Happy Halloween!

Yay for Halloween, my favorite holiday! This year the kids all chose very different costumes, no family theme, but that's okay. Maybe next year. Sophie is a zombie (seems like our Walking Dead obsession has rubbed off on our oldest, though she has never actually watched the show) and her T-shirt is a torn up My Little Pony shirt that says "Ponies Forever" - for some reason I think that is the most awesome zombie shirt ever.:) Ben is a Gryffindor appropriately named Ben. Not Harry, not Ron or Neville. Ben. How I love my boy! Nina is Merida from Brave and she loves her costume including the wig and oh my goodness how adorable she is in it! I have a feeling we're going to be seeing Nina dressed up as Merida frequently now that this costume will be in our costume trunk. And last but certainly not least our little Clara is a lady bug. Seriously I could just eat her up - she is so cute!! Thanks to my friend Tracy for giving me this cute and cozy little sleeper costume at Clara's baby shower!

Well the chili is in the crockpot and the pumpkin seeds have been roasted so we are ready for a fun filled Halloween evening. Our family movie this year is going to be Goonies after the trick or treating. So I say bring on the Reese's peanut butter cups and Twizzlers. I'm looking forward to my share (commission) of the kids candy!!:) Happy happy Halloween!!!

Our Clara

Welcome home Clara Lily. We feel so happy and thankful to have this sweet baby in our family. We love you Clara!

June Days (the not so lazy days of summer)

Another month gone by with nary a post. I'm such a slacker. Or I've just been on Pinterest and food blogs waaay to much! Well here's another month in pictures. June was quite the busy month for us. Nina's ballet/tap recital, Sophie's girls camp, Ben's scout camp...  And of course keeping up with the kids' piano lessons, swimming lessons, and soccer games. Fun times.

I also instituted a summer learning program for the kids. Every week day, almost :), the kids have worksheets (I've been using Summer Bridge activity books for Ben and Nina and a Geometry workbook for Sophie), reading, and journal pages to complete. I made some punch cards and they get a hole punch once they've done their work. After 5 punches they get an agreed upon treat. We've had frozen yogurt, gone to movies, and this week they are working towards a trip to Krispie Kreme. It has been our most successful summer "mom school" yet. Yay. And the great part is that if they complain they don't get a punch. So I haven't heard any complaints. I think I'm sticking with this plan every summer.

Seriously, can this child get any cuter than in her ballet costume??!! I love it. The dance recital was all about Snow White. During her ballet dance her class danced with Snow White, and during her tap dance she was a little dwarf tapping around with the 7 Dwarfs. It was addddoorrrabbbllle!!!

From all accounts Sophie had a fantastic time at girls camp. She loves it every year. She is such a camper! And she loves staying up late laughing and talking with her friends. The theme this year was princesses and because of the new Brave movie with archery as a major focus, Sophie got to fulfill her Katniss dream of shooting with a bow. (She's the 5th one from the right in the picture.) She loved it. As a matter of fact she loved it so much that she talked her Dad into talking her to a place where they could shoot arrows together. (Honestly, it was not a hard sell as Adrian has Hawkeye dreams of his own.) As I write this she is at a bow hunting practice range shooting with Ben and Adrian having an awesome time. It will probably become a regular Saturday activity for them. My funny family. Hunger Games and Avengers has changed our lives, but as a plus we'll be good when the zombie apocalypse happens because bow hunting skillz seem to be a major plus in Walking Dead. Just to get one more geek reference in this paragraph - the Hobbit comes out in December!!Woot!

Oh how my boy loved Cub Scout camp. For 3 days he got to play games, do leather crafting (he made a new case for his DS), pan for gold, and revel in all things scouting. Everyday he came home so incredibly dirty - like Olympic gold medal in dirt dirty - though he does look kinda clean in those pictures. Rolling in mud must have been the next activity that day. I think he wishes scout camp could go on forever!

