Beautiful Birds (actual birds, not UK lovelies)

These beautiful birds and their exotic colors got me really ready for spring!  Is anyone else for the gray to be away?  I am ready for flowers and sunshine.  The birds are three colorful Macaw who live near my Mom.  I visited last weekend last weekend.  We got up early to go running.  Suddenly 15,000 dollars worth of exotic birds flew above our heads. ($15,000 is a semi educated guess.) It felt like we'd been transported to the Amazon.  The birds belong to a neighbor who was going for a walk with all of his lovelies.  Half the neighborhood came out to meet the winged neighbors.  Their colors were breathtaking and they were friendly as opposed to our little Cockatiel Petie who hates me.  Enjoy some pics! Welcome Spring!

Baby G was a little nervous.

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This hyacinth macaw is sadly endangered.  

The birds were all so playful and friendly.  

This one liked my hair tie. 

 I needed it on my run but I was perfectly happy to let him have it.
I'm a sucker for a pretty face.
I let him walk all over me.

Skiing into the Big Water Yurt

Before I fully embrace the coming spring I want to pay tribute to some fun winter adventures we've had namely skiing into the Big Water Yurt up Mill creek Canyon.

Our good friends Traci and Christian and hard core skiiers invited us to share their yurt reservation.   Yes you have to get a reservation to sleep in the Yurt.  For more info or to make a reservation click here.

Family photo at the Yurt. 

Skiing into the Yurt was cold, dark and long.  Actually it was pretty miserable. On top of that Spencer and I got in a fight (yes sometimes we fight.)  But once we got into the yurt we cozied up to the fire and everything was just fine.  

By the fire in the Yurt.  Poor Baby G's cheeks got a little red on the way up. 

Traci and Junuh were the perfect yurt hosts. 

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The Yurt was toasty warm.  It had a stove and we made lots of trips to the wood pile .  

We had to melt snow for water.  it all tasted like pine needles.  Yummm!

The Yurt had sweet bunk beds.

Don't let this picture fool you.  Sleeping was one thing Baby G didn't do so well.    It made for a long night for all of us. 

Christian returned from his extreme powder skiing adventure.  He is much more hard core than all of us.  

On the way up to the yurt I had Baby G in the snuggly.  On the way down  I set her in the Sled and pulled her. 

She stayed asleep almost the entire trip.  Snow covered peaks and mountain streams were all lost on her. 

No other skiers were pulling a puffy pink nine month old baby in a sled.  One of the extreme skier guys looked at me and said "That is awesome"

Baby G was pretty tuckered out after such a weekend. 

Our nine month old baby and the Big Water Yurt   

We were a little nervous about taking our baby but she loved it (other than sleeping and that was mostly my fault)  As we were packing up to ski back down the mountain, the new yurt tenants skied up to chat.  They thought it was crazy that we brought our baby.  "How old is that baby?"  "You brought your baby!?!?"

Yes I did.  Baby G did great.  I reaffirm my belief that you have to integrate your baby into your lifestyle.  What do you all think?  Do you ski with your children?  Any advice from parents on how to get kids to sleep while camping?  Any Yurt adventure stories?  Do share!

The Book Hook giveaway: It is a tie!

Thank you to all readers for your great comments.  Let me introduce the judges:  

Judge no. 1: 

Megan of ONA INK blog fame.  Do you read her?  If not start!  We've been friends for 10 years.  She's a great writer and has been a great travel companion.  Check out our travels in Greece of 2008 here.  Someday we are both going to write about our exciting trip to Morocco where we both thought we were going to die.  yep.  die.  (Nov of 2010)

Megan's top Book Hook winners were:
1. Tiana- Under the condition that she sends a picture of her using the Book Hook in any of the ways she describes in her comment. I am very curious about this "gold spray painted lingerie."  She also wrote interesting comments on each of your posts.  Finally, her whole life has been leading up to this moment. She is an avid reader, she is a librarian and her last name is Page. Of course she is destined for the Book Hook. 
2. Hannah- Like Arwen, the story of the 8 year old niece tugged at my heart-strings, and I really love the idea of a child getting excited about a hunk of wood and not a shiny electronic device.  Hannah also made very insightful comments. 
3. Mad Hadder- You had me at "gejumpen and gescreamen"!!!! 

Judge no. 2
Let me introduce Arwen:  She just graduated from Library Science school.   She is a great writer but no longer a blogger.  She's my little sister and I still torture her in a big sister way even though our combine ages almost qualify us for a senior citizen discount at Sizzlers.  i.e.  On Saturday she claims she called shotgun, but she didn't.  it. was. a. lie.  

