The Graham Family

Gotcha Day '09

2009-12-23T12:09:00.002-07:00

Two years home! Time is flying!

Johanna's 4th Birthday

2009-12-23T11:58:00.003-07:00

Poor Johanna had to share her birthday with moving day. But she had a good day anyway and was very excited about her new Princess bike. It's so great at our new place having this huge shop. It has a huge fireplace so we can warm it up and the kids can ride bikes, golf or whatever on cold winter days.

July 2009

2009-12-23T11:42:00.001-07:00

Enjoying A Beautiful Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T20:00:00.002-06:00

A day at the falls

2009-04-12T19:29:00.001-06:00

Kids Christmas Picture

2009-04-12T19:27:00.001-06:00

Catchin' Up!

2009-01-08T15:59:00.003-07:00

The holidays have been crazy busy for us, so I have not kept up with my posts! My parents and aunt & uncle came up here for Thanksgiving, which was lots of fun. Then Anthony came home for a two week Christmas break, so we spent Christmas with my family. And in the middle of all of this we had Johanna's 12 mo post-adoption visit. Now we can stop and breath. Even though my house looks like it exploded and we are playing catch up with our schooling. Anyway, this year we got to go out to the forest and cut down our own Christmas tree! That was lots of fun. Here are a few pics.
Also, a quick Johanna update..we had an appointment with her surgeon while we were in Ca. She is going to have another surgery this spring to try to close up the hole in her palate a little more, remove scar tissue from lip and she gets fat injections to try to even out her lip a bit.

Anthony Update

2008-11-21T05:50:00.005-07:00

Yesterday we received our first letters from Anthony, and then just as we were about to go into church for Masters Club he called! We ended up sitting in the parking lot for about a half hour talking to him. Which was nice because when Pastor pulled up he got to give him some encouragement too. (Our pastor is retired army, so a great support for Anthony!) In the letters he seemed up and down. Positive one day, discouraged the next. But on the phone he sounded really good. He was very happy that they had been moved out of the processing phase to where they will stay for the rest of boot camp. Also, they had been issued their guns earlier in the day, so they all seemed pumped up from that! He had done the Victory Tower earlier in the day too and did really well. Please keep praying that he stays positive and just keeps moving toward the goal. Also, he is supposed to be coming home for Christmas, but in a company of 50 guys if one of them does something stupid they will all lose their leave. (I needed one more thing to worry about!) Please pray that he gets to come home! For everyone that has been praying for him, a huge answer to prayer came in his letters! He is finding a lot of comfort in reading his Bible and went to a church service. Praise God!

Birthday Girl

2008-10-31T20:20:00.003-06:00

October 30th was Johanna's 3rd birthday and her first U.S. birthday! She had a fun "princess" day. We started off with a princess dress and crown that she wore all day, then had a princess breakfast. Which was really only cereal, but it's more fun when you are dressed up like a princess! We did crafts, baked a cake and made a special dinner. We also had a time of remembrance and said a prayer for her birth parents. Here are a few pics of our day.

He's Official!

2008-10-23T22:44:00.004-06:00

Today we drove up to Boise to meet up with Anthony and see his swearing in for the army. He had been so nervous about all the testing, but he did really well and chose a great job that he is really excited about. Very strange feeling to have one of your kids becoming a soldier!
Here are a couple of pics from the swearing in.

2008-10-19T15:16:00.002-06:00

We had a Chinese food night at our house this week. Laurel and I were pleasantly surprised at how good our food came out. Johanna insisted on using her little pink chopsticks, so I made her and Jonah the "kid" chopsticks like they do in the restaurants. The meal took twice as long to eat, but they had a great time with them.

Our First Snow!!

