Most Important Post Ever!

Okay.  It's time.  Time for me to write a LONG, fabulous entry about Suzette's love life.  You don't have to read about Sue's love life in great detail if you don't want to, but darn it - I'm gonna write about it!  I love a good romance, and I REALLY love a good sister-in-law and this story has both!  Plus, I need it in my family history because it's a HUGE DEAL!  Sorry if I don't get all the details right, Sue - this is MY version of what happened...

Once upon a time... just kidding.  Last summer, when we visited Idaho on our way to Yellowstone, Suzette said, "So I went on a date..."  I was like, "Cool."  Sue goes on dates regularly, but most of the time, she's not that interested.  Part of that is due to the limited number of normal single men past a certain age (no offense - but you know it's true!) and part of it is due to a long-term, not-so-healthy off-and-on relationship with another fella, who most of us either didn't love or tried not to hate.  Did I say that well?  Anyway, Sue said, "I had a really good time."  Then, my interest was perked.  In fact, she went on to tell me all the details of her date, show me pictures from her cell phone, and even say that she really liked the guy.

Here's a picture of their first date.  They doubled with a mutual friend and his wife, hiking the "R" mountain.

"The guy", I learned, was named Kory Kunz.  I'd never heard of him before, but if I'd been into EFY I might have.  He's written several songs and toured with EFY for years.  Here's the basics of his back story:  Kory was a seminary teacher and EFY speaker, married for many years, and father to 8 children.  Some of his kids are grown, only four live at home right now.  When their youngest child went to school, his wife decided that she wanted a divorce.  Divorce to a seminary teacher also means you get fired from your job.  So, a couple of years ago, Kory got divorced and started over his career.  He and his ex-wife still live within the same school district and share custody of their kids.  She's remarried to a guy from the gym, but lives with her mother whenever the kids are with her.  That's about all I know.  The kids, by the way, love Suzette.

Okay, So I live in Utah, and I don't get to witness all the day-to-day details.  THAT SUCKS!!!  I missed out on most of the romance.  I knew that they went on several dates, but things weren't really progressing very fast.  Then, Suzette went on a long summer vacation to the east coast.  I think that while she was gone, Kory realized that he missed her because basically from the time she came home, things moved pretty quickly.

From what I understand, they went on a few dates, then Kory said he really liked her and wanted to date her exclusively.  Sue was on board with that idea. In fact, Sue has been on board with this relationship in a way I've never seen before!  It's so fun to see her excited - no "giddy" describes it better - but also very calm and sure of everything.  I knew from the way she acted that this was THE ONE!

They dated for a while and we loved seeing pictures of the fun things they were doing together.

Like playing laser tag with his kids:

Kory is making his "Daniel Craig" face. 

Golfing.  Actually, Sue just drives the cart - Kory golfs.

Going pumpkin hunting.  These are Kory's four youngest children.

And to the straw maze.  Our niece, Ainsley went with them this time.

I already wrote about the first time I met Kory.  That was when we went to Idaho for Pace's baby blessing.  On October 20th, Suzette and Kory came to our house for a visit.  Kory was going to be speaking at a fireside in Bountiful, so they stopped and ate dinner with us first.  We had such a great time!  Kory and Sue both gushed over my food (even though I messed up and it was still a little cold in the center - they acted like it was fabulous).  The kids all jabbered away at him, but he could totally hang with them.  We sat and visited for a while, then Dave and I went to the fireside to listen to him while our home teacher and his wife volunteered to watch our kids.  The fireside was so wonderful!  Now, you all probably know that I'm not a huge EFY kind of person.  In fact, I didn't even graduate from seminary, let alone listen to "churchy stuff" as a kid.  I never would have thought that this kind of thing was for me, but I really, seriously enjoyed it.  I'm sure a lot of it was that I know Kory a little bit, but that wasn't all of it.  He is really a talented speaker and teacher.  I had a great time listening to him.  I left the fireside even more impressed with Kory than ever.

So, we all knew what was coming.  In fact, we all knew that Kory had spoken to his kids about marrying Suzette, that they had been planning dates, and that they had gone "shopping for expensive jewelry."  We were just waiting for the official announcement.  And that came last night.  Suzette and Kory are officially engaged!  I could not be happier!!  Wait.  Correction - yes I could.  They're getting married pretty much on my due date.  I don't think I'll be able to attend.  But that's okay.   We've got a whole eternity for them to make it up to me!!!  So... get started, you two!

