Cancun

We started our many trips this summer by going with Ben's parents to Cancun. We had so much fun and Gracie was such a good girl. She loves to go bye-bye. She's a little fish in the water and enjoys going under. Gracie has always been a good sleeper, but for some reason the closet in our condo seems like it just might be her favorite place to crash. Some of the things we enjoyed were: the pool, beach, para sailing, snorkeling, a couples jungle tour, Xcaret, Mexican food, and sleeping in (especially Gracie). It was nice to be with family and create great memories together.

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Happy Father's Day

Time to brag about the wonderful Father we have living in our home. He gives fun horsey rides, pushes extra high on the swing, great bather, sings sweet lullabies, patient in teaching, and the list goes on. Not to mention he is an EXTRA hard worker. Ben completed his first year of medical school and received a 4.0 putting him at the top of his class. All the while he still made time for his family, never complained, and had a great attitude. What a great Dad he is!

Sharing Time

Here are some of Gracie's new tricks. It's hard to capture them all at once especially when she was in the middle of watching her favorite show. Just thought I'd share some of the things she's learned.

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Fun on the Ranch

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Nana and Pop's. Gracie is getting to the age where she is really enjoying the ranch and all it has to offer.

Ben and Pop spent lots of time taking Gracie on go-cart rides. She loved being outside, even though it was so hot and was not affected by any allergies like Ben and me.

She loved seeing all of the cows and horses. She would point every time she saw one. Ben and Gracie were up close looking at the cows and she saw one going to the bathroom. She just pointed and said "uh-oh, uh-oh".

We went swimming a couple of times and her favorite part was going down the slide with Ben. Before they even hit the water she would be signing more. We know she's going to have a fun time in Cancun in a couple weeks.

She mostly enjoyed all of the commotion when her cousins were all together. They were all very sweet to her.

This picture is funny to me because it is at the end of a long day. You can see how happy Gracie is in it, but anyone else who saw her that day would say otherwise. While Ben and I were at the temple for his cousins wedding, we had another cousin watch Gracie outside. It was only for an hour, but when we came out Grace was screaming and took a while to settle down. Someone else was holding her because the poor girl that had her was in the bathroom crying herself. Grace made the poor girl cry because she wouldn't calm down. I felt so bad. That afternoon a babysitter came over during Gracie's nap while we went to the luncheon. After 3 calls from the sitter we left to come home early. We walked in the door to find both Gracie and the sitter crying. Once again I felt so bad. How could Gracie make 2 babysitters cry in one day? Grace is not usually left with a sitter ( especially who she doesn't know) unless she is asleep, because when Ben gets home he wants to spend time with her. Poor girls who watched her. Hopefully one day she will grow out of it.

Kissing Dada and Dodo

Gracie was playing with her blocks and when she found the D block with Dada and Dodo (uncle David) she just started kissing it all on her own. She is learning so much lately and really understands a lot.

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Happy Birthday, Happy Mother's Day

We had another fun filled weekend. We celebrated my birthday Friday by going out to a little Italian restaurant for dinner. Heather came down to celebrate with me. Ben made me a great funnel cake for dessert.
Saturday morning we drove to east Texas to Aunt Tami and Uncle Steve's house for the "birthday bash". Gracie loved being in the country. After playing in the dirt, drinking orange soda, and not getting a nap all day she looked like a mess...but really enjoyed herself.



Ben was so sweet and took good care of me on Mother's Day. I started the day off with orange rolls for breakfast. After church I took a nice nap. For dinner he made smoothies, halibut with corn on the cobb, and a poppyseed salad. He even made chocolate souffle for dessert and topped it off with a massage. I felt like I was at a resort being pampered all day.

Fun Weekend

We had such a great weekend. Friday was a hot day and Gracie played in her little swimming pool while Ben and I washed the cars. It is so nice to have Ben finished with his first year of medical school and have him around a lot more.
Saturday night Ben and I went to celebrate our anniversary down in Austin. We walked around at the little street carnival and had a great dinner. It was nice to go out by ourselves.

Sunday night Heather came to visit since she was in Texas and spent the night. It was just like old times and we really enjoyed ourselves. We hung out and got caught up. It was also a treat to go get pedicures.

Happy Anniversary

In 3 years of being married we've: graduated from BYU, had a baby, moved to Texas, and completed one year of medical school. Happy 3rd Anniversary Sweetie. I love you so much!

Minority

We went to the Killeen Community Family Fair for something to do on Saturday and felt very out of place there. Can you tell?...
Ben said he felt like the cream in an Oreo cookie after getting off that train.

Chicken Pox

Gracie had her 15 month doctors apt. 2 weeks ago and got all of her vaccines and shots. She weighed in at 20 lbs. 15 ounces and 30 in. (25th percentile). We waited to get it done until now because at her 12 month apt. she was a little sick. The whole experience was so sad and she did not like it one bit. So now here we are 12 days later and she actually was one of the 5% of babies who gets chicken pox from the vaccine. A few days ago she started to run a fever (but they say that's normal after shots so I didn't think anything of it) and kept pulling at her clothes like she wanted them off. She also has been sleeping a lot more than she already does and not had as good of an appetite(thought that was normal after shots too). This morning it all made perfect since when she had red spots all over her belly...poor baby. Here I am thinking I am being a good mom by getting her shots all taken care of so she can be healthy and she ends up getting the chicken pox from it. Getting poked for the shots was bad enough and in the end it didn't even help at all but made things worse. I'm hoping that at least the other two immunizations she got will help her stay healthy. The good thing is when you get the chicken pox from the vaccine it is suppose to be less severe. I'll post more pictures through the process. Also, considering everything Gracie has still been pretty happy and even better...she is completely walking!

