FSA Play Date

A couple of weeks ago we had another fun FSA playdate. It was at one of our favorite parks, and we had a great time! It was a very pretty morning, and I was able to snap some pics of Katelee having fun with her "adoption friends."

Katelee LOVED this swingy toy. She spend most of her time playing on it.

And the long windy slide.

A few good reads...

I'm always looking for a new good book. I love when I find a list of good books on someone else's blog or hear about a good read in conversation. But even though I read all the time, it seems that often when someone asks me for a book recommendation, I draw a huge blank. Ummmm ... what was that one book again?

Which is why I occasionally like to post some of my recent favorite reads on my blog. Maybe, just maybe, someone out there hasn't read one of these books yet and I'll give them something to add to their library list.

But mostly it's so I will remember myself.

Matched by Ally Condie

A futuristic distopian novel - I know there's been a ton of these lately, but I really enjoyed this book! The only drawback is that it leaves you hanging. If you hate that, I suggest waiting until the series is done before starting this one. But if you can handle a little anticipation this is a book that will draw you in!

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Loved. It. Beautifully written, this book kept me thinking about it for days. Set in Seattle during WWII. I highly recommend this book!

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Do you love Jane Eyre, like I do? This is a very similar, gothic-type mystery, and I didn't guess the true answer until the twist surprise ending. Love books like that!

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

I love to read a good non-fiction book, and haven't had a lot on my list lately. I really had fun reading this memoir about this woman's experience as the New York Times Restaurant Critic. Funny, heartwarming, and very well written. If you like food and you like reading, I think you'll like this book.

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

I know this series is old news, but I was pleasantly surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading these books and how sad I felt when they ended - I wanted the story to just go on and on! Fabulous!

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

I shamelessly adore fairy tales. I don't think I'll ever grow out of them. I discovered this sweet novel, which is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I think I read it in less than a day. I'll definitely be looking up this author's other books.

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

And speaking of fairy tales, my friend's daughter introduced me to this series. (Yes, I read books that my friend's children are reading. I love children's and young adult lit!) It's a five-book series perfect for a good indulgent read. I plan to read these to Katelee in a year or so; she'd love them, too!

Beauty by Robin McKinley
Spindle's End by Robin McKinley

And since I'm admitting all, I might as well confess that I re-read these two books this past month, also. These are both retellings of fairy tales (Beauty & the Beast and Sleeping Beauty). I enjoy reading them so much, they've become part of my pile of regular stand-bys for when I don't have anything new to read.

What other books are in that pile? The Anne of Green Gables series, Little Woman, The Harry Potter series, the short stories of O. Henry, and Jane Eyre. These are all books that I can pick up at any given time, allow to fall open to any random page, and dive right into the midst of the story without a moment of confusion. I love that feeling.

Books on my night stand that I'll tackle soon:

Devil's Food Cake by Josi S. Kilpack

The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

Do you have any great books to recommend? I'd love to hear what you're reading!

Happy Easter 2011!

This week has been a busy and fun-filled week of Easter activities!

The festivities began Wednesday night when we invited some friends over to dye Easter eggs with us. Katelee had a great time trying out the different colors...

...and decorating the dyed eggs with stickers.

Don't they look pretty?

We also discovered something new this year - Katelee LOVES hard boiled eggs. She's probably eaten 10 of them since we died them Wednesday night. I'll have to hard boil eggs more often!

The Easter bunny visits our house on the Saturday before Easter every year. He makes it interesting by showing up at a different time of day each year. Saturday morning, Katelee put out a plate of carrots for the Easter bunny. She checked on the plate throughout the day so she would know when the Easter bunny had come. ;)

Saturday morning was also our 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt! We invite any

friends and neighbors to join us. Everyone donates treat-filled eggs toward the hunt; we had a lot of eggs this year! We estimated probably around 800?? Anyway, we filled a couple of laundry baskets - that's a lot of candy!

