Easter

We had a fabulous Easter this year and are grateful for the opportunity we have to celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior.

As we are still new at this marriage thing....ok almost 2 years now, we are still trying out new traditions, or combining traditions, etc. This year we tried a few new things. One was to have Easter Brunch before church. I got this idea from my friend's food website and made her Easter menu, and I must say it was fabulous! And Super Super tasty! The link to these blueberry muffins is here:

http://www.jannapatterson.com/2012/04/best-blueberry-muffins.html

But you can also access the rest of the menu. We also had the Fritatta, Bacon, Potatoes, and Orange Juice along with the Blueberry Muffins. I have to say even if you don't do it as a brunch, this is a great meal and you should do it!

Here is our spread. I was going to also do some fresh fruit as my friend recommended, but we were running late for work and I bought mangos and oranges, and I didn't have time to peal and cut them, etc. Yes, we were that tight with getting there on time :)

We then had a fabulous time at church and Conner got to wear his new Easter Outfit. We will do Easter baskets next year when Conner is old enough to be able to open it.

We were sad that most of my family was out of town visiting our new niece for her baby blessing, so we also celebrated with Grandma and my sister and brother-in-law.

So we colored eggs Friday night and decided that since all of us were "grown ups" or as Conner was immobile, we would adopt a tradition from some family friends of ours, the Dunns, and had our own egg smashing tournament. Not as fancy and well planned as the Dunns, but for our first year we thought it wasn't too bad!

Here are the contestants for our Tournament!

Dustin and Carter aiming the eggs at each other...

And the biggest and most tense round of the tournament is between....Ohio State and BYU!! Dustin has Ohio State and Carter the BYU egg.

And they're off!!

And the winner is.....Ohio State!!

In the next round Ohio State went up against Spikey....yes those are beads glued onto that egg...

As you probably guess....Ohio State lost.

And the Champion over all is.....Happy!! Jessica's egg.

Then Conner got some quality time in with Great Grandma. See his cute Easter outfit!?!

He's sure a happy boy most of the time. If he gets his naps in he's all smiles.

Then he got some time looking at pictures with Great Grandma. He sure loves books and pictures!

So we definitely need to add some more traditions for our next Easter, but this was a good start we thought.

Hunger Games, The Movie

So last night I went and saw "The Hunger Games" with some lady friends of mine. I have to admit that I really thought they did an excellent job and stayed true to the book. There was great acting, amazing sets, great costumes and a good story. They did have to change a few things to shorten the story and cut out a character here and there, but again, they did stayed true. I was a little worried when they introduced Peeta but I as the movie went on he grew on me. Peeta was my favorite character in the book so I was glad when that the actor did such a good job.

So I have to admit that I was an avid reader of these books. I read the first in 1 day, the second in 3 days, and the third in 5 days. As you can tell by how long it took me to read these it tells how much I liked each book. I think they are engaging, entertaining, and a good nail-biter.

However, after finishing the series I felt like something was lacking. I am totally giving my own opinion and to all you "Hunger Game" lovers out there, I'm with you too, but when my mother-in-law asked me what I thought of the movie and the books, I had a hard time articulating what I felt and thinking if I would recommend them. If you like a good fast, entertaining read, then yes these are amazing. However, the movie was somewhat violent, but I thought they did a good job considering how violent the books are. But I must admit that I did have to close my eyes a few times when I was expecting a character to die or something bad to happen.

But I just didn't feel amazing after the movie ended. And maybe it is because I am what my old college roommate put as a "Warm Fuzzy Bunnies" type of movie goer. And with books and movies I like true stories, and ones with happy endings. Books that either make you want to be better or feel better and uplifted at the end. Where you are happy for the characters. I like to see the couple get together, even if it is predicable. Or if it isn't always the happiest, I like it to make you think and be able to compare it to your life, but not a huge fan of the abstract where you have to think super hard or dig really deep to figure it out.

