Fun family times...

In the new album on our picasa site are pictures of the fun things we've done together as a family recently.

The first bunch of pictures come from our trip to Watson Mill Covered Bridge State Park, where we went for a picnic and nature walk on Columbus Day. It was nice to have the day off as a family, and it's fun to have so many beautiful parks around us here in Athens. We drove to the bridge and had a picnic and then wandered down by the river (not sure which one...) to play in the sticks and leaves. We took a little nature walk and collected leaves (Rylie kept finding "so many oak leaf-es!") and rubbed our fingers over lots of spongy moss. We weren't hiking for too long when Olivia had collected more leaves than she could carry and when mom wouldn't help her carry any more, she exclaimed, "Oh man! I wish we never even went on this stupid nature walk!" We had to call uncle Chandler and tell him his legacy for nature-walk-frustration lives on. It was beautiful and fun to be together.

Then for Halloween we had a super fun party at our friends, the Vess's house. They have a nice safe neighborhood for trick or treating, with the homes close together and a perfect sized block for walking. The kids were just about exhausted with only two or so homes left, so we timed it just right. Also, the rains came just before we made it back home. :)

As you can see from the pictures, Tucker and Olivia were Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and they looked adorable. Some other friends of ours had a lathe in their garage, and offered to make them each their own "authentic" magic wands - the kids even got to pick out their own styles. Then I made them some black Hogwarts robes with little Gryffindor patches. Tucker had his (adorable!) glasses and a scar, and we braided Livvy's hair the night before so it would be poofy and wavy. They looked perfect! And they "expecto-patronum-ed" their way down the street all evening. And for some reason Rylie had her heart set on being a girl dragon, and she loved curling up her fingers and roaring all night long. They were so proud of how much candy they got. In fact, Tucker said his bag was so heavy it felt like it was full of lead! (and then, to explain to all the other younger children, he stated, "Lead is actually a very heavy substance.") It was a great night.

And then the last bunch of pictures on the album are from Rylie's recent "gobble gobble surprise party"/thanksgiving

feast she had at her preschool. Dan and Tate and I got to go see her sing some songs and then we ate turkey and chicken nuggets together for lunch. She was super proud of her pilgrim hat and the handprint turkey she had made. And it was nice for us to do something special with just Rylie.

And now we're headed to South Carolina for Thanksgiving, where I hope to take lots more fun pictures (and maybe actually post them before Christmas...) I'm so grateful for this time of year, when we stop and think about all of the blessings we have. And chances are, if you're reading this, you're one of those blessings!

Where did September go?

Well it's the last day of September and we've had a busy month. Shell is teaching class tonight so it's up to me to fill everyone in on the Graham Clan in Athens, GA.

School has kept everyone busy. Tucker and Olivia are really enjoying school. Tucker is learning about the phases of the moon right now as well as working on a powerpoint project for his class. He loves reading, especially at night in bed. Now if we could get him to enjoy doing his homework as much as he enjoys the reading part. Olivia is just so bubbly and energetic. I take her into class everyday and it's so fun to watch her interact with her friends as she walks through the halls and into class. It's one of the highlights to my day. Rylie is at pre-school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and she is adjusting to that and gets a little nervous before she gets to class but she loves to talk about her day when I get home. She is painting animals and school buses as well as making new friends. It's so fun to watch them mature and grow.

Tate is just a happy little guy most of the time. He sleeps great, eats great, and really only gets fussy if he gets something that doesn't agree with his tummy. He's rounded out and is rolling over and popping up on his hands. He has a great little laugh that is just infectious.

We celebrated 2 birthdays. Rylie's was on the 12th and she wanted to go swimming for her birthday so we went to the YMCA pool and had a fun morning. She got some really fun presents as well. I think her favorite was the singing "Barbie & the Diamond Castle" with the accompanying DVD as well as the same dress-up dress and dress-up shoes. She loves to watch the movie and, needless to say, the songs get stuck in everyone's head (which isn't always a good thing). She enjoyed the cards and gifts from the rest of the family very much. As for the other birthday...well I hit 34 on the 27th. Seemed like just another day but I was very appreciative of the cards, messages, and phone calls.

Life has been busy. From the kids school and gymnastics to Mom's teaching class and volunteer help at school and with friends to my work...we hardly see each other for too long some days. We were so busy that the grass grew from all the rain into a mini-jungle, the kids thought it was great, but our lawnmower was broken so I wasn't sure what to do. A kind neighbor friend came over and used his riding mower to purge us of the grass, a much needed act of service. We are so blessed though to have a roof over our heads, food to eat, and clothes on our backs. The Lord has done so much for us and we are so grateful. We have some challenges lying ahead in the next few months but are confident that we can meet them head-on and pass through unscathed.

Well I've rambled enough. Be back soon. Check our picasa link for pictures.

