The White Cascade

The White Cascade

by Gary Krist

ISBN: 978-0805077056

Long before cell phones, before airplanes, before cars were the common mode of transportation, even before Titanic, there was the great avalanche of 1910 in Wellington, WA. Gary Krist takes the reader on an incredible journey of the facts leading up to the avalanche: the weather involved, the men who made the decisions, and the passengers on the train. Each area is crucial to the ending of this tragic event in our American history. Krist is able to tell the story truthfully while being able to make it read like a storybook. The characters come to life on the page and the struggles and feelings they all dealt with are felt by the reader.

The weather had a great deal to do with the deaths of nearly 100 people that day, but certainly responsibility also falls on the superintendent of the Wellington area, James O’Neil. Although all court decisions deemed him free of any wrong-doing, it becomes very clear that O’Neil ignored the passengers on the train that was hovering over a 1,000 foot drop. Granted he was working to clear the tracks and never rested for days at a time, but he failed to meet the basic need of his charges: reassurance. However, it was very clear by the end of the lawsuits that the railroad had learned its lesson about building track on or around mountains. They found new ways to rebuild the track with less risk to passengers, and also built structures as a means for shelter for the trains during snow season.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It’s not one that I would typically pick up and read but I’m glad I had the opportunity to learn about this point in history. Gary Krist pulled me in and held my attention the entire time. I especially enjoyed reading his personal notes from his research, which are included at the end of The White Cascade. Kudos to Gary Krist on a job well done!

Bonkine

Last week, we were going across town for something and we drove past this field that had a bunch of tractors for sale. C starts shouting from the backseat, "OH, It's a bonkine....a bonkine....look, a bonkine! Dad just like we saw before...a bonkine!" We looked around and saw the tractors and realized what he was talking about: a COMBINE! But in his mind, it was pronounced bonkine. :)

Remembered

Remembered

by Tamera Alexander

ISBN: 978-0764201103

Reviewed for Armchair Interviews

Veronique Girard, a Paris native, has just buried her mother and now finds herself being out of a job and shipped to America. Scared, frustrated, and emotional, Veronique nevertheless goes on her way without argument or complaint. Her mother’s last request was for Veronique to go and search for her father, who had left them many years before. His last known address came from Willow Springs, Colorado and that was where Veronique was going to start her search. She didn’t expect to meet up with someone as handsome and equally frustrating as Jack Brennan. We remember Jack from his experience being a trail guide in Rekindled, and now Jack is back guiding Veronique through the many mining towns surrounding Willow Springs in search of her father. Along the way, we’re reacquainted with many members of Willow Springs whom we’ve known before: Reverend Carlson and his family, Miss Maudie, and of course, Larson and Kathryn Jennings. But will Veronique find her father? Is he still alive? What memories will be dredged up in her mind and also in Jack’s?

Tamera Alexander had me a bit skeptical at the start of this book. By starting in Paris and showing us immediately a character that we’ve never seen and who is so far removed from the other people in her previous books. However, she very quickly ties everything in and creates and wonderful story of love, memories, and passion. Many times we’re shown the natural passions of a man and woman and how they keep those impulses in check so as to honor one another and honor God. Remembered is an absolutely wonderful continuation of the Fountain Creek Chronicles.

Facets

Facets

by Barbara Delinsky

ISBN: 978-0446580274

Reviewed for Armchair Interviews

The St. George mining company is based on people. Helping them. Knowing them. Providing for them. Until the day that John St. George, son of founder Eugene St. George, takes over the company after Eugene’s death. His sister Pamela is now under his control, as he has legal guardianship of her, and she will have no say in any part of the company until she’s 25. Pamela has secretly been meeting with friend, Cutter Reid, who has helped her through many situations regarding John and also helped her become a woman in the truest sense of the word. What will John do when he finds out?

Journalist Hillary Cox is a longtime friend of the family, but also a longtime lover of John’s. When she finds out he’s engaged to be married, she’s furious and is determined to write a book about him that will expose who he really is. But Hillary finds out much more than she’s bargained for…many people have been hurt at the hand of John St. George. And he thinks he is invincible…untouchable. Who is going to prove him wrong? Hillary, with her book? Or Pamela and Cutter with their patience and scheming? And can Hillary deny John (and herself) the physical closeness they find when they are together?

Barbara Delinsky is a wonderful author who truly shows her talents in this novel from early in her career. John St. George as the villain does enough to make even the most ornery person dislike him and want to do him bodily harm! Filled with great passion and many sensual scenes, Facets is a book that will draw you in and make you keep reading to find out what will happen next. A true page-turner!

