Sunday Afternoons

It is so nice being home in Utah! We're able to spend so much time with our families and especially our neices and nephews. Below are just a few pictures of our Sunday afternoon with our neices.

Ivy playing fetch with Charlie

Ivy loves to swing
Kathy, Tyler, Eliza and Mackenzie

Me and the girls

Charlie Company Gradutaion, August 29

Charlie company graduated 548 recruits on August 29th! It was a great graduation, even though it was super hot. I should have gotten a few more photos, but I used up most of my memory card on videos. The bottom video is of Ty marching, and the top is of the recruits passing their guide-ons to their drill instructors. If you're ever in San Diego you really should come to a graduation, they are fun to see.

Sara's Wedding

So, I'm a little behind on all my posting. Last month, August 27th our cousin Sara got married! Congrats Sara! We drove up to LA for the ceremony and it was so nice, almost all of Ty's side of the family was able to come as well. We had a great weekend with everyone and it was so fun to celebrate Sara's wedding.

Sara and Mike

All the cousins.
Grandma, Jim, Laurel, Kathy and Tyler

Bridger, Jake, Brittney, Kathy and Tyler

August Reads...27

Wow, did I really read 27 books in August?? That is insane. I admit, a lot of them were pretty short so its not really that impressive. I stumbled upon one of my new favorite authors this month, Janette Rallison. I love her books! I read My Fair Godmother and loved it so much I checked out all her books from my library, and I wasn't disappointed. If you haven't read Rallison yet, do! You won't regret it. Another favorite for the month was Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. A great vampire novel for fans of Twilight. To read a review of any of the below books visit my book review site: http://www.bookwormnation.blogspot.com/.

Happy Reading!

Dragon Spear by Jessica Day George

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

No Time for Love by Nancy Campbell Allen

A Kiss In Time by Alex Flinn

Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia Wrede & Caroline Stevermer

Girl at Sea by Maureen Johnson

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by RJ Anderson

My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison

Oh.My.Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs

Once Upon A Merigold by Jean Ferris

Lament: The Faerie Queens Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey

How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend by Janette Rallison

It's a Mall World After All by Janette Rallison

Revenge of the Cheerleaders by Janette Rallison

All's Fair in Love, Way and High School by Janette Rallison

Fame, Glory, and the other things on my to do list by Janette Rallison

Just One Wish by Janette Rallison

Evernight by Claudia Gray

La Petite Four by Regina Scott

Perfect You by Elizabeth Scott

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress by Tina Terrero

Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

Frostbite by Richelle Mead

Fun Family Weekend

This past weekend was so much fun! We had my brother Mark's family in town, and it was so fun to see our little niece and nephew again (and Mark & Nicole). They got into town on Saturday and we spent the day visiting Point Loma (Carbillo) and Old Town. We had an amazing lunch at Island Burgers (our new favorite restuarant) and by time we got home that night all we could manage was ordering pizza (from our favorite pizza place Papa's).

Sunday we went to church and then visited the first mission in San Diego, the Alcala. It was really beautiful and the kids even found a couple lizards running around. After that we headed over to MCRD to show them the recruits and base where Tyler works. I think the kids got a kick out of watching all the Marines practicing their drills. Then we headed to Balboa Park, one of the prettiest places in San Diego. We had a great weekend, and I'm so glad to have them visit.

Tide Pools at Point Loma

Old Town

Old Town
Balboa Park

Aren't they too cute?

Alcala Mission, love this picture!

My little Monkey!

Alcala Mission

Mark's family is now headed to Oceanside for the week. I'm planning on meeting up with them later for Legoland and also some beach time. Look forward to those posts later this week!

July Reads...17

July was a great month for reading! There were only a couple of the books that I didn’t love, but the rest were fantastic. Taken by Storm was probably my favorite for the month, although there were a few others that I also really enjoyed. To read a review of any of the below books check out my book review blog, Bookworm Nation, and if you end up reading any of the books suggested I'd love to hear your thoughts! Happy Reading!

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
Taken by Storm by Angela Morrison
Breathing by Cheryl Renee Herbsman
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gailman
The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Wings by Aprilynne Pike
Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
Fortune’s Folly by Deva Fagan
Green Rider by Kristen Britain
The Laurentine Spy by Emily Gee
Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull
Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
Love Beyond Time by Nancy Campbell Allen
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
The House of Seven Spirits by Sharon Shinn

Time flys...

So Tyler pointed out to me the other day that I have seriously been neglecting our blog. The past month we have been swamped with work, school and...reading. As many of you know I love to read and my friend Jessica and I started our own book review blog. I'm usually pretty good about updating that a few times a week, and tend to forget about our personal blog. Today is actually the one year anniversary of Bookworm Nation! I'm really excited to celebrate a year of great books and have put together a list of some of my favorites here.

Anyway, I have family coming into town this weekend so look forward to a fun post about their visit, and I promise to do better about updating this blog as well.

Movie Reviews

FIREPROOF (Rated PG)

On the brink of divorce, a couple tries to save their marriage by participating in the "Love Dare." Kirk Cameron plays a fireman who has let his marriage fall apart. When his wife finally tells him she wants a divorce his father talks him into trying a 40-day challenge, where he has to attempt to woo his wife over the next 40 days. I enjoyed this movie, it was a low-budget film, but after awhile you get sucked into the story and start rooting for this couple.

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (Rated PG).

A recent college graduate runs up a high credit card debt. After losing her job she goes to work for a Money magazine on how to handle money. I thought this was an okay movie, I probably wouldn't run out to buy a copy. It drove me crazy how they had the bill-collector as the bad guy, when she was the one who had little or no intention to pay. I guess that just reminds me too much of my bill-collector experiences. Overall a cute show.

The PROPOSAL (Rated PG-13)

When his Canadian boss is about to be deported, he is tricked into a fake-engagment to help keep her in the country. I actually really liked this one, shocker! Sandra Bullock is her cute self with lots of comedy and a fun love story. Like most chick-flicks it was predictable, but very entertaining.

INKHEART (Rated PG)
Based on a novel, this movie tells of a man who can actually read characters out of books. Wouldn't that be amazing (just think..Edward!). Anyway, I loved the book and thought the movie did a great job with casting and stuck pretty closely to the original story. There are three books and I wonder if there will be three movies?

FOREVER STRONG (Rated PG)
Based on a true story of a young man who has lost his way and finds it again playing rugbee for a rival team. I thought this was a great movie. In "real life" I'm not a big sports gal, but I have a soft spot for sport movies, go figure! Anyway, this was a good, clean movie and thought it had a great message.