Our family went out bright and early Saturday morning to place and hide all the eggs and get everything ready for the hunt. Katelee was a huge helper! She has been SO EXCITED all week for the Easter egg hunt! She enjoyed hiding eggs with us, especially in the trees.

We had time before the hunt began to take a few pictures. How many eggs can you find in this picture? I think there are 8...

It was a chilly morning, and Katelee was getting cold by the time we took this picture.

Finally, everyone else arrived and the hunt began! It's hard to take good pictures of kids on a Easter egg hunt - they move too fast! But Gerald managed to get a few decent shots!

Katelee was so proud of the fact that she got 16 eggs! Yay!

Later that afternoon, Katelee burst into our room shouting that the Easter bunny had eaten his carrots!!! We went on the search for her Easter basket. I think the Easter bunny hid it under the desk the past two years, but apparently he started thinking more creatively this year. We found a clue he had left, made from the empty plastic eggs Katelee had in her basket left over from the hunt in the morning.

The clue pointed to Katelee's pink chair.

Behind her chair, Katelee found this!

The first words out of her mouth were: "HE BROUGHT ME THE DUCKY I WANTED! HE BROUGHT ME THE DUCKY I WANTED!"

You see, Katelee owns a lot of stuffed animals. And yes, she loves them and plays with them, but she has a lot. And so I hate getting more stuffed animals. Especially large ones. But recently, while at the store together, Katelee laid eyes on this duck. It was love at first sight. I would not buy it for her, of course, and it was like her best friend had moved out of her life forever.

Well, Katelee kept repeating this story yesterday, and saying, "I guess the Easter bunny knew I saw him and he knew that I wanted him so SO SOOOO bad!!" Yup, I guess the Easter bunny just knew. :) Katelee and her ducky have been together every second since she found him.

Saturday night, Katelee had sweet dreams cuddled up with her ducky (a.k.a. Cutie Pie).

We try to make Easter morning very special. The Easter bunny and egg hunts are over, but we make a special breakfast, listen to beautiful music, and Katelee gets new church clothes. Then we have an Easter devotional. Today we watched the movie Finding Faith in Christ and read the accounts in the scriptures of Easter morning. We also took a few photos before church.

Katelee loved her new Easter dress.

(Many thanks to the Grovers for their generous hand-me-downs!)

After church, it was home for a lovely Easter ham-and-potato dinner. After dinner, we decided to play some games as a family. We began inventing Easter Egg games. We had relay races while balancing plastic eggs on spoons,

played egg toss, took turns hiding Easter eggs and racing to find them, played hot and cold with Easter eggs, and played Easter egg golf.

Daddy got his Easter egg golf ball in the hole first...

followed by Katelee, at a close second. ;)

Overall, it was a wonderful Easter weekend.

I am profoundly grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, for his life, his death, and his resurrection.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives,

I know that My Redeemer Lives!

Happy Easter everyone!

In the tent...

It was Katelee's turn to choose our activity for Family Home Evening last week. She chose to set up her princess tent and eat our FHE treat inside. I couldn't resist a picture of my two cuties enjoying muddy buddies in the tent. :)

Yum!

Adoption Blog

Have you visited our adoption blog lately?

If you haven't, take a quick second to click on our cute little button over there.

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The month of May will mark one year since we were approved for adoption.

Help us spread the word, won't you?

Do you have a blog or website? Would you be willing to add our button to your blog? It's quick and easy, and we're willing to help if you need it. Just click on the link that says 'How to add our button to your blog.'

We want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all our supportive friends and family who have already done this for us!

And if you have any other great advice for how to get more blog traffic, we would love to hear it! We're just trying to spread the word! You never know who might know someone who might know someone else who is considering placing a baby for adoption. The vast majority of adoptions through LDS Family Services come as a result of a family 'finding' their baby through family and friend connections.

So help us spread the word! You never know how it might bless someone's life.

Sunday Pictures