And I think that is why I have a problem with "The Hunger Games." The first was the best ending, but I just got frustrated that so many people had to die. I know that is the whole premise of the book, but still it makes me sad. I mean how can you not cry when Rue dies?? And then the whole romance with Katniss and Peeta. I mean I LOVE Peeta. He is so real and so good and true to himself that I just get mad that Katniss can't see that she loves him. You can't make up those feelings she has for him, but she just has so much baggage from the past that she can't see it I guess?? Anyways, just to have it end with Peeta finding out that the whole time she was just pretending to be in love with him breaks my heart because he is such a good guy and I don't want to see him have to go through all of that. And to see the struggle in Katniss as well frustrates me.

Then the whole end of the series almost everyone dies, and Katniss and Peeta are what a friend of mine referred to as "Broken" by the end. So when they finally end up together and with a family it seems obsolete after all they have been through. Even the fact that Peeta took 15 years to convince Katniss to even have kids when he wanted them so bad makes me sad. And even worse how she finally tells Peeta that she loves him. She didn't even come out and say it, he has to ask, and after they slept together. Anyways, it just doesn't fit nicely into my own "Fuzzy Bunnies" type of world.

So there is my review of "The Hunger Games". Again, I enjoyed it, it was highly entertaining, and very well done and true to the book. If you liked the book, you'll love the movie. But looking back I just feel sad for them after it all and it leaves me feeling empty by the end of the series. But I would totally see it again. Am I making sense??

Sleeping Little Man

So you want to know what I do when Conner sleeps then I have to be honest when I tell you it isn't very much. He fell asleep playing in his swing today and what do I do? I get the camera and then sit and watch him because he's so cute. I thought it was adorable how he fell asleep with the lamb in his face. The first thing I saw when I looked over was the lamb.

I love this little man!!

Needless to say I didn't get much done during this nap :)

A Few of Conner's Favorite Things

Conner as always is a busy fellow and like to keep busy. Here he is playing with his new favorite toy, or toys to be exact. A lady in the ward lent this play yard to us and then I hung a few of his toys from it and Conner can play on this thing for at least 30 minutes, which to me is great!! I love watching him play, he gets so excited sometimes. And other times he gets very focussed and serious. Silly boy. 

Conner also just loves fabric, anything he can hold and put in his mouth really, and fabric especially with a cool texture is a good thing for him to hold onto as he's still working on his grip, but it is getting better for sure! And he does like his Bumbo, but not for extended periods of time. I have learned that if I'm in the kitchen he likes me to put it next to the food storage rack because he likes to look at the food storage. Maybe because it is so colorful??

But in reality this boy just mostly prefers his fingers. They are so much more readily available and fun!

And he loves books!! But he likes to touch the pages. He'll just pound it as you read to him at times and others he'll just sit here very quietly and listen. It is one of his favorite parts of bedtime and always seems to calm him down. I love watching Dustin read to him!!

Cherry Blossoms

Last week I went with the Stroller Derby on another lovely outing to see the sights that DC has to offer. This week "Cherry Blossoms". Dustin and I have gone the past two years and these never get old. It is BEAUTIFUL and I've enjoyed it every time I've come. However with the very odd warm weather we've had and the mild winter (don't talk to me about the no snow...I'm still a little sore about that. We bought snow shoes for a reason) the blossoms came extra early this year! 

So here we are enjoying our lovely trip to see the Cherry Blossoms....Ok, so he was a little tired. 

Much better after a nap!!

I promise I don't abandon my child all the time!

There's that happy boy!!

SEE!!! SO pretty! And I'm glad it was a little more cloudy that day, hopefully it kept some of the other sight seers away until the next day.

Some of the ladies that went with us. We are quite the group I must say! The best company!

Great Falls

We also went on a walk around Great Falls. Another thing I love about where we live is that there are lots of outdoors as well as good places to eat, lots of historical places and all sorts of things to do!!

Here we are walking to the falls. Conner had just woken up from his nap...

So pretty!! One of these days we're going to make it to hike the Billy Goat trail too.

Conner loved to watch the falls.

Playing with daddy and aunt Melanie

You want to know how the Buckeyes are doing so well with March Madness?? Thank this little guy!! He's their number one fan!

So tired!!

That was exhausting!! Nap time!!

I love him! See about the pulling his pants up?? Totally cute!

We'll miss you Melanie!! Thanks for coming to visit!! Come back soon!!