Heart of Gold - Book Review

Heart of Gold by Robin Lee Hatcher

In the rough and tumble town of Grand Coeur, Idaho, Shannon Adair follows her preacher father in his desire to minister to those in the gold towns.  Back in Virginia, Shannon was used to the comforts of plantation living until the civil war struck, bringing fear and chaos.  Learning valuable nursing skills, Shannon spent many hours caring for injured soldiers and nursing them back to health, but in Idaho, Shannon is unsure of how she fits in.  When an opportunity to nurse a critically ill woman presents itself, she knows right what to do.  As her patient slowly deteriorates Shannon's heart goes out to the woman's young son, and his brooding uncle Matthew.  As God slowly works behind the scenes on their hearts Shannon and Matthew begin to discover that the treasure of Grand Coeur isn't just gold...it's love.  

I stayed up way too late to finish this book.  I couldn't put it down!  

Learn more about Robin Lee Hatcher HERE.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Edenbrooke - Deseret Book Review

Move Over Jane Austen!  New from Shadow Mountain comes a new novel, a romance, that will make you swoon!  Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson.  Marianne Daventry is far from a proper miss having always lived in the shadow of her beautiful twin sister Cecily.  When their father leaves the country Marianne is forced into living a miserable existence with her grouchy grandmother, while Cecily is lucky to be living a life of fun and frolic with their cousin.  When the girls are both invited to spend some time at a luxurious estate, Cecily is sure she is there to meet her future husband...while Marianne is hopeful for peace away from her watchful grandmother.  After a terrifying encounter with a highwayman, Marianne is thrust into an adventure she didn't plan...and meets the handsome and mysterious Phillip, which was most unplanned.   If you enjoy a Regency romance, then you will love this book as much as I did!  Edenbrooke retails for $15.99 can be pre-ordered through Deseret Book.

Thank you to Deseret Book for providing me with an advanced reader copy of Edenbrooke!  

I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

DisneyWorld 2012

Every other year my family (Steph's parents) take a vacation to Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL.  We are all invited...my parents pay for the room...all we have to do is get there and buy our own tickets.  This was my 3rd or 4th trip, Kayley's 2nd, and James and Maggie's 1st!  We had SO much fun!  I didn't take very many pictures this year.  I think I spent a lot more time juggling the girls -- but we had SO much fun!  Kayley hit 44" this year so she was able to ride pretty much everything in all 4 parks.  I was nervous letting her ride, but she love them all.

Here are a few pictures from our trip!

It was ugly weather starting out...but we felt like storm chasers as we kept an eye on the radar as we headed out...

 We had a borrowed GPS (Thanks Gwen & Kay!!)...so we "thought" we wouldn't get lost...hehe

The girls were set...we hit a McDonalds on the way out of town...

In Orlando we stayed at the Parc Soleil.  They had a WAY cool water slide!  We all took several turns down the slide...it was really fun.  The weather was pretty much perfect the whole week!

You could see the Swan & Dolphin, Epcot Spaceship Earth, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the castle from our balcony.  Oh...so, we could see the fireworks at night!  Very fun!

 You can see in the background they are not quite done building all the towers they plan to construct.  Isn't this a great pic of Papa & Maggie?

Here we go!

The first day we went to Magic Kingdom...it was a lot hotter than we thought it was going to be.  It was pretty busy for an off season too.  Not bad, but still busy.  

Peter Pan's Flight...

Silly girl.

Pulling the sword out of the stone...unfortunately it was stuck TIGHT!

Self-portrait in front of the castle...

Waiting in line for Winnie the Pooh.

The 2nd day we went to Hollywood Studios...  uh... and I guess I didn't take any pictures there.  Oops..  The 3rd day was Epcot.  So, here are some Epcot pictures.

You can pick up this flip phone and solve Kim Possible mysteries throughout the park.  They were fun and really took you to hidden places through the Wold Showcase.  I'd really recommend this if you have children about Kayley's age or older.  In fact, we stumbled upon some 40+ year old women who were having a blast with it.  LOL.

