Happy BIrthday to Kathy

May 3rd was my birthday! I usually really look forward to my birthday, but this year I turned 28, and I am starting to realize that I don't like getting older. I had an awesome birthday though, Tyler actually had Friday and Saturday off (the first days off in about 3-4 weeks), so just having him home was the best present ever.

Tyler surprised me with an awesome present...and iPod Touch. It is amazing, I love it so much. I spent the morning playing with my new toy and I have to admit, I didn't share very well. Now that I have had it a little while I will let Ty play with it more.

After spending a relaxing morning at home we went to my friend Liz's house for a nice pool party. She made an amazing lunch to celebrate my b-day and Cinco de Mayo. It was a great time. The photo below is of Megan, Kathy, Patty and Liz.

Ella Minnow Pea

ELLA MINNOW PEA By Mark Dunn

I just read this book on Sunday, it was so good. Below is a description of the book I got off Amazon.com. This book was recommended to me and I thought it sounded very interesting, and it was. Its been a long time since I've read such an original idea. I really got involved in the story and couldn't believe how just a little bit of "power" can make people lose their minds. It was also sad to see everyone go along with it when no one agreed with the High Council. You'll understand when you read the book what I'm talking about. Anyway, if you read it let me know what you'd think, I'd love to talk to someone about it. Tyler just thinks I'm crazy. =)

"Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram (a sentence that contains all the letters of the alphabet)“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere."

Some more fun pictures of Charlie...

I found these super small dog bones for Charlie, he loves them! He will play with them for 5 minutes straight (okay, I know that doesn't sound very long but this puppy has the shortest attention span I have ever seen, so 5 minutes for him is like an hour our time).

When we first got Charlie he barely weighed a pound, he would practically fit in my hand, and I have small hands. Most of the puppy toys were just too big for him so I got him kitty toys. I know, he's not a cat, but he loves these smaller toys, they are perfect for him. He loves to chase the ball with the little bell in it, and even smacks it around like a cat would. He absolutely loves it when you pull the string and he can go chasing after it. He really might be part kitty.

Okay, this might seem a little mean. Charlie hates the stairs, for some reason he is super scared to be on them. He doesn't dare to go up or down so he just sits there and whimpers and barks (our neighbors must hate us). We're trying to get him over his fear and give him treats if he goes up or down, but that barely works. I'm sure once he gets a little bigger he will get over it, but in the meantime its a great "time out" place for him...

Charlie is such a little character. So, he loves his bed, and he loves his toys. For some reason he just has to have them both at the same time. He will go through and pick up all his toys and put them in his bed, and then play with them. One day I caught him stealing my flip-flop and putting it in his bed.

This morning was so funny. He is a puppy and loves to chew on anything he can, even his puppy bed. Today he was just going to town and managed to flip the bed over on top of himself! He went walking around carrying the bed on his back and bumping into the table, couch, wall, etc. If you look closely you can see his little legs under the bed...

Some fun pictures of Charlie

Tyler loves to play this game with Charlie where he hides his face from him. It drives Charlie absolutely crazy, he does everything he can to try and get to Ty's face. He loves to find any little opening and weasel his way in. Once he gets in he starts licking Ty like crazy! Its hilarious!

Here is just another picture of Charlie getting a bath. I don't think he likes it too much, but he is a really good sport about the whole ordeal. He is growing up so fast!

We're Approved!!!

Finally, after seven long months Tyler and I have been approved for adoption. I don't think it normally takes people that long, but with Tyler's schedule it took us a while to get everything done. We are so excited, and a little nervous. I guess the next step is that our case worker will be contacting the Salt Lake City office to have our profile added. Once this is done I will let you all know so you can check it out.

This whole process has been a bit overwhelming. We had multiple interviews, home visits, Foster Care classes, a lot of paperwork including a collage and letter to the birth parents. It was a great experience though and we're really looking forward to the next step, hopefully we'll get matched up with cute baby soon!

Book Club

Our new ward has a Book Club group that I have started going to. It has been a great way to make some new friends, and read a few good books as well. We meet every other month and discuss two books each time. Our next meeting is in June, below are the two books we are suppose to read.


THE NO 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY By: Alexander McCall Smith It's the detective as folk hero, solving crimes through an innate, self-possessed wisdom that, combined with an understanding of human nature, invariably penetrates into the heart of a puzzle. Spending the money she got from selling her late father's cattle to set up a Ladies' Detective Agency--then you have an idea of how Precious sets herself up as her country's first female detective. Once the clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious enjoys a pleasingly successful series of cases. (Description taken from Amazon.com)

GILEAD By: Marilynne Robinson The narrator, John Ames, is 76, a preacher who has lived almost all of his life in Gilead, Iowa. He is writing a letter to his almost seven-year-old son, the blessing of his second marriage. It is a summing-up, an apologia, a consideration of his life. Robinson takes the story away from being simply the reminiscences of one man and moves it into the realm of a meditation on fathers and children, particularly sons, on faith, and on the imperfectability of man. (Description from Amazon.com)

Two Blogs

Okay, so after I set up my new blog I figured out how to fix my old one. Isn't that how it always happens? Anyway, I guess I have two blogs for now. I'll probably end up keeping this one, since it has all my old post on it. So please ignore my email to change to a new blog. Thanks, and sorry for all the confusion!

Yummy Recipes

Yummy Recipes-A few weeks ago I went to my cooking club, below are some of the yummy recipes that I picked up. The Onion Meatball Stew is actually from one of my cookbooks, but I just tried it and it was amazing! Tyler went crazy for it, I recommend everyone trying it.

Onion Meatball Stew by Valerie Warner
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup soft bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dried savory
1 lbs ground beef
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can (10oz) condensed French Onion soup, diluted
2/3 cup water
3 medium carrots, cut into ¾-in chunks
1 can French’s green beans, drained
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-in chunks
1 medium onion, but into thin wedges
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

In a bowl, combine the egg, bread crumbs, garlic, salt and savory. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 ¼ in balls. In a large skillet, brown meatballs in oil over medium heat; drain. Stir in soup, water, carrots, green beans, potatoes and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with parsley. Yield: 4 servings

Dipping Sauce for Bread
Equal parts Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil
Sprinkle the following on top
Basil
Red Pepper Flakes
Garlic Salt
Onion Flake

Mix and let sit for about 15 minutes and serve with fresh baguette bread.



Sixty Minute Rolls by Tina Larson
2 package (2 Tbsp) yeast
¼ cup Sugar
1 ½ cup warm milk
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup soft margarine or butter
1 egg
3 ½ cup flour

Put yeast, sugar and warm milk together and let yeast activate. Mix in all other ingredients except flour. Add flour a little at a time until the dough is the right consistency (sometimes you need an extra ½ cup). Knead dough just a little. Place in a greased mixing bowl over warm water; let rise for 25 minutes. Shape rolls and let rise for 10 minutes only. Bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes. Makes about 30 rolls.

Orange Raspberry Bread by Dawna Skousen
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 egg
¾ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange rind
¼ cup melted shortening
1 cup raspberries (can be frozen)
¾ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Sift dry ingredients. Beat egg, orange juice, rind and shortening. Add to dry ingredients. Stir until flour is just dampened. Add fruit and nuts. Stir just to bend. Makes 1 (5x8) loaf. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.