Best. Photo. Ever.

Real-Time Updates:

I'm still trying to catch up on my blog, but I have to throw in a post or two about what's happening in our lives right now.  This first post will be a quick update on my pregnancy.

I'm 23 weeks along now.  I'm at that point in pregnancy when I try to waddle and hold my back and wear the most maternity- looking outfits I have so no one wonders if I just put on a few pounds.  :)  I loved it when early on, women would come up to me in church and be like, "I thought you looked like you were getting a belly."  I wanted to say, "Really?  Because I'm only 8 weeks along.  That's french fries you're looking at!  No, I just carry my babies really high - like in my back fat!"  Seriously - I gained about 10 pounds in the first 8 weeks.  Then, I held steady for a while, but the scales are a-tippin' again.  Quickly.

Things are going well, as far as the baby in concerned.  He's (did I mention that we're having another boy?) strong and perfectly healthy looking from what we can see.  He's very active right now and the older kids like to feel him kick their hands.   David was able to come to the doctor's office with me for our big ultrasound and he was excited and happy.  It made me glad that he was there.

We can't seem to settle on a name yet.  I like Malachi a lot.  Dave started out liking Quinton (since it's our 5th baby).  I decided after a while that I like Quinn, not Quinton, but by then, Dave was warming up to Malachi.  The kids despise both names.  I don't know what we'll end up naming him - I just hope we figure something out by February.

I'm not sure if it's my age (I'm 36 - officially "high risk") or the fact that this is my 5th child, but my body isn't holding up as well as I'd like.  I've experienced pressure and pain and lightheadedness in all of my other pregnancies, but not while I was still in the second trimester!  I'm a little bit nervous about how I'm going to make it 4 more months!  Last night, something in my leg went haywire and I couldn't walk.  I mean, I couldn't walk!  At all.  Crazy.

Another concern I have is the sugar issue.  I couldn't eat sugar while I had morning sickness, but I'm mostly past that now.  I still feel blah a lot, and I threw up two days ago, but I'm much better.  Now that I CAN eat sugar, I DO eat sugar.  I have NO self control when it comes to sugar while I'm pregnant (I'm not exactly great about it when I'm not pregnant).  If I can't find any candy in the house, I've been known to eat tubes of frosting that you use to write on cakes with, or even straight brown sugar.  It's not pretty.  I'm not that bad yet, but I still eat more sweets than I should - I kind of wish I hadn't figured out that sugar doesn't make me sick anymore.  I told David that I feel like an addict - every night, I SWEAR that I'm going to go a whole day without sugar and see if I feel better.  And by about 9:00 every morning, I'm already buzzed.

Photos of the zoo

We had such a great time at the Hogle Zoo on October 12th.  I won four free tickets from Channel 2 News. (You should have seen my kids run around the house screaming when they announced my name on television.  You would have thought we won the lottery!)  I'm not going to subject you to the whole blow-by-blow details of our trip (then, we saw the elephants...then we saw the rhinos...).  I'll just show you a few pictures.

We went right as it opened in the morning.  It was pretty brisk for a while.

The polar bear habitat was AWESOME!  You can go underground and watch them swim from below the water, or up here, where the polar bear likes to come right up to the glass.  Look at Bronson's reaction.

He looks hungry to me.  If that glass wasn't there...

Learning and exploring together.

Dave says he's pretty sure Heavenly Father was laughing when he made giraffes.  I think they're cool!

Bronson, Nicole, Alison, and Josh at the Hogle Zoo.

Bronson's Birthday

On Friday, October 11th, Bronson had his third birthday!  Can you believe how old he is getting?  I can.  I have always said that the terrible two's are a walk in the park compared to the threatening three's.  Bronson still keeps that theory alive.  He is a crazy, cranky, bossy little tyrant - but a really cute one.

The darling birthday boy.  Whoa!  Look at those toes!  He needs new PJs!

Bron's birthday started a little early this year.  My parents knew they'd be out of town on Friday, so they stopped by for a birthday visit the night before.  They brought along their present - a toy shopping cart filled with lots of fun foods (like applesauce, a sugary breakfast cereal, Cheetos, a couple of cans of pop, etc.)  He was so thrilled!  He pushed that thing all over the place!  Josh was impressed too.  He secretly whispered to Grandma that his birthday was coming up and that he hoped she'd bring his present the night before too... Man - it's hard to be little and have to wait for your birthday, isn't it?

