Double Book Recommendation!

Since I haven't had a book review in awhile- I thought I would post two of my current read favorites. The Hollow reminded me of Twilight with the intense love story- but as far as I know- there are no vamps in it. I didn't like the way it just ended- I didn't feel it was a very complete first book- but hopefully when the others come out they will flow well together. Certainly a good book to read this time of year! And the Maze Runner was soooo good. I think I will put it up there with Hunger Games. Maybe not as much action- but close and all the while you are trying to figure out the big puzzle of solving the maze. It is a very good first book in a trilogy.

If anyone wants to borrow my copies just let me know.

WARNING!! Guest Blogger: Alaska Trip

Hello everyone,

I have been given a RARE opportunity to be a guest blogger on our family site here. Will see how it goes and see if I am given this chance again. Hopefully this will be up to snuff and pass committee inspection.

Anyways.... to begin.... at the beginning of Sept, I, Jon (husband of the blog site master and father of the Jacobs 6), my brother Aaron and my father all took a trip to Alaska. The main goal was to shoot a moose (and maybe a bear) as well as have an enjoyable trip since neither of us had ever been to Alaska but had heard of all wonderous stories about the place. Needless to say the trip lived up to all our expectations, we had a great time, I managed to "catch" a moose as they say up there, Aaron really never got a chance to snag the bear he wanted but we all got back safe and sound however not without some added adventure. I have attached a series of pictures and text that somewhat describe our trip. Please enjoy.

To begin we took a flight into Fairbanks, then had this plane drop us off at a nice little village called Huslia. Nice ride.

View from the airplane ride. Notice all the WATER..... Good thing we have boats waiting for us in Huslia to take us to camp...

This is the boat dock at Huslia where we loaded up and went up river about 2 hours to get to camp or as I would like to say "The Hilton Suites". Notice the head nets on me and Dad. This is where we realized that the best preparation we made was to buy these nets to keep the gnats from driving us crazy.

Our Hilton Suite... Dinners included but the bathroom is down the hall...

Riverside view from our suite...

The first few days we saw a lot of neat country and a few moose. The leaves were just starting to change so it was really stunning views but it was still fairly warm. We would take the boat around the major river and then get out and hike around these open meadows looking for moose.


Another moose. Was still early in the trip so didn't really want to shoot one yet. Saw this guy swimming the river so we went and got a closer look in our boat. Pretty fair swimmers.That's me at camp. Good view of the small bug problem... Mainly just during the middle of the day. Insect repellent did nothing... I think the gnats and mosquitos actually liked it.
Picture of Dad next to the Koyokuk river. Just a little smaller than the Columbia.

BIG wolf track. Saw a couple along the river but never got too close to them.
This is Bullwinkle when we were calling him in. Saw him on Day 5 and decided he was the one. He walked up fairly close to us before he stopped here.This is Bullwinkle about 2 minutes later. After the shot he took off into the river for a swim but didn't make it to the other side. Took all four of us to get him out of the water. Oh Joy..
Finally on dry ground. Now all the work began. They take every piece of meat up there, which is alot.... Most all of it was donated to the locals and I had about 50 lbs shipped back to the states for us. Moose tastes pretty darn good. One of the better game meats we have eaten.


After the hunting was over we took a short trip up a small tributary "The Dokli" to do some fishing for huge arctic grayling. This is our lunch break. Fishing was unreal. That's our guide, Edgar, keeping the fire going. Great guide.
That's Aaron and me as we make our way back down the river. Notice the rifles still. Mainly for bear protection. Ended up we didn't see any big bears (grizzly, etc..) but did see a couple of black bears. Aaron wanted to bring one home but never got a good chance to take one.

Turns out that if a rock gets stuck up into the jet boat motor intake, it will strip the drive shaft and leave you stranded up the creek (so we made some homemade paddles to help speed our trip back down).
Also turns out that 35 miles of paddling takes longer than one day so we had to spend the night along the way back... but we had a tarp and a chain saw (hence gasoline thanks to our awesome guide who was prepared) so we were able to get a big fire going all night to stay warm/dry and keep the big bears away. Dinner consisted of what we didn't eat for lunch which for me was a smashed PBJ and good old SPAM... Yum Yum. I can't say that I sleep all that well on the bumpy wet ground but at least one side of me was warm for a few minutes at a time until I had to roll over. That's me and Dad working on the fire.
Next day got into some northern pike, so took a break from rowing and caught a few.