1. I chose Hannah as winner because she had relevant comments to the posts and also because she mentioned wanting to give the book hook to her eight year old niece.  I was eight when I learned to love reading and it struck a cord with me.
2.  For second place, I chose Tiana because she commented on every post and always had something interesting to say about one or more of the books.
3.  For third place, I chose Jani, because she is my sister and she loves to read.  Hail nepotism! 

How in the world do I decide now that my judges have caused this tie and neither of them will break it?  You get to decide!  Please vote in the poll!  Hurray for all the readers of the world.  The spines of books are hoping this book hook idea will take off!

Book Hook...the end is near

The reviews are all posted.  The comments are incoming.  I'm excited for the winner of the Book Hook.  I've stepped out of the mix.  Arwen and Megan will choose by Tuesday March 20, 2012 8:00 PM Mountain Daylight time.  Good luck to everyone and thanks for reading my blog!

The last book reviews from 2011: Winter Books

In Defense of Food

Author: Michael Pollan

First Published: 2008

Where I read it: I listened to this just after Thanksgiving as I commuted.  

Pollan starts off with this sentence:  Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly Plants.  You don’t really need to read much after that.  It was interesting to hear about the development of the food industry and how it convinced us all that cooking like our Grandmas did on the farm was bad.  But his first line was also his bottom line.  Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.   

Maniac Magee
Author: Jerry Spinelli
First Published: 1990
Where I read it: I listned to this book while I was working 100 hours of overtime for my school directing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicholar Dreamcoat.”  After teaching singing all day and then staying after to direct the musicl sometimes the LAST thing I wanted to do was get into my car and listen to more music.  Reading Maniac was a great way to get my mind off of school and Go, Go, Go Joseph out of my head.

This is a great story geared toward children that tacles the tough issue of racisism.  I got totally wrapped up in Maniac’s journey as he moved between the white and black sides of town.  I love his relastionship with Amanda McBeal’s family.   I’ve liked Jerry Spinelli since I read Stargirl.  I’ll make sure to read this one to my children.  

Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Brontë

First Published: 1847

Where I read it:  I listened to this one around Christmas.  It is a good book to read in the dark of winter.  

I read this in high school.  At least I think II remember reading it.  I remember the “big secret”  I think I remember...Maybe. I do remember madly trying to finish Jane Eyre for a book report in my AP English class.  I probably  got an A on the report.  But if I did, Mrs. Forsgren must have been very tolerant to her young and naive readers.  Reading Jane Eyre as an adult I gleaned so much more than my teenage self did.  All I remembered as a 16 year old girl was: Wife.  Tower. Fire. Marriage.  Drama.  As an adult I found the narrative much more interesting than the story.  Jane’s upbringing at boarding school was fascinating.  Her transition from wayward student to model teacher was especially interesting and I would have loved a little more insight into that part.

The first part of the book is flooded with Jane’s feelings and thoughts.  She hated Mrs. Reed.  She was confused at the discipline of school.  Her ideas flowed freely on the page.  But as Jane grew up her fiery thoughts became more guarded.  The reader had to decipher Jane’s ideas and passions based on her conversations.  Her conversations with Mr. Rotchester offered the most insight into Jane’s adult life.  This is a great story and I’ll reread it several more times.   

Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli

First Published: 2000

Where I read it: I listened to this book with my entire family.  We did the yearly exodus from snowy Salt Lake City to warm(ish) Tucson for Christmas.  It was a fun book for the whole family.  

This was a re-read.  I read (listened to) Stargirl a few years ago.  I loved it then and I loved it the second time too.  But the re-reading made all of Leo’s silly high school insecure decisions seem almost tragic.  How could he let Stargirl slip through his fingers?  Why would Stargirl try to be Susan?  Yes this book was sadder the second time through.  

Howl’s moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
First Published: 1986
Where I read it: I read this down in Ariozona during my Christmas Break.  We all got the stomace flu and were in and out of the bathroom around the clock.  It’s never fun to be sick, but having an easy fairy tale to read while you are makes it a little easier.  I recommend this book when you want something light and fun. Read it to your children who have never been to a Castle but are enchantented by pictures of them.   If your children are lucky enough to have been to castles then read it to them anyhow.

My review: I didn’t get Howl’s Moving Castle the first time and turned around and re read it.  The plot was better than the writing, but the writing wasn’t by any means painful.  The idea of a moving castle is so romantic. I’ll recomend it to my children.  It isn’t as good as the hype but still fun.