Best Reads of 2010!

Last year I blogged about some of my most and least favorite books that I had read in 2009 and so I thought I would continue that again for my reads in 2010 and blog about it before January ends! I know I love to hear what good books others have read too so I can add them to my must read list!! I use goodreads.com on a regular basis to track and share the books I read if you want to follow me there. It is a fun easy way to track what you read and share what you think with others. I rarely have time for a lengthy review but still like to catalogue what I read as I have been tracking what I read for at least the last 10 years via journal and this website makes it much easier to do. So I read (or mostly listened to via audible.com on my ipod in the car, during workouts, and on walks) about 20 books last year and here were my top favorites. I don't really have any I read that I did not like last year (or there were a few I started and never got into but those don't count).


Fall of Giants
Ken Follett
Description: This book follows the fates of five interrelated families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits...Gus Dewar, an Ame...moreThe first novel in The Century Trilogy, this book follows the fates of five interrelated families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits...Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House...two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution...Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London...

MY THOUGHTS:
Ken Follett is my favorite author so no surprise that this was probably my favorite book this year! And its the first novel in a trilogy so that makes me more excited!!! It was another work of magic by Ken! His historical fiction truly brings the story and characters to life while educating one of the topic - in this case WWI. I did not want it to end! It was so neat to read about the development of WWI through the eyes of citizens of different countries at the time and loved all the characters and relationships (although it did seem like everyone was in love with everyone else - like a soap opera war novel - but that is probably what made it a fast read too!).

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Laura Hillenbrand
Description:
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

MY THOUGHTS: Seabiscuit is another one of my all time favorite books because Hillenbrand is such a good author and this book by her is another that did not disappoint! Definitely another one of my all time favorite books! This story is so well written and an amazing story of - as she puts it - Survival, Resilience, and Redemption during the war from survival at sea to surviving prison camp in Japan. My stepgrandmother was in a Japanese prison of war camp during WWII so those descriptions touched me deeply too. I would recommend it to anyone and just a miraculous story.


Juliet
Anne Fortier
Description:
Twenty-five-year-old Julie Jacobs is heartbroken over the death of her beloved aunt Rose. But the shock goes even deeper when she learns that the woman who has been like a mother to her has left her entire estate to Julie’s twin sister. The only thing Julie receives is a key—one carried by her mother on the day she herself died—to a safety-deposit box in Siena, Italy.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a fun take on the history of Romeo and Juliet and a very fun, easy read that was well written and well thought out. It can be cheezy and a few plot holes at times, but overall I would highly recommend it as a fun, fast read and made me want to revisit the traditional story of Romeo and Juliet again after reading this!


Bless Me, Ultima
Rudolfo Anaya
Description:
Set in NM on the border between a small village and the huge llano (plains), Bless Me, Ultima is Rudolfo Anaya's much acclaimed and award-winning coming-of-age novel from the Hispanic perspective. Antonio is torn between his father's cowboy side of the family who ride on the llano and his mother's village and farming relations. Many conflicts are presented here: Hispanic vs American culture, Catholicism vs paganism, parents' expectations vs the child's desires, Spanish blood vs native blood.

Antonio's life is forever altered when his aunt Ultima, a curandera (healer) comes to live with the family; she teaches Antonio many things, most importantly how to gather the self-knowledge that will help carry him into adulthood.

MY THOUGHTS: I read this years ago in high school and remember liking it. I read it again this year as a book club read and was so enthralled with the story and the way it was told and the beautiful vignettes of life in this boy's family. I did really enjoy the book from the way the story is told to the many poignant topics and questions the main character brings up and invites us to think about with him - Do we make our own destiny? who is God? Why is their death in this world? Why do people suffer? What is evil?

The Postmistress
Sarah Blake
Description:
Filled with stunning parallels to today's world, The Postmistress is a sweeping novel about the loss of innocence of two extraordinary women-and of two countries torn apart by war.