And last but not least, Father's Day. I must embarrass Adrian every year with a picture the moment after our children piled into bed and wake him up. He's a good sport. He is not allowed to take any similar pictures on Mother's day.:) We had a fun day on Father's day with presents (a new charcoal grill and some Eddie Bauer shirts - Adrian cannot have enough plaid shirts), church, ribs, pasta salad, and corn on the cob for dinner and fresh peach pie for dessert. Then we ended the day with a family movie night with Journey 2. We love you Adrian! You are the best husband and father!

May Days

Wow, a whole lot happened in May yet I never got around to posting about it, so here's the recap in mostly pictures.

Mother's Day. Super fun and lovely. The kids woke me up with breakfast in bed (chocolate croissant - yum!) and gifts. I got to go to Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society during church because the men of the ward took over Primary, which was great. Adrian made dinner and bread sticks to go along with it - the first time he's ever made bread and he did a great job.

Nina had her Humpty Dumpty Day (aka egg drop) at school and her egg survived due to this foam contraption Adrian and Nina made together.

The kids had their last day of school and Nina graduated from kindergarten! I now have perspective 8th, 3rd, and 1st graders. That is crazy to me. This school year went by SO fast!

Ben's 1st Pine Wood Derby

Last night was Ben's first Pine Wood Derby and oh my was he excited about it. Adrian and Ben worked so hard on his car. Ben did a lot of the final sanding himself and we all worked on the paint job. I made the lightning stencil for him. Very fun stuff. It was a pretty good little car in the races too, though it didn't place. Adrian and Ben have already started formulating a plan for next year to make a faster car. Ben has a pine wood derby car book and it's now a permanent fixture on his bedside table. At home, after the derby Ben asked if we were still proud of him - seriously he is so tender-hearted - and Adrian picked him up and paraded him around the house saying very loudly, "this is my son Ben and I'm very very proud of him!" It was a sweet moment. Well done Ben and Adrian!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Today has been great and also stressful (for me at least). I gave a talk in sacrament, on Easter... I don't know why it's so stressful, but it was. I guess because of all the Sundays each year I look forward to Easter Sunday the most. I love the focus on the atonement and resurrection and I usually leave church feeling spiritually fed. Not that I don't try to feel that way every Sunday, but Easter is special. I gave the talk on the resurrection. Preparing for it was a great experience. I've been reading so many talks and scriptures, that it really helped me to focus on the Savior this week. As for the actual talk, well I'm just glad I didn't pass out (my heart was beating SO fast!). And I followed Tracy's rule of always getting a new dress when you talk, so I got a new Easter dress too, which made me happy.

Here's a few outside pictures with the new Easter outfits. The kids all have super squinty eyes outside. They all have Adrian's very sensitive eyes, which is why you don't see Adrian in these pictures at all.

Everyone complaining to me that they want to go inside. "The sun is too bright!!" I call them my vampire children.

Happy Birthday Adrian!

Adrian had a birthday last month! (And I'm finally getting around to posting about it.) We went out for hibachi as a family and then at home we had cake and presents and played Risk. It was a very Adrian birthday. Just look at how happy he looks surrounded by his children and Risk pieces.:) We love you tons and tons Adrian. You are an awesome husband and father!

General Conference Basket

Every year it seems like I do something different to get the kids excited about General Conference. Sometimes its Conference bingo sheets, or Conference notebooks, or just a basket of Conference treats to munch on during the sessions. For Conference this weekend I saw a great idea on Pinterest (which I am currently addicted to), you make bags for each general authority and the kids can do or munch on whatever is in that bag during that talk. Yay. It sounded fun. So last night I went to Target and got a bunch of treats/snacks and coloring/activity books/etc. to put the bags together. Thank goodness for the dollar section. The checkout clerk totally judged me and said I "sure was buying a lot of junk food". Sheesh. Then she said when she saw my carrots and celery (for a chicken noodle soup I'm making soon) she said, "at least you make your kids eat some vegetables". Holy moly. Stop the judging! It was just too much for me at that point (I could feel my face had turned a bit red) to explain the whole General Conference treats thing, so I just smiled when really I wanted to hurt her. But I'm okay now. Harboring bad feeling towards a clerk who was probably just trying to make conversation would hardly be General Conference-like. :) Anywho, I hope the kids like this incarnation of the Conference Basket and that it helps them to be excited about watching all the sessions this weekend.

