Still love to read

As per tradition, here's my list of books read during the year. A nice, varied selection in my opinion. The one that had the greatest impact on me was Merrill's Marauders. My grandpa -- Paka -- served as a Marauder captain in World War II. He wasn't one to talk much about his experiences, but he started to dictate his memoirs many years ago at my dad's request. Unfortunately, he put the project on hold as my grandma's Parkinson's disease progressed and she required more care. When Paka suddenly passed from an aneurysm, the rest of his story remained untold.

I'm not sure how it all came about, but my dad learned about Gavin Mortimer's research and shared what he had collected of Paka's memoirs. Mortimer included some of Paka's memories and quotes in the book, which made the reading very personal. Even though Paka's contribution to the bulk of the book was minimal, I knew his actual contribution to the war effort and participation in the struggles and horrors in this part of the Pacific theater were absolute. I didn't need to see his name in every battle scene or hear his direct reaction to events to realize he was there -- that he watched his friends die, that he suffered from heat and bugs and hunger and fatigue, that he wondered whether or not he would make it out alive. I already had a great deal of respect for my grandpa, but this book expanded and deepened those feelings.

• My Family for the War by Anne C. Voorhoeve
• The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
• Wonder by R.J. Palacio
• Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis
• Cress by Marissa Meyer
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• The Pigeon Pie Mystery by Julia Stuart
• The Maze Runner by James Dashner
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• The Red Umbrella by Christina Gonzalez
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
• Merrill's Marauders by Gavin Mortimer
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• Mr. Churchill's Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeal
• The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
• Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
• A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• Blackmoore by Julianne Donaldson
• The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
• Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey
• A Daughter of Zion by Bodie Thoene
• The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
• Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King

2014 in a blog-shell

 
Disneyland!

Need I say more? Our memories of 2014 are definitely dominated by our trip to California this summer to celebrate Mom and Dad S’s 50th anniversary.

Jeremy and I loved seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces even after spending long days on our feet. Morgan took two trips to the instacare – first for croup and then for an ear infection – and yet she plugged along and hardly complained.

Some favorites: Thunder Mountain Railroad, Cars Land, California Screamin’, World of Color, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones.I personally got a kick out of watching Jeremy and Caleb on the Winnie the Pooh ride. We needed it after taking the plunge on Splash Mountain. We also enjoyed a day at the beach and good food.

We say regularly that we want to go back, and I hope we can someday.

 

 








We decided to take advantage of being in southern California by extending our trip and spending a few days in San Diego. I don’t think any of us regretted it.

We tried to hit as many attractions as possible including Old Town, the Mormon Battalion museum, the beach, the San Diego temple, the USS Midway museum, and of course Sea World.

I solidified my crazy mom status by dragging everyone to a park with an awesome view only to find out it would close in about five minutes. Not wanting to pay admission, we turned around, found a spot to take a picture in the middle of a cemetery, and drove back to the hotel.

The summer also included a trip for ⅔ of the family to Oregon and then down to the cabin, partly for my 20th high school reunion [really?!?] but more to visit Mom and Dad B and see their new home.

One of the most memorable and hysterical parts of the trip was going “clamming” on the coast. I will forever have the image of my parents and the kids squishing through the mud with shovels in hand.

The cabin was of course refreshing. The morning we left I could see that Aiden was struggling. I asked him if he was okay and he started to cry, which is not normal for him. He said he didn’t want to leave, and I could totally relate.





















The reason the other ⅓ of the family stayed behind was because Caleb had committed to marching band. This was his first season, and he had a great experience.

He wasn’t overly fond of the parades, but he really enjoyed playing the synthesizer for the field show as well developing friendships with his fellow pit members.

His high school took 3rd in state and 4th in the region, which was remarkable for being their first year as a 5A band. He liked it enough to decide to sign up for the winter drum line, so we’re back to fun practice schedules. By now we should be able to drive to the high school with our eyes closed.

We’ve watched a substantial amount of basketball this year. Marissa was assigned to the 8th grade B team, but as the coaches watched her during practice they decided she would benefit from playing with the A team as well.

Aiden plays with a competitive team in addition to being on the 5th grade A team.

Caleb played with city recreation. That’s a lot of basketball.






In other activities, Marissa gave track a try in the spring and found she has a knack for the shot put. She took 3rd in regionals. If you consider her skinny arms, that’s pretty impressive.

Morgan took another year of dance but is taking a break right now. I’m still trying to figure out how to convince her to sing in front of other people. Caleb got his driver’s permit.

We said farewell to our old blue van after 13 years together, replacing it with a new-to-us-but-not-really-new-at-all red van. The first thing we had to do after we bought it from our Ute fan neighbors was to remove the Utah sticker on the back window just so Aiden could breathe again.

We’re all busy with church responsibilities as well. Jeremy perseveres as 1st counselor in the bishopric; I am still Laurel advisor and went to girls camp as assistant director; Caleb serves as his teacher’s quorum president, and Marissa is 1st counselor in her Beehive class. Aiden goes to scouts, where he just received his Webelos badge, and Morgan gets dragged all over the place.

School work keeps us hopping, as does work-work.

Life is good, and we count our blessings every day.


P.S. Please pardon the formatting issues. I think Blogger was feeling neglected and decided to act out. Either that or I'm way out of practice.