On the eve of the United States's entrance into World War II in 1940, Iris James, the postmistress of Franklin, a small town on Cape Cod, does the unthinkable: She doesn't deliver a letter. In London, American radio gal Frankie Bard is working with Edward R. Murrow, reporting on the Blitz. One night in a bomb shelter, she meets a doctor from Cape Cod with a letter in his pocket, a letter Frankie vows to deliver when she returns from Germany and France, where she is to record the stories of war refugees desperately trying to escape. The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during wartime, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right

MY THOUGHTS: My mother in law recommended this book and I really enjoyed it! Being a war story it is depressing, but this story was well told and from an interesting perspective rarely seen in WWII stories. I liked the characters and the way everything connected in the end and had a "moral of the story" type ending. Check it out if you are looking for a new book to read.

11 Months old!

Mitchell Ford Nelson
11 Months Old
1.26.2011
22 Pounds
31 inches

Ack - only one more month until my baby is not a baby anymore but a toddler ): I have to cherish these days and I DO! Mitchell is such a sweet boy. This last month he has really started to seem more like a toddler too. He is really into waving, shaking his head no and even knows 2 baby signs (dog and hat). He pulls himself up on things but does not walk yet which I am glad for and hope he takes his time there (: I like not having to chase him everywhere too much yet! He definitely has to be in the middle of everything though - whether it is to dogpile on his sister when she is reading books or playing games, or pulling on my legs while I am doing the dishes, he wants to play and have attention on him. He loves to swing on the swings at the park with me, go down the slides with Shayla holding him, ride his car or in the wagon, and jump on the trampoline. He has 7 teeth now and had another hair cut this month since his back locks were getting a bit long. He continues to be a very happy smiley, loving boy.


The monthly sheepskin pose

His pose with the 11 blocks (: Funny face here...

Showing off his teeth!

Babes, Birthday and Babies!

The past few days have been fun and full of friends , family and babies! Late last week I met up with some friends at the Noah Ark Exhibit at the Skirball center (once again if you have not been and have little kids and live in the area - totally check it out!). It was great to see pregnant Heather and Sienna and Christie and her two boys Ronin and Aidan! We had fun catching up and watching the kids run around like/with animals!

The kids and Heather

Christie with Mitchell

Heather, Mitchell and Sienna

Next stop - Santa Ana to celebrate my nephews first birthday!!! Dax and Mitchell are about a month apart and it is crazy to see them turning one so fast! It was fun to spend time with family and celebrate!

Kalea, Danielle, Shayla

Tommy and Dax

Christine serving the traditional first birthday cream puff to Dax

Dax loving the cream puff!

Then off to see some college buddies and their babies with Mitchell

Jen & Dylan (4 months), Me & Mitchell (10 months), Keri & Malia (7 months)

Malia has a crush on Mitchell and baby Dylan is not so happy about it (:

And those were our fun filled last few days!

Baby Shadowboxes

A few months ago I blogged about wanting to do Shadowboxes for the kids with their own baby memorabilia. Now that the holidays are over I found a second to work on them with my friend and we both got them done (well almost I still have to decoupage Shaylas S so it stands out more, but close enough)! Yay! So here they are:

(oops just noticed in this pic the pacifier fell off the glue - will have to fix that!)

Extended Nelson Family Photos 2010

We were lucky to be able to have all of Jon's siblings together this Christmas and Grandma and Grandpa took the opportunity to get photos of everyone and all the cousins and families together. They were taken in downtown Fillmore. A few of my favorite are below and a slideshow of many more is also below. Thanks for the beautiful pics Nana and Papa!

The Whole Clan

Jon and his sisters

The cousins

This phot was for grandpa - USC fan!

All the guys!

All the gals!

My family!

All the cute cousins again!

Owie! Thanks Amy!

My sister Amy is very crafty and into sewing adorable things and I am glad for that since I am not into sewing at all but love all the cute things you can sew! She made Shayla an Owie doll (I think that is what it is called) and it is so adorable! I know it took a lot of work and we love it! Basically it is a doll that you can "injure" so it can be taken care of and switched from plain clothes into hospital gown and bandages. Also would make great gift for any kid who has to be in the hospital at all. Such a cute doll and looks like Shayla too with the straight bangs, long blonde hair and blue eyes! Thanks again Amy - this will be a doll to cherish for generations to come!! Shayla named her Lulu.

