2 Fall has a few upsides

My favorite seasons are summer and winter. Think me weird, but spring is on the bottom of my list; I hate the mud! For me, fall has always been somewhere in the middle (sorry Maren). If Fall has one redeeming quality, it has to be the 'harvest'. The past week we've had fresh corn on the cob for nearly every dinner.

THANKS JOANNE & ELDON!
The girls love it.

1 The first B-O-Y in my family is HERE!

Introducing Ryan Paul Beattie, born on August 26th, 2008 at 11:27pm. He weighs 7 lbs. 10 ounces, and is 21 inches long. Congrats Abby & Brent on the first BOY!!!

0 My parents are empty nesters now!

My baby sister Ellen & Stoddard finally tied the knot after 3+ years of dating ~even surviving the mission~! The whole event was lovely~the pre-show, the ceremony, the after party......much work went into making this special for Stodd & Ell, especially for Mom who did all the food, decorations, and even sewed 7 dresses for the flower girls!!


Ellen's garden reception was beautiful, with lanterns in the trees, wheat from Dad's fields for center pieces, a candle lit cake made by the groom's mother, 7 little flower girls dancing to the string quartet placed above the guests on the deck, and ended in a fireworks show for the bride and groom.

2 Joy

Today I got a package in the mail from a wonderful lady who sells on ebay. She & I share a passion for some little dolls from our childhood. We don't know each other, but she generously passes on (for free!) any duplicates she purchases in her attempt to compile a complete set of these treasures. As you can see, over the years my collection of cast-offs has grown. I now have 16 dolls...and that's after I gave each of my sisters one for Christmas last year. (see this old post)

Maren had Cathy, the brunette

Abby had Valerie, the blond
I had Angie, the red head
(can you tell which one was MINE growing up?)

After naps today Allie spied the new dolls. I love that my girls are playing with my old toys!
PS: Maren, I completely forgot about them until the package came today. I wish we had got them out when your girls were here last weekend~!

2 This just in!

So exciting...I was just informed that the
Twilight movie
that so many of us are anticipating
will be released 3 weeks early... 2 days after my birthday
& ON my sister Maren's birthday!!!

This info is on Stephanie Meyer's website:

Movie News Flash!

So, many of you have heard that the release of the sixth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, has been moved from this Thanksgiving to next summer. First and foremost, please know that this schedule change has absolutely nothing to do with Twilight, me, or Summit Films (so enough with the imdb death wishes, okay?). This is Warner Bros. decision, and it was not motivated by anything Twilight-related.

Now for the good news! Though we're all sad to have to wait for Harry Potter, this open spot at the theater creates a cool opportunity. The good people at Summit were thrilled to let me know that now Twilight fans are going to get their movie three weeks earlier than scheduled. That's right—Twilight will be released in theaters November 21st! Let the merry-making commence!

--Stephenie

This from www.mugglenet.com:

Alan Horn issues statement regarding HBP delay

Alan Horn, President of Warner Brothers, has issued a statement in response to the large amount of disappointment from their decision to delay Half-Blood Prince until July 17th, 2009:

Many of you have written to me to express your disappointment in our moving “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. Please be assured that we share your love for Harry Potter and would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films. Over the past 10 years, we have nurtured and protected each film, and the integrity of the books upon which they are based, to the best of our ability. The decision to move “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was not taken lightly, and was never intended to upset our Harry Potter fans. We know you have built this series into what it is, and we thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm and support. If I may offer a silver lining: there would have been a two-year gap between “Half-Blood Prince” and the much-anticipated first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which opens in November 2010. So although we have to wait a little longer for “Half-Blood Prince,” the wait from that film until “Deathly Hallows” will be less than 18 months. I am sorry to have disappointed you now, but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait.

Anyone interested in making a weekend out of the Twilight release in November???
Horray!!!

5 Breaking Dawn thoughts

Spoilers contained here... so, don't read on IF you haven't read the book & are planning on it!

The experience: I went with sisters & their friends to wait at the Idaho Falls Barnes & Nobles (I was in Rexburg for the weekend) for the midnight release of Breaking Dawn....and it was silly-fun! (pics to come) We were definitely the minority, most of the fans there were young teen girls decked in prom garb. But we wore our homemade "Bite me Edward" tees with pride and cheered with the rest of them when the clock struck 12. When we finally had our books in hand we raced to the car to devour its contents, Maren and I stayed up till 5 am reading but had to stop for some sleep. Then picked it back up at 8am and finished by dinner. This one is LONG - like nearly 800 pages!!!

The review: The book itself I did like, but had a hard time getting through it. Disappointing, for sure. It seemed that Stephanie Meyers was writing more about action rather than interaction. I always loved the relationships in her books and how she explores them, but this time there was a lot of bizarre situations (even for vampires and werewolves). The characters sort of take on new personalities (2-dimensional at that) and I didn't like it. Some characters were missing almost all together (did Jasper have even one line?). Halfway thought the book Edward sort of becomes invisible, and Bella takes on a new personality. They are still in love, but somehow it is not the same.

The middle portion is written from Jacob's perspective, which I found extremely hard to get through. I was also very disappointed that our heroin eventually gets everything she wants. The whole point of the Twilight saga was that Bella had to choose, that she couldn't have it all and she had to make a choice between family, friends, love, etc.

From the very beginning I was distracted, thinking of all those young (as young as 10 yrs old) girls that were at the release party who were now reading the steamy honeymoon chapters. Yikes! I had heard rumors that the publishers were debating posting an age rating (15 or 16) warning of violence & mature subject matter. I AGREE that this is N-O-T a 'youth' novel. Be aware!

Breaking Dawn ties loose ends up, but in an over the top way...makeing "happily ever after" an understatement. All-in-all I did like the book, mostly because it finally put an end to the anticipation. My favorite parts were the chapters comprising Bella's transformation, the beginning wedding scene, and the closing moment. Also, I liked that she had powers, but I thought Stephanie would work Bella's weird and constant 'nightmares' into her vampness somehow. Maybe I missed something. There is so much more I could say, but won't...but I will say this: I am going to read it again in a week to see if my opinion changes. I give it 3 of 5 stars...Twilight will always outshine the others in my opinion.

Those of you who have read the book, comment and let me know what you thought of the book!