Summer Sisters

I finished this book today and was happily surprised by it! I never really got to much into Judy Blume as a kid, so I didn't have high expectations for the book. At best I thought it would be OK. I was COMPLETELY wrong! The book was about two young girls, Caitlin and Vix. Caitlin invites Vix to spend the summer with her at her father's house. The summer months turn into a tradition for the girls. The book follows the girls through high school, college, and then into the real world. A special bond develops between Vix and Caitlin's father and his new wife. I read the whole book in 4 days and couldn't put it down. (Would have been faster if the home remodeling wasn't happening.) I don't usually give five stars to books, but this one gets five!

Handle With Care- Jodi Picoult

I finished reading Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult on Saturday night. I will only post the synopsis from Barnes and Noble so I don't tell too much and spoil it for anyone. Overall, this was one of my favorite JP books! I got very emotionally attached with some characters and wanted to scream at them! I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Every expectant parent will tell you that they don't want a perfect baby, just a healthy one. Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe would have asked for a healthy baby, too, if they'd been given the choice. Instead, their lives are made up of sleepless nights, mounting bills, the pitying stares of "luckier" parents, and maybe worst of all, the what-ifs. What if their child had been born healthy? But it's all worth it because Willow is, well, funny as it seems, perfect. She's smart as a whip, on her way to being as pretty as her mother, kind, brave, and for a five-year-old an unexpectedly deep source of wisdom. Willow is Willow, in sickness and in health.Everything changes, though, after a series of events forces Charlotte and her husband to confront the most serious what-ifs of all. What if Charlotte should have known earlier of Willow's illness? What if things could have been different? What if their beloved Willow had never been born? To do Willow justice, Charlotte must ask herself these questions and one more. What constitutes a valuable life?Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, Handle with Care brings us into the heart of a family bound by an incredible burden, a desperate will to keep their ties from breaking, and, ultimately, a powerful capacity for love.

Winter Solstice

When we were in MN, Chris and I were able to go to our nephew and godson's school for the "Winter Solstice." We got to see Parker's classroom and school.

Christmas

We went to MN a few days before Christmas to spend time with Chris's family. We ended up leaving a little earlier than expected because of the horrid snow and ice. We weren't able to keep driving because it was so bad so we had to stop for the night. The next morning it was -18!!

Chris's B-Day

When Chris got home from work on his b-day I had a scavenger hunt set up for him to find his b-day present. Even though he made fun of me at first, I think he had fun reading the clues to find his present.

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

Grampa U loves to buy old John Deere tractors and refurbish them. There's nothing he doesn't know about those tractors! Dad, Chris and I went to watch him in an antique plow demonstration. It put a huge smile on my face to watch him come over the hill of the field on his tractor. He works so hard on them and you can tell the tractors are his passion. Right now he fleet it up to 13! Pretty soon he's going to need a new barn to hold his toys!

Ravioli Extravaganza

It's a tradition in my family that we make a ton of ravioli to eat for Christmas dinner. Mom, dad, Kaitlin, Chris and I spent the day at mom and dad's house drinking wine and making ravs. It was a lot of fun!