Curly Girly

After a walk, nap, library time, another nap, and it only being 3:00 we decided to venture and walk to Dollar General. We were pretty bored. After browsing the store I finally found something to bring home...little spongy curlers. Gracie didn't even notice they were in her hair. We left them in only for about 30 minutes and it turned out pretty good considering I only used water. We were calling her Alli all through dinner until we realized she actually kind of looked like Ronald McDonald.

California Fun

Gracie and I went to California for 5 days and had a great time. It was a beautiful day and we took a walk while Alli was at Preschool. Even baby Joshua came.

All of Grandma Graham's grandkids.

The kids all went on the merry-go-round ride at the mall after we attempted to get their pictures professionally taken

Gracie loved playing with the big bubbles at the park.

Gracie loved Alli. It even sounded like she would say her name. Alli was a sweet big cousin and they loved playing together.

We can't wait to come back this summer.

Happy Easter

Easer Morning at Nana and Pops.

Proof that Gracie does know how to walk, she just still chooses to crawl most of the time.

First Easer Egg Hunt.

San Antonio

We had such a fun time in San Antonio and the weather was perfect (80+ degrees). The drive was only 2 hours. After we got to the hotel, Gracie took a quick little nap, then we had some fun. We went to The Alamo and walked around the grounds. It was an amazing site and Gracie loved all the cannons. We then went across the street to the River Walk. It was beautiful. Ben said it was a little taste of what Italy might be like. We ate dinner at "The Original Mexican Restaurant" on the river walk. Gracie was entertained by all the birds the whole time (probably because Ben was feeding them chips). After that we took a carriage ride at dusk. We got back to the hotel at 8 and were very impressed that Gracie lasted that long and was so good. She really enjoyed herself as much as we did. Saturday we walked around this Mexican Market, then headed home after we made a stop to go shopping at some outlets. At about 3 Grace finally crashed in the car for 45 minutes. It's be a busy couple days for her, but she enjoyed every second of it.

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First Half of Spring Break

Saturday morning we went up to Nana and Pop's to visit them and had a fun filled time. Ben and his Dad went to a BYU basketball game Saturday night. On Sunday we had a big dinner with all of the cousins. Gracie loved all of the commotion and fit right in. She even learned how to stand up all on her own without pulling up on to anything. (Hopefully this means she's getting even closer to walking...I hope so.) Monday night we went to a Mavericks game. Tuesday we took Gracie to the Gainsville Zoo and that night had a nice dinner at the Petroleum Club. It was so nice to have Ben around stress free.

Gracie loves this car, especially when Ben pushes her really fast. It's cute to see her hands on the wheel and her bobbing up and down. I definitely would recommend this for kids.

Nana and Gracie were inseparable. If Nana was around Gracie wanted nothing to do with anything but her. I remember when she used to be attached to me and I looked forward to this day. However, now that it's here, it made me a little sad. Her and Nana are good buddies.

The food at the Petroleum Club was amazing as well as the company. We had fondue, then soup, then bread and salad, then a pallet cleanser (sorbet), then the main course (I ordered Mahi-Mahi), and last dessert. We left very full.

Snow in Texas

We were very surprised to wake up this morning to find it had snowed last night. I couldn't believe that it actually snowed in Texas in March; especially because at the beginning of the week it was 78 degrees. I thought we had moved away from the snow. It wasn't that much and at least it all melted by mid morning. Now that we have lived here for almost a year (9 months) I think I have witnessed all the crazy weather conditions including: humidity, heat, rain, thunderstorms, wind advisory, tornado warning, hail, and now snow. Considering it all, the winters in Texas are very nice compared to Utah. Were curious to see how the weather will hold out this week for Ben's spring break.

Having Fun

Daddy and Gracie have a new game they love to play when he gets home from school. She absolutely loves it...I think she will love roller coasters when she gets older. The blocks that came inside the bucket are fun, but getting in the bucket is even more fun! I have officially been band from playing this game with Grace because I accidentally dumped her out.



Gracie has been really ticklish lately. When I went to clean off her hands after she ate today, this is the reaction I got...

Weekend with Nana and Pop

This weekend Nana and Pop came for a visit. Ben and his Dad spent Saturday morning flooring part of the attic above the garage. Ben enjoyed using the saw and tools and said it made him feel like a man. It is so nice to have so much more storage room. That afternoon we went to some caves which were very cool. It was a great activity to do in the rain and had an enjoyable weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day

I love Valentines Day. All the hearts and pink are so cute. Thanks Grandma for the package yesterday. Gracie looks cute in her new heart outfit and loved the dark dove chocolate last night for dessert. I can't believe this is the second valentines we have had Gracie. She brings so much love to our family. Also, thanks to my dear sweet husband for the orange rolls this morning! You are always so thoughtful and "sweet". I love you both so much



!

Free Pretzel

Today was FREE pretzel day at Auntie Anne's. We were unsure what to expect when we went, thinking "free pretzel" meant a small bite. We were very surprised. Even Gracie got her own. She preferred the cinnamon sugar over the plain; just like her Daddy. Happy 20th Anniversary. (Just a side note: they will offer this deal again in 10 years for their 30th Anniversary). We love free stuff. Hopefully some of you were able to enjoy this free treat.