Bronson's actual birthday started out the usual way - with the gift giving ceremony.  Luckily for me, David did most of the birthday shopping this year.  I am very tired all the time, and I always have Bronson with me, so Dave stepped up to the plate like a champ and bought Bronson's gifts.  He did a good job too!  Bronson's favorite presents were his light saber (that was Dave's favorite as well) and his big wheel.

I tried to spend the bulk of the day doing whatever Bronson wanted to do.  That meant I spent most of the day watching Bronson play outside like the big kids do, and watching a Nick Jr. video that he got as a gift.  (He loves Dora and Diego, but even he thinks Yo Gabba Gabba is strange.  What IS that show?!?!?)  We also went to the grocery store to buy his his own special Batman birthday cake.  The ladies at the bakery were so nice.  They really made him feel special.  They even let us go back behind the counter and watch them decorate it.  Poor Josh was having a hard time.  He had a mini meltdown at the store (and a few mini meltdowns throughout the day as well) because Bronson got all the cool stuff.  Oh well - his turn was coming soon enough.  Bronson chose candy cane ice cream to go with his cake.  A unique, yet delicious choice.

I knew our dinner wasn't going to be very healthy, so in the afternoon, I put a couple of chicken breasts on the stove for Dave and I to eat.  Then, I went outside to be with the kids while they played for a few minutes.  While I was out, a neighbor came over and we started to chat.  You know where this is going right?  I lost track of time and forgot about the chicken.  The next thing I knew, the smoke alarms were blaring throughout the house, the girls and I were frantically trying to get all the windows open and the boys were screaming that our house was on fire.  It was a very exciting afternoon!  The smell lingered for days to remind me of my embarrassing mistake, but no permanent damage was done. 

Bronson chose some of his favorite foods for his birthday dinner.  We ate pizza, egg drop soup (aka in our house as "yellow Chinese soup") and pineapple.  Yum!  Afterwards, we had a little cake lighting ceremony.  It was only our little family that was able to attend.  Everyone else was busy or gone.  But don't worry about that.  Bronson had plenty of love and attention from us.  We sure love that little guy!

Birthday dinner, complete with super hero decorations.  Yes, Josh has two bowls of egg drop soup.  Nicki decided she didn't want hers.  

Plus, we went to the zoo the very next day, so Bronson's celebration just kept on going...

How Social Media Improves Our Marriage

Who knew that You Tube would be so helpful in our married life?

Last night, I was trying to vent to David.  My life feels out of control right now.  I am getting everything done that NEEDS to be done, but always at the last minute, rushed and stressed.  From the moment I wake up to the time I go to sleep, I'm rushing to get people fed, lunches made, homework finished (WHY do the kids have so many dang PROJECTS!?!?!) birthday presents/meals/cakes bought or made, Halloween costumes figured out, laundry caught up, dishes done, sick kids cared for, VT, choir, and personal scripture study completed, exercise, shower, and occasionally makeup applied, etc. etc. etc. etc.  I keep a running to-do list on my tablet and I've NEVER been able to cross everything off (that's partly because I have things like "paint the kitchen " on the list, but still...) and there are many MANY things that I just have to let go right now because I will never get to them.  Things like buying maternity clothes or taking a nap.

So, last night I was finally doing the dinner dishes at about 9:00 pm.  Dave barely walked in the door from buying Josh's birthday presents for me (my hero!) and I was telling him about how frazzled and stressed out I feel.  He started to say something like, "It sounds like you just need to take a half hour and sit and think.  Get yourself organized..."  I stopped him right there and said, "Dave.  It's not about the nail."  He laughed and shut up.   I love that man!  I'm so glad we have a shared vocabulary from a short video on You Tube.  Have you seen it?  The wife has an actual nail protruding from her head as she complains to her husband about the pain she feels.  He wants to remove the nail, but she's like "Just listen to me!  Don't try to fix it!"  Ha ha! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg

It's got to be frustrating for Dave to listen to me complain about a problem that he feels he can fix.  But really, all I needed last night was a person to listen to me whine.  He tried for a while, but I ended up saying, "Never mind.  I'll  just call my mom in the morning."

David's Birthday

David's birthday fell on a Sunday this year.  I think it was about as great as a birthday can be from the family-time perspective.