2008-10-13T18:38:00.004-06:00

We had our first snow! It was much earlier than usual, and Laurel, Jonah, Johanna and I are probably the only people in the entire area who were excited! They were still at the tail end of their winter when we moved here in June and now snow in Oct. But we had a great time! I had to make sure I told Jonah to come in to eat, otherwise he was outside playing in the snow all day and skipping meals. (Who has time for meals with so much excitement?!) He even tried talking us in to taking our meals to the table outside. I didn't like the snow that much! The female goats Blossom and Emma didn't mind it at all, but Larry Boy, our big baby, tiptoed around in it like he was being tortured. Chuck was caught off guard with snow so early, and had to get right to work tonight after work building a real shelter for the goats. (Hopefully Larry will approve! Hee hee!)

A Fun Day Trip

2008-08-17T16:56:00.004-06:00

Yesterday Chuck took us up north a bit to show us more of the area. It is just beautiful up there! We stopped at a couple different lakes along the way and played in the water a little bit. We stopped at a restaurant in the cute little town of Stanley for dinner and sat at their outside tables that reach out over the river. What a great day! Here are a few pics.

HEY PAPPY! I CAUGHT MY FIRST FISH!

2008-08-09T10:31:00.003-06:00

Surgery Was A Success!

2008-07-27T22:54:00.004-06:00

Thanks for all the prayers for Johanna during her surgery! We are back in Idaho sooner than expected, and she is recovering nicely. The doctor was very happy with how surgery went and we were very happy with the wonderful surgeon that we found and the care that we received at Cedars Sinai! We know that the Lord led us to a wonderful doctor and we are so thankful. Johanna had her strange reaction in recovery again and they ended up moving her to the pediatric ICU instead of her regular room. But once again, she snapped out of it in the middle of the night and we were able to take her home to my parents house in the morning. We are now through with the major surgeries, so our next step will be speech therapy. Well, first a long recovery with no solid foods. Johanna is NOT happy! Have you ever seen a kid refuse ice cream and beg for a saltine?! Poor little thing. Please pray that the next 6 weeks fly by quickly for her. And if you have any creative recipes that she might like please let me know!

Surgery Update

2008-07-07T14:59:00.002-06:00

Today we finally got confirmation that Johanna's next surgery will be July 22. We will be traveling to my parents house in LA where the other kids will stay while we are in the hospital with Johanna. This will work out nicely because the kids and I can stay at my parents for as long as Johanna needs and Chuck can get back home to work. We will head home when Johanna is up to traveling. Ashley our oldest has graciously offered to stay at our house while we are gone to take care of our animals. It will be fun for her as she did most of her growing up here and will get to spend time with old friends. Please keep Johanna in your prayers! It is heartbreaking to see her go through these surgeries. In my opinion she is at the worst age to have them done. She is old enough to be aware of what is happening, but not old enough to really understand why this must be done. I just have to keep reminding myself that Gods timing is perfect and she is in His hands.

Kids and, well..kids!

2008-06-25T21:30:00.005-06:00

In Texas we purchased our goat milk from a farm. But in Idaho, as in many states, it is illegal. They spray our fruits and veggies with pesticides, pump our meat full of hormones and antibiotics, but tell us we can't buy pure fresh milk. HUH?? Anyway, since we can't buy our milk anymore we bought the whole goat! We decided on mini's so that our milk production is not too big and to keep feed costs down. Our goal is to save money by raising and growing what we can at home. So we have purchased two females and a buck. Thats the little brown and white one. He's so cute! The kids absolutely love him. He follows Jonah around the yard like a puppy. He is still bottle fed and today Johanna fed him all by herself. One thing about goats, they create a lot of laugher and "precious moments."

Update

2008-06-17T00:22:00.002-06:00

Just in case you thought we had fallen off the face of the earth, we are still here and safely transplanted in Idaho. We are all doing fine and are just busy unpacking and getting to know our new area. We finally got to start the church that Chuck had found for us when he came up here and we are all enjoying it. It was freezing when we first arrived but the past few days have been warm and beautiful. The kids are absolutely loving being on 5 acres and I can hardly get Jonah inside anymore. We are able to walk to the end of our street and out into the open. It is great exercise for all of us, including the dogs. Hogan gets to run free and is really building up his muscles. He is as happy to have the open space as Jonah is. As much as we miss our lives in Texas, we are really enjoying being free of the humidity and love being outdoors more. Below are pics from our trip to Idaho through Fathers Day.

