First Day of School 2018

Two days down, and this Kindergartner LOVES it! I think its evident in her twinkly smile :)

And the middle schooler attending a brand new school... LOVING it as well!! She even joined Cross Country today!

And our 4th grader is doing wonderfully already, as usual :) She's been extra good to Bryndel showing her the ropes at their school.

As for me, it's been a bit of a tough week. I am so very grateful to have been able to stay home with the girls for the past almost 12 years, but it has been bittersweet sending them all off this year. I am anxious to watch what God had planned for all 3 of them, and for myself this year!

Summer's End

August might be the final chapter in the summer, but it has always been my favorite. It's the month where everyone has finally figured it all out; how to relax, how to laugh at yourself (and your sisters, let's be honest), how to sleep in, how to stay up late, and how to just be. This August was no different. We filled it full of celebrations, family togetherness, cake & ice cream, reading in the hammock, and lots and lots of laughter.

Hadley made it through her first week of Bible Camp!! Her sisters have never been happier to see her; and I think the feeling was mutual.

Bryndel learned to ride her two wheel bike!

Piper turned 10!

We blueberry picked.

The girls spent the weekend with Auntie Kara, Auntie Kim, Ava, and even little Aria!

While we went to Duluth to celebrate our 17 year anniversary!

We went school shoes shopping with Grandma, and spent the afternoon with cousins at the golf club pool.

Bryndel turned 6!

We celebrated Grandpa Jerry's 90th birthday in style; in an event suite at the Twins game!

We had a great visit at Cyndy's house.

The girls had their first ever lemonade stand, and it was a hit.

Paige & Luke had them over for a pizza sleepover!

They attempted a day at the roller rink :)

We happily welcomed Kennedy to the midwest to begin her first year of college!




Grandma came for a biking & ice cream kind of weekend.

And we took in a new wildlife park.


Man, are we blessed!

Bryndel is 6!

With those snapping brown eyes and mischievous smile, Bryndel adds a certain spark to our family, and we ever so grateful! Happy birthday, sweet girl. We can't wait to see what God has in store for you this year while you skip off to school!

Happy 10th Birthday, Piper!

Ten!

What a beautiful spirit, inside and out. We are SO blessed by Piper's smile, encouraging words, & laughter in our family.

I asked Bryndel which words she would use to describe Piper...

"Love, joy, not crazy, likes to play, nice, peaceful."

I couldn't have said it better myself! We sure love you, sweet Piper! Happy, happy birthday!

Graham Family Vacation 2018

We had such a wonderful Graham Family weekend this year. The weather, the smiles, the sunshine, the laughter, the cousin togetherness was all so refreshing. It's taken me almost two weeks to put it all here, because it still feels hard without Dad's beautiful smile in there too. But, while his presence was unmistakably missing, his spirit was absolutely among us and the source of much laughter and stories. Blessed are we.

Alaska!

We had the most wonderful adventure up in Alaska last week, visiting Kurt & Anne's sweet family! We squeezed in a lot over the week...

First, we camped on the ocean in Seward with the whole crew! And got our first taste of the midnight sun.

We visited the Seward Sealife Center.

Scoped out the  beach for critters the next morning.

And walked the marina.

We hiked up to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park.

We returned to Kurt & Anne's to wash up and reload for Denali National Park.

Where we took an 8 hour bus ride through the park to look for wildlife! We saw moose, grizzly bears, caribou, and snow shoe hares.

We were blessed to glimpse the top of Denali (or Mt McKinley) all 3 days, including the 4th of July!

The girls did a ton of jumping WITH water balloons over the week, and loved every minute of it :) Piper, Bryndel, Hadley, Emma, & Thad pictured here, Clay below:)

We also hiked up into Hatcher's Pass, and Kyle did brave those ice covered waters of Summit Lake for our amusement.

God's artistry was on spectacular display the whole week. It was unimaginably beautiful, and we felt so fortunate to experience it all.

Thee very best part of the trip though, was the precious time spent in Kurt & Anne's backyard with the whole family. What a blessing! Thanks for having us, and for being such wonderful hosts!! We LOVED our Alaska adventure.