Water fun at Thousand Springs

The day after Christmas, Chris' sister, Nickie and her husband, Nick and their little girl Lexi ( 15 months) came up from Blackfoot where Nicki's family lives (they had celebrated Christmas there). They flew in from Philadelphia where Nick is an intern in medical school and Nickie is a dental hygeniest. Anyhow, we got to spend a few days with them before we had to head home to Boise. We also found out that we have another neice or nephew on the way!!! Nickie is expecting in July (not ANOTHER July birthday!!!!)

Mom and Dad Graf brought is to Thousand Springs (formerly known as Sliger's) in Hagerman. It's natural hot springs and a really neat place! They have a waterslide, diving boards, shallow wading area, basketball hoop and a floating log that slips and spins when you try to get on top of it. We had a great time swimming, splashing and playing!

Brady was very brave and went down the water slide. Once he tried it he had to go down again and again! Daddy and Grandpa took turns catching him at the bottom! Here he is climbing the stairs up to the slide (I thought the silhouette effect in this picture was really cool!)

Livy LOVED the water and once she got used to it she splashed away and just sat there all content and smiley!!! This was her frist time in a pool...

Chelsae shows us her skills on the log!!!

Lexi loved the water too and splashed all around!

She even went under a few times and came right back up smiling!!!

That Grandpa swam the whole time with Lexi, Livy or Brady!!!

Thanks for a GREAT afternoon! After we finished swimming we headed to Johnny Carino's for a delicious lunch! From there we all raced home to get ready for a family portrait shooting...(and we made it on time! Quite an accomplishment when there's 5 women in the house, 3 men and 3 kids!!! and less than 2 hours to get ready!!!)

Merry Merry Merry Christmas!

This year we spent Christmas at Chris' parents house and had a great week! We were able to travel down the night before Christmas Eve and have a few days to spend as a family. Some of their traditions are having Sunway sandwiches on Christmas Eve and then reading from Luke 2 and re-enacting the birth of our Savior. Grandma Jones always stays the night and opens presents with everybody on Christmas morning and then later we go to her house for goodies and opening presents under her tree.

Grandpa and Grammie were Joseph and Mary, Olivia was baby Jesus and Brady was a shepard boy. We all wore the "traditional" towels on our heads and I read from the Bible. We also sang some Christmas hymns and joked about how we should start our own choir (haha!) Shawnae played beautifully for us on the piano though!

Chelsae with her big brother, the serious shepard!!!

Brady actually didn't wake up until 8 on Christmas morning (Because he didn't get to bed until like 11:30!!!) So we all got to sleep in a little. He checked his note from Santa and then we all opened our stockings. Another Graf family tradition is getting little boxes of cereal in their stockings every year. It's still a hit with all of the "kids!" I think we may have to begin that tradition in our own home. It will be fun over the coming years to begin to establish the traditions that we'd like to keep within our own family during the holidays.

We'll also be keeping the tradition of wearing Santa hats while opening presents. When I first married Chris and we had our first Christmas with his parents I thought this was really cheesy and was a little embarassed to be wearing a Santa hat, but I think I've loosened up a little over the years and I do have to say that it's a fun tradition for the young and old and it makes Christmas morning silly and fun!

Grandpa "man's" the camcorder...

Here's the beautiful tree before we ransacked it of it's beautiful gifts!!!

I was so excited to buy all of us Christmas p.j.'s this year!!!

It helped me feel very "Christmasy" in deed!!!

Isn't that precious???!!!

Even little Livy had on her tiny Santa Hat!!

We all got some great gifts from each other (and Santa!) Brady made out like a bandit with remote-control race cars, puzzles, books, games, action figures and movies. He had so many gifts from everyone that he opened about 2 or 3 gifts to every one that everyone else opened! He was a very excited little boy and it was fun to watch him!

Olivia actually tore open some of her presents and liked the wrapping paper the best! She got some cute outfits, toys and baby food!

Chris and I were spoiled by mom and dad Graf with an annual monetary gift and some decorations for our new apartment, and a new movie. They also continued to spoil us through out the week with good food, eating out, swimming at Sliger's and fun family time!

We gave mom and dad this cross-stitch of the Savior (I also gave one to my parents) and each one took me approximately a year to complete. Now what am I going to do while I watch t.v. or movies?!?!




Shawnae and Chelsae gave mom this sassy little jacket which she loved and proceeded to model for us!!! How many Grandma's look that hot?!

Dad got a nice coat too from mom! They'll both be looking sharp this year!

And Grandma got this nice little remote!!!

We almost died laughing when she opened this up! I don't think she'll lose this one!!!

We somehow forgot to take a picture of the girls' big gift in all of the excitement because they boy got apple I-pods!!! Needless to say, they were very very excited!!!

It was a good Christmas for all!

Probably the best gift we could have given to mom and dad was to be there with them. Grandpa Graf was quite taken with little Olivia and she really loved him too. She didn't have a problem bonding with anyone and was the sweetest baby the whole week.

