Ingredients

Eerie Book Club

Okay, so I had book club at my house last month. This is the book I picked, "The Face of a Stranger", by Anne Perry. I am very into Agatha Christie type novels and had heard the author was similar. I also heard she was mormon, so I thought, let's give it a try. It was actually a pretty good mystery, I thought it was rather clever and unique. But that's beside the point. On the day of book club, I decided to look some things up about the author to share with the group. Her official website had a biography where she mentioned something about a movie called Heavenly Creatures and that she had no comment about it and would like to leave the past in the past. This piqued my interest, so I proceeded to find out more about this "past". Her real name was Juliet Hulme and when she was 16, in 1954, she began an intense friendship with a girl named Pauline Parker. Together they created a kind of fantasy world which they would "visit" together. This part is interesting enough, but then her and her friend, through a series of events, plotted to kill her friend's mother and eventually carried this plot out. This murder and their trial is very famous in Britain, and apparently inspired a movie. Have I piqued your interest? Well, if so, try these sites that go into further detail of this case. Here is the shorter version, here is a much longer version, with pictures. Let me assure you, her story is a lot more interesting than the book we ended up reading for book club.

A picture of the young Juliet Hulme

Fun with Friends

Isn't it so much fun to do things with friends? Here we are, once again, at the Strawberry Fields. What a fun day!



Natalie and Coleman trying out the carrots, Natalie spit hers out a few seconds later. What kid doesn't like carrots?



Natalie and Ashley, one of her few female friends =)

Ode to Trader Joe's

I just got back from Trader Joe's and every time I go there I just love it! I don't know why I don't go there more often.

Number one-great food.
Number two-great prices.
Number three-healthy for my family.

Although I am aware that even Trader Joe's cookies aren't necessarily good for you. Well, it's a place where you can kind of discover hidden treasures. Like today I came across this chive and cilantro yogurt dip that was YUMMY! I don't even like cilantro that much, but it tasted awesome, really good with fish and vegetables, and I imagine on toast or something like that. I'm going to have to get creative! Anyway, I would love to hear your Trader Joe "finds", what has your family loved?

Natalie's New Favorite Toys

Natalie's "Mouses". Thanks Grandma Sue. =)

We're So Excited!

These are our good friends Dave and Holly. Dave and James were college roommates and we got married about three weeks apart. We have some really great memories with them (i.e. Settlers of Catan, BYU games, and spontaneous hula hooping to name a few). Like in this picture, we're going to a DMB concert (James' 8th or 9th, I can't remember). James and I can't wait 'til they come visit us at the end of this month! They're bringing their adorable little girls, Nezzie and Gwen, and we are going to hit all the So Cal hotspots. We are even trying to fix up our "guest" room for the occasion, for those lucky ones who have seen this room, you know what a big project this is =). More pics to follow, I'm sure!

Little Miss Natalie

I had no part in this, Natalie came out of Grandma's playroom looking like this. Quite the fashion sense!