So here is my list of goodies/activities for each bag:

• President Monson: Fun Size M&Ms
• President Eyring: Twizzlers
• President Uchtdorf: Gummy Bears (because he's from Germany :))
• Elder Packer: Coloring Books/ Hidden Picture Activity Book
• Elder Perry: Stickers
• Elder Nelson: Pringles
• Elder Oaks: Fun Size Almond Joys (my whole family loves these - Elder Oaks will be very popular)
• Elder Ballard: Lego Mini-Figures
• Elder Scott: Rice Krispie Treats
• Elder Hales: Dried Pineapple
• Elder Holland: Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (another apostle who is going to be very popular)
• Elder Bednar: Little 100 Calorie Twinkie Packs
• Elder Cook: Felt Coloring Posters with Markers
• Elder Christofferson: 100 Calorie Milano Cookie Packs
• Elder Anderson: Snackwell Caramel Popcorn Packs

**Then in the back of the basket I have a folder with a bunch of coloring pages and Conference activity sheets to do any time during Conference.

Hunger Games

Adrian and I went to the Hunger Games midnight show a week ago and it was SO fun! I love that we can be crazy together.:) I thought the movie was so well done. I love the actors they chose and thought it was one of the best book adaptations I've ever seen. I guess that's what you get when the writer is one of the screen writers too. Didn't you think the acting was great?! Oh, and have you listened to the soundtrack?? For the most part it's very Appalachian folky and I love it, surprisingly. (I'm not as big of a fan of the Taylor Swift songs, but I can see why they choose her since this movie is so big with teens.) "Daughter's Lament" actually made me a little misty the first time I heard it and the Maroon 5 song is haunting and gorgeous. Oooh oooh and you can also buy Sting's "Down in the Meadow" on i-Tunes and it's a beautiful lullaby.

Cub Scouting Fun

Ben just started Cub Scouts a couple months ago and he adores it. The structure and goals are right up his alley. He thrives on that. Ben makes new years resolutions for himself and actually works on them. This year one of his resolutions was to learn more about South America and he's totally working on it. I think it's an awesome part of his personality and I really hope he keeps it up. So anywho, Scouts is just the best thing in the world to Ben because it's all about working on new thing and signing them off. He's having fun. Here's a couple of pictures of what he has been up to. He and Adrian are SO looking forward to the Pine Wood Derby. I can't wait to see what kind of car they make.

Ben with his Bobcat badge and the Mom's pin for the Bobcat which he really didn't want to relinquish to me.:)

Ben with his Blue and Gold Banquet cake. Our pack has the tradition of the scouts and their dad's making cakes together for the banquet, so Ben and Adrian made this rocking Angry birds cake. I think it's so cute and was so impressed that they made the fondant and decorated it all themselves.

About Some Movies

Adrian and I have been to a few really interesting movies so far this year so I thought I'd do some reviews. We like to call movie watching our joint hobby and I think we're fairly accomplished at it.:)

The Woman in Black (PG13)
This is the perfect horror movie. It is a period movie. Nice. It is super scary and intense. Yay! Oh man all the wide shots with the woman in black in the background or barely sneaking into the shot. SCARY!  And it stars Daniel Radcliffe. Awesome! I kept wanting to yell out, "Your WAND Harry, use your WAND!". Adrian and I both read the book the movie is based on before we saw it (because if there's a book I try to read it first) so we knew it was a disturbing little tale, but wow the movie was 100 times scarier than the book. There is one 10 minute sequence when I thought I wasn't going to be able to take it any more - it was terrifying and intense - but I love the adrenaline rush of being scared so it was still fun. If you like being scared, go see this movie! There is hardly anytime to come up for air, it stays frightening the entire time! I've seen some reviews where the critics say it's not scary enough, but I say to those people you have nerves of steel.

