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

Schools Out!!

Schools out!!!, Emily's done with kindergarten!!! and we are ready for summer!! Ok so I am writing this in July and the summer is half over but that is how I felt at the time!! Emily had a wonderful end of year program that was so much fun all of the kids dressed up like crayons and sang all the color songs. It was even funner because Grandma was here and was able to come and also Jessica and Erin were able to come too. So Emily was so happy! It was hard for her to say good-bye to her teacher Miss. Gora she was a brand new teacher this year and she did a great job, Emily learned so much and loved her teacher. It was a great year!

Grandma, Emily and Jessica

Emily and her classmates in their Crayon outfits


Emily all done with kindergarten

Miss. Gora and Emily

Emily and Mom

Grandma Came to Town

Grandma came to visit and we had so much fun!! She came for Erin's graduation and also got to be here for Emily's year end program and all kinds of family and friend gatherings. One day Mom and I went together to the temple which was really special we don't get to do that, just us two, very often. One thing you will notice in these pictures is Mom has gotten skinny!!! She has lost a whole lot of weight over the last year and she is so happy, she gets around so much better it has effected everything. It is like she lost 10 years with all the pounds.

Grandma and Brutus (Jes's dog, we watched him for a couple of days while Grandma was here)

All the Family

Grandma and the Kids

All the Girls at Chilli's

It has become a tradition every time my mom comes into town we have a girls lunch. It started with just Joy, Joyce, Mom and I then through the years as the girls got older we included Jessica, Kristi and Erin and now that Keith is married and Kevin has a special somebody we included Sarah and Ingrid too, and of course with the group this big there was no way to keep Emily away. It was a really fun lunch and great to see how our little circle has grown.

Moms Adventure

May 5th, 2008
Most of the time everyone expects and gets the same things from us. We are the moms, we are responsible, we have everything handled. Well much to everyones surprise we are actually people inside these mom suits and sometimes it gets a little stuffy in here. Sometimes you just want to break out and do something different something outside the ordinary. Well this was one of these times, Kevin had just left for the MTC and Joy was wondering what she was going to do with this empty nest she just got and I have a 6 year old and an 18 and 20 year old living with me, enough said. So being the responsible moms we are we decided a trip to a tropical island, leaving no forwarding address was out of the question and being the slightly chicken women we are we decided skydiving was also out of the question. We compromised on a day in Sedona and horseback riding. Now I know this does not sound daring and crazy to the average reader but given our families reaction you would have thought we had decided to train to become navy seals or something. This may be a sad commentary on how predictable we are, a day off usually consists of scrapbook stores, lunch and a movie. But never the less we wanted to do something different and we had a blast. We went up to Foothills Ranch just south of Sedona and had an actual cowboy be our guide it was so fun. After the horse back riding we went up to Sedona and enjoyed the beauty there and then went on a harrowing adventure trying to find a restaurant to have dinner. Finally we just gave up and went in this little Italian place and had the absolute best Pizza ever!! (Pagos Italian Cuisine in Sedona, AZ) We had a wonderful day and got to shock the socks off of our kids at the same time, two for one pretty cool huh!!

Joy on her horse Vegas AKA School bus (so named because he would let anyone ride him)

Our Cowboy or should I say Wrangler Brin
My Horse Maude she just wanted to eat I spent half my time pulling up the reigns so she wouldn't stop and snack along the trail
Jennie and Joy Cowgirls for the day
Sedona (Honest! I took this picture! it is so beautiful looks like a postcard)

The True Purpose of the Cardboard Box

Our microwave broke YEA! oh happy day!! Emily gets a new box!! We may have thought we were buying a new microwave that happened to come in a really big box but as far as Emily was concerned we just bought her a fantastic new toy and how soon would we be getting our dumb new microwave out of it. First it was a playhouse then it became a race car with Erin pulling Emily around with a jump rope tied through the handle of the box. Then it morphed into a nest as you can see in the picture where she has slept for the last several nights. This whole process got me wondering about the true purpose of the cardboard box. It was made to insure the safe transport of our microwave from the factory to the store and from the store to our house but maybe it is the lucky cardboard that gets to have the greater purpose of bringing joy to a child. Maybe in the cardboard box factory all the boxes talk at night about what they hope they will be once they get in the hands of their kid, a castle or a firetruck maybe a spaceship and they hope, hope, hope that they aren't bought some old guy with no grand kids and end up with a trip straight to the recyclers. I like to think their true purpose is to become a playhouse covered with markers and a crooked door cut out of the front. But then it's also possible I have read the 'Velveteen Rabbit' a few too many times.