My First Blog Giveaway

I love contests and giveaways and today Author Liz Adair lured me into her blog by offering a free book just for posting a comment about which ancestor's story I would like to tell and the name of the book I would like to win.

The 2nd part of the giveaway is to post my own giveaway on my blog.

These are the original giveaway rules from the original poster, (We will not be following them).

The item will be my choice made just for you!

Restrictions and Limitations:

1. I have complete creative freedom.

2. What I create will be just for you.

3. It will be done within the next 6 months.

4. You have no clue what it will be.

My Rules

1 The prize will be a boys neck tie size 4-7 (will fit boys age 2-5 or a small 6

You can choose any tie listed on my blog slide show, (provided I still have the fabric).

2 be one of the 1st 5 people to comment

All you have to do is comment on this post and tell me what your favorite book is and what your 1st and 2nd choice is for a tie.

If you are in my Ward I will deliver your tie ,to you at church, in the next couple of weeks, if not email me privately at primarymary2@gmail.com with your mailing address.

If you are poster 6 and beyond your name will go into a drawing for a tie of your choice. I will post the winner on Wednesday Evening.

But--and here's the catch--if you have a blog, you have to post a giveaway on your blog. You can do like Lara and offer something home made and with a long lead time, or Liz and share a talent.

If you don't have a blog, go to www.bloger.com/start and begin one. It's dead easy. If I can do it, anyone can.

However, if you don't have a blog, who is going to know that you didn't post a giveaway? I mean, are there blog police that go around and check? It doesn't matter to me. What matters is that people comment, because this is going to be sooooo embarrassing if no one responds.

BOOK REVIEW The Last Waltz

In December 1913, the city of Vienna glitters with promises of the future for sought- after debutante Amalia Faulhaber. But life takes a dramatic turn when simmering political unrest escalates into the most deadly war the world has ever known. Amalia is devastated when her fiance, Baron Eberhard von Waldburg, breaks off their engagement to return to his native Germany and obligatory military service. But she soon discovers that her passion for democracy in an increasingly fascist world has put everything she loves in danger. Her family torn apart and impoverished by the war, Amalia must now choose between an idealistic young Polish doctor, who shares her political views, and the wealthy Baron von Schoenenburg, an Austrian Cabinet minister who promises to provide safety and security in a violent, tumultuous time. Reminiscent of Gone with the Wind, this epic novel explores the nature of human character and the elusive search for love and peace.

I volunteered to read and review this book for the author, when I received it my 1st thought was "What did I Do?" The book is 591 pages long. Once I started reading I completely forgot about the length.

"The Last Waltz" is the story of Amalia. It starts when she is a teenager, engaged to a Prussian Musician, who breaks their engagement to go and fight with the Prussian Army.

This story is well researched and historically accurate. It takes place primarily in Vienna between 1913 and 1938. Woven into the story of Amalia's life, loves, choices and consequences is the story of War. The events leading up to WWI, the war and the terrible toll it took on the people of Austria and Germany, Austria's attempt to become a democratic nation and Hitler's rise to power.

I loved this book, Amalia was believable and the political climate of the times made me realize that if we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat it.

I highly recommend this book, my only complaint is that it wasn't quite long enough, I would have liked an epilogue or a few more chapters to find out how the characters fared during WWII.

Publisher: Shadow Mountain

ISBN 978-1-60641-052-3

Published April 2009

CONTEST from Michele Ashman Bell

Artie Call can't get a break. Orphaned during the Depression, he steals food to survive. When mischief lands him in juvenile court, he's offered a home by fellow ward member David Boone, but then suffers under Boone's unkind and unyielding treatment. And after Artie helps the victim of a robbery gone bad, he's abandoned by Boone and is almost sentenced to juvenile hall.Then his luck and life suddenly change.Mary Wilkerson, the feisty widow who was robbed, sees potential in Artie and takes him into her custody. Ray McCandless, the wise yet firm chauffeur, teaches Artie about cars, life, and the connections between the two. Under their care, Artie develops the desire and the ability to leave his past behind and grasp the hope in his future, which shines like Mary's luxurious Duesenberg. But when cornered by old enemies, will he defend his honor with his life?
Michele Ashman Bell is running a contest this week on her Blog. She will be awarding 2 copies of the newest book by Jerry Borrowman.
CLICK HERE for more details and contest rules

The Garbage Truck Story

We all can learn from this little story:
One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport, we were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on the brakes, skidded, and missed the car by inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi cab driver just smiled and waved at him. And I mean he was very friendly. So I asked, "why did you just do that?" That guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital. This is when my taxi cab driver explained to me about the law of the garbage truck.

THE LAW OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK

He explained that people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up they need to dump it and sometimes they will dump it on you.
Don't take it personally! Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on.
Don't take their garbage and spread it around home, work, or on the streets.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks takeover their day.
Life is too short to wake up in the mornings with regrets.
Love the people who treat you right and pray for the ones who don't.
Life is ten per cent what you make it and 90 per cent on how you take it !!!!!!

