What a summer!!!

Can't believe how fast this summer has gone and how much I have crammed into it! Okay, I have already talked about the aquarium. Mentioned a book signing. First, I want to gush about the wonderful time I had with Tommy, Jennifer and Mason. That cute little boy has grown so much! Dan and I flew out of Huntsville and came in a bit late to the Salt Lake City airport. Under normal circumstances that wouldn't have been an issue as it was still early evening.

                                             

However, Tommy is pitcher on a softball team that was playing that night. Jen drove and Tommy changed in the car. It was fun watching him play. His team, "Scared Hitless" won, btw. 

                                               

                                              

The next day we got to babysit while Jennifer worked half a day. Mason is such a happy baby. Sometimes it seems he crawls faster than the speed of sound.   Dan and I ran a few errands in the afternoon, stuff that can only be done in Utah. (Lion House rolls, Deseret Book, Gossner's Cheese factory, things like that....) That night, we relaxed and had fun watching a movie. 

     The next day, we went down to Murray and attended a surprise birthday party for Karen Bray, Dan's older sister. By the time we got there, it wasn't a surprise anymore, but it sure was fun!!   Below are some pictures from the event. 

     Karen, Dan and Jeannine

 

  Karen and Bob and their kids and grandkids.

        

 Jen and Mason. He did not like grass.

  

Sunday was bath day and Mason had fun in his little duck tubby until he got a bit of shampoo in his eyes.  We relaxed most of Sunday. Jennifer's mom had us over for dinner and a movie that evening. We had a great time with Jennifer's family.

  "Help, let me out!" 

(Mason loved looking down stairs.)

           Jen and Tommy 

All the girls love that boy!!

Mason decided to crawl after his cousins.

On Monday afternoon Stephanie and three of her boys and Audrey came up to Logan to visit. It was a fun time and Mason decided that was an excellent time to learn to crawl up the stairs. It was an exciting moment!

Stephanie and Mason

Audrey and Mason

I did go out to try selling my book. A local book store took a couple on commission and several relatives bought copies. I even contacted Utah State. I am an alumni, after all.

We stopped and ate dinner before getting to Bob and Jeannine's house.

Mason getting tickled by Mom.

Pictures after dinner.

Too soon it was time to leave.  Tommy and Jen drove us down to Jeannine and Bob's place where we spent the night before leaving on our plane Wednesday. I missed them before they pulled out of the driveway Tuesday night.  

Left: The Logan Temple

Below: Mason loved playing with the piano pedals.

Bob and Tommy in the backyard/garden.

Two of Audrey's girls

Sunset over the left wing.

Next, the trip to Oklahoma to visit Chris and Dani and the family. Hopefully I will get it up before Christmas!!!

Solo book signing and upcoming trips

     I can't believe it! I have had a solo book signing the middle of July as well as one trip and it's only July 17th. (What do they say about time flying?) Before all of that came about, I spent some time with my friend Pat and her family at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. They have built a butterfly room. It was amazing to see so many different kinds of butterflies.  

     Of course we saw all the fish, freshwater as well as ocean species. This is my second trip and it still amazes me. We were given the privilege of going "backstage" and seeing how they get ready for their shows in the big tank and how they developed that huge indoor habitat.

At left is a picture of Pat and her grandson, Cameron. Her daughter, Lisa and granddaughter, Morgan came, too. What a fun afternoon! There were a variety of river habitats, recreated from the great habitats of the world. Some reproduced lakes and rivers in Tennessee like the one that had river otters. Some recreated freshwater habitats from all over the world.

To the right is an otter putting on a show.  Below left is one of the divers getting ready to go into the large ocean 'tank.' Below right is a resident of the butterfly room.

 

Next it was time to go see Tommy, Jennifer and Mason.

First Signing and beyond

Two days after receiving my shipment of books, (got them in less than a week of ordering them!) I was at an author signing.  Nearby Etowah was having a "Literary Walk" Saturday, June 12th. However, because I was sure I wouldn't get my books in time, I didn't contact the Etowah Arts Commission to sign up. So imagine my surprise when I got my books Thursday evening! (Booklocker's printer is near Nashville). I called the EAC Friday morning and they set me up for Saturday. Another local author and I carpooled over to the author reading Friday night and the signing on Saturday. I didn't sell many books, but I gained valuable experience. Deborah Scruggs Cox (author of A Man Called Nash) was a font of information and help!  This past week I have sold more books. I just hope that those who have bought a copy enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Me and Deborah Scruggs Cox in the Etowah Arts Commission office. (She has a page on facebook, too.)

The Book is Here!

Wow! I can't believe the book is finally published. I got my galley print (the first copy) on Tuesday and have almost worn it out! They did a beautiful job on the cover. My dear friend Patricia did the basic artwork layout and then we paid a designer to make a cover from it. Todd at Booklocker did a fantastic job! It really is a striking cover. Angela and company did a phenomenal job on the manuscript. Can you tell I'm excited?  

    My Author Page






What you have here was the first draft of the front cover. Click on the author page link to see the finished product.

Is It May Already?

How in the world did it get so far into the year? I can't believe that the year is almost half gone!   We had more snow this year than we've had in the past decade. It was lovely! 

I think we jumped from winter to summer and now we're experiencing late winter again! I have finally sent everything into the publisher (my novel I have been working on). Can't wait to see the cover design. Soon after that, I will have an honest to goodness book! Can't wait for that, either.  ( Title: My House of Dreams. Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction  Publisher: http://www.booklocker.com/ )

Even more exciting is the arrival of a new grandbaby. Cael Christopher Johnson was born Saturday, April 17th at 9:59 am. Mommy and Daddy look so proud. I felt so blessed to be there with them and to be able to spend ten days with Dani, Chris, Hannah and Cael. It was fun spending one on one time with Hannah while Dani was in the hospital. It was so nice having time with Danielle and Chris, too. I appreciate them letting me stay for so long. (They have a lovely house, too.)  I have some pictures of Chris, Dani, Hannah and little Cael for your enjoyment.                                                                        

  Hannah getting to see her new brother.

New Year!

Wow! It's already a new year!


What a fabulous Christmas Dan and I had. We went out to Utah to meet our new grandson, Mason and to be with our loved ones.

Beginnings

Okay, I finally took the plunge. I have a blog. Not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something... Besides, I guess if my darling daughter can do one (see link), her ol' ma can at least make the attempt. It only took me 6 years to get used to Front Page and look where that's got me. (Microsoft quit supporting that one three years ago...)

I have met a whole bunch of friends through the internet this past 12 years. With those friendships, I have had quite a few experiences. At right is me and my honey at a Civil War ball. We went with a friend I met online and with whom I became very good friends. She and I have been out to California several times and been involved with a variety of Zorro/fundraising activities.

Our children are grown and have families of their own now, but we are still able to get together and have so much fun. We live far apart in miles but we are knit together in love. Right now, our house is graced with fur kids. Two dogs and two cats, to be exact. Bridget and Diego are the oldest, and Sammy is the youngest. Skipper is our manic cat.

A trip to see our daughter and her family a few years back took us to

Nauvoo, Illinois, and Metropolis.
The first was a spiritual feast and the other was an unexpected delight.

Back home, Skipper was minding the mint, er house.

Bridget was helping.

I think I had better quit now before I do something and lose what little I have been able to do so far. Like I said, it took me 6 years to figure out Front Page......