Christmas Party/ December Book Club

For December we will be having our annual Christmas party in conjunction with our regular book club. This month we will be reading The Autobiography of Santa Clause by Jeff Guinn.

Where exactly did Santa Claus come from? How did he meet Mrs. Claus? Who named the reindeer? We've all asked these questions and a million more, and Jeff Guinn uses a wonderful mix of scholarship, fantasy, folklore, and faith to answer them all. According to this "authoritative" autobiography, St. Nicholas began giving gifts in the third century A.D. and never looked back. John H. Mayer's warm and leisurely reading certainly puts one in mind of the classic nineteenth-century Claus, but it's the generous sprinkling of facts that draws one in. Did you know the Roman calendar had only 10 months and 355 days and that Christmas caroling was introduced to the world in the thirteenth century? A fine way for the whole family to receive a dash of history and humor relating to holiday cheer.

We will also be doing a book exhange this year. Please bring a wrapped book to exchange at the party. We will have the chocolate fountain again! The following items are a suggestion only. Bring what you want if you don't like your list item.

• Mindy- chocolate
• Krista- bananas
• Caron- peanute butter goodness, ie: cookies, pb balls, ect.
• Linda: large marshmallows
• Leah- potato chips
• Angie- strawberries
• Shanna- cinnamon bears
• Becca- pineapple
• Amy- pretzels
• Ann- angel food cake/pound cake
• Missy- gummy orange slices
• Johanna- brownie bites

Book club will be held on December 15th, 7:00 PM at Krista's house. Let me know if you have any questions. See you all there!

Retreat time is here!

Retreat is on for THIS FRIDAY! Here is the scoop:

Meet at my house at 3:00. We will leave from there. We will meet Logan people at Smith's at 3:30ish. Please bring the following:
~$10 for food
~a treat to share
~any personal items/sleeping stuff you need
~a paper product to donate to the cabin ie: a roll of paper towels, some napkins, some TP

This will probably be a very laid back retreat. I have a little craft to do (bookmarks) that will basically be free. We will put off the book exchange because of the late notice of retreat. Just come ready to enjoy hanging out with each other. Please let us know if you can drive. I do not trust myself behind the wheel of a car in the canyon. Also let us know if you have any questions. See you all on Friday!!

October's Book

FYI: The book changed for this month. Please note that we will be reading "Watchers" by Dean Koontz for October's book. If we aren't able to have retreat this month we will review it at Shanna's house - we aren't sure at this point. Johanna is looking into what dates we can use the cabin. Leah will then do "Room" for November. If you have problems with this... TOO BAD!

Retreat????

I was writing things down on my October calendar and realized I didn't know when the retreat was. Are we having one this fall? I noticed that book club is at Shanna's this month.

SO... are we doing a November retreat or skipping it this time?

August's Book Club **Date Change**

Hey, girls. I posted about this on Facebook already, but if you weren't in the loop (or have yet to cave and join the Facebook cult), here is the rundown:

I have my last night of class (of the quarter) on the night we originally had planned to have book club. This means I really can't miss. And since I am hosting, I figured that wouldn't work out. So I'm changing the date... and I really, really hope you all can come! I tried to choose a date that was out of the way of birthdays (Happy Soon-To-Be Birthday, Leah!!) and the start of the school year, which I'm sure is super crazy for all of you. Again, I really hope it works for all of us and that we all can come! It's never the same if someone is missing.

So... the new date is: WEDNESDAY, Aug. 31st! Let's plan for 7:45pm (meaning 8pm, but no one makes it on time - myself included). I'll hope the kiddos cooperate with me and go to bed on time. :)

We'll be reviewing Artichoke's Heart (which if you haven't read, you now have time to do so) and introducing September's book. And having a TON of fun and delicious food. So please come.

Love to all of you. Hope you survive the back-to-school crazies! :)

Recommended Reads

Following is a list of books we talked about at retreat a couple of months ago. These books were recommended reads from different members:

• The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik
• Juliet by Anne Fortier
• A CHange of Heart by Jodi Piccoult
• Birth Marked by Caragh O'Brien
• Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
• Mrs. Perfect by Jane Porter
• Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand
• Shabanu by Suzanne Staples
• Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
• Goodnight Mr. Tom by Michelle Margorian
• Watcher by Dean Koonz
• A Wrinkle in Time by  Madeleine L'engle
• A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony
• Ida B by Katherine Hannigan
• Growing Up Black and White by Kevin Hoffman

Club pick for August: Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee

this review was taken form the blog The Book Reader

Artichoke's Heart by Suzanne Supplee


Rosemary Goode is smart, funny, and a nice person. Not to mention the best eyebrow waxer in Spring Hill, Tennessee. But no one really cares about all those things, because she's overweight. Rosemary's only friends are the chocolate bars she has stashed under her bed. Everyone constantly reminds her of the weight she needs to lose. Like with the treadmill her mother bought her for Christmas, which she's probably never going to use and the rickets to the weight loss convention that she got from her aunt. And since her mother runs the best beauty shop in town, blending in with her surroundings is not as easy as she hopes for. So when she finally resolves to lose the weight after hitting an all time high of two hundred three pounds after Christmas, she realizes that this is about more then just the extra pounds. And with the help of two unexpected allies from her school, an always happy and popular cheerleader and bluebird, Kay-Kay Reese, and a jock from her study hall, Kyle Cox, she realizes that not all people judge her by her weight and some can see her inner beauty that she has trouble seeing on her own. 


Book club will be held on Thursday, August 25 at 7:00 PM. Just as a note: let's all do our best to be on time. I was 40 minutes late to the last book club so I am not blaming anyone here. But we need to be more considerate of the person who is hosting. It is frustrating to hustle to get ready, kick your family out of the house, and then have nobody show up for an hour. As an incentive...I will have a *PRIZE* for anyone who is at book club at 7:00 this month. Let's show our love and be on time, ladies!


Also, just FYI, I will be bringing the READ letters to book club in August. Many of you have already paid me for these letters. For those of you who haven't you can buy one if you want. I thought I would have time to host a night where we painted these letters but it is not looking like that is going to happen. So I will bring the letters so you can take them home and paint them on your own time.