watch me coach. We'll have a slice of warmed up pizza and celebrate, except you'll be in the bleachers with 3 screaming kids, cleaning up spilled sunkist pop and I'll be down on the bench, mad and frustrated because I can't win a game.
So last year, we decided to do something big for our up coming anniversary and we decided we'd celebrate it at a better time. So we took a cruise and Penny and Eric came with us. It was a great vacation...spent with my two favorite people (and Eric, no offense).
We docked in San Diego. We took to trolley around and spent a very relaxing day seeing the sights there. Penny kept getting in trouble with the trolley driver...apparently she 'missed the memo' about not talking while the tour guide was talking.
We anchored up in Avalon on Catalina Island. This was my favorite stop. I would love to go back there and live for a summer. It was beautiful. I loved the little streets, everyone drove golf carts, it was clean. Loved it!

We snorkled in Catalina...I was terrified of sharks. I stuck to our guide. Chad loved snorkling and kept getting left and the instructor would yell "keep up in back, swim, catch up!" We were suppose to stick with a buddy, use the buddy system, but my buddy liked to go out deep and into the kelp where you couldn't see what was down there...(like sharks) so I made a new buddy...the instructor. I figured he would save me when I got drug out to sea by a blood-thirsty shark. Chad wouldn't even know I was gone until it was too late.

Packsaddle

We rode from our house up to the "Big Holes" just west of Tetonia. The trails were nice and easy and the fall colors were beautiful. I wish I would have gotten some better pics of the scenery.

Lex's family (-minus a few) came also. It was fun, seems like we don't seem them enough. My girls have a great time with those cousins. This pic is at the top of the Big Holes. I think on a clear day, you can see the Rexburg side.

We survived the first thunderstorm by hunkering down under some trees and waiting it out. I was a little nervous and so was Indee. We huddled around grandma Jan. The lighting was flashing and the thunder was clapping right over our heads. It hailed a little and poured rain for about 20 minutes. We went the rest of the way down the trail to Packsaddle Lake. This is one of my favorite places around here. It's really pretty and the kids love to swing on this rope swing.

Indee and Alivia.

Pandora (like the box...well, not really)

So Val turned me onto this awesome radio station site online. It's called Pandora Radio.

The link is pandora.com.

You type in a song or an artist you like and it plays that artist plus others that are similar in genre. So you get a variety of songs.

Here are my fav's. My ALL-TIME favorite is Jason Mraz. I love this guy and could listen to him all day long!

Natasha Beddingfield...love her. Did you see her on the Bachelorette last season singing "Soulmate"...love it!
Jack Johnson...another fav...isn't he a hottie?
Gwen Stefani...She just gets better and better. Love her station.

Music just gets me going...hard for me to clean without it on. So this site is a great find. I usually log onto it and up pops Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, or Selena Gomez (I don't even know who this is) ..it seems that the girls have learned how to get there radio stations on also.

Mammoth

Chad and I went on a little date to Mammoth, inside the Park. I went a long time ago and saw the elk buggling and battling. We actually had to hide behind our car in the parking lot because two elk were locking horns right there. It was awesome and I've always wanted to go back.

This elk that the rangers called "Six" was the big man on campus. He was buggling and rounding up all his females. I was wondering what would happen if one of them just decided to say "no..I'm not coming with you. I have this other young bull that I like better."