personal and/or family vision statement, mantras, etc

I have not really used this type of motivation before.  Lately, I have seen several articles on making family and personal vision statements.
Last year, I did finally  make one for me, " Let me be a channel of thy peace", from a song I heard.
In today's RS & Priesthood lesson, (Lesson 1 - George A Smith), they list his 11 creed statements he tried to live by.  They were awesome! I hope you all got to read them.  If not, check them out.  How about, "I would not be an enemy to any soul."  or :I would not knowingly wound the feelings of any,  not eve one, who may have wronged me.."  "I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems..."
I know the Ketchesons have a family motto.  I think having a family mission statement could be a good idea.
As for a personal one,  I think I will make one for each year, and write it at the beginning of my journal, and focus on that all year.

Goodbye 2011

Looking back at 2011, I think it was a great year.  There were stressful parts and challenges, but overall it was a great year.  Here are a few of my favorite moments and things of 2011.

Favorite vacation: Tevia and I celebrated our 15th year of marriage in 2011.  We had planned several trips, including even booking a trip to Belize.  But in the end we went to Mexico at the resort we love.  It started off stressful as the airline would not accept my passport due to it being wrinkled.  This required missing a day of our trip and going to Tucson to get a new passport.  But even while missing one day, the trip was great.  Though I think she sometimes doubts it, I am still in love with my wife of 15 years.  I have never questioned my decision to marry her.  15 years seems like a long time and I look forward to our next 15 years.

Biggest decision:  After 11 years with Prudential, I decided it was time for a change.  The direction of the company and my boredom with my job led to making the huge decision to leave.  I started my new job at the end of July which involves working from home (which has been great!).  Four months later the division of Prudential I worked for was sold, so the decision to leave seems to have been good from multiple perspectives.  So far, so good with my new job.  But making a change like that is stressful and requires adjusting.

Favorite new toy: With my new job I was able to get a new smartphone of my choice.  I chose the HTC Incredible 2 and have loved it from day one.  I also bought a new car, the Kia Optima, which I still love.  So let's call it a tie, though one was significantly more expensive.  And now I can't go around quoting "I drive a Dodge Stratus!".

Best business trip:  No international trips in 2011 for me, but my trip to Las Vegas where my brother Jacob accompanied me and we met up with Tommy and his then new girlfriend Holly was great.  From a great opportunity to teach at the conference to a great burger with Jake, a fantastic dinner at a Bobby Flay restaurant, and ending in a fun show with the Blue Man Group, it was a quick trip full of great memories.

Favorite songs of 2011:  I still love music and each year I typically provide my top 10 songs.  Here are mine for  2011:

- New Low by Middle Class Rut
- Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez
- Till the World Ends by Britney Spears
- Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon
- My Body by Young the Giant
- Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance
- Help Is On the Way by Rise Against
- Blow by Ke$ha
- Riptide by Sick Puppies
- Sail by AWOL Nation
- Honorable mention for Friday by Rebecca Black as I still sting that song almost every Friday.

It was also a great year in that our kids' hearts didn't get worse.  I have been very blessed in 2011.  I'm grateful for my family and friends and look forward to an even better 2012.

2011 favs

Movie:  The Help, The Tree of Life
Book:  Nemesis, The Survivors Club, Pathfinder

2012 Predictions

Mom:
Dad and I will move
Tom & Holly will have a baby
Cari will have a boy, name- Hunter
Jimmy will finally get rid of Dash
I will lose my dad and aunt Doris
Bret & Tevia will let Jarek come here for a week this summer
Enok will start to excel at sports
Speed will get even faster
Jarek will have a girlfriend
Jimmy will learn to water ski
Mom will get to visit another temple somewhere she has not been
Someone in the family will start to help me with genealogy

