Weekend in Forks

Considering I told everyone I would be spending this weekend in Forks visiting with Bella, Edward and Jacob I figure I should report. I will give no spoilers I would hate to ruin this fantastic book for anyone but I just have to tell you I had a great weekend!! Breaking Dawn is sooooo good it is better than Twilight, definitely better than New Moon, and even better than Eclipse, my favorite up until now. I got the book Saturday at 10AM but couldn't start reading in earnest till 3pm and I finished up it's 754 pages this morning (Monday) if that gives you any idea how good it is. Everything I had hopped would happen happened but I never would have dreamed HOW it happened. Now those of you who aren't weird about books like me may wonder about my sanity right about now but we bookies are happy in our fantasy worlds. Don't knock what you don't understand, it's nice in here. Unfortunately the laundry and the dishes and the rest of my responsibilities have patiently awaited my return from Forks so I guess I better get back to my real life. But I will be searching for the next great adventure in the pages of a fantastic book.

My New Office

I really love my kids and I am not in any huge hurry to get them out of our house. I love having them around and am not looking forward to having an empty nest. (Now that we have Emily the nest won't be totally empty for awhile.) But there is one perk, lets call it compensation for missing them, and that is space!! Our house is not tiny, no one needs to feel sorry for us but with 4 kids and a dog our 2000 Sq ft were feeling a little cramped. When Jessica moved out it wasn't so cramped but there really was no extra, now..... Jason has moved out (he found a place with several friends) and we have an EXTRA room. Woo Hoo!! Ok honestly, I will miss the kid but he is 20 after all and I am just trying to look at the bright side here. So very quickly before anyone got any ideas I claimed his room and moved in. Now I have a place for my computer, all my Young Women stuff and for scrapbooking! Yea! I put a bed in there for guests, (I can share) and the random nap which you can see Buddy has already claimed. I have a litttle tv, my computer, and a place to sit and read, what more could a mom want. Oh guess what? It has DOORS too! that CLOSE! and LOCK! oh boy I think this may just be too much!

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.