The Artist (PG13)
I really really liked this movie. I thought it was fresh and creative. The story was great. It is about a silent film star's fall from stardom as talkies become popular. I loved all the little details like when he is looking at the tux in the window and he is remembering what it was like to be loved and respected. I thought the acting was amazing because the whole movie was moved along through body language and expression. (For the most part it is a silent black and white movie.) The ending was joyful and poignant. That being said, it was not Adrian's favorite movie. He thought it was slow. To him I say bah! It was great!

Chronicle (PG13)
We just saw this one on Friday and I was really impressed by it. I really like outside-the-box movies and this one really was outside the box. It is a "found footage" movie kind of like The Blair Witch Project, so it is very real feeling even though unbelievable stuff happens. My synopsis: a bullied and abused kid, Andrew (who happens to look exactly like a young, scrawnier, Leonardo DiCaprio), and his 2 friends receive some amazing powers from an extra-terrestrial experience. At first as they explore their new abilities it is light and humorous, but then things spin out of control as the darker side of their powers takes over. Andrew, especially, does some bad freaky stuff. I thought Andrew was a compelling and well developed character and his payback to those who hurt him is a bullied kid's wish fulfillment fantasy. It gets disturbing, but it is fascinating and the freshest take on a superhero movie I have ever seen. Okay, so there is one scene that is inappropriate, so I wouldn't say it is for everyone, and it gets violent, but it never felt like an R rated movie so I was okay with it. Overall I was super impressed with the movie. It was thought provoking and interesting.

I've also seen The Vow, Warhorse, and The Iron Lady. I thought Meryl Streep was amazing as Margaret Thatcher! Warhorse was beautiful to look at, but a bit self-important and slow. And The Vow was as good as I expected - not stellar, but an entertaining love story that was good for Valentine's day. I want to see This Means War, I love Tom Hardy, Gone, and I can't wait for The Hunger Games. Are you as excited as I am for March 23rd??

Our Valentine's

Valentine's Art 
I have to start off with my romantic Valentine's day art history image because I forgot to do it yesterday. I totally slacked off! This is The Kiss by Francesco Hayez. The date: 1859, medium: oil on canvass, and the style: Italian Romanticism - yes, that sounds like a test answer I would have written in a blue book many long years ago (it seems anyway) as an art history student. Isn't this painting beautiful and romantic and passionate?! I love it. Here's my little art schpeel on it. An interesting thing to note is that you can not actually make out the faces of either the man or the woman, so that the kiss is the emphasis. The woman is leaning back and the man leaning forward with his knee bent on the stair to support her. I'd say that is swoon-worthy. Then there is his general position, the sense of urgency to the kiss, and the dark figures lurking in the shadow of the doorway, leading you to believe he is leaving, in haste, and at any second something dangerous could happen to either one of them. It creates real drama and emotion. Is he an outlaw? Are they married? Has he been accused of a crime he hasn't committed and is running off before getting caught? Or is she married to or marrying someone else, but this is the man she really loves? You can make up any story for this lovely couple and put this kiss smack in the middle of it. I love it! And I love the satiny folds of her dress catching the light. It is a gorgeously rendered painting. Nice on ya Francesco Hayez! I think this is the perfect intriguing and passionate art image for Valentines day - or the day after Valentine's day. Next year I'll be better.