Catching up is hard to do!

Well, I haven't been on here much over the past week or two...so much has been going on and I've gotten lazy. ;( So, I am going to offer you a brief overview of our weeks of late.

Starting with last week....
We had 2 games last week that both went really well. B seems to be improving with every game and we keep seeing more and more that he's 'getting'. It's nice to see. I told T that he would most likely have it all down pat by the last game and then forget it for next year! LOL But that's okay.

C has been the big cheerleader on the sidelines and has found himself a little friend to play with during the games. The other night, T and I ended up being a maypole that they ran around the entire hour! :)

Last weekend, we finally got the house sprayed by the Bug Guy! :) So very happy about that....I'm sick of seeing spiders in my house!

Sunday, we were invited to lunch after services at the Veterans Home with one of our Veterans and his daughter. He's such a sweet man....I'm truly in awe of him. We found out he was in the navy when he served our country...T and I both thought he was army for some reason. -shrug- After lunch, they gave us a tour of the Veterans Home and it is really nice....our veterans are totally deserving! B and Mr. R played a game of Connect Four and B really REALLY enjoyed that. After we got home, we all crashed for a couple hours before returning back for services that night.

This week brought an evening of rest on Monday (whew) and then a game on Tuesday. B made us so proud....he caught a grounder while he was playing shortstop and ran to second base with the ball to get the player out! He was so proud of himself...kept giving up thumbs up after that! LOL

Tonights game was rained out (and we were supposed to be the ones with snacks!) and B is pretty bummed. I can't say I am though....we're tired and all need our rest. Besides, the garden has needed the rain!

This weekend, I have Friendship Sisters on Saturday and then nothing else for a few days. WOW! :) We will begin the prep for going to OK for the wedding, but that will be done starting Monday....I just can't think of it now! LOL

Update, Wednesday June 20

Well, I haven't posted in a while so I'm just going to give a quick update on what's been happening. Oy, what a few days it's been!

Last weekend, we set off for Salem on Friday evening and got half way there, about to meet up with mom and dad for the remainder of the trip, and the van starts acting weird. Again. So T and Dad decide to drive it around and after doing so, decide we shouldn't take it any further on the trip and we're going back home for the other car. So we get home, sleep, and get up the next morning and drive back to Salem. Well, this week, T drove it around to get it to do the weirdness again and then took it to the dealer to show it to them. Again. This time, they actually get to see what it's doing and they determine (after no computer diagnosing shows up) that it's the fuel pump. So we're scheduled to have the fuel pump changed this week. My only problem with that is that the last car we had the fuel pump go out on (the Lumina) it just DIED. All of a sudden, no warning. And from my understanding, that is what fuel pumps do. They just die. So, since this one has been acting up off and on for over a month, I'm not so convinced it's the fuel pump. But it's covered under the warranty so we'll let them change it and if it acts up again, they can go from there.

B had another T-ball game Monday night. He is doing very well in batting and running, but he needs to work on his fielding. He will stand in the position the coach tells him to and not run for the ball when it's close ot him. He will just watch it roll or bounce right past him! Sometimes it's funny...but it's also frustrating. He says he knows he can go get it, but chooses not to. I dunno.

The Bug Guy is coming this weekend (finally!). So we're going to finally be rid of most of these pesky spiders and critters that keep bugging us! I can't wait. So sick of getting bit....

So much laundry to do right now and no energy to do it. I need to get things cleaned up before the bug guy comes...so he can get to the walls and baseboards. Guess I better get going! LOL

Kid's Day?

Last night I was talking with the boys when they layed down for bed and I was reminding them that Father's Day was this Sunday. They just looked at me and asked, "What's Father's Day?" hehe I reminded them of Mother's Day just a month ago when they had gotten me a butcher block for MD and my birthday. I said, "So now it will be Father's Day."

C pipes up and says, "So does that mean that next it will be Kid's Day?"

LOL You gotta love the way their brains work!

Million Dollar Dilemma

Million Dollar Dilemma

by Judy Baer

ISBN: 978-0373785483

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself with several million dollars? Would you spend it? Would you give it back? This is exactly the position Cassia has found herself in...and she has no idea what to do. Her neighbor, Adam Cavanaugh, who is a jounalist for human rights, befriends her and finds in Cassia a reprieve from his most recent assignment...the death of children in Burundi. He starts out writing about Cassia in hopes of using his proceeds to help the children, but doesn't feel right doing it behind her back--regardless of the reason. He also doesn't expect to fall in love with Cassia in the process.

