Season's Greetings

Yeah, it's time for a break!

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

We are grateful that Mike and Barbara and family stayed around for Thanksgiving, so we could have someone to celebrate with. We had a great dinner. Thanks Barbara for making all of the hard homemade stuff! It was so delicious. Costco is my style these days.

Fall Fun

We had a cowgirl and a geisha girl for Halloween.
Ever since we saw a barfing pumpkin we've had to carve one. Yes, it's juvenile, but we do have a house full of juveniles!

Kevin saw the pirate pumpkin in the newspaper. He drew his own and carved it out. I'm impressed that those little pieces stayed in and the mouth stayed intact.
Speaking of Kevin, he turned 16. He is holding his birthday present--a ski pass to Solitude. He says he won't date until he can drive which will be sometime in the next year...or two...or three. He may get in one or two dates before his mission. He seriously can't get his license until March, so that is a good thing.

Halloween Read

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

75% Jane Austen (yes, her actual words) and 30% zombie mayhem. Romantic, hilarious and slightly gruesome. Read it for Halloween!

Deer Hunt

After we got home, I realized we had no pictures of the actual hunters! Curt, Kevin, Krysta, Erin and Grandpa got up in the wee early hours to comb the hills. Camille, Rachel, and I stayed in our warm cozy sleeping bags until the sun came up and then had this marvelous breakfast. We made the hunters the same breakfast when they returned several hours later. Wait, I've never taken pictures of my food before! Other family members' blogs (you know who you are!) are rubbing off on me!

We enjoyed our campsite--running water, flush toilets, paved road--we are going soft! Just down the road was the Fremont Indian Musuem with a fun kids area and several hikes to see rock art.

Curt and crew saw only a few small deer and one nice bull elk, but proof that the area was once full of animals was on the rock walls.

It was a short camp, but fun.

Twin Peaks Hike

Who are those mountain goats?

It's just a bunch of Grafs!

Kolby and Kevin rejoice at reaching the summit.

The whole crew on the top.

They came home in the dark with one sick child and only 2 flashlights. Curt ended up with a deep gash on his arm that required waking up our neighbor who is an emergency room doctor, and another doctor visit the next day with powerful antibiotics and a tetanus shot.  All in all, another memorable Graf hike that they would all do again. Maybe. Not.

Summer Glimpses-the Anniversary

So much better than a van!

If you pose them, they will cry...or close their eyes, or look distracted. Well, either way they're cute!

These guys (and gals) are cute, too!

Wow! This is quite the group!

Summer Glimpses-Bryce Canyon

We had an awesome day at Bryce Canyon.

Look at the cute little squirrel...not the one in the red shirt, the smaller one behind the fence.

This picture illustrates an analogy...something about reaching for the light, overcoming obstacles, etc.

How many Grafs will fit on a log......

...... a lot!

The tunnel of (sisterly) love.

Summer Glimpses-3

Fourth of July!

Aren't they lovely!

Interesting LDS church in Malad, Idaho.
It looks like crosses on the windows.

Idaho Falls.

Visiting Grandma-96 years old and still sharp.

Summer Glimpses-2

Camping at Tanner's Flat.

Coupons Really Work!

I bought all of this for $25.00! That's an average of .50 cents an item. Thanks Stephanie for cluing me in to coupons and thanks Tracy for showing me the Grocery Smarts website. Here's some of my other favorite sites to learn about good deals. They are Utah/Idaho based, but I'm sure other states have their own blogs going. Click on the names to go to the sites.

Utah Deal Diva

Krazy Coupon Lady

Pinching Your Pennies

A Few Glimpses of Summer

Erin and Kevin were two of 7,000 performers at the Conference center for the Draper Temple Celebration. Our stake did a 20's dance. The youth spent months practicing and the results were spectacular.

Ashley and Matt's wedding was a another highlight.

No, Rachel and Camille are not on a lake or a pond....

it rained so much in June that our subdivision's water retaining area was filled up several times. Kevin took the rowboat out one night when the water was overflowing into the street.

Locks of Love

Camille took the plunge a few weeks ago and had her hair cut much shorter. We donated her ponytail to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their own hair.

Look at all of that pretty blondness.

She can spare 10 inches.

The cut!

It took a while to hack all of that thick hair off.

How cute!