First days of school

We haven't had much time since school started to get posting information, but so far school is going really well for the kids. Tucker loves his new class, especially the Thursday "science enrichment" class. Olivia is enjoying class now, after a bit of a rough start to kindergarten. And Rylie just adores preschool, and being a big girl. She goes two days a week, and we're all glad she gets to go. :)

Our visit to the aquarium

We had a ton of fun at the aquarium for our last family summer activity. It was a busy day, but the kids were so excited. It was jam packed, so with three little kids running around and two parents pushing a stroller, we were a tight fit in the different exhibits, but it was worth the wait. Tucker and Olivia and Rylie were even brave enough to touch some rays and shrimp! I love days when we get to spend time with the family, all together. :) (Check the picasa site for lots more pictures!)

She was listening!

Rylie is a crazy horse during FHE (well, all the time, but especially during FHE.) But today we were driving home from her preschool open house (just me and rylie and tate in the car) and we were listening to music. And from the back seat, I hear her little voice, "Mom?" So I said, "Yes, Rylie?" And she replies, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded."

My heart melted. What a sweet thing to say, and to know that she was listening to our lesson on Monday (we're memorizing 1 Nephi 3:7 as a family)...I just wish I knew what was going through her mind the minute before she spoke up. These are the moments I just adore, as a mother. :)

Edisto, '09

I haven't had a chance to post about all of our other vacations, but since Cam and Kym are getting the internet in Africa today, I wanted to take a quick moment and update you all on our trip to Edisto. We had a great few days at the beach. The weather was gorgeous, though we did have a small little storm on Friday night. We played games and ate way too many snacks way too late at night. And it was fun to see baby Campbell play in her little pool and splash around. Tucker and Olivia and Rylie made friends with the family that set up their beach stuff right next to ours, which meant that the kids were busy all day long, riding waves together, building a sand castle home for the "herman crab," and sharing popsicles. Tate was an angel baby (which he pretty much has been all summer long) and he slept the whole time out on the beach, in his stroller under the tent. We missed the rest of the family - couldn't believe that just last year we had Cam and Kym with us, and Tyler and Brittany... Big hugs to all the family - I'll write more soon!

Olivia's prayer...

It's been a busy month, and it's only going to get busier. I haven't got time to write much, but I realized that I need to be better about writing down the sweet (and funny, and frustrating) moments of my life with little ones. 

And so, just quickly, I want to say that we've had a rough time lately since our friends Ryan and Amber (and their kids, Aubrie and Robbie and Hallie) moved away. (They lived right down the street from us.) Olivia and Aubrie were best friends, and she has been so sad. We went to grandma's house this weekend, though, for my little brother's graduation, and I thought she would be over some of the mopey-ness we've had lately. But then tonight I was helping her with her prayers before bed, and she asked Heavenly Father, "...and please bless Aubrie that she won't be lonely. I really want her to be happy in her new home." She took some time thinking about it as she said it and I realized that for all of my frustrations with her teenager-in-a-four-year-old-body attitude, there are such precious moments like these. I'm so thankful that she has faith that Heavenly Father hears her prayers and can help her, and her friends, feel better. And I'm thankful that she shared that little testimony with me tonight.

More pics

So I hope I'm not too late in posting this, I wanted Cam and Kym to see all of these new pictures! We've got new pics on the picasa site - some of Lindsay and John's visit with baby Campbell, and lots of the kids giving Tate hugs. It's been a busy two weeks, and though I knew life was going to be crazy, I think you can never really be "prepared" fully for the changes a new little baby brings. I want to post more soon. Just gotta make it through grading finals...  :)

Tate Richard Graham born on April 21, 2009

Tate showed up a couple of weeks earlier than expected but is doing well and so is Mom. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and is 19 1/4 inches long. We'll get a more updated an informative entry in later this week but just wanted to let everyone know. Please click on our picture link to see photos.

Easter Sunday 2009

We woke up early this Sunday morning and headed out into the back yard to look for the Easter Bunny and find our baskets.

Tucker and Olivia spotted their baskets first, of course.

And Rylie raced up the hill in the front yard when she finally spotted hers...

I really couldn't get over how cute the kids were in their matching yellow outfits - and I couldn't believe that Tucker kept his tie on for the entire time at church!

I love azaleas in the South at springtime...Rylie thought these made a great hiding place!

I mean, really. How cute are these kids?!

It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here this weekend, and especially nice to have some extra help at church. It's getting tough to wrestle Rylie around my belly these days...

It was fun to play the piano for Dad today - he sang a lovely solo, and he joined our ward choir for a special musical number. It's been a long time since I've played for him. 

What a nice Easter Sunday we all had!

