Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Lisa See is an amazing writer. I felt as if I were living the story. Two sisters live in Shanghai in 1937 - just at the time the Japanese begin to invade Shanghai. This is their story, written from the point of view of the older sister, and how they came to America. They settled in China Town in Los Angeles, married to two brothers. It is the story of their life - a very hard life - until 1957.

I thought the writing was great, but my lasting impression was "what a depressing book." While I was reading there were enough hopeful moments in the book that I kept reading, sure that things would almost always work out for the best. They never did. It was fascinating to read of their lives, which were indicative of life in China Town at that time, because I always love to learn about those things, but when I finished the book I just had a heavy feeling.

Bottom line, I can't fully endorse the book without the warning that it is a depressing story. And I didn't feel the ending salvaged that at all. In fact, it reinforced it.

I read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See a couple of years ago, and thought it was excellent. Life was hard in that book also, but somehow I don't remember it feeling dark. I must have read it before I started my blog, because I looked for a review on it, and there isn't one. I wholly recommend Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

Another quilt finished just in the nick of time. I finished this on Christmas Eve - the day before Madeleine's birthday. I gave her the quilt and book for her birthday. I love Eric Carle's art and stories. It was fun to make this quilt and the Brown Bear quilt as well.

Date finished: December 24, 2009
Size: 44 inches by 62 inches
Pattern: The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting Magazine, May/June 2008, p. 36
Fabric: The Very Hungry Caterpillar collection by Eric Carle under license to Andover Fabrics.

Happy Birthday Madeleine!

Our Christmas baby turned two this year. I am so glad they live close by so we see her often. We did Christmas in the morning, and birthday presents around dinner time. I gave her the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and a quilt to go with it. She loved the book! I think she'll get to love the quilt also, especially when she realizes that it goes with the book.

Madeleine reminds me of Debra so much - the way she acts and walks around, and that white blond hair. It is so fun for me to watch her and Debra together. They really are buddies. It brings back good memories for me.

Madeleine with her book and quilt.

Waiting for the birthday cupcake

Make a wish Madeleine!

Merry Christmas!

What a great day. Family, fun, and food. We had a very relaxing day - I woke up before any of the grandchildren and kept wondering when they were going to get up. Then I dozed off, woke up, and thought it all over again. This happened about 6 times before everyone finally got up. It turns out Audrey was awake too. We could have had our own little party.

We had our traditional hashbrown/sausage/egg casserole and caramel pull-aparts for breakfast. A couple of Ray's friends who did not go home over the break joined us Christmas Eve and Christmas. It was great to have them. After gift opening, we lounged about playing games, and generally having a wonderful time. Traditional prime rib, mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner.
For dessert - birthday cupcakes for Madeleine (the next post). More games, then bedtime. After all, I was up early - it was Christmas, after all.

Here are just a few pictures:

Madeleine with her headlamp.

Matthew with his headlamp, and Elizabeth

Austin with his headlamp. (Can you guess what Ray gave the kids?)

Austin emptying his stocking

Elizabeth enjoying everyone's gifts.

Rachel, on the Sunday we celebrated with their family

(they abandoned us on Christmas day for their Kirkland family)

All the kids in their new Christmas pajamas.

l to r: Rachel, Elizabeth, Matthew, Austin, Madeleine

Las Vegas and the BYU game

I am a die-hard BYU fan. When we landed here in Utah one of the first things we did was get season tickets to the football and volleyball (men's) games. This year when BYU made it to the Vegas Bowl, I told Ray, "We're going. We finally have a December with no baby being born, so let's go while we can." We drove down on Monday, came home today.

We took our time going south, and stopped in Washington, UT to see our dear friends the Manwarings. We had some delicious soup and breadsticks and three delightful hours of conversation with them. Then we tore ourselves away and drove the rest of the way to Vegas.

We haven't been to Las Vegas in 12 or 13 years. We used to go to Comdex every November (do they even have Comdex anymore??). We became pretty familiar with the strip. When we drove in on Monday night I felt like I'd never been there before. I didn't think it was possible to fit any more structures on the strip than were already there. I was wrong. New hotels. New stores. New restaurants. Sensory overload. Crowds, crowds, crowds.

We arrived at our hotel - the New York, New York. We've never stayed there before. It was as nice as any other place we've stayed in the past. We unloaded our bags, and took off walking down to the Forum Shops connected to Caesar's Palace. Ray couldn't wait to get a sandwich at Stage Deli. No Stage Deli. It closed down about four months ago, we were told. We didn't even recognize the Forum Shops. Everything's different. We ended up eating at the Cheesecake Factory - we got in immediately and had a light meal. It was very good. Their nachos are great - homemade chips. After dinner we walked the mile and a half back to our hotel. It felt good after riding in a car for six hours. We stopped along the way to watch the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel.

