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. :)