graham visit 09

we had our graham family visit in early august. this was the first time olive was held by her cappy.

and of course she remembers her gram.

abbie and eldin flew in from florida. it was the first time abbie got to see olive.

they liked each other quite a bit.

abbie decided she wanted a change on a stormy day of the visit.

so i cut and died her hair!

getting our sassy gear on.

meanwhile gram and cappy enjoyed watching the grandkids.

and voila!

one beautiful refreshed abbie!

olive was a fan of her new look.

abbie played itsy bitsy spider with olive and showed her how to count to five.

olive was entranced.

while daniel's dad was in, their special project was daniel's truck.

it had been hit by an 18 wheeler and the bumper was gnarled up. so much so that you couldn't open the tailgate. well, that was no match for the graham men.

while they were at it they gave the truck an overhaul...putting on new shocks and a number of new additions!

even though it was hard work in the hot august sun...

they had so much fun working together.

and when they were done it was like a brand new truck! good job fellas!

olive has mastered the art of independent naps and looking cute while doing it!

while the boys worked on the truck the girls took the kids to the park.

eldin had such a great time climbing steps, going down slides and swinging.

and we had fun watching him.

olive couldn't take all the excitement and fell asleep.

when we got home everyone was so hot we tried to relax and cool down.

eldin, do you think it is time for your first haircut?!

abbie asked if i would do eldin's first haircut as the back had gotten a lot longer than the rest.

i agreed and off we went. eldin did great. when he got too active we distracted him with a graham cracker.

ta-da! the finished look.

after that a boy needs a special treat.

graham family ice cream time!

this day we all went for hot dogs at sam's hot dog stand.

when we got back someone was so tired she required a nap on gram.

i don't think gram minded too much.

looking pretty in her summer outfit, hanging out with her aunt abbie.

say what?

on abbie's last day we took the kids to the pool.

olive had never been to a pool. this was her first time dippin in.

she seemed to like it, it was hard to say because she was so sleepy. but she took it all in for the first 10 minutes or so.

missy met us there with her little ones.

and of course sonya and guy took right to playing.

judah did great in the pool. you could tell missy had really worked with him.

and of course eldin knew what to do being a florida boy.

he is an ol' pro.

enjoying the lazy river.

little bit tuckered out quick so i sat the majority out holding her and watching the festivities. everyone had a lot of fun!

the day before everyone started heading out, john drove in for a very short visit! it was such a wonderful opportunity since we never get to see him. he and daniel raced around town getting everything done they wanted to do together. including a long round of golf with his dad! a lot to do in a day, before he had to go back, but so worth it!

it was a fun week.

it is always great to visit with family.

3 mo old, chillin in the sunroom

olive is 3 months old!

and boy, is she beautiful! she is growing to be such a big girl!

clover is unimpressed. she was 3 months once.

I married up.

So it is no secret that i somehow married out of my league. 

Now, i don't question this because i think the marriage certificate people will figure out the error and show up at my door and inform me that my wife is to attractive to be married to me and they will ship her off to some photo shoot for supermodels. 

Here is some evidence to prove my case... as if all the other pictures on the blog were not convincing enough.

 I give you exhibit A:

Its hard to tell which one is the work of art. See even the museum people are out to take her to be put on display for her amazing beauty.

I give you exhibit B:

If this does not qualify her for some bedazzled hot wife of the century award...I mean come on she is smokin hot. And she has the character to match.  So where are the bedazzled hot wife of the century award judges...i need their email and 2 sec of their time to show them Exhibit C.  I think they are holding her back from winning to be fair to the other supermodel wives out there.

I give you exhibit C:

There is nothing to say about this one. Its also really hard to talk with ones jaw on the floor.

(by the request of Holly I have this statement: Holly was getting on the window sill to get an angle on a photograph she was taking of me.  Seen in a previous post of me in a black shirt.  I told her to hand me the camera because her in the window would make a great photograph. She didn't want people thinking she was accustomed to hanging out in windows posing for photographs. End of statement)

So once again I do not question how it happened (holly saying yes to my proposal, or dating me, or not dropping me at the "salvation army for left handed underling husbands") but it happened and I hope that the people that regulate this kind of thing don't find out but I am not going to stop proclaiming from the rooftops how gorgeous my wife is. 

The day Holly and Olive "almost died"

Holly and Olive are great at one line summaries, me... not so much, so here it goes.

Holly Olive and I had a great time in Indianapolis, we went to see art and gardens and wasps...no wait that wasn't part of it. 

So for the longest time Holly and Olive are sitting on this bench, its an old bench, the kind that is cast iron with holes in the seat and back. So they have been sitting there for a least 15-20 minutes, when a wasp flies up to holly's side and lands under the bench. I having no problem with flying bugs sit still while holly pops up at lemur speed with olive in tow. Now she was trying to protect olive and i was in her way hence her threat of breaking my legs if i dont move.  But i know she would have done this without olive in tow. Because bees and wasps are out to kill her.

So she gets out of harms way but me being the curious type peak under the bench and this is what i find.

This is worth clicking on to get a bigger view.

So right under her cute toosh were about 10 or so wasps building a nest.  I walked over to holly told her she was a survivor and showed her the picture i took.  She said it made her want to throw up.  She felt covered in wasps and hebbie-jeebies for the next while.  I always have known she has bravery in her but when it comes to bees or wasps she has guts as long as she doesn't see them.