Have a great garbage free day !!!!!

New Moon

I leave for work around 4:45 AM. This morning this is what I saw. I thought the moon with the star hanging below it was cool, so I stopped and took a picture.

Why can't Mormon's send flowers?

GOD'S CAKE

Sometimes we wonder, 'What did I do to deserve this?' or 'Why did God have to do this to me?' Here is a wonderful explanation!
A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong: she's failing algebra ; her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, 'Absolutely, Mom, I love your cake.'
'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers.
'Yuck,' says her daughter..
'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!'
'Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?'
'Mom, those are all yucky!'
To which the mother replies: 'Yes, all those things seem bad by themselves But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! God is crazy about you! He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart. If you like this, send this on to the people you really care about. I did. ...

I hope your Day is a piece of Cake!

Arizona Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was a direct action protest by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history, and has often been referenced in other political protests.
The Tea Party was the culmination of a resistance movement throughout British America against the Tea Act, which had been passed by the British Parliament in 1773. Colonists objected to the Tea Act for a variety of reasons, especially because they believed that it violated their constitutional right to be taxed only by their own elected representatives. Protesters had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three other colonies, but in Boston, embattled Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain. He apparently did not expect that the protesters would choose to destroy the tea rather than concede the authority of a legislature in which they were not directly represented.
On April 15 hundreds of cities around the country held Tea Parties. I was able to attend the one on the Capital lawn in Phoenix. There were over 6000 people in attendance on a chilly night, unfortunately the sound system wasn't adequate to the job of allowing everyone in the crowd to hear. The news helicopter overhead didn't help either. That said, what I could hear was very motivating.
I got a couple of good clips, warning, I was in the back of the crowd for the 1st one, so I am not really that bad of a photographer, I just didn't have a good vantage point.





Shouts of U.S.A. broke out spontaneously

These are pictures of the crowd from my vantage point in the back. Some of the signs were very creative.
There were some big name speakers like JD Hayworth, and Tom Jenny founder of Americans For Prosperity as well as a number of members of the State Senate and Congressmen. I couldn't hear a lot of the speeches up until the end.

This was the final speaker, I was closer, but still not able to see the stage.

This was a really good evening with other people who are equally anxious to defend the constitution and our Freedom and Liberty and get rid of tyranny, new taxes, bailouts, socialism, fascism and other evils facing the country.

Get involved in Political Groups like AZ Tea Party (or the group for your state), Americans for Prosperity and America C2C to name a few, to find out what you can do to help.

The next Tea Party's will be held July 4, what a great activity to do for Independence Day.

April Birthday Party

No family party day would be complete without celebrating a few birthdays.

This month we celebrated:

Lyndi age 1

She spent her real 1st birthday in the hospital, but she is on the mend and a very happy girl now

Kyle is 12

Alicia is 22

Chanelle is 30

click here for more party pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!

EASTER PARTY AND EGG HUNT

Saturday afternoon we had our annual Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt. It was, of course, still raining off and on. We gathered at Aunt Karen's for dinner. There was some time before dinner started waiting for everyone to arrive.

Lyndi showed off her new 1 year old mobility

Tyler decided to see how he would look in his Easter Basket Helmet

Grandpa Rich and Kal'el napped together.

When it was finally time to eat dinner was wonderful.

We had:

honey baked ham & cheesy Potatoes

Pink Salad , Fruit salad and baked beans

There were also veggies, rolls and pink lemonade. It was was a wonderful meal.

After we ate and between storms we hunted Easter Eggs

Randy & Steve trying to be tricky

a good hiding place

from the small (Carson)

to the tall (Darrin & Kari)

everyone had fun and found plenty of eggs.
FR: Trevor,Lyndi,Carson,Logan, Caralie, Jayden Row 2: Cara, Ryan,Kyle, Elijah, Amanda, Kaela,Darrin, Rebecca, Kal'el Row 3 Kari, Elaina, Brianna, Tyler Back: Erik, AJ
click here for more pictures of the party

Feel free to post all over America

Feel free to use for your homes and places of business while you're at your Tax Day Tea Party. Engage your security, ask neighbors not going to watch your homes and business and let's fight for our Constitution.
From Dream a little Dream by Candace Salima http://candacesalima.blogspot.com/

AZ TEA PARTY SIGN MAKING PARTY

Saturday morning we woke up to rain, lots of it, but we grabbed our poster board and markers and headed to Madison Park. By the time we got there it was cold and drizzly (and I forgot to grab a jacket) but not for the moment raining. There were a few people gathered in the parking lot, we decided to go to a small ramada on the far side of the park to set up.

Brian putting out the flags.

Buffalo Rick and John on flag duty

John, Buffalo Rick & Brian setting up the supplies

Leanne & John

John, Julieta & Buffalo Rick

Some of the signs we made.

