Breaking Dawn

OK while I am on a the subject of books and sharing my "addiction" with all of you I have to mention 'Breaking Dawn' the new book by Stephanie Meyer. Yea!! Hooray!! It is coming out in 2 weeks it is the 4th and supposedly final book in the Twilight series.

So I am planning to reread the first 3 this week and next so everything is fresh. I did that when the 7th Harry Potter came out and it made it soo much better. (I told you its an addiction fortunately there are no rehab centers for psycho readers because I am not interested in any kind of recovery.) This is a series I started reluctantly, very reluctantly! It is basically about vampires and a girl that is in love with one. I hate vampires, I won't watch vampire movies, and of all the mythical creatures out there the idea of a creature that thirsts for blood really freaks me out. But after enough pressure from all my YW, Pam and Megan, Kristi and a slew of others (yes peer pressure still is a problem for grownups) I gave in just to... well shut them up. It is a testament to the writing ability of the author that I got hooked. I had to find out what happened to Bella, and Edward and Jacob too (yes I am one of the weird ones who really like Jacob). I have shared the obsession with many, it is one of those books you have to tell people about just so you have another person to talk "Twilight" with. Jason's girlfriend Kelsie is my newest convert and she is totally hooked!! As you can probably guess Saturday after next I will be at Costco when they open, buying my copy of Breaking Dawn, and I probably won't get much of anything done that weekend but I will have a wonderful visit to Forks, Washington.

FABLEHAVEN

I have a new favorite book series!! I know I have said this many times before so I think the position is not a permanent one. The book series is Fablehaven and they are sooooo good. I have been in a bit of a reading frenzy this summer, I have read like 18 books since school got out, (some of them I listened to on my Ipod). I really don't know why I have been reading so much more than normal, maybe its the heat, or I am trying to keep my mind off of everything I can't eat (I am trying to lose a few pounds but that's another post) or maybe its the looser schedule because school is out. But I have immersed myself in these characters worlds, a family of Penderwicks, a crazy funny bounty hunter, a dead girl watching her family recover, a school shooter, a few couples in love, a kidney transplant patient figuring out how to live again, a ranger studying wolves and solving murders, and a author revealing her real past. In this company you would think it would be pretty hard to stand out but my new favorite really shines. There are 3 books so far in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull so I am a little late to this bandwagon. Several of the girls in my ward had read them and raved so I took the first one with me to girls camp thinking I could read at bedtime, big mistake, I read all the way on the bus there and was so hooked by the time we got to camp that it was all I could do to do my job there and not sneak off and read. So this week I have finished book 1, read book 2 and 3 and am now so sad to be done. (book 4 doesn't come out till spring) The books are about a preserve for magical creatures, the caretakers of this preserve and the adventures and trouble they find trying to keep the preserve safe. It is the perfect mix of fantasy and reality to grab your imagination and make you want to escape to the world they live in. I know I am a huge book nerd but I have come to accept that and love it anyway. Join me!! It's fun! Drink the milk!! (Fablehaven reference)

One Wet Graduation

May 22, 2008

Erin has graduated from High School!!! AHHHH I can't believe it my baby (she was my baby for 12 years) has graduated from high school. And what a graduation it was!! We live in Arizona, Gilbert, Arizona you know desert, cactus, HOT HOT HOT, where it rains seldom and pours even less. Usually in May our biggest concern is will it be too hot, we were uncomfortably warm at Jessica's graduation but not this year. We woke up graduation day to a drizzle and were wondering what they were going to do if it rained. Erin went to practice and they said they had an alternate plan in case of weather so we didn't worry. As the day went on and the rain got heavier we were pretty sure they were going to have to go with the alternate plan. Erin went ahead and called us and said they were having the graduation inside, graduates in the auditorium and parents all over the school watching it on big screen TVs. Then just as we were leaving Jason called (he was already there with Kelsie) and he said make sure you bring jackets and umbrellas because they have changed their minds and its in the football stadium! By this time it was really raining, and we were wondering what they were thinking. Well it didn't take long till we were really pretty wet and very cold. It was pretty clear it wasn't a good idea to keep a 6 year old and a 79 year old out in the rain and cold so Robert took my Mom and Emily home and I stayed to go home with Erin. She had it the worst, she didn't have a jacket or an umbrella and was soaked to the skin by the time the graduation was over. She is so great she just laughed about it all and made fun. After it was over we had a party at the house with all the people who didn't make it to the ceremony because of the rain. We had a great time celebrating Erin and her accomplishments, this will definitely be a graduation we will not soon forget.

Erin Ready for Graduation

Erin in her cap and gown

all the people in the rain

Grandma and Emily trying to stay dry (thats a vinyl table cloth I had in the back of my van over grandmas head)

Erin and her friend Elizabeth totally soaked right after graduation

Erin and some of her friends in the rain

Kristi, Joy and Erin at her party after she has a chance to change!

Erin and Grandma