OUTDOOR FUN & CALLED TO SERVE THE YSA

Two weeks ago, Scott and I were called to serve in the Louisville Young Single Adult (YSA) branch!  It's a huge change.  But we are up to the challenge.  I'm excited for the opportunity to love more people!  These young adults ROCK!  I  will definitely miss my Shelbyville ward and friends... but I know we'll still stay in the loop somehow... and in the meantime, we get to pretend we are young again with these awesome "kids!"

Gorgeous sunset

Amazing clouds

Look how beautiful Kentucky is!  I'm so lucky to live here!

I love this guy!

He's soooo cute!

And this girl is so funny!

She makes me smile!

This weekend we also spent some fun time with our DeThortenhausen family!  We went "camping."  Well... almost all of us did... Scott and I stayed for awhile and then retired to our own bed.  But I sure do love this crazy family of ours!

The Bettenhausen clan are some of
my all-time favorite people!!!

How cute are Apple Pie, Raisin and Jelly Bean?!

Yellow is my favorite color!

Thanks for the glow sticks, Katia!

Great man!

All of the kids loved the glow sticks...

If you look close, you can make out each Bettenhausen!

Jelly Bean thinks he's so cool!

And who can resist Raisin's great big grin?!

And even Karmel is adorable:
sporting her glow-stick necklace...

I also have read quite a few books the bast few weeks.

Graham Greene's The Third Man is a fun mystery/thriller set in post war Vienna.  I read the book because of our trip this summer to Vienna.  Greene was actually hired to write a screen play about post war Vienna, not a book.  But he wrote the novel too.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm looking forward to it, so I can see the places I've already seen in the movie.  I wish there was a bit more description throughout the book, but it was an easy, fun read.

This week I just finished reading The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan was an unusual and rewarding book about the lives of a small-town group of women as they deal with the trials of dealing with WWII on the home front in England.  The entire story is told through letters and diaries written by the women of Chilbury.  Tragedy: the war, bombings, food shortages, etc. befalls them, but Ryan depicts the strength and resolve of these women as they decide to determine the course of their lives, despite the thought that tomorrow may never come.  There is a comradery built up around the choir which pulls them together and gives them the courage to continue. I enjoyed the book.  There were parts that were frustrating.  But I loved the message of courage, growth, strength and building one another up that was prevalent in this great group of women.
Besides reading these two books, I've also finished re-reading the first 3 books in the Harry Potter book series again.  I sure love those iconic characters, stories and "magic!"  (Yes, I'm re-reading the entire series... so I've already started the 4th book too!)