Stuart Graham

 Stu-Bear, it's your 7th birthday today! I love looking back through pictures because they show me how very much you have changed, and how very much you have always been just who you are.

You were such a sweet, cuddly baby...

 who eased into this sweet, cuddly, curious crawler...

 ...who eased into this introspective, curious, wonderful toddler...

 ...who eased into this curious, funny, wonderful little boy...

 ...who is easing into a funny, introspective, sweet, tender, growing up little man.

Stuart, God has given you a soft heart. Soft hearts are the very strongest there are, son, because soft hearts are moldable to Jesus. Soft hearts go into hard places and make them better with their quiet strength. Soft hearts look at the sad and hurting and strive to help them heal.

Oh, that you will grow to understand what strength there is in having a soft heart! That you will grow to understand what a gift Jesus has given you. That you will grow to understand that following Jesus with your whole life will allow you to reach into the hardest places and help the most hurting. That is what we pray for you, our tender protector.

Happy birthday to our growing up Bear. We love you so.

Emmett Boy

Emmett boy, what happened?! You will tell us, "I am FIBE now," and I am not sure I can quite accept it yet.

These 5 years have been a bit of a blur and through the blur has been our affectionate, take charge, content, wonder-filled little boy to brighten our lives.

 I cannot bring myself to say that I don't want you to grow up. I do...I want you to continue growing and learning and becoming a more complete picture of who God made you to be. But I don't want these days to go by too fast.

 You still love Star Wars and the light sabers. You also LUB stuffed animals and penguins in particular. You love your friends and can name every single one and what their preferences are. People matter the most to you and we love that quality in you, Buds.

God has wired you to need to be around people. We pray that you will continue to be moldable by Jesus, that your heart would be completely captured by Him, because then your affectionate spirit will overflow and affect the world in a powerful way.

We love you so, our Emmett boy. You fill our hearts with joy and laughter. Happy birthday, wonderful son.

Surprise Trip!

Nana & Papa gifted the kids and I a trip down to California this summer. It was so fun to get to do something out of the ordinary while John is busy studying and training to be a firefighter.


At the airport! All super excited!

 This is Sis. She is always, always prepared for all sorts of things. One time we were on a hike as a family and one of the boys fell and scraped their knee. As they were crying and asking for a bandaid, I said, "Sorry, bud, I didn't bring any," to which Aubrey quickly said, "Oh, I did! Just in case! And I also brought Mickey Mouse, because I thought he might make things better!" And she pulls a bandaid and a stuffed Mickey Mouse out of her little backpack.

So, she brought her sleeping mask. Because with 3 brothers on an airplane, a girl needs a way to block out noise and sights. 

 Me and my Emmett boy. I love him and I think he likes me, too.

 Stu-Bear. So excited!

 And this one. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

 Downtown Disney, Lego store! 

 She fits in so nicely. :)

 We got to visit some fun beaches while we were there. This is San Clemente, where Papa used to come to surf.

 I can't remember the name of this beach but it was SO FUN. Wave after wave, so warm.

 And, surprise! We stopped at Disneyland!

 Stuart and Bryant got to do Avengers training. Black Widow and Hawkeye were there!

 After defeating the bad robot, the newly appointed Avengers posed for a picture for their moms.

 The raft ride was a favorite of all 4.

 Especially when we get wet!!

 Oh, you know, just strolling along and Princess Tiana shows up. No biggie.

 Summer shenanigans. They are always up to something.

July 4th

We woke up on the 4th and decided to make a quick trip over to the beach for July 4th. John had the day off of work so he grabbed his study stuff and we made the trek over.

 It just so happened that Uncle Geoff, Aunt Michelle, Noah, Elise, Grandpa, & Grammy were there, too, so we got to spend the day with them.

 Uncle Geoff buried Stu Bear in the sand, which he loved.

 These are all of the Anderson boy cousins...quite the crew.

 On the way home we went through Astoria. We drove by our old house in Warrenton and the Steadfast happened to be in port! The kids got to see the cutter that Daddy was stationed on 13 years ago!

It was a great trip. The day ended with the kids and I at Sandy High School, watching fireworks while Daddy studied for his exam. I sure love my crew. So very much.

Silver Falls

We went on a quick adventure to Silver Falls State Park and had a blast.

These two...goofballs.

 And this is the phase of picture taking we are now in...

 This is how Emmett feels about being hungry. Life is bleak when lunch is due.

 Nana and her Aubrey.

 Apparently Emmett was thrilled with taking a break from cave exploring to get a picture with Mom.

 The caves were the best!

 My tiger.

 We finished our hike with a foot soak in the stream.

 I love these kids so very much.

 Up to something...always.

 I am surprised every picture of Emmett does not look like this. He is always talking. Always. Even in his sleep.

 "Nana!"