JAMES AND CAMI

So just a "little" late announcement..... but my little sister is now a mom!!!! wow that is crazy, my little sister has a baby?? But we are all so excited she is finally here! She is beautiful, and what a special day it was for the proud parents: Kalei and Jake! It was neat to see their instant love for their baby girl and we are so happy for them!

Kalei did awesome, everything went great and they now have a prefect, beautiful, healthy baby girl. I am mostly excited that MY kids finally have a COUSIN on the Poulson side!!!!! Yep my parents have said for the last few years that it's up to us to keep their numbers going.... and now I'm turning that over to Kalei and Jake! Good luck and keep em' coming cause it won't be us for a LONG LONG time!!!
We are so happy for the both of them. they are such great parents and just jumped right into parenting and have done so well. I'm proud of them. They love that baby girl with all their hearts and Lyla is so lucky to have them as parents! I can't forget to add... that I NOW get to be the FAVORITE AUNT!!! HA my sisters have fought over my kids and now I get to play the "aunt" roll! ha
Sadly Parker hasn't even met little Lyla yet because when we did go see her at the hospital, he wanted to stay and play with his cousins on the Graham side, going to the hospital and being stuck in her room just didn't sound fun to him! He will soon I'm sure, so I'm not too worried! We did take the twins with us to meet their cousin... they weren't too interested but liked crawling around her room and tried to cause some mischief in the short time we were there!
I got to see Lyla for the 2nd time when we went to the AMERICAN IDOL TOUR!

here are a few pictures taken at the hospital and a couple when she was home.... the one with the twins isn't the greatest and Lyla looks like she is screaming (which she isn't) but hey its the only picture i got that day!

for a more detailed story of the birth and to look at more cute pictures of baby Lyla check out Kalei's blog!



SAME WEEKEND
and more fun with family.....

James' brother Curtis plays Soccer at BYU. This is his last year playing and we are so proud of him. He is an amazing player, and watching him out there, he pretty much leads the team and takes control of the game. He does a great job and we are glad that we were able to see a couple of his last games!

As you can see, ALL the kids love Curtis! They were chanting CURTIS during the game and then after, they were again so he'd come over to talk to them. It was so cute as they are all so proud of their uncle curt!

TODAY is my Moms birthday and I just want to wish her a
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
My mom is wonderful and I look up to her in SO many ways. She is always there when I need her, and will drop everything to come over if I need something or just someone to talk too. But what I love about my mom is that it is just not me that she is there for... my mom is the most willing person I've ever meet. She will do anything for anyone and is such a great example and it amazes me of her love for others. She is the most selfless person and I hope to be like her someday.
I love living in the same town, as we've become closer and I'm grateful for our relationship.
She is the BEST Nana is the world. My kids LOVE her and whenever she walks through the door ALL 3 of my kids have HUGE smiles on their faces. She is great with them and when i need a break, she is there to rescue me! (on many occasions)
After my mom says she loves Parker so much... his response to her is... "I love you SO SO SO SOOOO much! so cute
My mom LOVES to be with her girls and WE love to be with her. It is so fun as we have "grown" up that we are so close and are all BEST FRIENDS! we are all so lucky to have an amazing mom! I could write out a whole list but I'll end with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. I love you and I hope you have a wonderful day, YOU deserve it!

THIS year for the 4th of July, we were in RICHFIELD!!! See, every other summer, we've been away with James' work. Normally trying to celebrate the 4th by him working till 5 and then grabbing a bite to eat and heading off somewhere to watch the fireworks. Even though we have been and seen fireworks in some pretty cool places, (I'd say sitting on Huntington Beach watching them off the pier was my favorite) for some reason I have always wanted to be in Richfield for the 4th. It's not that Richfield is better then these other cities or that Richfield's fireworks are better, it is just that every year since I was little, my family has celebrated the 4th of July here. I've talked it up to James so much through the years about how much fun I have with all my cousins and family members, eating the BBQ's, watching the parades, participating in all the activities in the park and watching the firework shows, that we started joking that he'd probably be disappointed this year. haha. But this year WE WERE HERE!!! haha We stayed busy trying to be festive and attending all the small town events! And the best part of it all; IT WASN'T a let down! We all had a GREAT TIME!

picture OVERLOAD.... i know that I normally take a LOT of pictures... but this year, having three kids, one of them in the primary parade (CRAZY to think that Parker is old enough for that) and having Jakelle here (She always has her camera around) needless to say, that we have plenty of pictures... haha... I have so many, that i realize that I should have just made a slide show, but here are some collages of our eventful 4th of July weekend!!!!!

