I confess...

I am a Harry Potter fan. I soared through the previous six books and was anxious for the last installment in the series to debut. We picked it up on our way up to a cabin with Wally's family the day it came out. It took all I had to leave my copy in the car so I could be sociable with the rest of the family. I even controlled my urge to pick up the book after we got home until we had finished unpacking and got through the rest of the birthdays for the month. Finally, I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I finished it. It took me about 3 days to finish the 759 page book, hence the delayed posting to my humble blog.

I had a hard time putting the book down, which resulted in very sore eyes. I eventually had to put my glasses on and Kelsie told me that I look weird, probably my out-of-date frames. My poor kids weren't really sure what to do with themselves while I was reading, but they at least decided that it must be "quiet time" so they picked up their books and started reading. Kelsie was especially interested in what page I was on through out the book and would frequently ask me where I was. Finally, she told me (in only a way she can say it),

"I can't believe an author could write a book that long and that scary!"

Brandon, on the other hand, thinks that Harry Potter is cool. So, what do I think? There were some parts that were a little slow for me, and some parts that I feel like I need to read over again, just to make sure that I'm following the story right. All in all, it was a good read (obviously) and another book would probably just put it over the top. It was a good time to end the fantasy of Harry Potter.

I think I finally convinced Wally to read the books so I can talk to someone about them. I would love to hear your thoughts from the series. What did you think? What did or didn't you like? Try not to reveal the end, if you can help it, for those who have not read it yet. Feel free to comment if you wish. And with that, I say, farewell to Harry Potter, on a most appropriate day.

Fireworks Galore!

Fireworks are always a huge thing for us on the 4th of July. Anyone who really knows Wally (and me for that matter) understand what I mean. We have noticed that "pyromania" is being passed on to our children too, well Kelsie at least. Brandon still isn't quite sure how he feels about sparks flying everywhere. Caleb really didn't know what was going on, but had a great time watching the fireworks and would kick his legs every time, as long as he could see around the big towel we used to cover his ears. I was really excited to try out some of the stuff that I have been learning about by taking some cool pictures of the fireworks and sparklers. I'm pretty pleased with the results. We especially had fun actually seeing our names with the sparklers instead of just pretending like we've done for so long! We were even impressed with Kelsie, who wrote her own name clear enough to read.

We had a really fun 4th of July which included sleeping in, a bike ride, 100+ weather, a BBQ with some friends, and fireworks at night. We had a great time together and hope that everyone else had fun too.



































Our names are not all perfect, but we had fun doing it and think it's pretty cool.