Random Thoughts

- Yesterday was an awesome day. We went out for breakfast and sat talking about life and the future and just things while the kids played in the "chicken playground" (we were at Chick-fil-A). Then after a few hours of work, we spent the whole night playing our various video games. Hearing Hazel cheering for me while I fight a dungeon boss in the new Zelda and then hearing her say things like "Oh no, Mommy, your guy died!" and "Mommy, you shouldn't be on fire." - I just love that she's involved in one of my hobbies like that. Then there's the fact that she's SO excited for "her turn" (which involves running around the village - the safe zone - hacking at bushes and throwing pottery). I just love that she loves things I love. And then there's Speed, who isn't quite dexterous to do any of the controls himself yet, so he runs between all 3 screens and watches the different games we're playing and then goes to bang on the keyboard of the kids' computer. I have a feeling he's on the same path and I couldn't be happier about it.
- I had a dream last night about my Grandma Knutti. She passed away almost 3 years ago. It was a silly, odd dream - something about going to get her a hot dog from a fast food place and she wanted weird stuff on it and I was worried that they wouldn't have her weird toppings and that she was expecting us back sooner than we'd be back because she was in Salt Lake City and the hot dog place was in Farmington. Like I said, weird. But I woke up from the dream (mostly because Jacob was yelling something in his sleep) and it made me a little sad that my time here with my grandma was gone. And it reaffirmed to me that I really want my kids to have relationships with their grandparents. I was too young when most of my grandparents passed away to really remember them well and a big part of that was the distance we lived from them. But that's life and it happens. But now, with video chat, it doesn't have to be that way just because we don't live close.
- I love my family and they are the most important thing to keep strong in this life. I just finished the last book in a series and at the end, several of the main characters make what most would consider the "responsible" or "noble" decision but it just made me sad. At the risk of spoilers, I won't point out which book or go into specifics (in case we're friends on Goodreads and you already know what book I'm talking about). But if that "noble" decision is hurting your family, it might be time to rethink it.

Speaking of families, my little ones are stirring, so I guess my musings need to come to an end. :-)

Favorite Christmas shows

Hey everyone,
Let's make a list of each person's fav Christmas shows!
Mine, How the Grinch Stole Christmas,  hands down.  Second, Rudolph

Happy 30 years to us!

As I ponder over the last 30 years, I am grateful for this man who came into my life. 
Yes, you all know we argued and disagreed over the years, but we knew our marriage was forever, so we worked on it, sometimes over and over again, and we are getting much better at communication, (which is often the base of arguments)
I dated in jr high, high school, and after- a lot.  I met many guys, I had never dated what  I would consider a righteous man in all those guys. I didn't even know there were men with old-fashioned principles, morals, and integrity out there. 
Of course,  joining the church led me to meeting missionaries who had these qualities, yet, I would never have believed that a young man coming off his mission would have the guts to marry and older, divorced lady with a kid.  
I give dad credit for having the courage to do so, realizing even more how hard that must have been- as each of my sons came home from their mission and dated.  Imagine Kathy telling me she was going to marry a divorced guy with a child. Wow!  
For those who think I got gypped, I did not. Living together with anyone will be be a means to learning patience, people skills, listening skills, communication, etc.  
Being with your father has brought me greater blessings than just that.  We have a great trust in our marriage.  He gives me the stability I craved after my childhood.  He teaches me strength in the gospel, and encourages me to learn and study and do my best.  
His careful budgeting in early years have allowed us to enjoy our later years.  
I had just as many personality issues as he did.  I believe all people have issues to address.  That is part of our progress.  Mine were not as evident, although crying too much was awfully obvious.  
Although I have sometimes wished he was the more romantic, charming type; I clearly realize that I have known that type, and I would much rather have my husband, who is sweet on the inside, loyal through and through, and cares more deeply about me than anyone in the world.
He has given me 4 amazing children, a life I love, a house that has been perfect, and continues to support me as I go about  saving the world one person at a time.  :) 
Thank you honey, for everything!  