We woke up and did our typical birthday present routine.  I felt bad because David literally shopped for his own presents this year.  I was sick and overly tired - shopping with kids in tow just isn't fun for me.  Plus I know that he has very specific opinions, so I wanted him to get exactly what he wanted.  Normally I would try to get at least ONE fun surprise, but I couldn't think of a single non-food item (Dave's doing really great on is weight loss again and doesn't want food) that he would like.  He kept insisting that he was PERFECTLY happy with his gifts, but I felt a little bad.

We all got showered and cleaned up, then we loaded up the van and headed north to Idaho!  What a perfect place for Dave to spend his birthday!  We arrived at Dave's parents house right about the same time that they got out of church.  We had a little lunch (except the birthday boy, who was fasting - the girls fasted for a while, but gave up once they got to Idaho), then Dave took a nap with Bronson.

In the afternoon, we went to Shawn and Amy's ward.  They blessed their adorable baby, Pace.  I hadn't even MET him until his blessing!  Sigh!  It was so fun to fill a long bench with Gee kids.  Grandma and Grandpa Gee were on the end closest to Josh, Nolan, and Abram so they had the most shushing to do.  The girls were all lined up in the middle drawing pictures quietly.  Bronson was on my lap and he was plenty loud, but mostly about church stuff like who was saying "amen" and who wasn't.  Pace was a perfect angel, sleeping the entire time except while the actual blessing was being given!

I was so excited for this trip because I wanted to meet two people: Pace, and Suzette's new boyfriend, Kory.  I had heard a lot about him over the past month or two and I was DYING that I had to live so far away!  He was at the blessing, along with four of his children.  I suppose I'll write a long entry about their romance in a month or so, if any official announcements get made.  For now, I'll just say that Kory is a delightful man and I'm giddy with happiness for he and Sue.  He fits in just perfectly with the Gee clan.

After the blessing, we all went to Shawn and Amy's house to visit and eat.  The food was fantastic.  Luckily for Dave, he had been fasting all day so he had plenty of calories to enjoy the ham and funeral potatoes with.  He even had TWO cakes and homemade ice cream for his birthday!  FUN!  We had such a great time visiting and the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins, that we stayed longer than we should have.  We couldn't help it!  By the time we got home to Utah, it was after 11:00, but so totally worth it!  Happy Birthday to you, Dave!  We love you!

Oh Snap.

You'd think that after ten years of parenting, I'd be a little more quick to react when I hear words like, "Bronson, watch this," coming from another room.

I knew the boys were being rowdy.  In fact, I had halfheartedly called out to them a couple of times, "Boys.  Settle down."  Then, I heard the infamous words:  "Bronson, watch this!"  These words were followed by a large crash, the sound of glass shattering, and Josh's cry.  I knew exactly what had happened.  Man!  I tell you, this big ol' pregnant body can move when its properly motivated!  I dashed in, yelling, "Nobody move!!!"

Sure enough, the glass coffee table that I bought when I was single was shattered in a million pieces.  It had previously been being used as a launch pad for little boys to take turns jumping onto the couch.  I verified that Josh wasn't actually hurt, just frightened.  I placed him on the couch next to Bronson with strict instructions not to move.  I might have asked a question or two like, "Now do you believe Daddy and I when we say that the glass table is going to break someday?"  Then I got to work cleaning glass.  Actually, the first thing I did was grab the camera.  I know, that makes me a little TOO obsessed with keeping this family history, but I honestly think it was a blessing because it gave me time to cool down and put things in perspective.

It's a miracle that the table lasted ten years in a house with four rowdy children.  Dave remembers when we were moving to our house in Rexburg, one of the men helping him move said, "You know the definition of an optimist?  A man with a glass table and a two year old."  I can't even count the number of times we pulled children off the table or told them to get down before it broke.  Just an hour before it broke, I caught Bronson doing a tap dance on it.  I'm actually a little glad that it did break so that our children will think we know what we're talking about.

Cleaning the glass was a chore.  It certainly wasn't made of safety glass!  I only got one or two little cuts myself, but even after vacuuming twice, I still find tiny shards here and there.  Yikes!  It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't spent the entire morning trying to get urine out of a mattress and spending money we don't really have to get a better mattress pad.  Fun, fun times!

