Catching up...scroll down to see several new posts

Back in May we went on a picnic to Shoshone Falls with some of our new friends, the Wells in our ward/apartment complex. It's been really fun getting to know new people and I hope Nicole doesn't get sick of me because she sees me everyday (several times a day!)

We were lucky to catch the falls still full, although they were so full a few weeks before that you could hardly see the falls because of all of the mist!


Brady and Annie are really cute friends and Brady tells me that Annie is his girlfriend! They hold hands and give eachother hugs and kisses (on the cheeks) but they also fight like an old married couple!

Ryan and Chris have "bonded" because they are both sport's fanatics...I guess that's all that really matters in a man's world!

And just a funny little thing...the first time Olivia saw Ryan she looked up at him with the most confused look on her face and started crying. I think she thought that he was Chris and was wondering why he wasn't talking to her or picking her up! Ryan and Chris are both the same height with dark brown/black hair and Ryan was wearing a suit (which Chris wears everyday for work).

The Wells Family:

Nicole, Annie and Ryan

I caught this funny picture when they were telling a story!

Annie with her precious chocolatey pudding smile!!!

The Snake River Canyon

Some beautiful spring blossoms

Brady and Annie held hands all around the park and had lots of fun blowing dandelions!

Miss Livy

10 MONTHS!!!!

Olivia is growing by leaps and bounds!!!

Just recently she has become quite the adventurous type and I find her in all sorts of places...

This is her favorite hide-out (under the table and chairs)

I think she likes it so much because she eats all of the crumbs under the table (YUCK!)

There's nothing better than sitting IN the toy box!!!

I tried to get her out of there several times thinking that all of those pokey toys wouldn't feel good on her tush but she insisted on climbing back in! So then I put the lid on the box and...

Then she got ON the toy box!!!

And ON the Lego box...

And IN the Lego box!!!

And this was the latest adventure- I guess I have a climber on my hands!!!

Climbing UP the bunkbed ladder!!!

(yeah, that got taken down quick, fast and in a hurry!)

May I remind you....she's only 10 months!!!!

Other than being a little dare devil Olivia is also a sweetie pie and I can always get the biggest smiles out of her!

She has the cutest teeth (5 in all!) and the biggest "blueberry eyes!"

Here she is happy to go for our daily walk!

These are some cute pics that my friend, Aubrey took of Olivia with her new Nikon D60

(yeah, I'm coveting!!!)

These pictures crack me up because this is Olivia's new scowly face!!!

(I used to make the same face...but I won't tell you how old I was!..well, sometimes I still do!)

She's a big girl who has:

• taken 4 steps (and tries to walk all of the time)
• holds her own bottle
• loves to swim around with mommy in the pool
• loves to take tubbies
• can say Mamma, Dadda, ice, stop, and ball
• shrieks and laughs when ever she's happy
• loves playing chase with big brother Brady
• eats any all all food given to her (yeah, maybe she won't be a picky eater!)
• melts everyone's heart!!!

Here she is sleeping on the floor with her hand in the honey pot that daddy had just given her to play with!!!

She loves to crawl on the grass and explore!!! Brady hated the feeling of grass when he was a baby so he would never crawl around on it. I can't get Olivia to sit still when we're outside...she has too much to discover!!!

And she loves to swing!!!

Bye-bye cute girl!!!

Brady - 4 1/2

My Brady Boy has grown up quite a bit since we've moved back to Idaho:

• has his own friends who he LOVES to play with
• goes to preschool
• has his own bedroom (he shared wil Livy) and a bunk bed
• knows how to dress himself completely, including buttons and zippers
• washes himself in the tub
• clears his food and dishes from off of the table and puts them in the sink
• takes his dirty laundry to the laundry room
• helps mommy by playing with his little sister and being a great big brother!

He also has quite the imagination and is always creating "inventions" and making odd use of his toys- I walked into the livingroom and found poor Mike (from Monster's Inc.) handcuffed to the entertainment center! I guess he was in time out!!!

Give Brady anything unusual to play with and he's a happy camper!



Buttons and miscellaneous JUNK can keep him busy for hours!! In fact, he has a TREASURE COLLECTION of odds and ends that he finds ANYWHERE and EVERYHWHERE!!! Some of these little treasures include erasers, flowers (that are now dead), beads, buttons, scraps of paper, the little x's that are used in tiling projects (he's found them all over the place in the apartment complex) etc.

He keeps all of these treasures in a "special drawer" in his room which I periodically sort through and dispose of without his knowledge!!!

We went shopping yesterday and any little piece of trash (I'm not kidding!) he wanted to stuff in his pocket and take home!!!

Brady LOVES to watch cooking shows with me and we usually watch 1 or 2 a day whenever I'm rocking Olivia to sleep for her nap. We watch Robin Miller's "Quick Fix Meals" and his favorite is Guy Fieri of "Guy's Big Bite." Whenever I'm cooking dinner Brady is always asking me if I'm using the "Olivey Oil because that's Guy's favorite!"