Tree of Life

Months ago a movie came out that intrigued me.  Tree of Life came out with Brad Pitt (an actor who I enjoy watching) and won the grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival.  The film was loved by many, and panned by others.  What intrigued me the most was that the film was about God.  Many of the reviews I read talked about how religious it was.  I even read a few reviews by members of the church who found it interesting from a Mormon perspective.  But Tevia and I never got around to seeing it in the theaters and finally a couple of weeks ago we got around to getting it from Netflix.  We sat down alone one night to watch the movie after putting the kids to bed.  We hadn't invited anyone else to watch this film as I had a feeling that not many of our friends/family would like this movie.  But I had high hopes that I would.

The movie is an "artsy" movie.  There isn't much dialogue.  But the movie immediately caught my attention as it focused on a family with Brad Pitt as the father that had three sons.  The majority of the movie focuses on the life of this family with the boys around the age that my three boys are now.  But throughout the movie there are tangents and though-provoking questions.  For example, a good part of the beginning of the movie focuses on the creation of Earth and shows some of the creation phases.

As the movie credits rolled my eyes were filled with tears.  It has been years since a movie has had such an impact on me.  Tevia and I embraced and found it even difficult to discuss the movie as we were so filled with emotions.

Before I talk more about how it impacted me, I wanted to comment on the film. The director (Terrence Mallick) does a supreme job of getting emotion from his actors with limited dialogue.  I was impressed with almost every actor in the movie, especially the three young boys.  I could feel their pain, their joy, their confusion, and more by just the look on their faces and body language.  His directing reminded me a little of another director I love: Alfonso Cuaron (A Little Princess; Harry Potter 3).  I can see how this film would be difficult to watch for some people.  It is slow.  It is open-ended.  It asks questions and doesn't always answer them.  The cinematography is phenomenal.  So the film itself was a joy to watch for me.

But beyond that, the emotions hit home for me.  I could relate to this movie in many ways.  I could see myself as the  oldest son trying to figure out his relationship with God.  I could see myself as the father of three boys having to deal with obstacles.  I could remember asking the same questions at points in my life as snippets of prayers are interlaced into the movie.  I could remember facing the temptations of a young boy, the love of an oldest brother, the love of wonderful mother.  The list goes on.  And through all of these emotions I was constantly feeling that I wanted to be better.  I wanted to be a better father.  A better brother.  A better spouse.  A better person.  A better Child of God.

I haven't been impacted by a movie like this in years.  I thought about scenes for days afterwards.  Even now, weeks later, I can still vividly feel some of the scenes.  And to be honest, I think I have changed some things after seeing the film.  One thing I have done better at: enjoying each moment.  I'm not terrible at this, but I think more than before I have enjoyed watching and feeling each moment with my family.  Work has become even more secondary.  And God has become an even bigger focus.  For He has given me all that I have.  And I could NEVER complain about what He has given me.  Even in the face of tragedy and sadness, I know He loves me.  I may not understand everything, but I have faith that He does.

In the end I don't think everyone will like this film.  In reading the reviews on RottenTomatoes it is interesting to see how this film affected some people.  It seems you either love it or you hate it.  Usually when I watch a movie that I love, I want to share it.  This one was different.  I wanted to keep it personal.  I didn't want others to see it and not feel what I did.  To cheapen it.  To have their opinion have an impact on mine.  But I did love this film.  I felt love.  I felt God.  I felt hope.  I appreciate artists that can have that impact on me.

