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