In case you have not heard the news, J.K. Rowling has announced the title for her final book in the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you are a fan, this is a good thing because it means she is getting closer to having it complete, ready for publication, and for you to read! Now, if you happen to read this book before me, please do not do what Thomas did with the 6th book. He ruined the climax of the book for me! Now, if you have not read it and you plan to, stop now because I am going to tell you what happens. If you have read it or you simply do not care, please proceed :0)…..
We were sitting innocently in a Chinese restaurant in in the summer of 05. (Wow!!! Was it really that long ago???) We were discussing what J.K. Rowling would do with the series. Now, with all the books I was reading for my summer master’s classes and the A.P. English novel that I had assigned for my students, I did not have much time to pleasure read. Thomas had already completed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince mind you. Our discussion went something similar to the following:
T: What do you think J.K will do in the final books?
S: I don’t know…She is always throwing a twist in there.
T: Yeah that is definitely true.
S: Regardless, I think she will have to kill off Harry.
T: Really!!??
S: Yeah, because if she doesn’t kill him off, people will forever be harassing her to write another book. She’ll never be able to get away from it unless Harry is dead and it is not an option. I am just not sure if she will do it.
T: Well if she is willing to kill off Dumbledore………
Thomas’s mouth falls open, as well as mine. We both sit there silently for a few moments. Thomas then proceeds to cover up the slip, but I know that he is not kidding. The look on his face when he said it told me that he had let the info slip accidentally and that it was true. I was so frustrated with him. We were laughing about it, but being serious all at the same time. I literally got up and walked out of the tiny little restaurant. I had no idea what to do at this point, but for some reason, I felt like calling another muggle to speak about it. I called Jason Myatt and told him how awful my husband was for telling me about the death of Dumbledore! Thomas talked with Jason and tried to do some more cover up by saying things like: “Isn’t that funny Jason that I made that up. Tell Summer that it does not happen….” But it was not convincing; I knew it was true.
Regardless of knowing that pivotal information about the book, I still considered it a page-turner and I read it eagerly once life calmed down a bit. However, I hope not to hear ANYTHING about what happens in the final book. I still predict that Harry will die, but I think he will take Lord Voldemort out too in the process. And if you are a fan, I know that you too have your own assumptions on what will be unveiled in the plot. But with no date of release set yet, we will have to wait until J.K. is ready for its debut.
For our friend Rachel's graduation, Thomas and I hosted a little party on the 16th. Rachel and Jeff thought that a fun theme for the get together might be to decorate cookies. So, with creativity and icing, the guests let their talent shine. We had a late arriver, unaware of who made what cookie, decide upon the winner. I am very proud to say that my Charlie Brown cookie took first place!
A last cookie worth mentioning is the snowman cookie(s). It gave my winning Charlie Brown a run for its money, but ultimately, my true artistic talent brought Charlie out on top. (yeah right).
Daniel and I took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and went for a walk on Saturday, 11/25. Daddy (Thomas) was not feeling well, so he stayed behind. We used the JEEP stroller, compliments of Jon and Helen, to travel. I stayed really close to the house, avoided every piece of gravel, and went very slowly....but it was still enjoyable :0) . To top things off, I wore my USC shirt and they beat Notre Dame later that night.
Thanksgiving brought many new things to be thankful for this year. The main new thing of thankfulness was of course our new son! Thomas and I debated on what we were going to do over the holiday with the baby being so new...only only a week and three days old....but we knew we wanted to spend the holiday with family, so we did some traveling. We briefly stopped in at my aunt's house to spend a few moments with my mom's family. Here, we took a picture with all the young children in the family. Daniel was the youngest, but not by much (as you can see from the photo)
We then traveled on to Clarksville to spend time with Thomas's family. We did a combo Christmas/Thanksgiving on his mom's side. Daniel spent most of the day with closed eyes, but he was still a main focus of everyone.
After spending the night at our friend's house in Clarksville (thanks sara!!!) we went to visit Thomas's Grandpa.
This was a neat moment because I was able to take a picture of 4 generations ofOn our way home, we were stuck in awful traffic on the interstate from a big wreck on 1-24. We traveled just under 30 miles in just over 2 hours! However, in retrospect, it gave us one more thing to be thankful for....our health and safety.
Overall it was a great time and we were reminded of how great our families are and how amazing God is to us!!
Ok, here are a few more pictures of Daniel. (It is so hard to pick just a few!)
Also, I think it is appropiate to quote the Baptist Hospital comercial:
"Contrary to the laws of time and space, there truly are moments in life when time does stand still."
Many of you have heard our WONDERFUL news.....Daniel has arrived. He made his first appearance in the world Monday, November 13th, at 5:31 A.M. Labor and delivery were very successful and he is simply beautiful! Thank you so much for all your thoughts, prayers, gifts, words of encouragement, and all the other blessings to come our way. Thomas and I feel very grateful to have such great friends and family. I know Daniel can't wait to meet each of you :0).
Here are some photos of our son. He weighed 7lbs 5 oz and was 20in long. And no matter how cute he looks in these pictures, they do him no justice....trust me :0)
