#18 ~ First Family

What a tangled web we weave...and the bad guys aren't always who they seem, is the moral of #18 First Family by David Baldacci {whose name I can't seem to remember}.  A great page turner & the fourth in the King & Maxwell series.  I really like these characters & the story that Baldacci has created for them.  I don't think I can bring myself to watch the TV show {that was cancelled} because I really like the characters I've got in my head!
This story is about the First Family, duh, who have risen to power through the sheer will and cunning of the First Lady.  Evil deeds always have a way of coming out... and as in any good story...truth wins in this one too.  Another tale of the choices we make in life and their everlasting consequences. SPOILER ALERT:  They finally hook up in this one...

Quotes:
p80 ~ Keep on reading, Gabriel.  Got to be prepared.  The world will give you a chance, but that's all.  The rest comes from you.  You blow it you blow it.

p264 ~ But then there was still the fear.  And it was metastasizing right now.

fl: Her footsteps were unhurried. ll: Michelle lay back on the bed and pulled Sean down to her.

Time in the Garden

My flowers are in full bloom & I took too many pictures yesterday.

Summer Snow Ball

Flower Forest

My favorite black eyed susans

Bee food

The best Gerbers ever

Reach for the Sky

happy

cone flower hiding

daisies

three in a row

my impatient wagon

zoom

bright sun ~ snow white

celebrating 50

On August 8 my parents will have been married 50 years.  Quite an accomplishment & a great example for me and my brothers.  This past week we all gathered in Colorado to celebrate.  It was an adventure filled weekend starting with a scary plane ride for my brother's family.  Their plane from Dallas lost an engine, had to turn back & thankfully landed safely back in Dallas.  It took three hours to get another plane & crew.  They got on that new airplane (not sure I would have) and flew out to Denver, just a little later than planned.

While they were having their airplane 'adventure', we were having a boat adventure.  Lake Dillon is a beautiful place & you can take three hour tours on a pontoon boat.  This time we couldn't get as close to the glory hole, so there was no fear of being sucked in.  Unlike the first time we took a boat out...when Uncle Bill scared little Patrick & then got yelled at.  Everyone remembers that story, except Patrick.










Then we celebrated with a fondue dinner at the top of Keystone Mountain.
Patrick said it not only was the best meal he'd ever eaten, it was the best meal he will ever eat.  We had cheese fondue, salad, lots of meat, and chocolate fondue.  Oh my.  It was so good I didn't want to stop eating...even though my stomach hurt!

Hiking & Running @ 9000'

Flew into Denver early in the morning from Cleveland ~ elevation 653' ~ and drove up Mt Evans ~ elevation 14,265' ~  the highest paved road in North America.  It's a beautiful trip, but when we got out of the car & hiked the remaining 100 yards to the top I felt the altitude.  I was light headed & a little woozy.  It was a very strange sensation.  On the way down we watched a lady lay down her motorcycle on a curve & the boys helped her right it.  She got on and finished the trip up.  Not so sure I would want back on!

Mount Evans really looks like the top of the world

Our next hike to Lily Pad Lake was a pretty one that was truly uphill BOTH ways. If you don't believe me you can ask my boys.  They agree.  This is also where we learned how to make a hiking stick & it's NOT by holding a fallen tree while your brother jumps on it.  That will hurt your foot {and if you're Jacob ~ who is like a tube of toothpastes ~ it will cause your nose to bleed} Here's a video on the correct way to break a stick:

 There were actually lily pads on Lily Pad Lake, which was appropriate, but the best part was they were in full bloom.  So beautiful.  Then the clouds rolled in and we booked out {up hill}.

A view of storm over the mountains, Lake Dillon, and a cleared beetle kill forest.  Amazing how one little insect has devastated the whole of this landscape

Because Jacob stayed up all night, he was too tired to spend the day {and $75} at the Breckenridge Adventure Park...and we got to go hike Cataract Lake, which might be my most favorite hike.  The trail goes around the lake, up to the waterfall which feed it, and back around the other side.  The views vary all around the lake & the flowers were in full bloom too.

Patrick is a Dork

And so is Jacob

And I got to run.  My one regret is that it takes me so long to acclimate that I can't really go for long runs.  And there are such great places to take long runs!  I took my phone so I had an excuse to stop & catch my breath!

The view from the first 2.5 mile run ~ on the trail above my parents' home.  God's  Majesty!

The second run ~ 3.5 miles ~ headed the other way on the same trail 

The last one ~ 6 miles ~ along the bike path from my parents' house to the dam road.  The 3 mile turn around point is almost to the glory hole!  

#16 & #17

Two books...how I love two 3 hour plane rides!  {and now you don't have to turn the kindle off during take off & landing}
#16 ~ W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton is another good Kinsey story.  I have such an affinity for her character.  I'd forgotten where I got my love of hard boiled egg sandwiches {with mayo on white bread} ~ it made me giggle to read about her eating one & then it made me hungry for one.
This is a story of family dysfunction, hurt, betrayal, anger, fear, hatred and the longing for love and belonging.  All the same emotions that are always part of Kinsey.  I love how Grafton has created this incredibly strong and independent woman who is so needy.  I think that we all have a lot of those same traits.  At the core of our being, we all want love and acceptance.  Kinsey is pulled into the center of a death & discovers a murderer. A well woven tale.  And now I've caught up, and have to wait until she writes X...Y...Z.  Can't believe it's so close to done.  I remembering reading Kinsey adventures when I was pregnant with Patrick!
Quotes & Words:
p44 ~  disputatious
     fond of having heated arguments

p49 ~ obstreperous  
     noisy and difficult to control

p59 ~ There's something inherent in human nature that has us constructing narratives to explain a world that is otherwise chaotic and opaque.

p107~ I'm curious why he'd keep his valuable in a bank when that's exactly where a bank robber's going to hit first.{spoken by Pearl, a homeless woman}

p283 ~ I could tell she was processing the idea of keeping her mouth shut, which is generally a smart move though I've never mastered it myself.

p288 ~ That ploy won't work here because I always look exactly like myself.  This can be discouraging.

p359 ~ Pull a gun on a fellow, you better be prepared to shoot.

p435 ~ I wondered if I'd ever be nice enough to volunteer for anything.  I was hoping not.

fl: Two dead men changed the course of my life that fall.  ll: We took the ashes home with us, and in a private ceremony of our own, we folded them into the rich earth in Henry's flower beds, where they'll nourish the roses when spring comes again.

#17 is another Maisie Dobbs. number 8 of 10...so I'm almost caught up there too.  A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear was written in 2011, so there may be hope that she will be writing more than 10.  This one is very interesting because we see more of the quite progressive Maisie with her new love, James Compton {I just LOVE this development because it just drives home how much the culture has changed ~ but I see problems arising as James moves into Edbury Place, where Maisie was in service as a girl}  Maisie becomes a professor to keep watch on political developments that may be detrimental to the Crown.  Interesting time in Europe's history, this waiting time between WWI and WWII.  Also interesting in how much of a following outside of Gemany Hitler was able to gather.  Frighting that he wasn't seen as the threat he was.  {a lesson for today?}


Quotes & Words:

p326~ One always has riches when one has a book to read.
p364~ chivvy 

     tell someone repeatedly to do something

fl: Maisie Dobbs has been aware of the motor car following her for some time.  ll: She smiled at the irony--the junior lecturer in philosopy struggling with a child's fairy-talk ending.  Yes, time would give up her secrets.  She just had to wait.