One of the hidden clues!

Maggie zonked out.

We also did a character dinner at the Garden Grill.

  Expensive but worth it.  The characters come to your table!  

Here is Kayley getting Chip's autograph.

Dale...

Mickey!

It was Gramma's birthday and she was surprised with a birthday card signed by all the characters!!

And this cute little piece of cake with Mickey sprinkles!

Here we are riding the boat through The Land.  It was pretty interesting learning about hydroponics and growing food without soil.  We rode a lot of boat rides.  Every 30 minutes or so Maggie would start asking to "ride a boat!"

Playing at the Imagination Pavilion.

Power City game in Innoventions.

3D Skeleton construction.  That is one thing I love about Epcot.  Everything is so educational!

The next day we headed over to Animal Kingdom.  I'll admit that this is my least favorite park.  We rode Everest...which is a pretty darn cool roller coaster.  Kayley is on that train somewhere!

 We played on some Dinos.

We rode Kilimanjaro Safari's...

 Kayley learned how to write her name in Thai...and a cute little lady made Kayley this fish!

After a few hours of Animal Kingdom...we headed back over to spend the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom.  We took, of course, a boat!

a hidden Micky on the dock! 

Our final day we headed back to Epcot again.  

We had so much fun!  We sure didn't want to come home...

Oh...I'll throw this on here.  I got Maggie's sillouhette done in Epcot.  We had Kayley's done a few years ago...  Kayley on the left.   Maggie on the right.  What do you think?  I'm a little disappointed I'll admit.  Kayley's looks so baby-ish and sweet...Maggie's kind of looks like a teenager.  Maybe because I'm looking at them together...?  Either way, they are really neat and will make nice keepsakes for the girls.  I'm thinking that it might be fun to get them done for the girls again when they are older to have comparisons.

Well, we are back at home now.  Catching up on piles of laundry, watching the snow fall.  Sometimes it is so good to be home and back to normal, but I miss Disney already, and we especially miss Gramma and Papa.

Everything Romance - Book Review

 

Just in time for Valentines Day, a must read:  Everything Romance, A Celebration of Love for Couples...by David Bordon and Tom Winters.  A nice, hardbound gift-book FULL of scriptures, quotes, trivia, advice, romantic gift-giving ideas, top 10 lists, how-to's, recipes (oysters?  blech!), prayers, classic romantic stories (Romeo & Juliet, The Gift of the Magi, etc), song, poems & sonnets, and the history of famous (and mostly tragic) romantic couples through history.  Discover the story behind Valentines day, learn the history of Cupid and take a sneak peek into some famous love-letters.  Want to woo your woman?  Trying to romance your man?  Each little story/quote is written so that you can thumb through this book and start anywhere.  The topical index in the back can help you find exactly what you are looking for!  This book is full of ideas to help you celebrate the joy of romance and beauty of love! 

Disclaimer:  I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Blogging For Books program in exchange for an honest review.  

All opinions expressed herein are my own.

101 Bible Adventures - Book Review

New from Tyndale Kids:  101 Bible Adventures!  With a cover that is reminiscent of Indian Jones you too can embark on 101 Bible Adventures, The Ultimate Quest for Truth!  Featuring the New Living Translation, 101 Bible Adventures takes you through God's Word to experience shipwrecks, plagues, miracles and battles to discover the action and adventure that is presented throughout the Bible.  In this book you find 101 Bible Stories written in a high-energy format that is especially appealing to children.  Learning life-lessons from the scriptures has never been easier or more exciting!  Each lesson highlights Biblical concepts like love, forgiveness, character building, strong role-models, and learning about God's plan for His children.  Each sections gives you an overview, the "action-adventure" from the story, a key verse from the Bible, a cartoon funny picture and a "what to do now" section that encourages the children to make changes based on what they read.  A perfect devotional for busy kids!  Recommended for ages 7 and up...but my 5 year old adventurous girl really enjoys it!

  So grab your hat and go on an adventure!

Disclaimer:  I received this book free of charge from Tyndale in exchange for an honest review