The Grandparents

Well, although I attempted to call my parents on Thanksgiving during the drive from CA to AZ, I did not have good reception, so I just thought I'd wait till we got to Jacob's, and then I thought it was too late.  I was reminded to and prompted to several times, but just ended up not calling home to Cleveland all weekend.
I left my cell phone number, along with dad's and Kathy's, with everyone...
but alas, as I called my mom from my cell during  the 2 hour drive from the airport to home, I ended up feeling pretty guilty that I didn't call sooner.  I have never missed talking to them both on Thanksgiving, and have not gone a full week without talking to them in a  long time.  And won't do that again.
Yes, dad ended up in the hospital, and mom awoke Thanksgiving morning to some serious health troubles also.  Kathy and Fred played double duty, as Michael & Marsha had left their dog with dad, and were at a wedding in Florida.  Between helping mom, and running over to dad's to get the dog, and trying to cook Thanksgiving dinner, it must have been pretty crazy over there.
All are okay and home now, although my mom's nerves are all shook up and she had to stay in bed all day.
She asked me 4 times, "why didn't you call all weekend?"  I feel like a terrible daughter.  I truly should have. It  would have meant so much to her.
Why didn't they call me? I called my sister to ask her, and dad and Carol agreed not to bother me during my big celebration with Tom's wedding, as there was nothing I could do anyways.  I guess that is true.
Back home and right into reality pretty quickly.... :)

The Muppets

We went with the boys to see The Muppets yesterday.  As someone who grew up watching the Muppet Show and loving the Muppet Movie, I was excited.  But I was also worried that I would go in expecting too much and would be disappointed.  I'm happy to say that I was not.  I loved the movie.  It was everything I think a muppet movie should be.  I laughed, I cried, I sang, and I was able to do it during a movie where I didn't have to worry about any crude jokes or risque parts so that my boys could be there, too.

We don't go to the theater much these days, but this reminded me of being a kid as I sat with a tub of popcorn and a soda, laughing and enjoying a value-filled film with some great musical numbers.  It was a fun afternoon.  I hope this starts a trend of family films and musicals.  I've been saying for years after the success of Dr. Horrible and some musical episodes of tv shows (Buffy/Scrubs) that musicals are bound for a rebound.  This film was created by some of the people that did "Flight of the Conchords", another show filled with musical numbers.  And Brett from the show even wrote some of the songs.

This is easily a movie worth spending your money to support with hopes they make more like them in the future.

The Official Announcement

So I think most or all of the readers of this blog already know this, but for the sake of our progeny and record-keeping and all that, we're expecting number 3 sometime the end of May/beginning of June. So anyone we told but asked you not to talk about it, yes, you can talk about it now. Cheers.

my brother and Marsha

I think it has been awhile since I shard much about my brother, Michael.  I really should keep you guys more informed on your aunts and uncles.
Mike & Marsha went on a cruise from TX this summer with her daughter and her husband.  They love to ride horses, so this is on an island somewhere where you can run the horses.  He takes beautiful pictures of scenery, I should share some with Tevia.
I thought they looked so happy in this photo.

Boys Night Out

I missed out on the Mexico trip to Rocky Point as my new job doesn't have quite the vacation plan my old job did. This left Jacob Webb and I home alone and I decided we would to a boys night out. It happened to fall on Jimmy's birthday, so thank you sis for letting him out. We decided to go out to dinner and then hit some golf balls at the driving range. Jacob Wall and Jimmy were both in, so the four of us headed up to Tokyo Lobby for some sushi. Jimmy hadn't really had much sushi, so this was his chance to try some things out. I think he endured it well. We ordered a spider roll, a tempura shrimp roll, a "what-the-heck" roll, a "sex-on-the-beach" roll and a deep-fried california roll. As usual they were fantastic. The SOTB roll was on deep fried plantains, which gave it a very unique and sweet taste. Jimmy tasted the ones without raw fish and didn't lose his lunch or anything. It was a fun dinner. After dinner we headed to Kathy's for cake and ice cream for the birthday boy. We then loaded back in the Optima to head up to hit some golf balls. Jimmy had only hit golf balls a few times before, so we gave him some pointers and in the end he did quite well. He's definitely ready for the course, though he would disagree. I actually hit much better than I anticipated and it made me anxious to play some golf. Maybe someday soon. It was nice and cool as we hit the balls in the night air (the range was lit) and we tried hitting the golf ball picker-upper that taunted us in the distance. We then dropped Jimmy off to spend the rest of his birthday with Kathy and then the rest of us headed over to Jake's to spend some time in the hot tub. Cari had purchased some cream soda for us, so we headed out and talked guy talk while enjoying the cool air and the warm water (not too hot, just the way I like it). We will need to do some more nights like this in the future, though Jacob Webb won't be here much longer. And though it was a fun night, I still would rather have been in Rocky Point eating paletas y tacos and playing on the beach with my little boys. Maybe next year...

