WOW!! Long time no "see"

I'm sorry to all of my faithful followers, family and friends...(LOL) It has been a VERY long time since my last post! Not that there hasn't been anything going on, more like there has been SO MUCH going on that I haven't even had time to sit down and organize my thoughts and photos for some fabulous posting. So, please scroll down to see some of the goings on here at our house!

Let's start with EASTER...

We had a wonderful Easter and Conference weekend at Chris' parents' house. Brady loves to dye Easter eggs every year with Chris and it's a special tradition for him to remember. Olivia was still too little to understand the egg dying but she loved to look and be a part of it too.

Livy and Auntie Shawnae

While Mommy and the aunties went and did some last minute Easter shopping Brady and Grammie made these little Easter nests:





On Easter morning the kids were excited to find the hidden Easter eggs that they had dyed and their Easter baskets that daddy had hidden for them. Each of the kids had a dozen eggs to find and they had so much fun! It took a few minutes for Livy to get the idea but once she did she was so funny to watch:



I like to fill the kids' baskets with little toys instead of all candy. Here's what they got inside of their baskets:



Brady: Magic set, chocolate bunny, some eggs filled with peeps, bunny straws, a fishing pole and a funny bunny (stretchable like gumby)



Olivia: Chocolate chicks, some egs filled with peeps, some pretty barrettes, a pink and white baseball glove, bunny straws, a funny bunny and a little chicky and some bunny ears (which she refused to wear. She also wouldn't let us take any more pictures)



Since it was Conference we pretty much stayed in our pj's all day and had a nice breakfast made by Dad Graf. The kids had dressed up in their Easter outfits the Sunday before but I didn't remember to grab a picture....We talked about the true meaning of Easter a lot with Brady and did a little lesson the week before for Family Home Evening about Easter. It was a wonderful weekend.



Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

A home that now lookes lived in!

I am BEYOND excited to have the landscaping in the front of our house done. These aren't the best pictures as I took them the night after we finished but at least it's proof that we accomplished this task, and in only 1 week! I think Chris and I were an excellent team and it makes me feel so proud and good every time I turn the corner and into our driveway! Now I love the inside AND the outside of our home!!!

(MORE pictures to come later...when the grass is greener =)

We chose to keep it simple but fill it in enough so that it didn't look bare. Next year we'll add some more perennials and I'd still like to find some nice rocks/boulders to incorporate throughout. The perennials we planted are: feather grasses, white candytuft, blue buttons, emerald gaiety, purple feather grass, hinoki cypress trees, sea green juniper bushes and sandcherry shrubs. I'm still looking for a few more plants but for now I'm really, really pleased with the results!

Baby shower for a wonderful friend

My friend Melody ("mommadee" as Olivia calls her) has been such a wonderful support to me since I started working. We joked one time that we needed to get to know each other better and I think she got more than she baragined for when she began watching my kids almost four months ago. Both of my children love her (and Emma and Jared) SO MUCH and will miss her now that she's not watching them anymore (since Baby #2 is set to arrive any day now!)

I wanted to show her just a little of my appreciation for her and all that she has done for me by throwing her a baby shower...I tried to be creative and did an "April Showers Brings May Flowers" theme since the gender of this baby is a SUPRISE and she is due in May!

Hope you had a good time, we love you Melody!!!

A mother can never get too many diapers!

My awesome friend Rachelle came over and helped me make these adorable banners! I think I'm addicted to making banners now!

And we couldn't forget our umbrellas for the "April showers!" so Brady helped my place some umbrellas in each cup right before the party! He was such a big helper as Chris was in St. Louis for 4 days on business. He was "the man of the house!"

GG & Papa Visit

My Grammie and Grandpa Morgan came and visited us for a few days on their "way home" from Tucson, AZ where they spend the winters now. It was so wonderful to be able to have some time with them and for them to be able to see the kids. The last time we'd seen them Olivia was only 4 months old! I'm pretty sure she stole their hearts! Brady loved playing games with them and talking their ears off and I'm pretty sure they had a nice time too!

We took them to Shoshone Falls and had a picnic in the park, went to dinner at the Outback, had DQ, gave them the "tour of the town," including the canyon and watched "The Blind Side."

(The falls weren't very impressive this year because we had such a dry winter)

Thanks so much for coming to visit!

Sunday Stroll

Sunday evenings here are so nice and relaxing, especially when you get to spend them with family! We had Chris' family over a week ago and had lasagna, played yard games and went for a walk. It was such a beautiful evening!

That is one cool chicky!!!

A picnic in the park...and BROKEN leg!

Saturday the 17th was a gorgeous day! We spent the morning cooped up in the car running errands so we decided to take the kids home, pack a lunch and take them to a new park that Brady has been begging us to go to! It was so warm outside that we "broke" out the summer clothes for the first time!!!


As you can see we really enjoyed our lunches! And then the kids were off and running! Brady went too fast for me so I stuck around with Livy and got some adorable pictures of her:



And then...she asked to go down the "big slide!" I grabbed her and away we went...who knew that within 2 minutes Livy would end up with a broken leg! I tried to keep her safe by going down the slide WITH her and actually ended up hurting her! Her poor little leg (which was exposed because we had changed her into shorts) stuck to the side of the slide which had a bend in it and when we went around the bend the plastic of the slide "grabbed" her leg and pulled it backwards. Her little leg got stuck between my leg and the slide and it all happened so fast there wasn't anything I could do about it!

She cried and cried and I felt so bad but there wasn't any swelling or bruising so we figured maybe she just sprained it or it was sore. We packed up and went home and put her down for a nap, which she slept from 4pm- 7:30 and we had to wake her up! (Clue #1)

Then she refused to be let down and when we did try to put her down she dropped to the floor and wouldn't even try to walk or put any pressure on her right leg (Clue #2)

We decided to give her a blessing and called over Jon, friend of ours who I work with (he's a physical therapist) to help with the blessing and give us advice as to whether we should take her to the ER that night or wait until the morning...we ended up going to the ER at 10:30 at night!

We were lucky though because we got in right away and had very good service. Livy screamed her head off when we had to get x-rays but she calmed down enough to lay on the bed while they splinted her leg.

The verdict: non-displaced right femur fracture

A few days later I took her to the orthopedic surgeon and had a hot pink cast put on. When the put it on she said: "Oooh! Nice!" She likes her cast and calls it "pretty" and we painted her toenails pink too but she is very frustrated that she can't run and play. She's been such a good sport though and overall hasn't been very fussy about it. To get around she either crawls and drags her leg behind her or she scoots on her bum, using her upper extremities.

1 week down and 3-5 weeks left!!!