Weekend Nature Walk

We went for a hike with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend, at the Sandy Creek Nature center. We did our best to search for birds - Olivia called her special bird calls to try to get some of the birds to come to us, but I think we were a little too noisy along the trail...

Rylie enjoyed looking through her own "noculars" with Grandpa and resting along the path.

Tucker and Olivia were practicing their rock skipping skills on the pond at the end of the trail. Eventually Tucker gave up on the rocks and started throwing in twigs and sticks, some of them the size of a small tree. Olivia was quite impressed.

Tucker's 7th Birthday

It took us a while to get on here and write the post, but Tucker had a wonderful 7th birthday on Wednesday (April 8). He got some fun presents - I think his favorites were the Bionicle Gresh (a lego action figure) and the board game Sorry Sliders (thanks, Grandma Jill!) but we've had fun playing with all of his birthday presents. It was a bit of a busy evening, since I had to head over to teach class around 8, but we squeezed in a special dinner (corndogs on a stick, at Tucker's request) and a family party at Chuck E Cheese's. Who knew 100 tokens would last us so long! It really was a fun evening to spend together as a family. :)

We went over to "AubrieRobbie's" house (the Jensen's) yesterday for a fun barbecue. We brought the jumpoline with us and let the kids wear themselves out jumping and playing outside. It was so fun just to have the kids playing together, and it made me eager for the summer time. Except not too much, since Ryan and Amber will have moved by then :(  I have no idea how Olivia is going to survive without Aubrie practically right next door.

Olivia, Aubrie, Ivy, Robbie, and Rylie jumping around.

I must do Rylie's hair 4 or 5 times a day, but somehow she always

manages to lose her "piggies" and end up looking like

a bit of a ragamuffin. A darn cute one, though!

Tucker and Charlie had fun inventing their own rules to ping pong -

(making the game resemble more of a baseball/badminton combo).

The adults all had a lively game of round-robin ping pong, which nearly ended up being more running than my pregnant belly could handle. Pitiful, really. But super duper fun. :)

fashion shows

The girls' new favorite thing to do is head into their "studio" (as Olivia calls their bedroom when it's time to play) and dress up for their fashion shows. It's adorable - Olivia pretty much decides all of the outfits they will wear, and then plans short announcements before each prance into the living room. She gets pretty miffed when Rylie can't remember exactly what to say to announce her grand entrance. But now they know that this is a photo opportunity as well, so I'm getting a fashion show or two a day! :)

rylie loves the pink cowgirl hat

i think here we have a ballet dancer and a hula fairy

ready for some sun

i'm not sure what to call this ensemble...creative?

the scarf grandma jill made is always a favorite

Baby Campbell

I'm over a month late in posting this, but we have a new little cousin in our family! My little sister Lindsay had an adorable baby girl, Campbell Jean, and we just love her to death. I took the kids up to visit a few weeks ago, and I only took like three pictures! Anyway, this is my little tribute to the cutest new baby niece in the world!

The kids snuggled in Uncle John and Aunt Lindsay's bed to watch movies and make silly faces.

Baby Campbell was already making friends with her little-boy-cousin-to-be.

She snuggled right up to my belly and let him kick her all he wanted.

The kids are so excited to have a new cousin to play with!

Once there was a snowman...

So it was crazy, like Dan said, to have all of the snow here in Athens (and it lasted for so long!) It was fun to play in, though the kids are clearly Georgia kids now, and not Utah kids - they played out in the snow in 10 minute increments, trudging in snowy red clay footprints several times a day. But we made snow ice cream, played lots of games while the power was out for the day, camped out in the living room with flashlights (because we were scared that the power kept going off.)

Here are my favorite quotes about snow from my two oldest children:

"I never really LIVED until today!" - Tucker, driving home from church about 2 hours after the snow started falling.

"I feel so ALIVE!" - Olivia, throwing snow into the air and then tackling the backyard snowman.

Snow in Athens

Once again this is Dan making an entry to the blog. We have been slackers again when it comes to making regular posts on here but we're going to do our best.

Anyway we were hit this past Sunday with 7 inches of snow here in Athens! I was in Lexington, KY at a track meet and got regular updates from Shell. When she said that it looked like a Utah snowfall I knew I was going to be stuck for an extra night in Lexington. Driving back on Monday as we drew closer to Athens it looked more and more like I was in Utah than Georgia. I had forgotten how beautiful the fresh snow can be. The kids had a field day and made a snowman and did some sledding. I was greeted by Tucker with a snowball when I finally got home. Of course the elementary schools were shut down for 2 days and the power was lost for awhile, the folks down here are just not equipped to handle that kind of snow. It was a nice change of pace and brought back a few reminders of our years in Utah.

That being said, it's now Friday and currently 70 degrees outside. I'm wearing shorts and enjoying the warmth of the sun. Amazing how the world works! We'll get some pics of the snow soon.