Independence day

we had a time...




-

there are games afoot

enders game

we are playing games for july:)...

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

i have the good fortune of knowing this man...

mr. willard card, who is the father of

orson scott card...

nicest man ever...

the woman in in the picture is orson's sister

and they told me that mrs. card, orson's mother,

transcribed this 

entire book by hand 

for orson. mrs. card was also there

but in the background. she is 91 years old...

he thought it was very cool that we were reading this book for our book club...

by the way...

this is a great book for guys and kids if you want to include them. jeremy read it and loved it and matt and i are going to listen to it on our drive to torrey on friday...

(if you haven't read "hunger games" and want to substitute it for this book, do that.)

they are also making a movie out of this book

starring harrison ford as 

colonel hyrum graff and 

asa butterfield as ender wiggin

something to look forward to:)

~~~~~~~~~~

i didn't send out an email for this month because i was just too busy but the theme for this month is really just anything patriotic...

if you want to share anything that makes you feel patriotic, use intstagram 

and i will add it here...

use the hashtag #endersgamejuly

we had so much fun with our wednesday word game on instagram 

last month,

i thought i would continue it for another while...

try this word out and see what we come up with...

lots of fires going on here in utah and it's very scary...

have a safe 4th of july...

bye...

more later...

a book review and wednesday fun:)

a book review by lindsay....

Hey I just finished Junes book. 

I finally got my notice from the library that the Book Thief is in, so I'm reading that next (oops a little backwards).

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a wonderful read. 

I loved how, just by letters, you came to know and love all the characters.  It was very unique. I thought the book was insightful, heartbreaking, entertaining and witty. There is a quote in the book that says 

"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some secret homing instinct in books that bring them to there perfect readers". 

The authors were

 able to show the truth to this quote with each of the characters.

I loved how books helped uplift the Guernsey Literary Society during very hard times.  

And how you could tell each characters personality by the books they chose, although they didn't have many to choose from.

I really enjoyed this book. 

It left me wanting more! I give it 5 stars.

From Lindsay 

i agree with lindsay...

i think this book made me remember it was like when 

we really did write letters.

funny how a real story can be told just from correspondence. 

no shorthand:)

i think reading and writing letters was actual entertainment

for them and they waited for days or weeks for

a reply...

can you imagine the patience it took?

i too loved this book and i give it 5 stars...

i understand they are making a

movie out of it with kate winslet as juliet...

i am looking forward to seeing it...

~~~~~

we have been having so much fun with our wednesday word challenge...

it has actually been unbelievable...

here is a look at what went on...

my favorite were the the cutie pies

we even had a little pie crime:)

so much fun...

thanks everyone. 

i was amazed at how many people played along...

bye...

more later...

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I love instagram:)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"think of me when you drink tea"

an exceptional movie set in london during the war 

starring a very young harrison ford and lesley ann down. everything about this movie is perfect. 

although mostly a bittersweet love story, 

the entire movie is a delightful surprise full of wartime suspense and the sacrifices made in the name of friendship.

you will love the ending, 

even though it will be hard to see through the tears.

this movie was made before harrison ford became a star. 

what a treasure!

i picked this movie because it was a ww2 romance 

and another one of my favs:)

it was made in 1979 when i was a teenager

and i thought harrison ford was

gorgeous...

lesley ann down

harrison ford

christopher plummer

some of my favorite quotes from the movie:

trying desparatley hard not to fall in love with margaret, david says to her 

"i just wish your eyes weren't that color" 

david halloran:I love you enough to let you go, which is more than I've ever felt about anyone in my life. 

"You've got to go to him, and I've got to turn and walk away."

"think of me when you drink tea"

i loved it! 

~~~~~

our new wednesday word,

and the last for this book

is...

have fun...

bye...

more later...

"her name is hope"

"you give out hope like it was candy in your pocket"

the postman

post-apocalyptic america. 

a drifter who finds a bag of mail...

what begins as a con game becomes one man's quest to rebuild civilization by resuming postal service and unwittingly restoring hope to a country that is nearly completely

without it...

kevin costner plays a drifter who stumbles across and old abandoned u.s. mail truck and crawls inside to keep warm...

while he is in there, along with the long dead corpse of a postman, he finds a bag of letters that were never delivered and reads them by the the light of a cigarette lighter...

he then takes the bag of letters and the uniform of the postman, which

 he takes solely for warmth,

and poses as a 

letter carrier and with empty promises of aid from the "restored united states of america," gives hope to a community threatened by local warlords...

this is one of my all-time favorite movies and i picked it for a couple of reasons...

first of all:

of course it goes along with great our letter theme...

it also has a great reluctant hero

and kevin costner, in my opinion, 

is fantastic in this movie... 

it is incredibly patriotic  

i always love to watch it this time of year...

i think the quality of of movie that has a villain in it

is almost completly defined by the 

quality of that villain...

will patton is general bethlehem

and is so charming and creepy...

he is incredible...

  

and last but not least...

it has tom petty as the bridge city mayor...

my favorite quote from this movie is when kevin costner's character says to him "i know you, you're...famous."

and tom petty replies 

"yea, i was once, sorta".

some other lines i loved:

general bethlehem: you see the reason you don't want to die for anything is because you have nothing to die for. that's the difference between you and me. you don't believe in anything. 

the postman: i believe in the united states

```

the postman: wouldn't it be great if wars could be fought just by the assholes who started them? 

(at the end of the movie, abby introduces the postman to her baby)
abby: this is your daughter...
her name is hope.

this movie is great for the patrotic season...

i loved it...

~~~~~~~~

bye...

more later... 

blueberries and tea

this is another awesome

recipe

sent to me by dallys...

"made from scratch"

blueberry cake...

delish!

she made it and it turned out so good...

we thought it went great with bbq:)

try it and tell us what you think...

 

earl grey creme black tea

my mom has been staying with me a little

the past few weeks and on the mornings that i have

off, i made some earl grey creme black tea for her

from teavana

Description

High tea is further elevated with tart bergamot orange tastefully tempered by creamy Madagascar vanilla then blended with the classic pomp of an Earl Grey black tea. A majestically smooth confection that is now available any time the senses desire. Sprinkled with sunny blue cornflowers, this full leaf wonder is divinely delicious with a silky sweet finish. Dairy Free.

Smooth infusion with bergamot overtones

i had it again after she left and realized that it now reminds me of her....

i created a memory...

how about that?

mums tea:)

~~~~~~~

here is a look at our new wednesday word

our book is set on the island of guernsey and so much of what is explained in the letters talks about the sea...

so anything that the word inspires...

have fun...

bye...

more later...