McCall, Idaho

Last week, my family and I took a summer vacation to McCall, Idaho. For the past three summers we have stayed on a cabin right on the lake. It has it's own dock so we can keep our boat in the water the whole week. We spent the days laying out, wake boarding, water skiing and tubing. I got up on a slalom ski for the first time! They've been having a drought up there so the huckleberries came early and they were all gone when we got there, so no huckleberry cobbler. The whole family, except Emily and Danny (the medical school students), came. It was a great end to the summer and I'm looking forward to the fall.

I used up all my paid days off for this trip so I will have to start saving up the days again because I'm probably going to Hawaii in February! As a side note, Kate told me that my posts about the books I've read are boring. Although I finished Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and enjoyed it very much, I will forgo the post and limit my book reviews to those books that I especially enjoyed.

Highly Recommended

Last night I went to Becoming Jane with my Mom. We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I wanted to post a recommendation. The movie is about Jane Austen's life and focuses on her own love story that was probably the inspiration for the love stories in her novels. It is a bittersweet story because it involves love and loss.

I knew that Jane Austen never got married and so during the whole movie I had a kind of sick feeling, knowing that it wouldn't turn out very good. I was, however, quite surprised with the way they ended the movie. Although Jane did love a man that I really wish she could have been with, it was okay because she was an independent woman with a free spirit who defied tradition and became a successful author. It was a triumphant ending and as this post's title suggests, I highly recommend it. This recommendation, however, extends only to the females, as it is a very feminine movie and I'm not sure that most males would find it enjoyable.

This movie was similar to another one I saw earlier this year that I also loved. Miss Potter is of course about Beatrix Potter's life, the author of Peter Rabbit and other children's tales. She also illustrated all her own stories. When I lived in London, we went to the Lake District and I visited the little house that Beatrix Potter lived in for a while. I was able to see where she got some of her ideas for her illustrations. The house also had a beautiful garden. Anyway, she falls in love with her book publisher and this story also includes love and loss. This one is a little more sad than Becoming Jane. If any of you know me you know that I don't cry in movies. This movie, however, did it and I cried (add this one to my growing list!— Eight Below, Miss Potter).

Anyway, I thought both movies represented great acting. I don't normally like Rene Zellweger, but she did a really good job as Beatrix Potter. You'll have to see Becoming Jane in the theater if you want to see it right now, but Miss Potter is out on DVD now, so check it out!

Welcome Home Jacob

Yes, he's finally home. We went to the airport last Friday to meet his flight that was suppose to arrive at 6:40 PM. He didn't walk through the gate until about 8:15 PM. It was the longest night ever! There were a couple of times when my mom would see someone coming who was wearing a suit and she'd yell "Here he comes!" We all had a laugh because one time it was this guy who looked like he'd had a long flight and a couple of drinks. His tie was loose, he had facial hair and a big scowl on his face.

As you can see, he looks great and we are trying to integrate him back into normal life. We took him to the Bourne Ultimatum the second night he was home (great movie by the way). He has seen everyone, except for Danny who comes this weekend for Jacob's homecoming talk. He even met his new nephew. Take a look at the precious picture of he and Cole below. We're glad to have him home!

FRIDAY!!!

Jacob comes home Friday, August 3rd at 6:30PM. His homecoming talk is Sunday, August 12th at 10:45AM. I'm so excited!