He likes to help me cook whenever he can- and as you can see he often gets very anxious to lick the spoon!

Brady is a thirsty boy too- he is ALWAYS drinking TONS of water!!! (Good job!!!) I think he must be a camel or something! One day we were driving and he was really thristy but had already drank all of his water in his water bottle. Well, I had this gallon of water in the back seat so I let him have at it!!! (CHUG, CHUG, CHUG!!!)

He's a GREAT BOY with LOADS of energy!!!

As many of you know, Chris and I though about opening our own Home Furniture and Decor Consignment store a few months ago but decided that with two young kids and minimal funds now would not be a wise time...maybe someday....

I began a blog siting all of the decor that I'd accumulate and was able to sell several things online that way. There is actually a new decor and home-made craft store opening here in Twin Falls so I was able to finally clean out our bedroom and consign all of the rest of the decor- so that blog is no longer in existance!

On to NEW things!

A friend of mine here in Twin Falls is an educational consultant with Usborne Books and we began talking about it one day, I hosted a home show for her and then decided that I liked the business opportunity and how it was so different from other direct marketing companies that I'd heard of or been a part of before.

I loved the books immediately because they are so well-made and fun for kids (and their parents) to read. They have a huge variety of books and subjects that Brady loves like cowboys, pirates, sticker books, dual readers, and game books full of things that kids have to find within the pages. There are also encyclopedias with links to the internet and even homeschool curiculums. No suprise that their books are so good- Usborne is the #1 Educational Book Company in the World!!!

Here are some other reasons why I like Usborne:

• Work with schools doing book fairs, events, daycares, preschools etc.
• We have a Grant Matching program for schools who are able to get grants for books we can match that grant up to 50% (and there is no limit!)
• We have a Reach for the Stars Reading Program and incentives to help promote literacy among children
• There are NO monthly minimums that I, as a consultant, have to meet
• There are no yearly membership fees; only a one-time consultant kit which I got over $400 in books for only $89 plus tax and shipping!!!
• You get to build your own personal library as you earn FREE books and 1/2 price books
• You get to build a sustainable business that will eventually allow you to be paid for the work that others on your team do as well as your own!
• Money in your pocket! I earn 25% in commission on all orders, 17% on fairs; and the comission grows as your business grows!

I am beginning my business with Usborne and was able to do a 2-day booth at the Western Days fair here in Twin with my friend, Nicole. We were able to book several home shows each and get lots of contacts and I'm excited to get involved and begin building my business.

For anyone who is interested in more information please email me: h.m.graf@hotmail.com

or you can visit my website: http://www.myusbornelibrary.com/

Because I am a new Educational Consultant I have a special 12-week incentive period (mine ends July 31) which allows me to:

• offer DOUBLE FREE BOOKS to hostesses
• I can offer 2 people the start-up consultant kit, a value of over $350 for only $99.50

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATE 2009!!!!

Here's our GORGEOUS graduate!!!!

Shawnae Graf

One of Chris' younger sisters graduated on May 20, 2009 and we had the privilege of attending the ceremonies (without kids!!!) It was nice to be able to be there to support her and all of her hard work!!! (More pictures to come another time....)

singing the National Anthem

Returning after receiving her diploma

Once graduation was completed the graduating class threw confetti and sprayed silly string everywhere!!! It created quite the mess....

Coming home for the first time as a graduate!!! YEAH!!!!

We PARTIED out at Chris' parents house after with his mom, dad, sisters, Grandma Jones, and his Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike. We all ate pizza, ice cream and chocolate cake until we pretty much couldn't move (that didn't help my effort to lose weight at all!!!)

Then we suprised Shawnae with some gifts...

This was a group gift from me and my sister-in-laws Nickie (who couldn't be there as she lives in PHILLY but we know you were there in heart) and also Chelsae

We got her all of her bedding and towels for college...

Some beautiful new towels in her favorite colors

and I made these pillows to match the bedding we bought

Finally...our Anniversary meanderings...

We began our weekend by dropping the kids off at Chris' folks house and then going out to eat to the Chinese Buffet down the road (I know, lame lame lame...anyhow we shouldn't have bothered because the food all tasted the same and totally wasn't worth it. Oh well, you live and learn!)

Then we headed back to Twin Falls and grabbed some of Chris' favorite snack (Peanut Butter M&Ms at Target) along with some pillows and some other snacks from our house and headed over to the DRIVE-IN!!!! Chris and I hadn't been to a drive-in since one of our first dates so that was a lot of fun! We played good old SKIP-BO while we waited for the movies to begin. First we saw WOLVERINE and then 12 ROUNDS, both great shows!!!