I missed my family in Maine of course but it was nice to be with Chris' family again too. This year is going to bring a lot of changes for our family and i'm excited to see all that unfolds! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas from our hearts and home to yours!!!

~The Graf Family

Random thoughts from a 3-year old...

Brady: "Olivia just plays with her toes. That's what she does best!"

Brady (the other night in bedtime prayer): ..."Thankyou for this opportunity we have to go to sleep tonight..."

Me: "How do you like Idaho so far?"
Brady: "It's a good place to live!"

Brady (randomly): "This has been a long and disappointing day!"

Celebrating "HALF" of Christmas early!!!

We're lucky to be able to spend Christmas this year with Chris' family. With his work schedule at the airport being "all over the place" he has a crazy schedule and long 12 hour days so we were very excited to find out that he'd get Christmas Eve day and Christmas day off. He's going to have to come back to Boise on Christmas night to work on Friday but then he'll go back to Burley on Friday night and be able to spend Saturday and Sunday there also. It's going to be a great time as all of us "kids" will be back together with the family again. It will be the first time in 3 years since we've all been together.

Because we're going to Chris' parents house we can't fit all of the gifts in our car plus our luggage and baby "stuff" so we decided to have an early Christmas opening the gifts from my family. Sunday we stayed home from church, unfortunately because I have bursitis in my arm and it was killing me and we both really needed some rest (Chris has been up since 4 am the past three days and I hadn't slept more than a couple hours a night for the past several days). Anyhow, because it was the sabbath we thought it was the perfect morning for some nice family time before Chris had to get back to work again in the afternoon.

Brady was very excited to open his gifts and stacked them all in a neat pile. Olivia liked her gifts too, although she has no clue what she got! And of course, Chris and I were also grateful for our gifts. Thanks Mom and Dad Morgan for your thoughtfulness and love!!! We miss you and love you!

(Aunt Linda got Brady these cool dinosaur pencils and erasers!)

Yeah! Another pair of boots that we're sure will go many places!!!

Meeting "The BIG Guy!!!" Brady's visit with Santa:

"I want....."

And last of all... Brady's FIRST Gingerbread house

(well, actually Graham cracker house)

Leaving Maine and The BIG trip!

I was born and raised in Maine and I love it there!

I will greatly miss the beauty of the state, the ocean, my family and friends. However, we've embarked on a new journey here in Idaho and I know that we will love it here as well. I'm excited to explore Idaho and see all that it has to offer!

I grew up in South Portland and Saco, both on the southern coast and right on the ocean:

The Portland Area:

The Saco Area:

A Few of My Favorite Things!

"Red casing on hot dogs and butter on lobster!
Fried dough and pier fries unlike any other!

Fluffer-nutter sandwiches and picnics in spring,

These are a few of my favorite things!

Bright sunny beach days and waves in the ocean,

smelling the salt air, pipe tobacco and tanning lotion,

all of the seagulls spreading their wings

These are a few of my favorite things!

Lighthouses casting their lamps into port,

buoys and lobstertraps, sailboats all sorts,

Smooth rounded seaglass that ocean waves bring

these are a few of my favorite things!

When the job market stinks

and the economy is bad

when we're feeling down...

I simply remember my favorite things...

and then I move to Boise, Idaho!

(Oh, I mean..."and then I don't feel sooooo bad!!!")

Beaches & The Ocean:

Lighthouses:

Sailboats:

Favorite Places:

CAMDEN...

SOMESVILLE/ MT. DESERT ISLAND/ ACADIA NATIONAL PARK...

I will miss Maine dearly, and I know Chris will too. Brady has told me everyday so far since we've been gone that he loves Maine and misses it. We've grown together as a family, Chris got hired at his first career-minded job with Enterprise, and Olivia joined our family. We will always be grateful for the time we were able to spend with my family in Maine.

Chris worked for L.L. Bean for 2 years and we enjoyed our discount and going often as a family, if for nothing else, for window shopping, free concerts in the park and giving family "guided tours!"

I also worked in Freeport for a year as a florist and enjoyed that. Freeport is a beautiful, quaint town, about 8 miles from our home in Durham. Along with outlet stores, cafes, forest trails and rocky coastline it's also the home of the "Big Freeport Indian!" The sentinel that marks the freeport line and welcomes all who drive along Rt. 1 or the highway.

Here's our big trip across country!

We left on Saturday, November 29th from Durham, Maine

Gassing up before we leave- our local town gas station which we supported almost exclusively over the last 2 1/2 years! See ya "Get N' Go!!!" (Thanks heavens gas prices have gone down by more than half since summer!!!)

Bye bye Maine!!!

The kids were really great in the car. We did have our "want to pull your heair out" moments but all in all it went well. Olivia seemed resigned to the fact that she was stuck in her car seat and only grumbled and complained when she was hungry or in serious need of a diaper change! Let me tell you- it's very interesting and challenging to change a VERY poopy diaper in the front seat of your car with the baby balancing on your knees because it's so cold outside! The poor girl- she really put up with a lot!