That's Dad happily rowing. Got back down to the main river the middle of the next day after about 14 total hours of rowing, 35 miles at roughly 2-3 mph per GPS. We were picked up on the main river after we shot three times in the air to signal. Needless to say there is no cell phone service up there and we had the only boat the would make it up the creek so everyone at camp pretty much just had to wait for us to get back. They were a bit worried about us being gone over night but realized stuff happens sometime. They said if we didn't show up by the next day they were going to send in a rescue party. There was one satellite phone at the main camp for the only communcation to town. We were glad to see the camp.. and our cots.
Once we made it all the way back into Huslia we were so excited to take a shower but as you can read, the local facilities were out of gas... The only way in or out was by small plane or by barge which is a 700 miles trip up from Fairbanks. Turns out the barge came the next day (there are only 2-3 barges per year).

We flew out the next day, spent a day in Fairbanks getting acclimated to civilization, then came back home.

That's it.... Hope it wasn't too long.

Boy oh Boy!

General Conference was last Sunday- and I was able to watch more than I usually do. The kids were great on Sunday and actually listened (no really- I AM talking about My kids) I have been thinking all week how happy I am to have the love of my husband and children engulf and uplift me daily.

Yesterday, I watched Nienie (Stphanie Neilsen) on Oprah. I don't usually watch Oprah- but made a special effort not to miss it. Stephanie has always been an amazing wife and mother but was in a plane crash last year and is recovering from severe burns. She doesn't take motherhood for granted.

It gets hard sometimes. to be an amazing mother...or even a good mother...or sometimes just the mother. But Stephanie has been and is such a strength to me. She is amazing and loves the everyday stuff of raising her kids.

Today I had to run into Walmart really quickly before a dr.s appointment. Jack wandered off and found a tricycle that he needed to ride all over. I let him have his fun for a couple minutes, but didn't want to be late so decided to pull him off and take off. Then IT broke loose. (You know what I am talking about. ) The look-my-mom-is-abusing-me-by-not-letting-me-have what-I want-screaming started. The wrestling started a millisecond after the screaming. I wrestled him down the isles. I wrestled him to the front of the store. I wrestled him the whole time I was at checkouts. I wrestled him while I got my wallet out. People were watching. People were laughing. People were saying, Oh!- is he feeling ill?" I wanted to cry. I wanted to leave him there.

But I didn't.

I have been thinking a lot about this post from a dear friend a lot lately.

I am the mother. My hands are sometimes not just full but uncomfortably bloated

And then I stop and think of the alternative....

I guess I like the feeling of uncomfortably bloated hands!

I have been featured!

This Post was Featured Here. I am so exicted- This gal reads hundreds of crafty blogs and posts ones that she likes best with links. Woohoo! (Okay- I totally stole the idea from Martha- but still- yay!)

Shoe Fetish.

I always loved when all the kids went throgh their shoe fetish and put on anyones shoes while they paraded (usually)half naked through the house. Jack has been going through his shoe fetish for quite awhile now and we have all got a chuckle out of him. We laugh so hard when he puts on bridgers tennis shoes or daddy's water-wading boots that he can't even move in, let alone walk. But the other day, I was minding my own busniess (doing laundry I think- what else is new?) when in walks Jack.

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I think he has the legs for them.

Another Host Post

Awhile ago I posted about The Host, a Stephenie Meyer book. I just fell in love with Twilight and had just read the first 3 books (the 4th wasn't out yet) when The Host came out. I devoured it and look forward to the next 2 books coming out (not for awhile yet). I LOVE apoctolyptic stories. This one was probably was one of my favs. And now the big news........................The host is gonna be made into a movie. Not sure how they'll do it with 2 souls in one body- but you bet I will be there to see it!!! (Probably more excited about this movie- than I was Twilight- okay its' about even!)

Click Here to read article.

Whats-her-name.

First Carli went through the Hanna Montana phase.

Then it was the ICarly phase.

