Book Sale

A couple weeks ago CBS47, Chad's television station, sponsored a community book drive benefiting the local county library system. The sale is taking place at a local mall (Sierra Vista, for you locals) this week and there are lots of great deals on books. We went with my parents and ended up with fun kids books and some great cookbooks. Go if you have the chance. The sale benefits a great cause!

Storytime

Our friends Russ and Carolyn came to visit for the weekend back in January. We had a great time and, as a bonus for them, I let them each read Maggie one of the books (Bubble Trouble) they gave her for her birthday last year. It's a jaw workout, tongue twister, mouthful of a book and I wanted them to get the chance to read it to her. It's one of Maggie's favorites and she asks Chad to read it to her practically every night. Now they know what he has to go through!

Summer Reading Program

This summer Maggie participated in our local library's summer reading program. She had to read (or have read to her) six books in order to reach her goal. Lucky for us, we do that in a day so it wasn't hard for her to finish. After reading the first two books Maggie earned a plastic rainbow Slinky. We keep it in the car and she loves playing with it. Since we don't have stairs, who knows when she'll learn what Slinkys are really all about. After she finished her last four books, she got to pick out either another toy or a book. Smart girl that she is, Maggie chose a new hardcover book called We All Have a Heritage. It's out of her age range now, but in a year I think it'll be relevant. The library's summer reading program is over for this year, but we hope all of Maggie's friends participate next year. It's great!

Storytime

Last weekend Maggie sat in my rocking chair and read the story Olivia to Brown Bear.

Church Party

Last weekend my parents' church (and my childhood church) celebrated its 50th anniversary. To honor the milestone the church held a carnival last Saturday with games, bounce houses, food and music. We had fun and Maggie did too.

In related news, this past year my dad has been busy researching the history, conducting member interviews, and writing the facts down in a book to give the church members for the big anniversary. My mom had a big hand in the book too--she designed the layout, typed the manuscript, and performed the final editing before sending it to print. It's a comprehensive, special book and members and leaders of the church are lucky to have such a well-documented published history.

Stumped

On Wednesday Maggie and I went to the Sequoia National Park with my parents to tour an area from a recently published book called Timely Exposures by Jackie Weiner. The walk was guided by the author. Despite the chilliness in the shade we had a fun time in the mountains hiking, looking at old Sequoia tree stumps, taking photos, enjoying the flowers, spotting a couple spotted fawn and hearing about the area from an expert researcher and a forest ranger. Maggie enjoyed herself too, but the walking part got a little rough for her. Most of her walking was assisted by one of my parents because falling became a frequent occurrence. Darn bumpy trails.

Proud Daughter

This week my dad, Terry L. Ommen, published his first book, Visalia (Then and Now). Saturday he had his first book signing event and it was at the local Costco. Chad and I went to support him and it was a lot of fun. We're really proud of him and the book he's published. It's a keeper. Go Dad!