p.s. i am making a book out of my blog soon, so that's another reason why i'm posting so many pics! ha (not that i have to explain)

7/3/09
PRIMARY PARADE....
Parker walked with his cousins Katy and Emily, they are so good with him and Parker loves them. It was so fun watching him walk down main street, proudly holding his flag up. He looked like such a big boy! sad but cute


FUN AT THE PARK.....
After the primary parade they had stuff going on at the city park. they had food, games, and of course BEATLE MANIA!!!
Parker had fun jumping and sliding on the Bounce House.. or whatever they are called. He was a crazy man and was flopping all over the place. he kept wanting to do them over and over. ONE dollar per time... seriously?? he had to stop eventually! ha
My moms favorite part of the 4th is going to BEATLE MANIA! and YES she was on the front row, rocking out by herself!!! ha gotta love it. We all watched from the side, and got a kick out of watching her. They put on a fun show, the snow cones were great and after we all went home to get some sleep for the big day!
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7/4/09
okay I'll spare the details and just post all our pictures of our fun 4th of July! ha We had lots of fun; going to the PARADE, hanging out with COUSINS, running into OLD FRIENDS, eating SNOW-CONES and seeing all the crazy booths (like fried Twinkies.. ding dongs... that's weird if you ask me). only in Richfield! ha but was had such a fun day. I LOVE this holiday and of course we finished off the night with a huge FIREWORK SHOW!!

THE PARADE:

FUN AT THE PARK.....

Adam: not so much... he doesn't seem to like cold things. haha
funny story about the fish: Okay they have this fish event at the park, where they dump fish into 3 open boxes that are probably about 30 feet by 30 feet, and all the kids get to get in and try to catch a fish, WITH THEIR HANDS! Parker ended up missing the first of the event and by the time he got there, it was pretty much over.. so we ended up well we had been waiting for it to start, it took forever so we left. We didn't think Parker would want to get in, but it would have been fun to watch it! Later, Parker said he wanted to catch a "BIG" fish not a little gold fish that i wanted him to have... so when we went back and they were pretty much done. He was so sad. so we found this boy that had a fish (pretty sure he caught the biggest one!) and he let Parker stand by it. of course Parker didn't even want to touch it... ha I knew he wouldn't get in there and grab one, he is my "can't get dirty" boy! ha but it was fun

cute pics of the kids at the park....
BBQ with the FAMILY
great food, lots of family, kids running everywhere what else could you ask for!?
Oh yeah, had I mentioned that KALEI was here for the 4th!! yep her baby is due on the 9th but she decided to come down for all the fun, anyway! ha All I can say is that she was a trooper! she was a little tired and had a sore back, but she made it through the weekend. she is now back in Provo waiting for baby Lyla to come! can't wait!
SPARKLER TIME!!! this was actually pretty cool. everyone lined up (and I'm talking like 40 people) and one by one, everyone ignited their sparklers and ran around the road waving them in the air. Parker thought it was awesome and enjoyed making designs in the night sky with his sparkler!
I must say RICHFIELD puts on a pretty great FIREWORK SHOW! If you haven't been here before, I think you should come, they did a great job. the 4th of July is a huge holiday in this small town and this year the firework show went on FOREVER! I didn't think it was going to ever end! but it was awesome and my kids loved it. well Abby fell asleep before it started but Parker and Adam laid on the grass and watched the fireworks. I was kind of worried how the twins would react to the loud sounds, but they both did great. What a great end to a fun day!! Happy Independence Day!!!

Okay so some of you know... my house DOES NOT have a normal bath tub. It only has a jacuzzi tub in the master bedroom (can't complain about that) but when you have kids, it's not the easiest tub to bathe in! So it has been interesting bathing the babies. We have been creative.. using their BUMBO chairs in the big sink in the laundry room, (thought i was a genius) buying this duck bath thing. (which worked for a bit!) But now that Adam and Abby can sit up by themselves, the JACUZZI TUB WORKS... finally!!

