Fictional Book Review

Mary Connealy writes in a way that holdsyou to her story till the end. Intrigue and a good story plot kept my attention. It is a nice mix of Western, action and a sweet story of a abused woman discovering a purpose through her life.

"Swept Away" begins with Ruthy MacNeil on a wagon train, being verbally abused by her "parents". Her real parents had passed away and her new "parents" horribly abuse her physically, verbally and emotionally. They expect Ruthy, a scrappy young woman, to meet their every need including becoming the wife of their son Virgil. All along the trail Ruthy prays to be rescued.
Her rescue comes about when, against her warning and better judgment, her "father" decides to cross a rain swollen river during a storm. A flash flood causes Ruthy to be swept away from the others on the wagon train. Ruthy survives, though apparently everyone else is lost.
Days later and miles downriver, Ruthy is rescued, by Luke Stone. Luke is a Civil War veteran coming home to claim his stolen farm. Luke feels God placed him where he could find Ruthy, but he needs to get back to Broken Wheel, the closest town to his farm. Putting an unconscious Ruthy on his horse, he takes her with him.
After she recuperates, Ruthy wants to help Luke and his friends reclaim Luke's farm. Although they strongly protest against her help, Ruthy doesn't take any nonsense from them and because of her past proves she is strong and trustworthy
Many issues are dealt with, Ruthy's abuse, Luke's desire for vengeance and spousal abuse, to name a few. Each circumstance is met with prayer and a desire to do God's will. Mary has woven in Christian values. For example, Luke's friends from the Regulators are war seasoned men but they all love Jesus. Their goal in the end is to take the criminals but not kill them. You will have to read the story to find out what happens. I recommend this adventure/romance. You will not be able to put it down.

Swept Away is the brand new book one of the Trouble in Texas Series. I'm looking forward to reading the remainder of the series as they are published.

This book was provided to me by Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Jesus loves Barabas

My sweet boys and our Apple tree.

A Little Boy
Scuffed up knees, a freckled nose
with dimples here and there.
A daring, caring, sharing heart
a mass of tossled hair.
Boundless curiosity
the spirit to explore.
Two twinkling eyes, a smiling face
and energy galore!
A love of life, a bit of sass
a source of untold joy.
A wonderment, a dream fullfilled
God's miracle................ a BOY  !!

T-ball and lots of Smiles

Grayson in some candid moments during our alone time together.

 Cute little video of munchkin playing....

Spring work and play

This spring Joel undertook building a privacy fence on the side of our house. He worked mainly in the morning when Kadence was at school but he did have another little helper that loved digging in the dirt and following daddy around.
He did a great job and the finished product is very much appreciated.

We went out to visit the goats that we get fresh milk from and I was able to take some really nice distance shots of Kadence without him knowing I was taking his picture. He played and ran around with them for over an hour having an absolute blast.
They really turned out cute and I love how sweet he is playing with the goats.

Kadence School Recitaion for March

 This is a small video of part of the last song the kids recited. It was about all the mammals they have been learning about. It is so cute and quite humorous. Kadence lets out a big yawn at the beginning which makes it even more entertaining.:

Army formal Time

My new photographer took this of Joel and I before we headed out to the MSU Army ROTC Banquet.

New house siding Photos

Our house on Park Ave. has undergone a transformation and now looks very modern and brand new.
(The lighting is mid day so the colors are rather muted.)

Puppet fun

Kiwi Crate had a really fun kit this month. Kadence created the masks himself and even made one for me...we had so much fun playing around with them and taking goofy pictures. Kadence now really likes taking pictures also and wanted to take some of me, surprisingly his shots turned out very cute. He wanted me to let you know that his mask has a name ...it is Jake.

Some fun Pictures of Grayson 18 months

 He really likes to put on hats and wear them around the house. He was very excited when he found Kadence ski helmet and even got that heavy thing on himself!

 "Taking puppy for a walk...

 "here I come...

 "this is my puppy face with the tongue out to the side accompanied with small WOOFS."

 Grayson now poses for me when I say smile for a picture this is the cute little posed smile I get. He even ran and got another dog for the picture.

 Just another close up of that adorable posed smile and crinkled up nose.

 This is his natural smile...he is such a goofball.