Last Day of School

How is it that we now have a 3rd grader and 1st grader in our house? WOW! And while they both have had such a fun & productive school year, summer is a welcome sight (especially for Bryndel, who cannot believe her good fortune!!). Hadley below with two of her best buddies, Sydney & Rebecca.

Piper with friends, Jane & Casey.

Piper & Emilia enjoying a little cotton candy :)

Hadley & Mrs.Hoffman

 Piper & Mrs.Hanson

And this is what the first day of summer vacation looks like in a house full of girls! Some kind of princess tea party...

Where Hadley dresses Bryndel aka 'The 2 year old princess' in as many costumes as she could find! Welcome, summer!!!

Go Team Graham

Just a little over two weeks ago, our family's life as we know it, changed.  My dad, my strong and humble dad, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer that has also been found in his brain and arm.  And while rivers could be wept from my eyes alone, this is not a time of regrets or grievances, but of celebration and strengthening and knowing that our God has got this. 

Psalm 103:1-3
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, INDEED!

For more information, check out Dad's caring bridge site: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gordygraham

Mom & Dad actually came our direction last weekend for some hugs, positivity, laughs, and some good old fashioned fresh air at the land.  We followed them back on Sunday and spent the rest of the Memorial Day weekend with Nathan & family building a huge raised vegetable garden for Mom & Dad!

Bryndel with two of her favorite boys: Grampie & Nolan

Celebrating Grandma Joan's birthday with watermelon :)

Everyone loves that Nolan!
















Almost completed garden! 

Back again for another special weekend!  It began with Dad's phenomenal retirement party. And finished up with special time at the lake. Like making muffins with Grammie.

Piper & Brooklyn were weeding buddies much of the day, while Kyle, Mike, & Grandpa completed the garden.

Jeremiah, Bryndel, Hadley & Savannah were quite the crew.  Their laughter was heard all around the yard!

Ya think she was having any fun?
















Time out to hug Asher :)

Mom, Dad, & I got our hands dirty, breathed deeply, and spent much of the day outdoors weeding together. It was truly lovely.

Time for a little march around the pool before the year's first dip! 

The weekend was completed by a wonderful morning spent at Mom & Dad's church.  Our whole 18 person family was in attendance, along with all of Dad's siblings, his Dad & Joan.  The birds were chirping upon arrival, the hymns seemed to be perfectly fitting, and God's warmth was felt by all of us.  God is so good.  And we know that nothing is too big for Him. Go God!  And Go Team Graham!

 

Mother's Day Weekend

Blessed am I to be the mother to these three!!!

 Finished out the great weekend with swimming lessons :)

Spring Program

We had a couple of very special visitors yesterday who drove all the way down to attend Hadley & Piper's spring program last night!  Bryndel was especially excited, as she got to spend the day with Auntie Kara & Paige greenhouse hopping  while the big sisters were off at school :)

What a wonderful evening full of sweet singing voices, shared with family and friends.  Thanks SO much for coming, Auntie Kara & Paige!!

Saturday in the Sprinklers

Iowa or Bust!

We traveled down to Iowa this past weekend to spend time with Mikey & his family! It was a blast!! This is at the start of the 6 hour drive.... I think they were excited!

The drive went really smoothly, and before we knew it we were hugging cousins!

Bryndel has been asking for weeks, "Is it Dayamiah (Jeremiah) time yet?"

Everyone made the best out of two very rainy days, and found oodles of fun just playing games indoors together.
















Anxiously waiting at the hotel Saturday morning to head back over to the cousins!

Uncle Mike gave Hadley & Piper quite the impressive tour of his job.



















We capped off the weekend with a little swimming party back at the hotel.  It felt a little funny swimming in a pool other than Grandma & Grandpa's, but they seemed to do just fine :)

We stopped for a little ice cream once we hit the WI border on our way back home Sunday.  Sure was a special weekend!  Love you, Iowa Grahams!!