Janel, Kyle and their kids came to visit us from Omaha last weekend and it was such a treat! Kyle is in Law School but has a break so they are going to be in Utah for a few weeks and we are so happy! It was SO much to see them. They kids just played and played and played some more!!! it was so fun because they all play so great together now, and we hardly have to watch them! (or at least be near when they are crying over toys or something!) Parker and Jantsen and best buds and little Kambryn is right there following behind the boys! the 3 of them are so cute and they had a blast. Parker ALWAYS wants Jantsen to come over, and when I tell him he lives far away... his responses are: "if we can't walk there mom... we can drive there!" or "we'll leave the babies and we'll just go mom!" so cute. He misses them both so much so when they get to see each other they have a ball! When I told Parker that Jantsen was coming, he started jumping up and down and then he said, I'll go clean my room! ha (wherever that came from, it was cute though)

the kids ran around and played in the backyard......
they all took a bath.....
They had a sleepover in Parker's room.....
so cute. Kambryn didn't last but they had fun jumping on the bed and sliding on the small mattress

AND reading books together....
COUSINS ARE THE BEST! Parker is so lucky to have two great, fun loving cousins!

sad ending to their stay, Parker woke up SICK the next morning! it was weird, cause he was fine all night, didn't wake up... slept in the longest and then woke up screaming! James got to him first an he said as he was crying, he told him he had swallowed a bug! and then all of a sudden he thew up! it was crazy. it kind of made us laugh because you hear what goes through kids minds and that is how he felt! he kept saying that all day before he would puke. He NEVER gets sick so he did not like throwing up. i mean who does? but it was hard to get him to understand what was happening. I told him he was sick and he kept asking, WHY? then he said, why TODAY? i want to play with Jantsen! ah, cute but sad too.


THANKS Janel and Kyle for coming, we had SO much fun!

James and I drove to Provo last Friday because Kalei was going to have her 2nd baby shower on Saturday! We got there that night and we... as in my MOM, JAKELLE, CHELSI and KALEI had a GIRLS NIGHT OUT!!!! I don't even know if we have ever had one, but all i can say is that we had a GREAT time:) we went to eat at Carrabba's Italian Grill and then we went to the movie.. My Sisters Keeper! oh man, i don't think there was a DRY EYE in the audience. wow.... that is all i have to say and it is a MUST see movie.
oh and I can't forget to THANK James. yep he stayed at his parents house and watched the kids so i could go out! hey i need a break too once in a while! not to mention that he watched them "mostly" all day Saturday as well. THANKS BABE

SATURDAY
we stayed at James' parents house so that morning we just hung out. They are having a wedding in their back yard so they have been doing yard work like CRAZY! It looks so good and it will be a beautiful reception. I feel bad we didn't help much, but the babies enjoyed "watching" them and Parker just kept asking WHY? with everything that they were doing. but it is always fun to visit, and spend time with them.

Kalei's Shower:
We had a great time, showering Kalei with LOTS of gifts!!! It was at Jake's sisters home in Provo (beautiful house) and was put on by Jake's sisters and Mom. They did a wonderful job, the food was amazing and we all had a great time. Believe it or not, NO PICTURES!!! i will get some from my mom or Kalei but guess you'll just have to see them later. or on Kalei's blog soon I'm sure! ha

AFTER the shower we did some SHOPPING, of course!! ha okay so i don't live close to OLD NAVY, TARGET and TJ MAX just to name a few so i have to hit a few stores when i am in town! we got some good deals and had some fun.

That night we went to the REAL SOCCER GAME!!!
We had so much fun, it was the first one we had been to all season! It was at the Rio Tinto stadium and James' dad coached for mountain view HS tjhis past year and because they took state this year (congrats again Mark) he was recognized at the beginning of the game! so we packed in the kids, sat with his parents along with Chris and Natalie! We cheered loud, it was an awesome game, with Real winning 3-0 and the kids did great, and we had fun! Soccer is a HUGE part of the Graham family and i sure have learned a lot. (okay EVERYTHING i know I've learned from James and his family) i knew NOTHING about soccer until i met james and i just have to add that it is so awesome. It has been a great sport for their family and all 5 kids have played soccer in COLLEGE! isn't that amazing!? girls and boys! I don't think anyone else could say that. It really is amazing to me. okay guess I'll add that I have played on a team myself.. haha don't laugh, I really did. i played on an indoor team with some girls and it was a BLAST. I grew an appreciation for the players and the game! gosh it's a LOT of running! but now I can say that I LOVE soccer too.
wow got off on the game.... anyways, we had a blast and it is always fun going to a REAL game!

WHAT AN EVENTFUL WEEKEND!! AND WE LOVED IT