Our Little Puppy Dog

Here are some highlights of Graham's first "trick-or-treating" experience" (and Mama's too!).

Getting ready to go out

Had to show his tail.....when he would walk it would wag back and forth. It was my favorite part of the costume, next to his sweet little puppy dog face!

Waiting patiently....when we would tell him to say "trick or treat" he would say, "treat!". He's got this down....no need to say the first part.

Walking away with the treat. He always wanted to have one of them in his hand. I didn't think he was going to be very into it this year, but he surprised us all and loved it! He even kept on his "dog hat" the whole time (probably helped that we had a couple practice runs).

Pumpkins

So...a pumpkin patch in Gilbert, AZ means a fenced-in area with barrels of hay and pumpkins scattered about. That's good enough for me (since Fry's was all out the day before Halloween and the produce lady tried to make me feel "crazy" for not getting one sooner). Ha! Found one! Graham got to pick out a little one...or five little ones. Each one, he dropped on the ground to go look for another. I quickly picked out our carving pumpkin so we wouldn't get kicked out.

Carving....Graham watched Daddy carve out the top and then helped him pull it off. After he saw what was inside, it was all over. He didn't want to have anything to do with whatever that icky, gooey stuff was. He doesn't mind getting into mud, throwing sand in his hair, eating sand, etc. But....he didn't want to get in on the "gutting" fun. So, Daddy finished it off, with coaching from Mama. It was a fun first carving experience.

Graham holding what I thought was his pick of a pumpkin, but obviously, his eye was on another.

Wonderful News

For those of you who do not know, Eric and I are expecting our second baby April 28! We are so thankful for this addition to our family! Graham is going to be a great big brother.

Here are some pics from our 12-week ultrasound.

We would like to ask you for your prayers. This ultrasound was the ultrasound to screen for Down Syndrome. Before the screen, based on my age, the chances of DS were 1/659. After the ultrasound and bloodtest, which showed a high level of HCG and low level of Pappa, our chances are now 1/10. They call it a screen positive result and would like to have me back for another ultrasound at 17 weeks. We, of course, were surprised by the results, but also realize this does not mean the baby has DS. It's just a long time to wait to find out for sure (6 months!), as we have decided not to do an amniocentesis (which would tell us for sure, but has a chance of miscarriage). We know this baby is supposed to be a part of our family, and we trust that God will give us the strength, resources, etc. to care for this little one no matter what. We just ask that you lift this up with us to our Heavenly Father, who cares for us. Thank you for celebrating this perfect little life with us!!

Tour of the White Mountains

Last year I rode a mountain bike race with a buddy of mine that I worked with in Phoenix, Terry. Despite getting lost and 40 mph wind last year, we tried it again this year. Um, not too much better this time. The courses were marked better this year, but I still missed a turn and ended up riding an extra 3 miles and pretty much taking myself out of contention for any placing. I had 5 or 6 riders in front of me at the point I missed the turn and looking at their finishing times I would have finished about 6th. Not too bad for a guy who doesn't ride too much. My buddy ended up getting sick just 9 miles into his race, but he got about 27 miles into it before he had to stop. Then it rained. Super. Nothing as fantastic as getting rained on when you are camping. We were going to stay and camp that night but just drove home in the rain, at least our bikes got clean! So, we are basically 0-2 doing the TOWM and probably won't do it again, but where else could you get me to don my lycra riding pants and get to see my curves?

Our Baby Boy is 2!

That's right....Graham David turned two on Thursday. We can't believe he's so big! To celebrate....we went to the zoo this past weekend with both of our families and then celebrated at our house afterwards.

Here is our baby boy the day he was born.

October 23, 2006

Here is Graham now with his Papa at the zoo.


Hanging out on the "elfents" with Nana, Uncle Jo Jo, Aunt Vanessa, and Uncle "Maffew"

Checking out the wallabies.

Graham kept saying, "Wallbees, where are you?"

Hanging out with Grandpa watching the "elfents"

Back at the house, Graham sneaks a bite of the candies on the

cake before blowing out the candle.

"Mmmmmm, tasty" as Graham would say.


Digging into presents. He would take a present out and then

throw it across the room.
I think this day was a little too much attention for him from everyone.



Riding his tricycle from Aunt Olivia and Uncle Adam.

What a fun day! Graham, we love you so much. You bring such JOY to our lives!

Where is that music coming from?

Yesterday after work I was laying on the floor in the living room playing with Graham when he went over to the "entertainment center" (a coffee table with the tv on it with the dvd and stereo below) and grabbed a book of CDs out. I put in a little bluegrass album and played it. Graham had an awed look on his face as the banjo started picking. He looked at the speakers, got up and walked over to them. He stood on tippy toes and looked over the top of the speaker. He leaned to the right and looked behind the speaker. He leaned to the left and looked behind the speaker. Then he looked at me with a "where is that music coming from?" smile on his face. I guess we should play more CDs.

My Dear Friend

Two weekends ago (yes, I'm a little delayed in blogging about this) my dearest friend, Angel, surprised me on Sunday afternoon by showing up on my doorstep (She lives in NJ)!! Apparently Eric knew about it for a few days, but no hints at all until Sunday afternoon when someone called him and he quickly ran upstairs. He came down later and I asked him who it was; he replied, "no one." Two minutes later there was a knock at the door and it was "no one". Angel was standing at my front door in person!! We enjoyed dinner together and talking into the evening. Of course, it was such a short amount of time, but we got all "caught up" reguardless. Angel....I love you so much. Thanks for thinking of me and coming to see us! I won't ever forget it.

Here we are sitting on the hood of the car she rented.....

if you know Angel, then you understand why it's yellow. :)