Because of the weather and a lot of talking we didn't get as many signs made during the time Leanne and I were there as I would have liked to, but we brought supplies home to make some here.

HAPPY EASTER

At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).


Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).


We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend.

New Easter Video

How Do you Do your Visiting Teaching?

THE VISITING TEACHING MOVIE

click here to visit my earlier post about Visiting Teaching

I got this email from, Kersten Campbell Author of "Confessions of a Completely (In)Sane Mother, If you can help please send your replies to her email address at the bottom. If you have a friend or family member who would be willing to participate pleasesend it to them also.

Hey everyone!
I wondered if you could help me because the Ensign just assigned me to write an article on reaching out to those who might feel alone or different in their wards/and conversely what to do if you feel alone or different in your ward because maybe you feel like you are outside the "norm" whatever that maybe.
They want me to get stories from around the world and U.S. of what people are doing to help this situation. Would you mind forwarding the following questionnaire to your friends and family who might want to participate in helping out with this article? And you guys can participate too if you wanted to! Thanks so much!!
Questionnaire Ensign "Reaching Out Article"
1. Name, age, ward, stake:
2. Email address:
3. Have you or someone you know ever felt alone or like an outsider in your ward, as if you didn't fit the "norm" whatever that may be? If so, why? And how have you used gospel principles and Christ's example to deal with it and to feel better?
4. How have other members reached out to you?
5. Have you or someone you know ever reached out to others in your ward or stake who may have felt alone or different? How has Christ example or gospel principles taught you how to reach out to others in this situation? And what was the experience like?
Please email your responses to Kersten Campbell at kersten4@... by April25th. Thank you so much for all of your help!
Kersten Campbell Author of "Confessions of a Completely (In)Sane Mother," Cedar Fort Publishinghttp://kerstencampbell.com/Humor blog: http://kersten4.blogspot.com/

Daughters of God: Elder M. Russell Ballard

A short clip from M. Russell Ballard's talk on the sacred role of Mother's

DRILL TEAM FOR RETIRED GUYS

Need Some Free Printer Paper?

from Six LDS Authors & a Frog Sariah Wilson

You can buy a package of this paper at Staples for $1 each (on sale now for $6.99 a package). Why? Because Staples is running a $5.99 rebate for each package that you buy, and there are NO LIMITS to how many packages you can get. I've read where one lady bought the entire inventory that her local store had because the savings were so awesome.
The way this works: you buy the paper, paying the $6.99 per package. Staples apparently accepts competitor's coupons (although your local store might have a manager who refuses to accept it, despite the fact that it is Staples' policy to do so - you might want to call ahead and check), so you can use a $10 off of $50 Office Depot coupon (like the one Southern Savers has a link to), saving yourself some money right off the bat.Then you can sign up for a Staples Reward Card (if you don't have one already). This is a free program that gives you 10% every quarter on any ink or paper purchases. You may not shop at Staples regularly, but that's no reason to ignore free money!When you buy the paper, the rebate information will print out automatically. Even if it doesn't, the Southern Savers post shows you how to get the rebate form online and proceed from there. Make sure you get the RIGHT kind of paper. I asked the store manager where the rebate paper was, and she walked me right over to the end cap where it was displayed. The SKU number is 554638, so you might want to take that with you to make sure you get the correct one.
Now, I know that rebates can be a scary prospect for some people. I've had my share in the past of not getting things refunded to me. But Staples has an online rebate program, and they advertise and brand themselves as the easy rebate store. So if you have a problem, all you'd have to do is contact them and I know you'd get it straightened out. (Plus, if you do it online, you'll still have the original receipt which will make it very easy to follow-up with them.)

I (Sariah Wilson) bought 10, which cost $74 (with tax). I am getting $7.40 back from the reward program, saved $10 with a coupon and will be getting a $60 rebate, meaning I will actually "make" $3 off of this transaction, along with ten packages of what is now free paper.Everyone can use free paper, right?If anyone wants to do this but is scared or needs someone to walk them through it, email me and I'll help you. This is just such a great deal for something that many of us use on a daily basis - you can't pass it up!
check this out for the full post.

Baby Blessing

Sunday, March 29th, we had the privilege of attending the blessing of Kal'el by his father Chris.

We met at their ward for Sacrament Meeting at 8:30 AM.

Kal'el with his Mommy & Daddy

Chanelle, Chad, Caralie, Deirdra, Chris, Kal'el, Cindy & Celisse

Back: Brianna, Lori, Max, Chanelle & Chad Middle: Elijah, Karen,Leanne, Deirdra, Cindy,Celisse, Kari Front: Caralie, Chris, Kal'el, Mary

After the blessing and many pictures we went to Cindy's house where Chanelle had prepared a yummy brunch. We had the opportunity to eat and chat for a while. Sadly I had to wait to hold the baby due to having a cough that might have been contagious. I will be looking forward to another opportunity to hold him at an upcoming family party.