Books Worth Reading

I recently have had more time on my hands than I ever have my entire life. This is something I was worried about and knew was coming after having James. To my surprise, I have not been bored, but rather busy.

I now actually have time to read books that aren't school related or for the purpose of planning a lesson. I tend to be a bit picky about what I like to read. (Surprisingly, I like a lot of non-fiction books.) Recently, I have read 5 books that I thoroughly enjoyed. Check out a description of each of them:

1) Ms. Bixby's Last Day 

By: John David Anderson

My sister is a librarian and reads all the time. I look forward to getting a book from her each Christmas because I know that I'll like it. She has also started sending a book for your birthday as well. In February, Jill sent me Ms. Bixby's Last Day. To be completely honest, this book remained on my shelf for a while. I was focused on reading a book about breastfeeding and frantically getting sub plans together for my maternity leave. This is a charming book about a teacher who is so inspiring to her students and goes above and beyond her job description to reach each student on an individual level. I highly recommend this book. (If I was teaching, I would definitely read it to my class.)

2) The Orphan Keeper

By: Camron Wright

A couple summers ago, I read the book, The Rent Collector. When I heard that Camron Wright wrote a new book, I immediately wanted to read it. In fact, I told my Dad to buy the book for my Mom for Christmas and he did. (selfish of me?) I borrowed their copy and got reading. This book took me a while to finish reading, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. It's over 400 pages, so it is a time investment, but I think it is well worth it. It's based on a true story about a boy who is kidnapped in India and taken to an orphanage. He then is adopted by an American family. Later, he discovers his Indian roots.

3) A Man Called Ove

By: Fredrik Backman

This book seems to be pretty popular right now, so I jumped on the bandwagon and read it. Now I understand all the hype. I see some of Ove's personality traits in a couple of family members and maybe even myself. In the book Ove talks about never having to set an alarm and waking up early each morning. Before having James, I was the definition of a morning person. Ove is also very into following rules and guidelines and gets frustrated when others don't do the same. I can relate to this as well. Sometimes I tell Andrew,  "Man, I wish I was a cop right now, so I could pull that person over." This is a powerful story about love and what it really means. The story includes thoughts of suicide and opened my eyes to how many people truly struggle with it.

4) An Unseen Angel

By: Alissa Parker

I follow Stephanie Nielson's blog regularly and several months ago, she mentioned that her friend wrote a book and it was coming soon. This book is about the school shooting that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary. I knew it would be a sad read. I'm not much of a crier (especially when reading), but this book got to me. I think being a Mom made it hit home even more than it would have before. I can't imagine what Alissa Parker went through after losing her first-grade daughter. The story is actually really positive though and there are some really neat personal experiences that Alissa shares which helped her get through her darkest moments. What an inspiring book. I'm glad I used my precious Barnes and Noble gift card to purchase it.

5) All Rise For the Honorable Perry T. Cook

By: Leslie Connor

This book is possibly the best book I have ever read. Inside the cover, it says it is a good book for children ages 8-12. I so wish I had someone that age I could read it to. Only about a decade more and I'll get reading it with James. The story is so intriguing and something I never would have considered writing a story about. (Probably why I'm not an author.) It's about a boy who grows up being raised in a prison with his Mom who is incarcerated. The story unravels beautifully and keeps you on the edge of your seat. What did Perry's Mom do to be imprisoned for so many years? The characters add so much to this story. This book is a good reminder to stop judging. (Something I will always be working on.) You never know the full story or what someone is actually dealing with.

Tonight I'm feeling lonely without a book to wind down with. I think I'll hit the library tomorrow.

May 7, 2017

May 7th was a special day for our little family. James was blessed at church by Andrew. I'm so grateful I'm married to a man who is worthy to hold the priesthood and was able to do the blessing. It was such a neat day and we were thrilled to be surrounded by those we love.

Andrew's Mom was able to come and stayed with us for the weekend. She was a big help with food preparation. We had a big meal after sacrament meeting and fed about 30 people. I was overwhelmed, and it was great to have an extra set of hands.

Andrew's sister, Blayre, and her family happened to be in town for a wedding and we were glad they were able to attend the blessing as well. We got to spend some time with Owen and Carter on Friday night. It was fun to go to the park around the corner from our house with excited kids!

Andrew's other sister, Tavia, and her family also made the trip to Utah. It was so nice of them to come with their 6 kids! They weren't here for long, but we sure did appreciate them coming all the way from Boise for less than a 24 hour period.

It also happened to be women's conference at BYU, and we found out that our sister-n-law, Annie, came for that as well. She was able to stop by on Saturday to meet James, but had to leave early Sunday morning to make it back home.

Andrew's Mom and our sister-n- law, Annie

We live by lots of Ditto's and we were happy to see lots of them this past weekend. Ben, Becca, and Olivia came. Dan, Laura, Mary, Sam, and his fiancé, Natalie, all attended as well. The bishop talked to Andrew before about not having too many people in the circle, so he didn't ask his cousins/uncle to join. There were still 9 in the circle I believe. (I don't know if wanting smaller circles is a church-wide thing or just our ward.)

All of my siblings attended the blessing and it was a fun treat to have Jill in town from Malibu. All 4 of my grandparents were able to be there too. Sam Spice, my cousin, also joined the celebration.

Grandma & Grandpa Denning. Grandpa hadn't met James before this because he was sick.

Grandma & Grandpa Langlois (+ my Mom) 

Grandpa bore his testimony

I should have taken more pictures of this special day, but to be honest I was worried about the food and several other things. My sister-n-law, Lindsey, was so kind to take some amazing photos of James in his adorable baby outfit. He sure was a trooper and didn't really make a peep all day. He was wide awake during the blessing which nobody ever would have guessed.

Watch out ladies

His outfit had the cutest little white bow-tie

He gets plenty of food

We now need to talk about the food... A big thanks to my mom who helped me figure out what would be best. She made the meat for roast beef sandwiches and brought a huge potato salad. I made a spinach salad, 48 funfetti cupcakes (way too many), and I purchased 36 Costco mini cinnamon rolls. I also bought rolls from Costco for the sandwiches and Andrew did a wonderful job cutting them. Lindsey brought a tray of cookies from Costco (a big hit), and 2 pasta salads. Grandma Lynda made her famous brownies and brought a huge bowl of fruit. I should have taken a picture of all of the food because there was a ton! My parents brought 2 tables and lots of folding chairs which worked out well. Lots of people were able to eat outside and I'm glad the weather cooperated. I could not have done this without help. James is loved by lots of people and that is one thing I will remember from his blessing. Andrew said something like, "You have lots of aunts and uncles who love you."

This day was so special and EXHAUSTING! After everyone left, I took a two hour nap and the next day I slept in until 10:00am (with baby feeding interruptions of course.) We love you baby James! You have brought so much joy into our house.