Decorating for Christmas

Thanksgiving with the Graves

Mellie and Levi playing.. he is such a cutie pie! Making fall cookies with the Grahams
Julie posing before the cookie making event!

Here we are again :)

Mellie loves animals.. and no thank you we don't need any new ones for Christmas :)

The girls on a fieldtrip with the home schooling group we attend.

Story Time :)

Mellie being silly.. we were putting her baby to bed.

Rachael posing for the picture... I am not sure why she is on one knee!

It's SOCCER season :)

Mellie getting ready for our morning of soccer fun... she spends most of her time in the stroller eating snacks people give to her. The kids love the special snacks they get and Rachael is extremely thrilled by the fact that the last two soccer games have been accompanied by a personal bottle of gatorade.

Rachael is getting the hang of the game.. Julie dutifully runs after the ball when intructed to. Her coach this morning ended up breaking up a bug watching event that all four of his players were involved in. It was after one of their quarter breaks and his four girl players were on the field watching some bug as the ref. wanted to start the game. It was quite amuzing to the moms on the sideline. :)

Rachael turned SIX

Rachael's Cake.. she picked the colors and what she wanted :)

Griz scooping Ice cream for the four little girls who were dying to have some.. he didn't want to pose for the picture so this is the face I got.. Rachael of course thought her Daddy is the coolest ever :)

Since Griz came home from Iraq we didn't have lot of time to throw a party together. So Griz and I decided to either take a few kids to the beach or to let Rachael have her first sleepover (that is without the parents of her friends here). She picked two of her friends and they had a wonderful time. They listened and played well together. I will never forget all FOUR of them laying on our bed watching the new "Curious George" movie.. They giggled forever! Sweet memories. Of course Racheal and one of her friend were up to almost midnight. The funny thing is that I've been out with this little girl's Mom until 2 AM before :)

A Weekend with Friends

So we are a little behind schedule, but here are some pictures from the weekend we spent with Heather, Natalie, and Julianna. The kids had an absolute wonderful time and so did Heather and I


Mellie and I at Chucky Cheese (it was so hot that we opted for indoor entertainment :)

Rachael and Natalie hanging out, they really understood the games and had a blast. It was Natalie's b-day and she was allowed to wear a crown :)

The girls on a trip, don't they look like they need ot cool down, it was very hot :) Although not as hot as in Baghdad, Iraq.'

All of us at the beach.

We had a few more pictures taken of all of us in our Sunday dresses however at this time I am not able to post them.. perhaps in the future:)

The NEW look :)

Well today the kids had their hair "trimmed" they have been wanting this for a while, and they have worked hard in certain areas of their life to be able to do this.

Rachael before.

Jewels before...

Rachael afterwards, yes she looks a lot older now, the cut is really cute on her and she absolutely loves it.. she spent quite some time "fixing" it today. The cut really made her hair a look a little fuller, and oh well there goes my baby huh.

Julie afterwards... it didn't change her as much, but it sure is cute on her, and of course she loves it like her big sister...

Summer Fun

Here are the girls swimming at a friends house.. Rachael was all excited because she could touch to bottom of the pool and didn't need a life jacket :)


Melanie enjoying her first blueberries :).. and she can say "more" in sign language!

The girls painted their finger and toenails one Saturday afternoon.

Melanie's room is now officially pink. The color is really nice but it is hard to see in the picture.

I spent quite some time working in our yard the past two weeks and here is the end results. I had to first get out the old pine straw.. buy border (this was a hard decision without Griz), put the border in. Then my wonderful friend Amanda helped me to get the mulch in her truck, and she watched Melanie while I spent some time shoveling the mulch from the truck to a wheelbarrow to the flower bed. It looks really nice and adds to the house.

Trip to Bokrijk Park

Melanie playing in the sand at the park.. she absolutely loved it she ended up laying down in it on her back and stomach... sand was EVERYWHERE when we returned home :)

Rachael, Julie, and I went down this really TALL, BIG, FUN slide... it surprised even me how steep it was.

Julie flying down the same slide.

Right before I left the states I bought scooters for the girls... they have loved them and spend many hours going around my parents backyard. Unlike in the states there is a lot of stone to play on with only part of the yard in grass.

Melanie at the end of our park day.. she was very tired, yet a very happy little girl :)

Hilbert and Angele's Wedding April 7, 2007

Angele getting ready for their big day, it's started really early in the morning :)

Hilbert arriving at my parents home to pick up Angele.


Hilbert was early and rang the doorbell several time... yes my Dad made him wait outside!

Angele made her appearance :) Angele and Hilbert had pictures taken at 9 in the morning.. the families followed around 10:30 for pictures as well... all these are the snapshots that were taken.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Les

The girls and I...

Angele, Hilbert, Hilbert's parents, his sister Johannie, and his brother Fred, with his wife and three children.

Hilbert with parents, brother, and sister.

Angele with our Aunt, our Mom, and three very excited girls :)

Angele with our parents, our brother Amos, and I.

Angele and Hilbert with Angele's Dad, brother, Uncle, and Grandpa Matt.

Amos, Christina, and Caleb Albright... another niece or nephew to follow in Oct. :)

Grandpa Matt and Grandma Jean... aren't they just radiant here.


Angele with Amos and I.

Angele and Dad walking down the isle.

Angele giving roses in memory of our Mom.

Angele saying her vows to Hilbert.