We sang many songs with Brady, constantly changed up his toys and movies and played hours of "I Spy," "I'm going on a trip...," "I'm thinking of an animal..." Those worked well at night time when he couldn't see to color or play with toys! And let me tell you, my mom truly was a trooper and was such a great help, I couldn't have done it without her! (She and my younger brother, Andrew came out with us). My mom helped me drive with the kids and Chris and Andrew drove the Budget truck. Chris was a trooper too- he drove the whole way (Budget doesn't allow drivers under 25- argh!)

Day 1: The first day we drove through Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio where stopped for the night at:

I didn't realize how long the first day would take us (14 hours) and I had reserved the motel online (at a killer price of $47 for the night). Unfortunately this created a very very long day and I didn't get to see my friend Rachel who lives in the Cleveland area, however I am glad that we made the long stretch because it shortened our driving time on day 3, which meant more time visiting with Chris' family in Burley, Idaho.

My two little babies slept on the floor for 4 nights!!! What little troopers they were too!

DAY 2: The next day we traveled through the rest of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and halfway through Iowa.

I was so glad to pay the last of my toll money as we left Illinois! NO MORE TOLLS! Literally HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!! We'd intended to get across the border into Nebraska but we hit several snowstorms and had to quit for the night. A combination of bad roads, bitter cold and after seeing the 25th car off the road we hit the nearest exit and pulled into:

I cringed at the $110 room ($124.18 with tax) but was grateful for the warmth, comfort and safety! It didn't hurt that we had a great continental breakfast in the morning either!

Day 3: We counted another 50 cars off the road as we continued across Iowa. The roads were clear as we entered Nebraska and it took us all day to drive across that desolate land! We made it into Laramie, Wyoming for the 3rd night. Another night at AmericInn but this time we got a "steal" with a room price of $89 ($98.90 with tax) and another good nights rest and warm breakfast to seal the deal.

There were HUNDREDS of the awesome windmills all across Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Wyoming and Idaho (between Twin Falls and Boise). I'm glad to see us finally harnessing some natural resources!! Just amazing!

I also saw this cute little chapel somewhere in the middle of nowhere:

Day 4: a blustery, bitter cold day across another desolate landscape. I pity anyone who lives in these parts of the country- it almost made me cry seeing town after town surrounded by nothing but brown dirt. I mean literally, these homes are on solid dirt! What a shame, if they only knew that there was so much more....

There was ONE cool thing in Wyoming:

As I said, Wyoming was WINDY!!! I stopped to gas up at a mom and pop gas station and I almost blew away as I opened the car door. It almost turned my door away from it's hinges! I was holding on for dear life to the gas hose and this is exactly what I looked like when I got back in the car!!!! (It was much funnier in person, I guess you had to be there...)

These were in Wyoming too...

As we came into the canyon in Utah we began to see some pretty cool rock formations. I had missed seeing these geological wonders. It was a gloomy day so the colors didn't show up as vivid on camera, which is shame because the reds, greens and browns were truly beautiful (in that western kind of way! LOL):

Rolling along into Idaho we were greeted by wispy and fluffy clouds and a grogeous sunset:

To IDAHO or BUST!!!!

We did it! We arrived at Chris' parents house in Burley at around 6pm and were so excited to see everyone. Dad Graf didn't get off work until 7:30 so we anxiously awaited his arrival. Brady actually plaed infront of their picture window for about a half hour so he could stand there and wave when he pulled into the driveway! We were also suprised to learn that Great-Grandma Jones hadn't been "notified" of our move and that she was making dinner for the family that evening! Dad and Chris went over to pick her up at her house and played a trick on her! Dad went to the door and then Chris snuck up behind her (and almost gave the poor woman a heart attack!) Grandma survived and was very excited to see us again!

We left for Boise the next morning after delicious breakfast made for us by Mom Graf. There's pretty much nothing in between Twin Falls and Boise, I was getting a little nervous! But Boise is a great city with a lot to offer and after I got over the initial "shock" that this was all real I've been having fun seeing what this place is all about!

We got right to unloading the truck and I got right to unpacking! I'm proud to say that after the first week almost everything was done! All that is left now are some small details here and there, some pictures and Olivia's room, which needs a crib and some fabric for some curtains etc. I'll be excited to post those pictures SOON!

We have two happy kids to be out of the car and into a nice big apartment! Brady loves playing in his room (thank goodness!!!) and Olivia is sleeping through the night! YAY!!!

So, these are our apartments: The Landing at lakeharbor in Boise. They are situated on Silver Lake, which looks pretty glamorous in these pictures. It's a nice little "pond" but it will be fun to fish in and take the canoe out on every once in a while. We also live right along the Boise Greenbelt which is the 25 mile biking/walking path that extends along the Boise River. We'll definately be taking advantage of that when the weather warms up!!! I have great plans for myself, two kids and bike trailer and/or my double jogging stroller!

Cost of Moving Truck: $1685

Cost of Tolls: $110

Cost of Gas: $860

Cost of food: $150

Cost of Hotels: $270

Knowing you made the right decision: Priceless!!!

(many of the pics I have on this post from Maine are by a Maine photographer named Brent Dayley)