The next day:

After a leisurely morning of sleeping in (and being suprised with breakfast in bed by Chris) we decided to get in the car and start driving! Our first stop was in the countryside outside of Wendell, Idaho (about a 20-30 minute drive from our house)

BOX CANYON PRESERVE:

When we got there (after missing the parking lot and turning around)

we followed a mile long path down through fields...

tumbleweeds...yup, we're still in Idaho!

as you can see it looks pretty boring....

and then we saw this:

For those of you who may have trouble reading this sign it says:

DANGEROUS CANYON RIM

USE EXTREME CAUTION

PARENTS PLEASE CONTROL YOUR CHILDREN

Chris and I got a good laugh out of that and then after walking a few

more yards we came upon this:

That's a canyon....out of the middle of nowhere...and it's a long way to the bottom! I was reminded that Chris is deathly afraid of heights as he wouldn't even go near the edge and freaked out every time I stepped an inch closer to take a picture!!!


The blue water is natural hot springs and the reason why it's so clear is because the water bubbles up from underneath the ground (they are called blue hidden springs)

The water was so pretty and made such a beautiful noise- it was hard to believe that just seconds before we'd been strolling down an old dirt road

And then, back to the sagebrush for our walk back to the road...

Along the way I decided to take some pictures of the old pivots in the fields. I really love photography and especially capturing graphic images that you don't see by just looking at an object normally. I try to capture with the lens the details of what actually makes something what it is...what I wouldn't give for a Nikon D60!!! (hint, hint!?!?)

Since I'm a COWGIRL WANNABE and a JOHN DEERE fan

I thought these pics came out pretty cool...

And then we went to BUHL....

(all I could think of was "Buehler, Buehler..." when the teacher from "Ferris Buehler's Day Off" was taking attendance!)

Along the way I made some friends and they let me take their picture...

Once we got to BUHL there wasn't much to see and not many options for lunch and since Chris was "STARVING" he ate at Arctic Circle while I tried some Mexican Food from Senor Habaneros (I should have had the burger and fries!)

...

From there we drove WAY out into the "Williwacks" as we say in Maine...just to see the "Famous" BALANCE ROCK

There "she" is in "all her glory" sitting alongside some old forgotten

highway in the MIDDLE OF NO WHERE!

They hardly had a sign marking her existence!

Reportedly this beauty "balances" on a width of only 3 feet...something like that....

... another trek and up the hill we went...I told Chris that I was going to go to the top and have him take a picture of me standing beneath it- he couldn't let me show him and his fear of heights up so he made the daring climb of death to have his picture taken as well (it only took him a half hour sliding down on his bum and holding on for dear life to get down!)

.

I made it down in about 5 seconds!

Chris facing "the enemy" as he prepared to climb to the top

I occupied myself with picture snapping while he made his arduous climb

And here he is, at the "Top"...I feel okay that I'm slightly teasing him about his fear of heights and his wussy attempt to face his fear because he has tortured me over the last 7 years by making me watch scary movies with him (I have an over-active imagination, which paired with scary movies doesn't mix well with me when I often wake up during the night and can't sleep...)

...Anyways, I climbed to the top next and took a picture of "the view"

That's me, under the rock...I was hoping for a close-up but I guess I wasn't specific enough

when I asked Chris to click a picture...

After we got back down to the car we drove into a little park down the road that has some picnic areas. I almost killed myself while scaling a smooth-faced rock just to get this pic

On the way back into "civilization" we passed by this AWESOMELY PERFECT VINTAGE FORDand Chris was nice enough to oblige and pull over so I could spend the next 15 minutes walking around someone's front yard clicking pictures.

Here's some of the coolest ones...

This wheel was actually on the back left wheel of the truck!

The truck had obviously been "patched up a little" since the front half was FORD and the back half was an INTERNATIONAL truck bed...I've always wanted a INTERNATIONAL SCOUT (and a VW BUS!!!)

As we drove out of BUHL towards the HAGERMAN Valley we were followed by a beautiful wide rainbow (this was the best shot I could get as we were going about 65 mph)

THOUSAND SPINGS, HAGERMAN:

Back before this area of the Snake River had a power plant which has diverted a lot of the natural springs there were literally thousands of springs that spouted out of the rock walls of the canyon. Today there are still several large springs cascading down the rock:

We drove all around Hagerman and saw some pretty reservoirs and a few interesting sights.

Hagerman is actually the site where they discovered the "Hagerman Horse" which is in the Smithsonian-

We also went to Devil's Washbasin to see this waterfall that is unfortunately hidden from view along the highway because the Interstate goes right over it (wouldn't you think that they could have moved the road over a few hundred feet?!)

Because the river is so narrow between the canyon walls right here is creates a lot of force when the water is finally squeezed down through the waterfall (hence the name Devil's Washbasin)

We ended our wonderful weekend together by eating some delicious "steak nuggets" (small pieces of very tender and juicy steak) at The Montana Steakhouse right around the corner from where we live. The food was delicious but they really should hire a different interior decorator!

...

Then we went home and TRIED to rent a nice sappy love story to watch but couldn't find anything from the "Black Box" in our lobby so we ended up watching the Will Smith movie, "SEVEN POUNDS" which was good but SLOW and somewhat DEPRESSING!

Oh well, off to bed for another wonderful night's rest and a morning of sleeping in!!!

...

(Thanks mom and dad Graf for watching the kiddos!!!)