Maybe we'll buy a new coffee table someday.  But actually, that won't happen until after we replace the broken blender and food processor, fix the fridge, which has been leaking for over a year, repair the garage door (hopefully that happens before winter - I don't like getting out of the van every time I come or go), build shelves in the garage and a shed in the back yard so Dave can park in the garage, and only if our two cars hold out for another year or two.  sigh.  Oh well.  Who needs a coffee table anyway?  It makes our family room seem more spacious and gives the boys less launching pads.

Best. Day. Ever.

It may seem like I'm exaggerating, but I'm not.  I LOVE the Greek Food Festival!  It ranks right up there with Christmas and birthdays.

Wow.  What can I say?  Sometimes my beauty amazes even me.

This year was extra special.  For the first time in over a decade, I was able to attend the event with my soul mate in food obsessions - Kristin Holt.  Special thanks goes out to my husband, who kindly took half a day off work just to babysit the boys so I could go without them.

Kristin's giddy.

Kris getting THREE boxes of Loukomathes...

which are these - scone bites drenched in honey and cinnamon.

This year in particular, I had been CRAVING Greek food for months.  I seriously wasn't sure if I could make it until the end of September!  But it was worth the wait!  I can't even explain how happy it all makes me!

Between the two of us, we got a lot of food (but not as much as other people.  One woman brought a cooler and literally bought 50 or more dolmathes!)

This is my loot.  Oh, I'm dying just looking at it again!  Maybe I should bring a cooler next year!

Alison Turns 10!

It's hard for me to believe that I've been a mother for a full decade!  The celebration of Alison's birth is the celebration of the day that changed my life forever!  I never knew how powerful and humbling a mother's love was before September 24, 2003.  I love my little baby Alison even more today than I did 10 years ago.  She's truly amazing!

Her birthday fell on a Tuesday this year.  She was waiting and planning and plotting and making several lists and leaving notes around the house where I'd find them for at least a month in advance.  She knew she'd never get everything she wanted, but I guess her philosophy was "nothing ventured nothing gained."  Needless to say, we had plenty of time to contemplate Alison's celebration.

The actual day wasn't too out-of-the-ordinary, but I think she had a great time.  She opened her presents first thing in the morning, after scripture study.  She got many of the things she requested (the reasonable ones, at least).  One of her favorite things was a book I made and had printed for her that was filled with pictures of her throughout her life, lots of little quotes about happiness, and a letter to her from each of her parents telling her what we love about her.  I'd love to try to make a book for each of our kids on their tenth birthday.  It seems like a good tradition.

The kids like to make a big ceremony out of bringing in the presents.

She chose Lucky Charms AND Cap'n Crunch for her breakfast cereal.  Nothing like two bowls of sugar to start your school day!  She had a great day at school.  I think her teacher goes out of her way to make the birthday child feel special.  She even decorates their desk.  For her class treat, Alison brought a box of those orange-crackers-filled-with-peanut-butter-type-thingy's.  Ew.  While she was away, I was working like a banshee cleaning the house for company and cooking like a mad woman.  Luckily, I felt pretty good that day.

When school got out, Alison was surprised to get picked up by Grandma Smith instead of her mom.  Grandma took her and Nicki to Tasty's Donuts.  Grandpa Smith met them there.  Then, Grandma brought her home and gave her an AMAZING present, which was also her favorite thing of ALL. Grandma gave her a book called Grumpy Cat.  She also gave her a T-shirt that has a picture of a cat in a taco shell and says, "Taco Cat spelled backwards is Taco Cat."

Anyway...around dinner time, Dave's brother Nathan and his family came.  They live in Pennsylvania and had been visiting the west for a while for a family wedding.  We were so happy to see them!  It's only once per year or less that we get to see their cute family.  In fact, when their first child walked in, I said, "Hi, Kahri!"  The little girl looked up at me in exasperation and said, "I'm not Kahri, I'm Hailey!"  I couldn't BELIEVE little Hailey was so big! (until I saw how big Kahri was!)

Alison chose home made chicken noodle soup and Rhodes Roll breadsticks for her birthday dinner (Hooray!  Easy to make for a crowd.  I don't know what I would have done if she requested fried chicken or something.)  I think everything tasted good.  Our table was crowded, our counter was packed, and I had to stand.  We had a fun, loud, exciting time!  After dinner, Aunt Katie, Megan, and my parents came over for cake and icecream.  It was fun.  What's really nice is to see the kids all pair up with their cousins and take off to various parts of the house/yard to play.  Grandma and Grandpa Gee called and sang happy birthday to her at one point, but I didn't get to hear it. 

