Reasons I Love Twilight - #29...

Reason #29 -- The Cullens!!!

The Cullen family is the family of vampires in Twilight. The members of the family are the father figure Carlisle, the mother figure Esme, and the kids - Edward, Emmett, Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper.

Cullen Family History 101 --

Carlisle was born in the 1600's and became a vampire at the age of 23. He decided that just because he was a vampire didn't mean that he had to kill humans to survive, so he began feeding on animals instead. After living alone for over 200 years, practicing medicine in an effort to do some good in the world and make up for what he was, he found Edward. Edward was 17 at the time and he and his parents were dying from the Spanish Influenza. They were in Chicago in 1918 and after Edward's parents had both died, Carlisle followed Edward's mothers wishes and 'saved' him. She seemed to be very perceptive and had begged Carlisle to save Edward as only he could. Not long after turning Edward, Carlisle found Esme. She had left an abusive marriage and given birth to a baby boy who had died shortly after birth. In her sadness she jumped off a cliff, but did not die. Carlisle turned her and she was rather happy to be with him after having met him in her teenaged years when she broke her leg falling out of a tree. He had been the doctor to treat her and she had never forgotten him. Since Carlisle had found a mate in Esme, he thought that maybe Edward should have a mate as well. One night he came across Rosalie, who had been beaten and left for dead in the street by her fiance and his friends. Carlisle turned her but Edward was not interested in her. (Turns out Edward likes brunette's. :D ) Rosalie does not like life as a vampire and she is rather jealous of humans. A few years after she had been turned Rosalie came across Emmett, who had been hunting and was being mauled by a grizzly bear. She carried him home to Carlisle and Emmett was turned and became Rosalie's mate. A few years later Alice and Jasper showed up and joined the family. Alice had been locked in a mental hospital for years because of her premonitions and when a bad vampire came to kill her, a vampire who was working at the hospital turned her in order to keep the bad vamp from killing her. Jasper was born in the mid 1800's and had been fighting in the Civil War when he was turned. He spent many years training young vampires and molding them into armies. Once he became disenchanted with that life, he left and soon Alice found him.

Some of the Cullen family member have special powers, things that they think were present in their human bodies but were magnified after they were turned. Edward can read people's thoughts. Alice can see the future. Jasper can feel and control emotions in the people around him. Emmett is very strong. Esme is very loving. Carlisle is very self disciplined and caring. Rosalie... Well, Rosalie is stubborn. Very much so!! :D Because they all refrain from feeding on humans they have been able to form much stronger family bonds than most other vampires have. They make up the largest vampire coven in history, second only to the royal vampire family who is really only made up of 5 members, but they have many more members of their guard.

Here are some pictures of the Cullen Clan!!

This is the Cullen Kids with Bella.

LtoR - Alice, Emmett, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, and Jasper.

This is a scene from the movie when Bella goes to the Cullen's house and meets Edward's family. They are all happy that she came to meet them, all except for Rosalie of course. Esme is especially thrilled because Edward has found someone and she knows that no matter what, things will work out between them. Alice is also happy, as she has seen that she and Bella will become best friends as well as sisters some day. Edward is not particularly pleased about this since he knows that that would mean Bella would have to be turned into a vampire and he doesn't want that life for her.

Here are the Cullen's doing one of their favorite activities -- playing baseball! They have to do it only during thunderstorms so that there is thunder to cover the sounds of them hitting the ball and crashing into each other! :)

Here are Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper.

Emmett is played by Kellan Lutz, Rosalie is played by Nikki Reed, Alice is played by Ashley Greene, and Jasper is played by Jackson Rathbone. The Cullens tell people that Rosalie and Jasper are twins and are foster children to Carlisle and Esme. The say that Edward, Alice, and Emmett have all been adopted by Carlisle and Esme, although these stories can change a bit each time they move to a new place, which they must do often since they don't age and would draw too much attention to themselves if they stayed for any long period of time.

Here are Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle is played by Peter Facinelli and Esme is played by Elizabeth Reaser. Peter is married in real life to Jennie Garth of Beverly Hills 90210 fame. And can I just say... He's Smokin' Hot!!!! :) Okay, I got that out of my system! :P

And here are Rosalie, Carlisle, and Edward at the hospital after Edward has saved Bella. Yeah, Rose ain't about that...

And this is the first image Bella sees of the Cullen's -- in the cafeteria at lunch on her first day at Forks High School. She says in the book that they are all extremely beautiful but she can't decide who is the most beautiful, the perfect blonde girl or the bronze-haired boy. I think she figures that one out pretty quickly. ;)

I love the Cullen family and I am so excited to see them in the movie!! The books are so great because of them and the extra little something that they bring to them. Emmett is the playful older brother, the protector of the family and the jokester all rolled into one. Alice is the sweet girlie sister that Bella never had. Jasper is very concerned and cautious of Bella, yet he loves Alice and welcomes Bella for her sake. Rosalie is rather standoffish, but she does provide lots of great comic relief in the final book. :D Carlisle and Esme are supportive of all of their children, but clearly Edward is their favorite and they are concerned for him in his relationship with Bella, but they accept her with open arms and trust that Edward will do the right thing, which of course he does. :) And Edward... Well he's just about perfect so there's not much else to say about him. Or at least, that's how Bella sees him.

Stay tuned for Reason #28 tomorrow!!