Valentine's Breakfast
Every year I love this tradition even more. We had a breakfast of caramel pull-apart rolls together before Sophie went to school and everyone opened their valentines and books from moi. I got Adrian 2 dystopian classics: A Brave New World and The Giver. He loves dystopian literature. 1984 is like his favorite book. I think it's a tiny bit insane, but I love him so I love his dystopian-loving-ness. Sophie got another book in the Gallagher Girls series, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy. Ben got a Goosebumps and Nina got a Tangled sticker book. I love giving books on Valentines day. It makes me feel warm and happy inside. The caramel pull-apart rolls do that too.:)

Valentine's Bento
I love making holiday lunches and my kids get a kick out of them. I packed them homemade poptarts (Sophie's and Ben's favorite), heart shaped cheeses, strawberries with a bento pick, and Valentine candies.

Valentine's Party
Adrian and I both got to go to Nina's kindergarten Valentine's party. Adrian had a dentist appointment in the morning and could squeeze in the party before going to it. We helped Nina pass her valentines out and watched as she made a little valentines craft. It was very cute and I think she was tickled that both her mom and dad were there.

Valentine's Date
Adrian and I went out to our favorite Japanese hibachi restaurant and oh man it was good. This is I think our 3rd Valentine's date to this particular eatery. (We go there for anniversaries and birthdays too! Any special occasion calls for hibachi.) The steak at this place almost melts in your mouth. SO good. And of course it was wonderful to spend the night out together, talking about our lives, a little bit about politics, and swooning over the amazing food. Perfect. When we got home we watched the Valentine's episode of 30 Rock - the IKEA part made me laugh so hard! It was a great night and the box of Godiva chocolates from my husband made it even better. I heart Valentine's day.

2011 Book List

These are the books I read in 2011 and my short little reviews to go along with them. I loved a lot of these books and a couple... well I'm just glad I got through them (or in some cases not so glad).