Enjoying a beautiful Father's Day

2008-06-17T00:07:00.003-06:00

The "Joe's" enjoying their new yard.

2008-06-17T00:02:00.000-06:00

Aunt Shelly came for a visit to help with the unpacking. Johanna speaks with sign language and calls her Aunt Silly.

2008-06-16T23:38:00.004-06:00

Chuck gave us a tour of the area the day after we arrived.

2008-06-16T21:47:00.002-06:00

Some of us enjoyed the Texas to Idaho drive more than others- lazy boy!

2008-06-16T21:40:00.004-06:00

Mothers Day With My New Mommy!

2008-05-11T19:38:00.003-06:00

Surgery Update

2008-04-04T19:21:00.002-06:00

Johanna had the surgery to repair her lip on April 2. The surgery went very well, but then she had a difficult time in recovery. After 6 hours she was finally moved up to a room, but we had to monitor her oxygen through the night. Sometime in the night she just sat up, asked for her toys and water and was ready to play! So we were able to take her home Thurs. morning. She is doing very well now and we are seeing constant improvement. She is just getting frustrated with not being allowed to eat her regular foods. Poor thing. Please keep her in prayer for a speedy recovery.

Johanna's Pre-Surgery Pictures

2008-04-04T19:17:00.001-06:00

San Diego

2008-03-19T14:54:00.005-06:00

Laurels First Job

2008-02-14T09:23:00.002-07:00

Laurel is reaching all sorts of milestones this week. Today is her first day at her first job. I don't know who is more nervous, her or me! Here is a picture of her on her way to work.

Thanks For The Prayers!!

2008-02-14T09:05:00.002-07:00

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you for praying for us the past two weeks! My eyes are almost completely healed and I definitely will be able to make my sisters wedding! Woohoo!

Laurel's Sweet 16

2008-02-13T08:53:00.002-07:00

I can not believe that Laurel is 16 today! She had decided to get up very early and go the the DMV first thing to get her license. (Sorry, not DMV in Texas. D-something.) Her is a pic of her with her temporary license. And some misc pics of her on her special day. Of course, when the Juniors see her getting her picture taken they want to be in it too!

Mrs. Woody's pie's are the BEST!!

2008-02-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

2008-02-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

February is a big month in our house. We celebrated our anniversary on the the 5th, then Jonah celebrated his 7th birthday on the 7th. We had a little pizza party for him and he had a great time. Tomorrow will be Laurels 16th birthday! EEEK! And today she got hired at her first job! She will be a seating hostess at a wonderful little cafe down the street from us. Tomorrow she has decided that she will be getting up first thing in the morning and going to get her drivers license.
I'm posting a couple pics of the kids at Jonah's birthday dinner.

2007-12-18T14:51:00.001-07:00

We are having lots of fun getting ready for Christmas with Johanna. Today we did our Christmas baking. Here are a few pics of Johanna "helping."

We Are Home!!

2007-11-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

We made it home safely! I was not able to post the last couple of days in Guangzhou as I got really sick, but here are a few pics from the end of the trip.We arrived back in Ca. on Thanksgiving and got to spend time with my family. Everyone really enjoyed Johanna, and she put on all the charm! I was afraid that she would be overwhelmed with everyone when we arrived, but she walked right into the crowd and started showing off. Friday we flew back to Tx. and had a wonderful welcome from our church family. The kids are just in love with Johanna. When they walk into the room you can count on her bouncing along behind them. We are all really exhausted and are staying low key and just trying to adjust to the time change.

A DAY AT THE PARK AND THE ZOO

2007-11-19T02:06:00.001-07:00

At The White Swan

2007-11-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Guangzhou! We were so happy to be on our way on Saturday, but got to the airport to find out that our flight had been cancelled! But our guide got us on an evening flight and everything worked out ok. Just a very exhausted baby! Here are a few pics of Johanna playing in the White Swan playroom.