Opera Night / Service Project

Friday night I was lucky enough to have a date with Tevia. It was opening night for the Phoenix Opera and we headed down early to have dinner and see the opera. We dressed up a little and found a great little restaurant downtown called Thai Elephant. The food was fantastic and the service was great, too. We definitely will go back. Tevia's eggplant dish was superb, and my seafood Pa Thai was wonderful. Afterwards we headed to the Opera. There were two operas being done. The first I had never heard of Cavalleria Rustica. The second was the clown opera - Pagliacci, which I was excited to see. These were my first operas - at least that I can remember. We sat on the top/back row, but right in the middle, so it wasn't that bad. The night started with everybody singing the national anthem, which sounded really cool. Almost everybody sang, which made sense since most people probably like singing. The first play was a little slow and not all that great. And though I did enjoy Il Pagliacci much better, both were based on adultery and murder/vengeance. My assumption is that not every opera is about such great subjects, but we'll see. In the end the night was enjoyable and it was great to get out with Tevia. The next morning we woke up early for a service project at our park by our house. We did it as a church along with another church and a couple of other groups. Most of the people were from the church. It was fun to work on a project that you know you can benefit from. We use this park all the time, so it was great to work there. I worked with Cari and Jimmy (and later Tevia joined us) to get the weeds out of the sandpits and edges and then rake them. It was fun working with them and we got a lot done. Several times we had people approach us asking who we were with and thanking us for the service at the park. That felt great and showed that there are grateful people out there. I really enjoyed this service project and hope we can do another one next year. The weekend ended seeing the first half of the BYU game which was fun and high scoring. We then switched to watch the movie Priest, which I actually enjoyed. It was a great day.

where have all the bloggers gone?

Fav conference talk?

I rated mine as I took notes this year.  Wow!  A lot of 4 stars.
My favorite has got to be President Monson's!  That talk about the 10 commandments still in effect, etc. was right on!  I loved his facial expressions, and his 'pauses'.  I love how he is back to being himself, after a few years of adjusting to his new role.

visit to Cleveland 9/2011

I love being with  my mother!
Had Breakfast with Frank, spent several hours with my 2 cousins talking and laughing, (Vince and Sammy Cianciola), saw Doris, Michael bore his testimony at church which was special, dad & Carol treated us to a 5 Star restaurant, and I truly enjoyed every moment.
Doris is down to 118 after the chemo. They say the cancer is gone. Her hair is coming back in.  She is very tired and week and it is hard to see her like this. She has been so fun and bouncy my whole life.
Glad to be home safe and sound, though.  I worried about the drive home, but my back held out well. I laid down in the backseat for 2 of the 8 hours, and that was nice.

Please try and call or write the grandparents once and awhile. They are all pretty bored with life.

Skunk Lake Camping

So due do our not entirely conventional work situation and the fact that our weekends from now until forever are pretty scheduled, we've decided to start taking short camping/fishing trips during the week. Since we haven't done much fishing or camping since moving here, we just picked a random place. This week's pick was Lynx Lake, which will forevermore be known as Skunk Lake. More on that later.

So Skunk Lake is just outside of Prescott, AZ, which is about a 90-minute drive from home. So after my Tuesday conference call ended, we threw all of the stuff in the car and headed out. The camping area was more expensive than we usually go for ($18 a night) but it was also more developed than we usually go for (stairs and LOTS of outhouses and designated fire pits, etc.).