1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - Oh how I love this book. It makes me happy in its sick and twisted way, remembering of course that "sad is happy for deep people" (that is one of my all time favorite quotes - it's from the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who). This time I reread it for a book club that I hosted.
2. Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist - This was definitely fluff, but fun. It is a romance between a maid and a rugged footman at the Biltmore Estate.
3. The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell - This was a fun murder mystery. I don't know if I loved all the fat jokes, but it was a fast, effortless read and the main character was very funny.
4. The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond - I think this was the best fluff I read in 2011. I loved it. It is the real story of how one of my favorite food bloggers, Pioneer Woman, met and married her husband, aka Marlboro Man. It was hilarious, sweet, and romantic.
5. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore - Lame. I'm sorry to say that, but yeah. It is a good book for a 12 year old  (it was really on about a 5th or 6th grade level) and though movie was kinda enjoyable, the book was poorly written and predictable.
6. O Pioneers by Willa Cather - I am going to seem like such a hater, because Willa Cather is a great author from all accounts, but I did not love this book. I wanted to, I really did, but it was so boring and I never seemed to connect with any of the characters. Then the ending was horrible. Horrible. I've heard My Antonia is amazing, so I think I need to read that one to feel better about Willa Cather. 
7. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - This book really did change the way I think about food. It made me want to make everything possible from scratch and made me love butter even more than I already do. That chapter on margarine scared me! I really recommend this book.
8. The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker - Okay so this book may not be for everyone -there is some language and Elna can be a little crass- but it is hilarious. It is the memoir of a young LDS woman in New York City. Elna struggles with her testimony, the culture of the church, her weight, her family (oh her mother is funny), and living and dating in New York City. I think Elna's struggles are real and human and her voice as narrator is refreshing and honest. She makes some bad choices that are hard to read, but overall I really liked the book.
9. Elephant Run by Roland Smith - This book is a young adult fiction and takes place on a Japanese occupied elephant plantation in Burma during WWII. Interesting stuff. It was an enjoyable fast read and I think a great one for kids. Sophie read it after me and liked it too.
10. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - I read this one right before the movie came out because I always like to read the book first. The atmosphere of this book was great and I can see why it was a best seller. It was beautifully written and the main character, Jacob, was very sweet and sympathetic. It had some rough parts, don't go near the hooch tent, but that's what you get with contemporary fiction. And oh yeah, the movie was also great with Robert Pattinson playing Jacob.:)
11. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - I had never read this before and I loved it! An amazing classic. When I was reading it I convinced myself I liked it better than Pride and Prejudice, it was that good, but then with time lapsing I must admit I still think Mr. Darcy is the dreamiest so Pride and Prejudice is still my favorite Austen. I did gasp in shock during some of the worst Willoughby moments. He is awful!
12. The Message by Lance Richardson - I read this for a book club and it is the near death experience of Lance Richardson, who was a member of the church and has since writing this passed away. It was an interesting read, but for me a little uncomfortable when I thought he described things that may have been too-personal of spiritual experiences. It was an good book club discussion though.
13. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright - Super fast, enjoyable, yet sappy read. I liked the idea of all these love letters, so sweet, but I thought the plot was lacking.
14. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyers - I can't help but be sucked back into this one from time to time. I heart Edward. 
15. Devil In the White City by Erik Larson - Great great book. Wow H.H. Holmes was one scary serial killer. I must admit the Worlds Fair parts, as fascinating and informative as they were, were a bit boring. Every Holmes part kept me reading though and I highly recommend it.
16. Twilight by Stephenie Meyers - Okay, so #14 just wasn't enough. I really do heart Edward.
17. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua - This book is so controversial and fascinating. Amy Chua's style of parenting is abusive, but some of her thoughts were intriguing. I think you have to read it to understand. Her Chinese parenting certainly gets results. Her kids are amazing musicians and very successful in school, but she was so mean to her children. And I didn't like her stance that all Western parenting is indulgent and ineffective.
18. These Is My Words by Nancy Turner - I had heard this was great and it was really good, but took me a while to get into. And I didn't like the ending, but unlike O Pioneers I did love the characters and the romance. Altogether a good book.
19. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella - I read this on vacation and it was the perfect get-away type read.
20. Watermelon by Marian Keyes - I really liked this quirky little read. It is about a woman whose husband leaves her right after she gives birth to their daughter, horrible I know, and she decided to take herself and her new baby back home to her family in Dublin. It is a touching and funny book about learning to move on. And I liked being in Dublin.
21. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton - I liked this one. It was a generational story with romance and mystery. I did think it could have been tightened up a bit, the middle got a little boring, but all in all I really liked it. I plan on reading another Kate Morton soon.
22. And Then There Where None by Agatha Christie - I am such an Agatha Christie fan! This one is great. It was a complete mystery till the end for me, I could have never thought up the who-done-it part.
23. Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie - Loved this one! I loved having it be a Halloween themed murder mystery. Oh and the Masterpiece Mystery version of this on PBS was great!
24. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer - I'm too honest in my book lists. I should leave out the embarrassing ones... Please don't judge. And anyways I skip entire sections when I read this book so I really only read about 80 pages and then pretend the rest didn't actually happen. I like my version of Breaking Dawn with no monster baby. :)
25. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - I can't believe I made it through this book. It was painful, bleak, and completely pointless. Nothing good happens. Everyone is miserable. The "love story" is awful. This book is on the New York Times Top 100 Best Books of All Time, which is mostly the reason I kept reading, that and because it was for a book club. I can sort of understand why critics like it - it is very artistically written, but wow it was rough.
26. The Spy Wore Red by Countess Aline Romanones - I read this for a book club and it was really good. It is the memoir of a female spy in Spain during WWII. I like Aline. She was a spunky and gutsy spy. I don't know if I completely believed everything in her story (I'm sure she embellished) but I liked it and it was a nice change of pace from your usual not-so-fun-to-read WWII stories. 
27. Pumpkin Roll by Josi S. Kilpack - Please don't judge me for this one either. It is a LDS murder mystery novel with a sort of Mormon Ms. Marples. Total fluff. But seriously after I read The Blind Assassin I needed some brain candy. I didn't even love this book, but it was mindless and enjoyable and sometimes that's what you need, like mental mouthwash.
28. Persuasion by Jane Austen - Oh what a beautiful book Persuasion is. I loved every moment reading this. From Anne's horrible father to her hypochondriac sister to the wonder that Captain Wentworth is. It was the most real feeling Austen novel I have ever read. Anne especially felt so real. It makes you wonder if it was somewhat autobiographical given what little we know of Jane Austen and her brief engagement. 
29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling - I read this one to Ben and we both loved it, of course.
30. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - Again. I just love this book. The atmosphere is amazing and I love being in that house, even though it's creepy. Mrs. Danvers is in my opinion one of the scariest characters ever. I'm talking scarier than Gage in Pet Cemetery. She makes your skin crawl. Ooh, she is bad. Great writing.
31. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - Great book. I thought it was so romantic and I loved all of it. A few friends said it was boring, but I didn't think so. It kept my attention and I read it really quickly. Being on the Scottish coast with these characters was great while it lasted!
32. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - I finally gave in and read this. Adrian had been trying to get me to read it for years. I liked it. I didn't think I would, but I did. I was surprised by how much Orson Scott Card got right, I mean this thing was written in the 80's before the internet and he talked about "the nets". Really cool. And I loved Ender. How can you not? I'm excited for the movie to come out next year with the kid from Hugo playing Ender.
33. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Wonderful, beautifully written book. I loved Cassandra, the narrator. She was so witty and her narration was poignant and imaginative. All the characters were so complex and developed. I just loved it! Though, I wanted to kill Cassandra for not liking Stephen. Stephen is the sweetest character ever. Amazing book. You gotta read it.
34. The Queen of Hearts by Martha Brooks - This was a great young adult fiction that Corinne recommend on her book blog. It was such an interesting story about a young girl with tuberculosis in a Sanatorium in Canada during WWII. It's a coming of age story and though it was a quick read you really got to know the characters and their struggles. I especially loved her relationship with her roommate, Signy. Sophie read it right after me, she like it too, and it was neat to discuss with her.