2007-11-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

I am up late, missing my kids. :( So I thought I would post a little update. Not too much to tell about Nanchang. We have basically just been biding our time waiting for all the paperwork to be completed. We have seen all there is to see, and frankly are so tired of being swarmed by people every time we leave the hotel that we just stayed in all day today. But Mary brought us Johanna's passport this afternoon and we are off to Guangzhou tomorrow! Yea! We have met a very nice couple from Rhode Island who received their daughter on the same day as us and are also here alone rather than in a travel group. So we have been keeping each other company and the girls are having a blast together. It is amazing to watch the way they both blossom a little more each day. Dinner has become a "wild time" for us. They girls get very silly and like to play games of mimic. Johanna has learned to clap, blow kisses and wave bye bye. She is picking up on English so quickly it is amazing. Because of the cleft, she isn't speaking, but communicates very well. Today we took the girls to the play room at the hotel and she chased Chuck around the room pushing a baby walker, trying to run him down. Then she moved to running at him and tackling him. He would fall over and she would laugh like crazy. She has made HUGE progress with Chuck. She is still very unsure about the facial hair, but thinks he's good for some rough housing! Grace, we all prayed for the Lord to prepare her heart for us, and He definitely has! She is an amazing little girl, and we are feeling so completely blessed! We will post more pictures once we get to Guangzhou. Anqi will be meeting us there too! Monday will be Johanna's medical exam, Tuesday our consulate appointment, Wednesday the swearing in ceremony, and Thursday we will be in CA with our kids!

2007-11-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

We just returned from doing some touring and Johanna is down for her nap. She is doing really well and seems to be taking a lot of steps in the right direction. The BIG one was last night. I had gone to WalMart with one of the other moms here and bought Johanna some shoes. She LOVES them! She got very silly at dinner last night, after spending the day hitting Chuck and getting upset if he got near her. After dinner she danced her way out of the hotel restaurant watching her shoes! It was so funny! She was holding my hand but then grabbed Chucks and held on to both of us all the way to our room! Then she started making kissy noises to Chuck so he asked her if he could have a kiss. And she planted one on him! It was too cute! Now she knows that she can get a big reaction from us with kisses, so we are getting lots of them!

2007-11-13T01:12:00.001-07:00

We had a great nights sleep last night..12 hours! I don't know if she was just so exhausted that she needed the sleep or she just didn't want to deal with us anymore! We started the day off fine, but in the middle of breakfast she had a meltdown that lasted a few hours. Now she is fine with me (Melanie) but doesn't want anything to do with Chuck. Well, she does want something to do with him. She wants to throw things at him and kick him! Poor Chuck.
I am posted a picture of her with her new favorite toy, a cell phone! Her and Laurel will get along great! :)

GOTCHA DAY!!!

2007-11-12T03:19:00.000-07:00

We finally made it! Johanna is finally with us and doing great! We decided that she is going to be the one of our kids that wants to play softball. She was scared to death of the doll that I bought her, but loves throwing the balls to us. I'm keeping it short because I am exhausted. She is sleeping right now so I am going to rest. But I wanted to post a pic. Will post more this week.

Hello from Shanghai!

2007-11-09T20:10:00.001-07:00

Well, we made it safely to Shanghai. I now see that my fears were misplaced. I should not have been afraid of flying over the ocean, I should have been afraid of riding in a car once we got here! No description that I can give would give it justice. It's the craziest thing we have ever seen. But, we are having a great time with Anqi and her family. Yesterday was Anqi's mom's birthday so we went out to dinner and had a true Chinese food experience. Chuck calls it "Fear Factor Food" But we did have alot of things that were very delicious. We had a great nights sleep last night and are ready for a fun day of touring Shanghai. Oh, and for lunch yesterday we ate at Pizza Hut. I think I liked it better here than I do at home! Tomorrow (Sunday)we leave in the afternoon for Nanchang. We see Johanna in two days!!!

