Mr. Finnegans The Giving Chest.

One of the greatest things I love about Children's Christmas books is the different messages they hold. They are all the same but different in their own ways. On of these stories is by a man that I grew up watching on TV with my mom and who is one of those great comforting things to me...Dick Van Dyke. watching his movies and hearing his voice always makes me feel like a kid again watching Mary Poppins, the Dick Van Dyke show with my mom and always feels like a warm blanket being wrapped around me. So when I saw this book of course I was going to get it. :p Its a great story about this magical toy maker...Mr. Finnegan that tries to help people. The little girl is the town bully and Mr. Finnegan wants her to help him He gave her the giving chest and asked her to take it to a certain address. By doing this errand she learned the importance of being nice and the true meaning of Christmas. Like I said classic "scrooge" story in a way, but on a level that kids can understand it better. I love this book and cant wait to be able to read it to our kids someday at Christmas time. :)

The Christmas Scene

This book was so good, it's a book I have with all my Christmas books and I have had it for awhile now but only picked it up this year. It is a very easy read, it took me a little over 3 hours and I am a really slow reader. Elder Neal A. Maxwell does such a good job on making you think, not only about the birth of the Savior and the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place, But about life, the teachings of the Savior, how we need to learn from him and many more wonderful lessons. It took quite a bit not to highlight this whole book with all the different things it taught me and wonderful quotes. It has really helped me in my life and with current problems that I am struggling with. To truly get into the Christmas spirit I would recommend this book, it really helps to focus on the birth of our savior and turn the holidays into CHRISTmas. :) Merry Christmas Everyone!

Book Drive

EXTRA EXTRA!!!! BOOK DRIVE CONTINUES FOR 3rd MONTH!!!

That's right my book drive from Oct. is still on-going and I am still offering a $25 gift card to the person who donates the most books. This is a wonderful book drive that is going to help local school and library's right here in Utah. PLEASE we need all the help we can get, if you have any books you would like to donate you can drop them off at my work or house. Not in the Ogden/Downtown Salt Lake area call, e-mail, or make a comment on this blog stating that you would like to schedule a time for me to come and get your books and I can come to your house or work and get them. What a better gift to give this holiday season then the gift of reading and learning to children who don't have a lot. If you are in the West Jordan, South Jordan, (etc.) area and would like to participate in a book drive close to home. My sister in law Lisa is also having a book drive in West Jordan. Click here to see details. We also have another book drive in the making for Primary Children's Hospital. I will keep you posted on this drive. Remember any book , any contribution helps. Thank You!

The Christmas Box

Around this time of year, people start pulling out their Christmas books and reading them. For some reason this seemed a little tedious for me. But this year I decided I really want to try and get into the Christmas spirit. So when we were down to my parents house for Thanksgiving I saw this book on her shelf and asked if i could borrow it. I thought it would be a great book to start the season off with. It was small, Obviously a Christmas story and written by an author that I have read before and seemed to enjoy so...alright lets give it a try. :) I did NOT know what I was getting myself into. Don't get me wrong this book was fantastic and I really loved it. it helped teach me a lot about the true meaning of Christmas and how fortunate I am. This is one of those rare books that made me cry...and I mean tears rolling down my cheeks, couldn't stop the flow, making my husband nervous crying. He kept asking me if I was ok. :) At first it weirded me out a little with the events happening right here in my home state and not only that but a few blocks from where I work. But as the story went on I forgot about that and really got into it and came to really love the characters. This year I have realized a few things, some of the many reason why I love Christmas. It isn't so much the gift giving and getting them in return. That's great but what I really love about Christmas is the fact that it touches all of our senses. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feel. It's all different at Christmas. This book really helped me to realize this. I am starting to see all the different symbolism in Christmas and how it always goes back to our Savior Jesus Christ. This is something no one could take away. Not from me or anyone else who can see this wonderful symbolism. I am so glad I read this book, and very thankful for what it has taught me. to everyone who reads this I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and get to spend it with those you love.

Wide Window

It's amazing how you can read a series with the same characters the same basic story and the different books are different events that occur...Some examples are Harry Potter. Characters stayed the same, it was the same concept Harry had to deal with Voldemort issues and he was going to Hogwarts...but situations changed... The basilisk, An escaped prisoner, the tri-wizard tournament, etc. Yet with all these same characters and everything, out of the series it seems people can most choose a book (#1,2,3,etc) that they liked more or less. The Wide Window is the 3rd book in the series of unfortunate events. But I think it was also my least favorite so far. With the other two books there was a warmth about them. In book 1 when the children had Count Olaf as their guardian it was dark and sad..but they had his neighbor Justice Strauss to bring light and warmth into the story. In book 2 you had that automatically with Uncle Monty. But in this one there was no warmth. Their new guardian Aunt Josephine was a fairly good woman...even thought her character did bother me a little. But everything was cold and dark. I think that's why I had a little bit harder time with this one. However I was a little more satisfied with the ending and it didn't seem to drag on to expose the bad guy like the last 2 did. So yes this was a good read...not my favorite in the series and I am excited to continue. This series might be put on hold for a time though due to the Christmas season. I want to read a Christmas book this year. :)

Righteous Warriors

This was a book suggested to me by a friend...she even sent it to me on audio. :) I really enjoyed it. For those of you who have ever read The Book of Mormon and ever wondered why they're are a lot of wars. John Bytheway has a great explanation and some really great lessons from these chapters that a lot of us might just skim over. it made me see these war chapters from a different perspective. I learned a lot from this book...great read. :)

Fablehaven Book Four

This book was start to finish nothing but action packed. it left you wanting for more. this book made me feel so many different emotions it was great. It sucked me in just like Harry Potter did. New characters were introduced (as with every book) as well as some old ones. I feel like I cant say much about this book cause I don't want to ruin it for someone who hasn't read it yet. With almost every book I read somebody lets something slip so it leaves me waiting in anticipation till I get to that part that slipped. But with this book I hadn't heard anything about it and it's one of the factors I feel that helped me to enjoy it that much more. Because I didn't know anything about it or even what to expect. So I know this is a short review but I really want you to judge for yourself how you felt about his book. This series is a lot of fun to read.