Tuesday morning we slept in. It felt so great! When we were up and around Ray asked if I wanted to do the NY, NY roller coaster. We could see the roller coaster from our window on the 19th floor. It was taller than our room. I love roller coasters! Ray does not. He said if we were going to go we had to do it before we ate anything. He was so good to go with me. There was no line, and we got right on. Then the car started to climb. I looked up. It was tall. Oh, so tall. Taller than 19 floors of a tall hotel. Then I remembered my strong aversion, perhaps you could even call it terror, of heights. What was I thinking?? But it was too late.

So, I did what any sane person with a terror of heights would do. I closed my eyes, and cried and screamed the entire ride. It was so fun! Ray told me we went upside down, and did a barrel roll. He still doesn't get how I can do it. It may be the only area in my life where I am truly adventurous.

Afterward they have a wall of pictures they took while you were on the ride. My head was bowed with my eyes closed. We didn't bother to buy one.

Tuesday night was the big game. IT WAS SO COLD I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE. The wind was screaming through the stadium. The backup net for one of the field goals became entangled in the goal posts. A huge banner on top of a building blew off. We were all bundled up, and frozen solid. Hot chocolate helped for about five minutes. It was all worth it. BYU won handily.

A very cool thing happened before the game. If I could do anything more than take a snapshot with my digital camera, it would be a miracle. I should have taken a video of this, but didn't have time to call one of my children to tell me how. Before the game began, soldiers from Nellis AF Base brought out a flag. Not just any flag. This flag was 50 yards tall, and 100 yards wide. The size of a football field. It was an amazing thing to watch. I tried to capture it in pictures. They walked the flag on the field all rolled up. Here they are getting ready to unfurl it:

It was opened all the way across the field:

Notice how hard it was to hold onto. It would be hard anytime, but with that wind, they were really working. They held it there through God Bless America, and The Star-Spangled Banner. Everyone holding the flag had served in Iraq or Afghanistan. If you think I could watch that dry-eyed, then think again. It was a wonderful sight to behold.

This morning we got up, had breakfast, and came home. Two days is about all I can take of Vegas. It is good to be home!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?

I see a finished birthday quilt looking at me.

I saw this darling fabric and quilt in a Fons and Porter Love of Quilting Magazine last spring. I know Matthew loves this book, so I decided to get the quilt kit and make it for his birthday. His birthday is today. I finished it late yesterday afternoon. Whew!

Matthew looking at his new quilt.

Some detail from the quilt

Finished: December 19, 2009

Size: 64 inches by 62 inches

Pattern: Brown Bear by Gail Kessler in Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting March/April 2009 issue, p. 14

Fabric: Brown Bear, Brown Bear collection by Eric Carle under license to Andover Fabrics.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Matthew turned three today. Although he is sometimes quite willful, he is also my most snuggly grandchild. He loves to sit on my lap while I sew, and he will still let me rock him in the rocking chair. It's as soothing for me as it is for him. Maybe more so.

I love hearing his high voice (for Linfords: picture Matthias' mouse voice) calling for me. Here are a few pictures to remember the day. Someday I will learn how to take pictures without distracting objects in the background.

No, this is not Junior Birdman. It is Matthew. He wears these goggles all the time. I don't know how he can stand it, but he does. It is a kick to see.


Here he is with the quilt I made him for his birthday. Finished just in the nick of time! (More on it in another post).

Lastly, here his is with his mini birthday cupcake. These are the perfect birthday treat for children. They are easily eaten in a bite or two - less mess, and they feel like they are getting a lot of treats when they have a few of them instead of only getting one big one.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Race the Wild Wind by Amelia Elizabeth Walden

My mom introduced me to Amelia Elizabeth Walden. We were at the library and she pulled out a copy of To Catch a Spy and said, "I think you'll like this book." I loved it. I read every book of Walden's that I could lay my hands on. Over and over. Race the Wild Wind was one of my favorites. I picked it up the other day and read it in a couple of hours (juvenile/young adult fiction). It was so satisfying - re-reading a favorite book is so much better than watching a well loved movie - it usually takes so much more time that I don't do it as often as I'd like to. Like an old movie, an old book can seem dated compared to current stuff. I still love them, but I wonder what a young reader these days would think.

Other books by Walden that I love: To Catch a Spy, My Sister Mike, A Girl Called Hank, Queen of the Courts, etc. etc. Hmm, I feel a Walden marathon coming...

Sorry, there is no picture available. I think all of Walden's books are out of print, unfortunately. The library doesn't have her books anymore either. I found several in the used book section of Barnes & Noble.com and Amazon.com.