Happy Birthday Johanna!!

2007-11-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

October 30th was Johanna's second birthday. We had a little celebration for her just like we did on her first birthday, but we are just sooo ready to be celebrating with her!
I can not believe that we are really going to be holding her in 8 days! The next time I blog we will be in China! Woohoo!

P.S.

2007-10-23T19:33:00.000-06:00

Just a little note for you ladybug watchers. On Sunday we found a ladybug on our patio. We said, Could this mean.......??? Then on Monday we got our TA!!

WE GOT TA!!!!!

2007-10-23T19:19:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, we got our TA on October 22!! I was so surprised! I thought it would be at least another couple of weeks. We are leaving to get our baby on November 6th!! I'm on cloud 9! It was like a 14 month pregnancy and now I'm in labor. I am going to try to download pics from China and keep our blog updated so everyone can see our little Johanna Joy. Please pray that the Lord prepares her precious heart for her new family and her new life. I get teary knowing how difficult this is going to be for her. Please keep us in prayer also for safe travels. And for our other kids while we are separated from them.

2007-10-05T06:38:00.000-06:00

Well, I haven't posted in awhile. I was too stressed out over the adoption, wondering if it was even going to happen. We ended up waiting 111 days for our LOA! It was quite a test of patience, but it finally arrived on Oct. 2 Now we will just wait about a month for our TA and then we can set up our consulate appointment and go get our baby! Well, she's now more a toddler than baby! She will be turning two on Oct 30th. I just can't wait to see what she looks like! For the past year we have only had the picture of her at 5 months old. We have her room completed and lots of clothes purchased. And I just got my Ergo Baby Carrier! I just cant believe that we will really be there soon!

2007-06-18T19:21:00.000-06:00

On June 2 Anqi, the exchange student from China who was staying with us, went back home. We were very sad to see her go and miss her very much. Anqi, if you read this, we are making brownies and thinking of you!! Hope you are enjoying being back home and seeing your family and friends. See you in China soon!!

DTC!!!

2007-06-08T19:18:00.000-06:00

On June 8, 2007 we were FINALLY dtc!!

Easter Sunday

2007-04-10T07:11:00.000-06:00

Isn't Easter the most WONDERFUL day of the year?! Thank you Jesus!!
Not even a little bad weather can spoil it. (Although, the kids were too cold, so I only got this one pic of them before they ran back inside.)

Good Friday

2007-04-10T06:47:00.000-06:00

After leaving the lake, we stopped at a beautiful field of wild flowers for some pics.

2007-04-10T06:42:00.000-06:00

Good Friday

2007-04-10T06:33:00.000-06:00

For Good Friday we took the kids and their friends to Lake Livingston. It was a beautiful day! We all had a great time-including our Yellow Lab Hogan who absolutely LOVES the lake!

Johanna's Chandelier

2007-03-29T21:29:00.000-06:00

Im so excited! I have had my eye on this chandelier for Johanna's "shabby chic" room for months! And, thanks to Aunt Shelly's bday gifts of Home Depot gift cards, we finally bought it! Thanks Shell!

Jonah's Plum Tree

2007-03-29T13:21:00.000-06:00

Jonah is really excited to put this picture on our blog. We got a plum tree and he is responsible for watering it. He takes this very seriously!

Spring is in the air!

2007-03-29T10:11:00.000-06:00

The wild flowers are so beautiful in this part of Texas! The kids and I are just oohing and aahing while we drive around. There are so many colors! But it does make me think about the poppy fields by our old house and how they must be blooming too and I get a bit homesick.

Here is a pic of Laurel and Jonah in the poppy fields in Lancaster the spring before we moved.

I will try to get a pic of the wild flowers at my new house too so you Cali people can see what I am talking about!

Jonah's latest memory verse

2007-03-28T21:12:00.000-06:00

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not parish but have eternal life.
John 3:16