New Addition to the Family

Last night after returning from mom's for dinner, somehow Corey saw a little moving thing in the grass. How? I don't know. He and Cayden caught it in a jar and the boys fell in love! He is about 2 inches long is all and we can tell he's still just a baby. I took the kids today to Springs Preserve to see if they wanted it and if they could tell us what kind of lizard he is, etc. They are unable to keep live animals, but they did tell us he is a Mediterranean gecko. So we traveled to the Exotic Pet shop and asked a little more about him. He is nocturnal, will grow to about 41/2 inches long, doesn't need much care, eats teeny crickets (right now until he's bigger). I told the boys we were still going to let him go only to have Cayden sob and cry as if I had just given away his best friend he's had for years! So...we went to Petsmart and got an aquarium for him and all the best amenities, although they don't carry the teeny, weeny crickets he needs to eat. We went back to the Exotic Pet shop only to find out that they were out of them, too. Oh well, at least he can go 4-6 days without eating! Now our little friend, who continues to be nameless, resides in the boy's room to their great delight. If you have an idea for a cool name, we are open to any suggestions.

Abby's Beautiful Hair Before...

One summer day, Abby and her cousin Katie had a "girly" sleepover and did hair, nails, and makeup. Cousin Katie has such a talent to make Abby's hair just look ever so cute. Katie took this beautiful picture of her and her beautiful hair. Then today, Abby did this:

I'm not sure what Katie can do with these bangs. Abby got my scissors from my primary bag yesterday proceeded to cut up Cayden's sheets on his bed. We aren't sure if she got them confused with paper since that is the only thing we are allowed to cut, right? Then she goes and today does this to her hair! This is not the first time she has cut her hair. Last time, though, she did it underneath and it was easily hidden. Not so much this time. Hopefully she is over her creative expressions with the use of scissors. Especially since she is grounded from EVERYTHING!

This is a video Corey put together after Spring Baseball this year. The boys had a great time playing, and this was the last time Cayden will play in the Rookie Division. In the fall, he will move up to Minors. We moved Ryan up to Rookies this season, too, and they actually played each other a few times. Cayden was with the Pirates and Ryan was with the Indians. It was really cool, because the first time they played each other Cayden hit the ball straight to Ryan in center field and he stopped it! It was great! Not a problem. Cayden was known on his team as the home run hitter. He does a great job hitting the ball. Ryan did so well, we were glad we decided to move him up from Bubba Ball. He really got a hang of what was going on and surprised us all! As always, he continued to entertain us with his silliness and everyone loved watching him play! Like I said, Cayden will be moving up to minors and we will miss playing with the coaches he's had for the last 4 seasons. Ryan got to be with the coaches he first started playing with in Bubba Ball. They love him and we think they are really great for him. Baseball starts up again for Fall Ball here pretty soon, and we are looking forward to another great season. P.S. Pause the music for the blog to hear the music for the video clip.

Hoover Dam on the Hottest Day of the Year

We had the ridiculous idea to go to Hoover Dam on the hottest day of the year so far! We were interested in seeing the bridge that they are building. It was a sight to see...we were out of the car a total 10 minutes! But, we ended up going to A&W after and sharing root beer floats. It was an adventure, crazy as it was. It sure was "dam" hot!

Pine Valley, UT June '09

We had a Graf family reunion in Pine Valley in June. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the creek, trying to catch butterflies, playing horseshoes, and finding the "tunnel." We all had a blast and the boys decided that they need special tennis shoes just for Pine Valley that can go in the creek and mom won't worry about it!

We have joined the thousands who already blog. This blogging thing is really new and will take some getting used to, but we have such good lookin' kids that we must share the professional-like pictures that Dad takes. I can't be selfish and keep them just to myself in their photo box patiently waiting for me to scrapbook!