Cassia, on the otehr hand is working on her own feelings: about the money, about the men in her life, about evertyhing. What should she do with any of it? She keeps trying to give it to God, but keeps taking it back away from Him! Then she finds out the truth about Adam and she just gets even more confused.

Suddenly it all comes into focus and Cassia realizes what she must do: with the money and with the men!

Reunion Weekend

We got in last night from our reunion in West Plains (my mom's side of the family) and it was quite a weekend. We were late getting started on Friday, so we didn't get down there until after 5, and had to eat lunch on the way...we just grabbed Hardees.

When we got to the hotel (Best Western) we discovered that the girl who took our reservations for us made them for NEXT weekend! And they were full with queen size beds. So we debated on going somewhere else, but T went to talk to the lady and said we'd take the rooms with king size beds, but since it was their mistake he didn't think we should have to pay the $10 per night for the roll-away bed. She called the manager and he agreed....we'd get it for free! :) Made me happy!

Well, we hadn't been there 30 minutes in the hotel, when B started throwing up. He had had a time in the car where he felt carsick, but was able to keep it down (which was a first for him) and we figured it was just the 'after' stuff of holding it all in. Well, about 30 minutes after that, he did it again. So we figured he had something.... We were supposed to eat dinner with my cousin and her family, so C and I went over there and T and B stayed at the hotel. C kept saying he didn't want to eat, but I figured he just wanted to play so I let him. Well, we went to WM after we left their house to get B some 7-up, and we hadn't got back to the hotel for 15 minutes when C started throwing up! OY!

So they continued to throw up most of the night.....B's last one was at 2 AM and C's last one was at 3:30....at which time, B was up saying he felt so much better and was ready to eat! LOL So we went back to bed and slept till 8, when Grandma took them for breakfast and let us rest a bit more.

Then when I got up, I started feeling really sick to my stomach and ended up with diarrhea (I know, TMI...sorry) all day and ended up sleeping most of the day. By lunch, we went to Quiznos, cuz I thought if I ate something maybe I would feel better....nope. The boys and I couldn't eat...so that was wasted money, since we didn't have anywhere to put the food in the hotel. Then that night we went to Ryan's to eat for supper (I had actually woke up from a nap feeling better) and discovered that they don't do just a soup and salad bar (cuz all I wanted was soup) so we had to pay full price for the buffet and only eat soup! :( Well, we were pretty much done in for by the evening, but went to my great-aunt's house to see the family for just a bit. We were all able to sleep the night through and I woke up the next morning HUNGRY! but still sorta queasy. We went to church with my cousin and visited with family after that, but left mid afternoon cuz we were so tired from it all, we just wanted to go home.

We're assuming that we just had a touch of food-poisoning from Hardess (gag) and all, but it was just a REALLY bad time to get sick! I am wondering though if I actually had an actual flu since mine has sorta continued until today. But I guess we'll never really know! It just seems that every time we go to West Plains we end up sick (one time, T got the flu, one time is was fevers, and now this!)...so we're wondering how often we want to make that trip?? LOL

Hope you all had a much better weeekend that we did! :)

First Ball game

Well, we had the first T-Ball game last night and it was so much fun! B had a blast and I think the kids did too.... Well, the parents may have enjoyed the entertainment a bit more than the kids, but that is to be expected. A couple of the kids ran to third instead of first when they hit the ball, some of them spent their time digging in the dirt, and a couple were really on the ball (no pun intended) and played really well. B got to bat 2 times and made it to the base both times, but the second time it was the end of the inning, so he made it to the base and then had to come in and get his glove.

He was so excited to go and was wound up for about 2 hours after the game. We have another game Thursday night and he's already talking about it. So much fun! Will upload pics later.....

A Time to Dance

A Time to Dance
by Karen Kingsbury
Amazon.com
ISBN: 978-1595541871

Abby and John Reynolds have decided to divorce and end their twenty-plus-year marriage. But just as they are getting ready to break the news to their children, their oldest daughter, Nicole, shares the news that she's getting married. After finding out this exciting news, Abby and John decide to wait until after the wedding to tell the kids, but that means 6 more months of arguing and fighting.

Abby thinks it's all John's fault, and anyone who has been married knows that NO fight is all one persons' fault. It takes two to argue. But John has tried to talk to Abby and explain things to her and she just won't listen, so he blames her. Will they ever figure out a way to talk it out? Will they ever find A Time to Dance again?