Now it is the Selena Gomez phase. She thinks that Selena Gomaz is the most awesome pre- teen queen ever. I have to agree, she is pretty funny- even to me.

Carli and I talked about what she wanted to be for halloween and I said, "Do you want to be.... whats -her- name from The Wizards of Waverly place. Carli just spit out, "SELENAGOMEZ!" as soon as I asked her and then gave me a big cheezy grin.

She even tucked a photo of Miss Selena in her piano music folder. I remember my obsession with actors/actresess and just giggle under my breath. If her pre-teen years start now wen she is 8- then how many more years do they last??? (Sigh...(giggle)....Sigh)

Bridger-isms.

Bridger has been super funny lately. He is just in that cute- kid stage where he understands so much- but still lacks the vocabulary to get his point accross completly.

This morning about 5am he comes into our bedroom because he just woke up. He was super tired and so I told him to go sleep in the spare bedroom (which is right next to our bedroom) because there is no room in our bed (Keep in mind that this is the kid that likes to spread out!) I hear him in there crying and getting upset. So I get up and go in there, only to find that Carli has made herself cozy on one side of the bed. Bridger is crying because he doesn't wanna sleep by Carli.

Me: Bridger, Why don't you wanna sleep by Sissy?

Bridger- Because it's borrrrinnng.

Wow- I didn't realize that was a valid excuse. (I'm usin' that one on my hubby- lol)

Bridger went to a birthday party today and brought home a sack of candy. Amongst the different pieces of goodies, there were several pieces of sour- coated licorice. Bridger ate one piece and made a face. Carli asked if he was gonna eat anymore and he said, "No, it's too spicy."

Takin' Care of Business

Is there a problem with teaching them early-on how to multi- task?

Back to School Daze.

The kiddos and I get soooo burnt out last year wth school and school activities. I am so glad that we had a nice sumer break, so when school started last week, at least I was ready for it. The kids were another story. I was told every time I asked about school that my kids did not like it. (to put it mildly) (Did I mention that last year was tough???)

I got an idea from reading Nienie to have a back to school party. Here and here are hers. I thought it was a wonderful idea and even though the kids himmed and hawed about having one- I think that they thought it as fun too.
I wanted the theme to be centeed around Pres. Hinkley's 6 Be's. But we really didn't get to discuss it b4 chaos broke loose.

I made them crowns, but my kidos decied that they were too old for crowns- boo!


I found these cute baskets and hot dog tray awhile ago at Target and was waiting for a fun evening to use them. We have hotdogs,fries, tater tots (at Carli's request).....

and tiny cans of pop!

A school bus cake topped off our evening !

After dinner, we played the board game of, "Are you Smarter than a 6th grader"

So far so good with school this year.

Birthday Boys!

Due to all our vacations this year- I haven't been able to post about my boyz birthdays. Bridger's birthday was in June Nolan and Jack are 1 day apart in Aug. (okay- one day and 8 years)
Happy Birthday boys and Yeah for this year!!!
(10, 5 and 2 )
School started today. But that is a whole other post!

Much Better!

Well- I still can't find my camera-but I have a temporary camera a ($30 one from walmart) It takes awful pics- but it will get the jobby done utill I find mine- or until I can get another one.

Carli got a haircut a few days ago. Here is her Teeny tiny before pic!

It is so nice to see her with style in her hair and not looking like the Amazon!!!

I look at her hair and mine feels lighter- aaaahhhh!

It's About Time!

Comes to bookstores Sept. 1, 09- After reading the first book- I could hardly wait the whole dang year for this one to come out. (Don't come over next week- the house will be ignored! Good thing school starts!!! )

Will they EVER leave??????

I am pretty sure that fruit flies are the Devil's Spawn! (...just saying)

Vacation!

Wanna know what is a real bummer? When you are leaving out of the front door for vacation and you totally loose your camera. That's right- poof!- Gone! I still have no idea where it is and it is driving me crazy! But anyway- here are some photos that we had taken with Jon's family in Utah!
(This super talented Lady took them and she as more of them on her blog!)
We were gone for a week and had a super duper great, relaxing time. We came back minus 2 kids (Nolan and Carli stayed with Gramma/pa Jacobs to help out on their ranch) We will pick them up in a little over a week!