Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The End of An Era



Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to see an advanced screening of the final Harry Potter movie that is going to be released this Friday. Was it amazing? OF COURSE!

I have not always loved Harry Potter. I boycotted it at first because people were telling me that I absolutely had to read it. I refused and it wasn’t until after the first movie came out on DVD that I even bothered to pick up a copy.

After the first book, I WAS HOOKED! I fell in love with the characters and truly hated others. I can remember while reading Order of the Phoenix, “Is it right that I hate Delores Umbridge so much? She is a fictional character.” And I really did hate her. The emotion was so real even though she wasn’t.

But that is what great books will do for you. They come alive and the characters become people to root for, cry for, and sometimes hate. A good author can make you feel real emotions for fake people. And for me, that really is what those books did.

The books are wonderful and I was sad, as I am sure many others were, when I finished the last page of the Deathly Hallows. I felt sad that the story was over but at least I had the movies to look forward too.

Last night marked the end of that for me too. The movie was, well, it was simply spectacular. Of course I loved it because I love the story so much. It could be the biggest piece of technical trash with poor effects and bad acting and I would probably still love it. But in truth, I thought it was great.

It had parts that made me laugh, which was nice because Deathly Hallows Part 1 was such a serious movie. This one brought a little humor back and I loved it. Ron has some of the best dialog and the actor Rupert Grint has great facial expressions. It kept me smiling between the parts where I got choked up.

Yes, I did shed a tear at a couple parts-I know, LAME! And there were other parts where the entire theater cheered and clapped at. It was fun to be in a room full of people who loved it just as much as I did that when you see Ron and Hermione kiss, you can’t help but clap. (That does sound a little creepy now that I think about it but oh well.)

All I can say is that it was a fantastic movie and I am sad that it is over. I don’t want to go on and on because most of us know the story. And for those of you who don’t…have you been living under a rock? I won’t spoil it for those who don’t know how it ends but honestly, if you haven’t read the books and you don’t know what happens go to the library right now and check them out.

Thanks to my Mom for taking me with you. Thanks to my Dad for not wanting to go and letting me have your ticket. And thanks to Ryan and Becca who were cool with me going even though I know they both wanted to see it too.

And remember, help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Boys of Summer

We love summer time here at Homestead Farms. As I have mentioned before, we have some awesome neighbors/friends and when summer time rolls around, we get to spend many evenings outside just hanging out and letting the kids play. (And by kids, that often includes the husbands along with the children.)


Here we have J and his lovely little girl TaylorAnn. TaylorAnn and Gabe are just over a year apart and I am sure as the days go by, they will become good friends. And the other night as Gabe was scooting around on his fire truck TaylorAnn wanted a ride too. It was so cute to watch the 2 of them rolling around on the truck together and TaylorAnn could not stop smiling.

Also in my previous blog I mentioned that Gabe has turned into quite the little Picasso at times by way of coloring on my living room walls. There were some doubts that my sweet little boy could do such a thing....



BAM! Doesn't he look proud? Here is my little artist sitting below his "work of art." Of course I had him help me clean it off but not before getting proof for you, Internet.




Here is a close-up of his art. I wish his creative outlet wasn't released on my white walls.


Also this summer we have taken Gabe swimming a couple times. We wanted to find a pool more suitable for little kids and we scored big time with the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.

I have already allowed a picture of myself in my swimsuit once so you will not be seeing one of me again. Did Ryan take some? Yes. But you will not see them. They are just too sexy for a family blog. If I were to post them on here, I would have to give this site an Over 18 Warning and I really don't want to start a sex riot over my blog.

This past holiday weekend we had the pleasure of having Ryan's parents Scott and Linda in town. We always love it when his family can come down and spend time with Gabe. Gabe gets to see my family all the time and he loves it. We want him to have the same relationship with Ryan's family too.


On the 4th of July we took everyone down to the Tracy Aviary. Gabe loves birds and Ry and I have wanted to take him but we are lazy no-fun poops and it took having special company in town to get us down there.
Gabe was running around like a chicken with his head cut off...a little bird humor for you there. He was having so much fun feeding ducks, peeking into cages, and yes, chasing pigeons. He did occasionally stand still long enough to get his picture taken. Above we have Gabe, Grandma Linda, and Grandpa Scott.


The aviary had a few of these wooden cutouts and Gabe loved them all. He loved getting his picture taken and when we would try to walk away, he would get a little cranky until he saw something with feathers and then he would forget. Phew for short attention spans.



It has been a great summer so far. We love being able to get out in the sunshine and spend time together as a family. We wish Sera could be here with us and miss her fun-loving spirit. We know that she wishes she could be here with us too.


Sorry for the long blog but you should see what I didn't put in! I will try to not be such a slacker and post more frequently but honestly I say that all the time. Much love to you all!