I read some great books that are sure to be long time favorites like I Capture the Castle, Ender's Game, Persuasion, The Winter Sea, and The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. I read some stinkers like I Am Number Four and The Blind Assassin. Thankfully I read a lot more good than bad. My best for 2011 has to go to... Persuasion. Anne Elliot is an amazing character and even in the midst of her person pain she was always truly good, giving service and comforting others. I want to be like Anne.

Of course I've already started my 2012 readings and have quite a number of books sitting on my to-be-read-soon shelf. I'm going to try to read another Susanna Kearsley book since I loved The Winter Sea and I really want to read Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I hope they're good. I wish you wonderful reads in 2012!

Ben's Baptism

Ben had a very special day on Saturday, he was baptized, confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and received the Holy Ghost. That is a big and important day! We are so happy with the decision he made to be baptized. Even though he is only 8 years old I can honestly say he took the decision to be baptized very seriously. At his baptism he had many friends and his Grandma and Grandpa there to show their love and support for him. Thanks to everyone who came and also to those who couldn't be there, but sent cards and well wishes. Adrian baptized and confirmed Ben and Sophie gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. It was a wonderful experience and Ben says he felt good inside and warm even though the water was cold. :)

Sophie's Recital

Sophie's annual piano recital was this last weekend. She played Fur Elise by Beethoven and Prelude in C Major by Bach. She has been working on Fur Elise for quite a while and it was great to hear her play it so well. We are so proud of Sophie and the progress she has made. She plays beautifully. When Sophie was born both Adrian and I looked at her hands with her too-long-for-a-newborn fingers and said someday she would be a great pianist and we were right!:)