As soon as we go the tent set up and gave the kids some food, we headed straight down to the lake, which was a very quick hike thanks to Jacob's planning and selection of campsite. The fishing looked very promising but in the end was pretty unfruitful. Jacob did catch several small (about 3 - 4 inch) fish - we cut one up and tried to use for it bait with the bigger ones that were jumping up out of the lake, teasing us, but no luck. In the meantime, the kids were WONDERFUL and just played on the shore of the lake and got disgustingly muddy. After the kids just couldn't take anymore and we were pretty sure that the big fish were just trolling us, we headed back to camp to our back up dinner of hot dogs.

In the middle of cooking and eating said hot dogs, Jacob jumps around like something just stabbed him in the ankle. Nothing had actually stabbed him in the ankle, but there was a HUGE beetle crawling up his leg. Seriously, this thing was nasty. Once that drama passed, we were once again roasting and eating our hot dogs when Jacob says almost too calmly and too loudly, "Cari, don't move." So of course, I figure I either now have one of those giant beetles on my back or he was just being really, really mean and trying to make me think that I did. I gave into my more girly instincts and started jumping up and down and ran toward him.

So guess what. No beetle. A skunk however? Why yes.

There was a skunk underneath our picnic table no more than 2 feet from me. As calmly as I could, I gathered the kids up and moved out of range while Jacob tried to figure out what the creature was doing. In a move that shocked us all, he didn't spray us, but ran away when Jacob threw a rock at him. After the excitement died down from that and Jacob yelled to the other campsites to be careful, we settled back into our hot dogs.

But about 30 minutes later, here comes the skunk again! It didn't get as close this time before Jacob scared it off. Again, we were pleasantly surprised about not getting sprayed. About this time, the kids had been asking to go to sleep, so we had a quick family talk and decided that we'd try to stay the night even though there was obviously a skunk in the area. I mean, it had already come by twice - how many more times would it get brave enough to visit?

The answer: 16 times. And no, I'm not kidding. About the fourth visit, I had backed away and Jacob was following the skunk to make sure it got farther away from our camp when I told him I found it over on the other side by the campfire. To which he replied that he still had skunk Alpha in his sights about 10 feet away. So what do you know, there's two skunks.

And wait! There's more! By the last sighting before we went to bed, we counted FOUR, yes that's right, FOUR different skunks hanging around our campsite. We had stayed up late to do some star and planet gazing with our new telescope (got a great view of Jupiter!) and eventually Jacob just got a big pile of rocks near our chairs for whenever the little bandits got close. And somehow, we never got sprayed, though tails went up several times. Even after we went to bed, we could still hear them moving around in the campsite and walking next to the tent. It made for an interesting night's sleep. The fact that our air mattress couldn't seem to hold a full helping of air also made it interesting, but the ground wasn't that hard and was pretty even, so we lived.

After our eventful night, the next day was pretty relaxed. We got up, ate a nice breakfast of Spam and eggs, and broke camp. Then we drove down to the creek where the map said we could pan for gold. We didn't find any ourselves, but we did run into a nice man from Tucson who had found some. In fact, he told us he had been there for 5 days panning for gold. Interesting people you meet while camping. Then on our hike out of the creek, we met another nice woman who was on the hike to "scatter the ashes of her departed hiking companion". Again, such interesting people.

 We then decided to try one more hike even though the kids were tired to these ruins at the top of the "mountain" (after living in Utah, it was a small hill, but whatever). I had fun finding all of the plants in the little pamphlet at the trailhead and the view from the top was pretty cool. We're not entirely sure how those rocks count as "ruins" but we're not anthropologists. We also saw this cool horned lizard on the trail.

After that we were on our way home and back to work. It was a good trip despite the skunks. It'll probably be another week or two before we can go again, but we're excited to keep having these short family camping trips. We might even go back to Skunk Lake again sometime, but we'll definitely be staying in the other campground and bringing something a little harsher than rocks to take care of the skunks should they have a repeat performance.