I slaved all day over that cake.  NOT.  Thank you Sam's Club.  It was marbled chocolate and white cake inside.

Front, around the cake:  Half of Nicole, Blurry Alison, Emily, Johnathan, Kahri, Bronson, Hailey (Josh was next to Hailey, out of the picture).  Back: Gma Smith, Megan, Aunt Katie, Andrew, Uncle Nathan, Aunt Dawn's shirt. (Gpa Smith was also out of the picture, sitting next to Dawn.)

Nathan and Dawn's family spent the night at our house.  I felt a little bad that we weren't more exciting, but it was a school night for our kids, and they go to bed pretty early.  We set up their kids in sleeping bags upstairs, gave the parents our bed, and our crew stayed downstairs.  The next morning both Alison and Nicole wanted to play sick so that they could stay home and play with their cousins some more.  Overall, I think Alison had a really fun birthday.

The Very Next Day...

The day after our Pirate Raid at Krispie Kreme (and I capitalized the name on purpose, because it felt like the kind of event that needs a proper title), the girl's school was scheduled to have a carnival.  I know I should have been excited about it, but with four children those things can be costly!  I knew we would easily drop $50 there, and I also knew that Dave was going to be working late that evening.  I'd be on my own with four kids at a carnival for at least a couple of hours.  Call me crazy, but I was not looking forward to the event!

I tried to think of something I could do with the kids that would still be fun, but not quite as expensive or easy to lose children at.  I came up with the following:  After school (Fridays are "early out" days for our kids - they get through at 1:25 pm), we came home and quickly barreled through our piano/homework routine.  Then, we drove to Ogden to see "Turbo" at the cheap theater.  The girls had seen it previously, but it was new to the boys and to me.  It was a really cute movie, I think.  I only saw about half of it due to a dirty diaper, a huge pop spill, and a couple of refill runs.  Just livin' the dream...just livin' the dream...

After the show, we quickly drove to the Hastings Book Store in Ogden for a book signing with one of our favorite authors, Brandon Mull.  He wrote the Fablehaven series.  Alison is a HUGE fan!  She recently got me to read "only the first book" knowing full well that I'd be forced to read them all!  I was just starting book three when we went to the signing.  Nicole's teacher is reading the first book out loud to her class, so she's a fan as well.  You know who's NOT a fan of Brandon Mull?  Josh and Bronson.  They had spent hours in a long line just the day before and they were not interested in being in one again!  Also, they were a little hopped up on popcorn and soda pop.  So, I improvised.  I left the girls in line while the boys and I went back out to the van.  We have a portable DVD player in there.  We watched an episode of  "The Justice League."  By the time it was over, my hero, Dad showed up.  He took the boys home, fed them some eggs and toast, and put them to bed.  I went back into the bookstore and waited in line with the girls.

Yes, the line was long.  But, bookstores are great places to be stuck in a line.  There's plenty of entertaining and educational stuff to look at while you wait.  Brandon Mull was incredibly kind and patient with all of his fans.  It was sweet to watch him interact with a boy a few people ahead of us who had some physical disabilities.  He was also patient with the mother ahead of us who totally mortified her daughter by telling Brandon that her daughter was a great author - perhaps even better than Brandon...  I tell you, he probably meets all kinds of people at his signings.  He signed every book people put in front of him.  Some brought stacks!

Finally, our turn came.  Nicki went first.  She had a couple of books to get signed for my sister.  Nicki jabbered away.  No shyness there: "These books aren't for me, they're my aunt's.  I'm a big fan.  My teacher is reading your book to the whole class...we're at the part where...." Brandon listened carefully and said, "Oh, just wait.  You're at the good part!  It gets exciting from here."  Alison was next.  She had three books with her.  While he signed them, she asked if he'd be writing any more Fablehavens.  He said he's working on some new ones right now!  She was thrilled.  Then, Nicki took over the conversation again: "Alison loves your books.  She's read them all.  She reads fast.  She's really smart.  She skipped first grade."  Brandon was like, "Oh. That was probably good since you're so tall."  It was cute.  Anyway...he thanked the girls for being fans, told them to be looking for some new books coming soon, and posed for a picture.

We got home late, but meeting Brandon Mull was totally worth it.  Alison was on cloud nine!  She had met one of her favorite authors in person!  It may have been a crazy, impromptu adventure, but overall, I thought it was pretty fun.  I think it was better than a crowded, expensive school carnival any day!