August Photo Challenge

I am going to participate in the August Photo Challenge by The Idea Room Blog.

Day 1 - Hat

This is one of my favorite pictures of my kids.

Day 2- Family

This was our last family picture at my daughters junior kindergarten graduation.

Stealing the Preacher by Karen Witemeyer

Stealing the Preacher is the second book in the Archer book series by Karen Witemeyer.  It is is a historical christian fiction book, and my favorite of this genre now! Even though it is the second book in the series you do not need the first to read this one, but I do recommend it if you want to read it see this post.

Crockett Archer is on his way to interview for a position as a preacher.  On the way there the train he is riding on is held up and he is taken captive. The head of the gang that takes him hostage is a retired outlaw and he takes Crockett back to his home to his daughter whose birthday wish was for a minister. When Crockett finally is able to leave to go see if the position is available his mind keeps going back to Joanna Robbins, the outlaws daughter, that has been praying for a preacher to fill the position in her area and hopefully lead her dad to God. Even though Crockett feels he is being lead to lead the people in the town he was to interview, God has other plans for him to become the preacher for Joanna's church.  There is a spark between Joanna and Crockett will it lead to more, will Crockett be able to lead Silas, Joanna's dad to God? If you want to know then you will just have to read this book because I don't want to spoil the ending.

There is some humor, romance, religion, and some dark situations in this book which made me laugh and cry. I love romance in Christian books because it is not over done and smutty. Religion wise it has a lot more then most Christian fiction because the story is based around a preacher. It was really nice to get to know Crockett more in this book because there wasn't much to him in the first story. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books that will be in this series and getting to know the rest of the Archer men too.

I received a free copy from Bethany Publishing Company for an honest review.

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould

Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould is the second book in The Courtships of Lancaster County.  This book can be read without reading the first book in the series.  Addie is the only daughter in the Cramer family.  She has always had to be responsible for so much because her mother can't handle doing many of the daily chores of an Amish family.While her brothers are aloud to do whatever during their rumspringa period, Addie's parents expect her to be good and do everything they ask of her. Her parents have even picked out who they want her to marry which is the bishops son.  Addie is not sure that she has feelings for him, and doubts it more when the Mosier family moves back and she meets Jonathon.  The Cramer and Mosier families have had a falling out in the past and they still do not get along. Addie and Jonathon try to figure out what the caused the families to have dislike each other so they could fix it.  When Addie's parents find out she has been seeing Jonathon they get upset and do everything they can to stop the relationship. Will she follow what her parents want her to do or will she stand up for herself and go after the one she truly loves?

I really enjoyed this book! It was interesting to see that Amish families don't always get along with other families like families outside of the Amish.  From everything I have read it seems like they are such a tight community that things like this would not happen, but again they are human so it can happen to everyone.  Addie was such a wonderful character, and I loved how she stood up for what she believed even though her parents tried to put a stop to it several times.  I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series that Leslie Gould writes. 
I received this book free from Bethany House Publishing Company for my honest review.

Check It Out

My shop is the featured shop of the week over at Violet's Buds! Go check it out to learn a bit more about me and my shop! There is also a giveaway going on for one of my owl pillows that I am sure you will want to enter!

Also, I was a sponsor shout out on Not Done Growing at the beginning of the month!

Lastly, I did a recipe review over at Simply Homemaking at the end of May!

Swept Away by Mary Connealy

Swept Away is the first book of Mary Connealy's that I have read. It is also the first book in the series Trouble in Texas.

About the Story -
Swept away when her wagon train attempts a difficult river crossing, Ruthy MacNeil isn't all that upset at being separated from the family who raised her. All they've ever done is work her to the bone. She prayed for a chance to get away, and then came the raging flood. Alive but disoriented, she's rescued by Luke Stone...so unfortunately, there are more chances to die in her immediate future.

Luke is heading home to reclaim the ranch stolen from his family. But the men who killed his father are working hard to ensure Luke doesn't make it alive. He has no choice but to keep moving. Still, he can't just abandon Ruthy, so she'll have to come along.

His friends--a ragtag group of former Civil War soldiers--take a fast interest in the pretty gal. Luke thinks that's rather rude--he's the one who found her. And the more time he spends around the hard-working young woman who is a mighty good cook, the more he finds himself thinking beyond revenge and toward a different future. For the first time in a long time, Luke is tempted to turn from his destructive path and be swept away by love.

My thoughts -
At the beginning of the story I had a really hard time getting into the book, but as it went on the harder it was for me to put down the book. The very end was the best with all the action in regaining the ranch. I love history so I enjoyed the back story of how Luke and all his friends met when they were prisoner's in Andersonville Confederate Prison. They all then moved to help him regain his ranch that was stolen. I hope to get to know them better in the future books of this series. Ruthy was a wonderful character that had been through a lot and I loved seeing her get right in the action of it all.  If you enjoy western or historical fiction and romance then you will enjoy this book.

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers for an honest review.

The Guardian by Beverly Lewis

From the back cover:

When Jodi Winfield comes to Lancaster to house-sit, the last thing she expects to find is a disheveled little girl alone on the side of the road.  The young teacher is mystified when she learns there have been no reports of a missing child, and the girl herself is no help, since can't speak English.  It's as if the child appeared out of nowhere.
Then Jodi turns her attention to Hickory Hollow --and the cloistered world of the Old Order Amish -- in search of answers.

My review:

I am a big fan of Beverly Lewis and her books about the Amish.  The Guardian was another one of her great books!  I can picture myself being in the story with the characters in this book.  Jodi, who is not Amish, comes into the lives of Amish by an unfortunate accident where an Amish child fell out of a wagon.  Jodi is still dealing with the death of her sister and having a hard time still believing in God, and doesn't want to have children with her fiance once they get married even though he wants to when she goes to house sit for her cousin. Jodi finds the lost little girl which leads her to the Amish world. The Amish world just might hold the answers she needs to move on with her life.  Jodi is not the only one looking for answers and how to move on after death of loved ones. Maryanna, the mother of the child that fell out of the wagon, and Joshua the neighbor of Maryanna are both dealing with their own issues after losing loved ones. I loved how it ended even though it would be considered predictable.  I am just one of those that love a happy ending.  Look forward to reading many more of Beverly Lewis's books!

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers for a honest review.

Summer

Where has the time gone? I can't believe that in two weeks my kids will be out of preschool and we will start enjoying the summer.  This summer comes with a lot of mixed emotions for me.  My daughter is graduating from junior kindergarten and after summer will be starting kindergarten.  She is so excited about this, while I am struggling with it.  At times it feels like it was just yesterday that I had her, and now I am going to have to let her out into this big world.  My son will still be with me for another year while attending junior kindergarten four days a week for three hours each day.  I know it will be a big adjustment for him too.  He does not know what to do if his sister is not around.  Normally we always take a family vacation over the summer but we won't be able to this year since we went to Disney World earlier this year.  Since, we won't be going any where I want to make this an extra special summer.  I am all ready working up a list of fun activities to do this summer, and will make sure to share lots of them with all of you. 


Do you have any fun plans for this summer?