Havasupai 2011

The last time we planned a trip to Havasupai the week before we went there was a huge flood (due to a dam break) and they closed the place down for a year. That was about 3 years ago and I have been anxious to get back to see all the changes that took place. We finally got to go this last month, but unfortunately not everyone was able to go. This trip we went down with me, Tevia, her father, and Jacob Webb and Millie. It would have been great to have others come, but this group was fun and we had a great time. Tevia has already posted a bunch of pics over on her blog. But I'll focus more on my thoughts. We left early to drive up there, which in the end I liked better than the other two options I have done: leave the night before and camp and then drive the hour in to the trail in the morning, or leave late at night and hike down while still dark. We also decided to try out the mules this time for our packs. Though a bit pricey, this was great and I will most likely do it again in the future as it was a much nicer hike with just a camelback pack where we could enjoy the beauty and not be exhausted when we arrived. The hike down wasn't too hot or strenuous thanks to that. As we left the village of Supai to go to the campsite (where the falls are) I was excited to see the changes done by the flood. They were dramatic. A new set of falls had been created that you pass on the way to Havasu falls. They were really cool and in the end I enjoyed them a lot as you can actually jump off the top of them. It was very fun to walk across the top of a waterfall (which I've never done before) and then jump down into the pool below where the sheets of water are falling. The height was only about 30 feet, so it wasn't too high (or all that scary), but it was fun. These falls also had a cave behind them that you could crawl behind the falls and jump through the falls, which is always fun. We went here twice to jump and have fun. Havasu falls also changed - a lot. All of the cool tavertine pools were obliterated and they are gone. The pool where the water falls in has shrunk considerably, so it is not as fun to play in or jump into. It is still beautiful though. They are still breathtaking. This was one thing that really got to me. As we hiked in and ran into the water, even though I have been here a couple of times before, I had forgotten how beautiful it is. And it isn't like I stopped imagining that it was beautiful - it was just even more so than I remembered. We found a great camping site as the place was basically vacant the first night or so. This was a neat feeling as the last time i was there it was packed (which eventually over the weekend it got packed). Being in such a place with hardly any people around was great. Mooney falls, my favorite to hike down to because of the cool path down, was basically the same, but the pool beneath it had also been diminished and was much smaller. We enjoyed playing here, though as the stream down has some fun fountains and gorgeous rock formations. We also hiked down to Beaver Falls - or at least fairly close to it. I'm not a huge fan of these falls, but the hike through the grape fields is cool. The food and company was great. We hiked a lot, so we didn't have all that much free time. The hike out went fine. We made it out fairly quickly and without a big pack it wasn't nearly as strenuous. You just forget how long 10 miles is. It makes for a long hike. I was glad to be able to go and look forward to our next trip back - in maybe 8 or 10 years.

Resurrecting the Family Book Club

I propose we resurrect the family book club. Okay, that was probably obvious from the post's title. Moving on.
Book: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
Time Limit: read it by Christmas
Age Limit: it's a Newbery book, so I think Malik and up can participate if desired.
Please be sure to pass this on to those extended family members who don't read the blog so anyone who wants can be included.

If anyone wants to know (and if I haven't talked to you about this before), some of my ideas to actually get this book club going and sustainable are (1) to pick relatively short books. At first I thought I would prefer under 150 pages, but I didn't realize how much that would limit us. So I don't think we should set a hard limit, but go for shorter books (which means no Atlas Shrugged - boo). (2) Do a book about per quarter of the year, so 3 or 4 books per year. Some of us have the time and/or reading speed to get through a book per month, but lots don't. I think 3 - 4 months is more reasonable for many of the family. (3) No more than 1 religious book per year. I know that it seems safe because that's one thing we all have in common but religious books can be very boring or very confusing for some people. Okay, me. But you get the point. One per year should be fine, especially since the book club is completely voluntary. :-)

So if we actually get a group of us to read this book and to then discuss it when we're done, I guess we can just pick someone else from the group to pick our next book sometime around Christmas. Happy reading!