Lulu in her street clothes

Lulu in her hospital gown with some of her bandages on

10 Months Old!

Mitchell Ford Nelson
10 Months Old
12.26.2010
21.5 Pounds
30 inches

47 cm head

So with the busy holiday season I did not get a chance to post Mitchell's 10 month update so here it is! My little boy is getting closer to one years old - I want to freeze him at this precious age! Anyway, he is such a dear little baby! He now has 5 teeth with the 6th one coming in. He army crawls all over the place and just starting going from sitting position to crawling (before I would have to put him on his belly and then he would crawl) so now he really is everywhere! He does not pull himslef to standing but if I place him standing and propped by something he can usually hold himslef up pretty good. . He loves to make silly noises and copies my laugh by fake laughing but his real laugh is the best sound in the world! He loves pushing around balls or rolling cars away from him and then scooting after them - that is probably his favorite activity on the floor. He loves to play the drop/pick up game and loves throwing his food off his high chair tray to Tyson. He allows Tyson to lick him all over and Tyson allows Mitchell to pull his tail - good trade off I guess. His favorite food is probably yogurt or bananas. He loves to clap and if anyone claps around him or says yay or hurray he will clap and clap and is so proud of himself for doing so. He is so good natured and such a happy easy going boy! His stranger anxiety/separation anxiety is not too bad right now and as long as whoever is with him entertains him he is fine with other people. Shayla is so sweet to him too and even though he likes to pull her hair too and now scoots over to her toys or crashes her towers over she is still so nice to him (how long will that last?)

So here's my little 10 month old boy!

Last Days of 2010...Happy New Year!

I love the week between Christmas and New Years because all the craziness of Christmas is over and normally it is the time to just enjoy family and be low-key!! It is after New Years when it is time to put away all the Christmas decorations and re-organize the house that I do not look forward to! This last week of the year I was able to spend most of it with my parents and my sister Kelsy and my sister Amy's family who is moving to Japan (again) for the next year to teach English. Spending time at my parents house always makes me feel nostalgic and it is so good to spend extra time with family! Shayla loves her grandparents and they and Kelsy are magical with making Mitchell happy too, so we had a great time! Here are a few of my favorite photos from the week and a slideshow of more too.

Bath time for the cousins!

Shayla building towers

Mitchell on the swing zipline my dad set up for the kids!

A final goodbye get together with Tommy's family as well at my Grandma Betty's house - here are all the gals who were there! (L to R - Sister Kelsy, Shayla and Me, Mom, Kalea, Amy, Coco, and Christine)

Shayla was sick on New Years Eve and so we stayed in and the kids were both asleep by 6:30 pm. Jon and I enjoyed a nice fondue dinner and movie and watched some of the New Years festivities on tv. Here is M in his 2011 shirt declaring "My First New Year's". It has definitely been the highlight of my year to have this adorable, precious boy in our lives and go through the many firsts with him and see Shayla blossom into a sweet young girl and loving sister!

Jon and I both are of the mind that rather than make resolutions at the New Year you should be making and working on resolutions all year long which is something we try to do - when we recognize something that we need to change or better in ourselves we try to work on it right away (like organizing my office, working on Mitchells First year photo book, reading my scriptures daily, trying a new recipe every week, etc) . I like to call them intentions vs goals or resolutions because they feel more likely to be accomplished in that manner. I read something recently that summed up why I feel that way - If I say, "a goal of mine is to xyz..." vs. "I intend to do xyz..." The later feels much stronger and has more conviction and a greater chance of happening . Although I do love the idea of using the new year as a fresh start for your intentions and do push harder on the ones I am working at this time of year! So for those of you who have made resolutions or have intentions you are currently working on - good luck - you can do it!

Many blessings to you and yours for the new year and health and happiness too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!