'007 Books

2007 was filled with all kinds of stuff that kept us busy- working, having a baby, moving, traveling, school- but we both still love to read. Here are lists of some books that we read to fill in the gaps.

Dani-
Pride and Prejudice
Harry Potter 5 Harry Potter 6 Harry Potter 7
Resurrection: The struggle for a new Russia
Morality for Beautiful Girls (Ladies Detective Agency)
Persuasion
Push Not the River
Three Cups of Tea
Kiterunner
A Thousand Splendid Suns
John Adams
A Year of Wonders
Jonathon Livingston Seagull
Pregnancy books (x 523)
Twilight
Eclipse
New Moon
The Chosen
The Gifts My Father Gave Me
Fitness books- a constant stream

Brady-
Mayflower
Consciousness Explained
Voltaire's Bastards
The Idea of History
Godel, Escher, Bach
James Madison
The Stranger
1776
Breaking the Spell
A Brief History of Time
Team of Rivals
Meditations
Gorgias & Timeaus
The Dip
Leadership and Self-Deception
Notes from Underground
Concept of Nature
Red Rabbit
I am a Strange Loop
The Origin of Species
The God Delusion
Research articles that just kept coming (these are not quite all of them for just one class)

Liam-
Noisy Farm Animals
Hurry, Santa!
Wheels on the Bus
Things That Make Noise

The awards go to..... (that's a drum roll you hear)
Dani- Three Cups of Tea- Most Inspiring
Resurrection- Best Researched/Written
Pride and Prejudice- Best Tried and True Chick Novel

Brady- Meditations- Chilled Ideas
Consciousness Explained- Right Book at the Right Time
Mayflower- Gettin' at the Roots

Biggest surprise- Brady read a book with 'rabbit' in the title, and Dani did not.
Next to read- Dani: War and Peace (in progress)
Brady: Dorian Gray

The Insulator

This Christmas break Brady spent a day insulating our roof in hopes to abate our rising heating bill. The roof had almost no insulation at all, and in many places was completely bare. We rented a machine that spews insulation chunks which worked pretty well except it got a lot of dust in the air, and blasted Brady from head to toe.
Before Brady insulated the attic/roof we went up in the attic to see what needed to be done. There were a few junky pieces of insulation laying around, mixed with some trash, an old pair of panty hose, and some broken light bulbs.

Liam's First Christmas

Christmas was fantastic. Although we missed family, we had a great time creating traditions in our darling, new Michigan home. Everything was pretty low-key and relaxing. We've spent time reading, watching movies, going to the gym, playing with friends and l've thoroughly enjoyed having Brady home. One of my favorite things about this Christmas was going to the post office and finding I had 4 packages waiting for me. Brady liked opening our presents early because we got to choose when Santa came, and of course, not having to do work over the break.

Liam pretty much ransacked the living room christmas morning going around playing with, destroying and sucking wrapping paper, ornaments, boxes and candy from our stocking. Holidays are way more fun with a baby!

Liam's not yet convinced yet that he likes Santa Claus

Brady in Boston

We had a fantastic time with the Firths in Boston. We just got home and we miss family already. Boston is a neat city. I love the feeling and all the beautiful buiildings.

Lovin' it in Cape Cod

Liam was in heaven having so many aunts, uncles, and grandparents to play with with him. That baby is very loved and definately spoiled.

The first day we were there we roamed the streets of Boston with Janell and Troy and loved every minute of it. We dont get to see them nearly enough.

We stayed at a fancy shmancy Masonic temple turned hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. This is a picture from our hotel window.

The weather was cold, windy and snowy. It didn't stop us from having a good time but it did sentence us to a day in the Baltimore airport.

The Mayflower in Plymouth ( Or at least a very close replica of it. The real ship was salvaged for parts a few years after the pilgrims came to America)

Plymouth rock- talk about a dissapointment! I was imagining a gigantic, black rock jetting out of the ocean, a beacon for the pilgrams. False. It's pretty whimpy. In fact I'd like to think on a good day I could probably whisk it away in a wheel barrow. It's that small. Just your average joe blow rock.
Other Boston Highlights (besides being with family, of course)
-The Harvard Art Museum
-Boston's historic public library
-Fish & Chips

Holiday baby

Liam is here in his car seat with the gift certificates we scored at my work Christmas party gift exchange. I love the gym I work for. The atomosphere is very professional and all of the trainers have both degrees and national certifications. We work hard to make sure everyone feels comfortable regardless of their fitness level. The membership rates are on a sliding scale for those with lower income and periodically the gym sponsors free fitness classes to the community. Fitness and health for all- I love it.

Brady is done with classes for the semester. He has been working around the clock on a research paper and it was a relief for the entire family when it was finally done. This week we'll go to meet the Firths in Boston.

More of the same happy baby

This week Brady has been busy with school and I have been working Mon-Friday a few hours a day teaching my class/training clients. Ihave plans to start my own fitness/ weightloss buisiness at home so I have been spending time looking into that. We have the room in our house it's just buying the equipment and putting the time and money into advertising. My plan is to get it ready in December and then just start small in January 'til I get things paid off.
This week I hosted bookclub where read the "Twilight" series by Stephanie Meyer. We all had a great time, and even though I wouldn't consider the book great literature, it still was thoroughly entertaining.


Liam getting ready to eat his Christmas tree.

T-Day

Happy Thanksgiving! We spent this Thanksgiving with our friends from the branch. This time of year makes us miss our family and our friends in Utah. We're cutting down a Christmas tree tomorrow (we know a guy whos trying to thin out trees on his farm)We put up a 2 foot Christmas tree with lights and Liam keeps staring and smiling at it. When he's on the ground he strains his neck to look up and see it. Although we did briefly let him touch and suck on it and he wasn't too impressed.