Max,

Thank you for being such a fun, sweet,

thoughtful, happy, & cute little boy!

I love you Max!

Gracie said the cutest thing yesterday. Our nursery leader, Grandma Rita, is very much adored by all three of my kiddies! She broke her leg a couple of weeks ago but I didn't know she had to have rods put in and stay in bed for six weeks until recently. Anyway, I was sitting on the couch talking to Grace about what had happened to her and what we should do for her. I suggested buying her some books, flowers, a candle, baking her a treat.... and then asked what she thought Grandma Rita would like. She got very excited and said " I know, let's get her a new leg!" She is such sweet girl and is always saying things like this. I love how her mind works.

I love you Gracie!

Jack

gave a talk in Primary today.

It Was about "Joseph Smif"

He did a VERY good job &

he even got a sticker!

I love you Jack!

What a fun filled week! Ill try to catch you up on what has been going on around here!

Last week was the twins last week of the Waterford Computer Class. The twins have really benefited from this class and so have I! It was a fun little social hour for me. Jessica is one of the moms that made it so fun. She is so sweet and she has three darling kiddies! We both signed our kids up for the same summer class! It starts up again next month. Maple Leaf Preschool! They really enjoyed going every Tueday and Thursday morning and it was nice for me to have a few hours a week to spend some alone time with Max (we would usually do some shopping or clean the house!) Jack and Grace LOVE "Miss Denise" and I know they will miss her dearly. They put on a little "Graduation Program" where they sang some songs (they have been singing these songs around our home for the past few months...thank goodness they are cute songs! ) for the parents and recieved some cute little scrapbooks that Denise made for them. It was soooo fun watching Jack and Grace perform. They are getting so big and I am so proud of them. Afterwards we took the kiddies to a yummy dinner at La Caretta in Springville to celebrate!

Here are some pictures from that night.

Matthew, Gavin(Relish), Jack,Grace, & Joey! This is Miss Denise!

Friday night I went to Thaksgiving Point for the "Mrs. USA" pagent. My friend Laura was a contestant and she won 1st runner up! We were so proud of her! She looked so beautiful and her interview was unbelievable. Congrats sweetie!

Saturday my family came down to celebrate my 31st birthday and then my parents watched the kids while Clay and I hit the town to do some shopping. I got some fun gifts from everyone. Thanks to all who remembered me and helped make it so great!

Happy Birthday Bryan!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Birthday Giveaway

Okay... so I mentioned a giveaway a few days ago.

Saturday is my birthday so I want to celebrate it with you

by giving you something.

I started making these barettes (inspired by these)for the beehive bazaar

but I never got around to finishing them.

I love putting them in Gracie's hair and I wear them too!

I have about 20 to give away .

Just make a comment and E-mail your address at

kdegraff@gmail.com

and you get one!

I'm sure I don't have that many people visiting my blog on a

regular basis so pass the word around!

Speaking of the Beehive Bazaar I have to show you my darling treasures I got last weekend!

cute little puddle jumpers for Gracie

Cute little smock for Gracie's cooking/cleaning/crafting projects!

A stained glass flower for the toy room window

A button and gift tags for me!

**there really wasn't anything for the boys... so sad.

Tears of Joy

Mothers Day is such a special day for me now that I'm a mom. Even though it's a day to honor Mother's, the past few years it has meant more to me than just being grateful for such a wonderful Mom. Clay and I tryed to start a family five years before it actually happened. During this time I would absolutely DREAD Mother's Day for obvious reasons. I wanted so desprately to BE a mother. It was literally a day of mourning for me. I remember the Mother's day I was pregnant with the twins I made Clay get me a gift because it was so wonderful to finally be able to celebrate the fact that I was to be a mom! It was the first time I cried tears of joy all Mother's day instead of tears of despair and hopelessness. I was so excited to strive to be the kind of Mother that my Mother had been to me and rise to the challenge that I had heard so much about. Anyway, every Mother's day since then has been Bliss. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have my three little angels with me here on earth. Someday's I get swallowed up in the routine and I forget how I wanted so much to have this life of selflessnes and love.

Yesterday as I watched my little ones I was reminded of this.
I'm so very blessed.

Mom

Happy Mother's Day!

Thanks for being such a sweet friend,

example, Mother, and Grandma!

I love you!

I'm back

YES~ I am back! I know I've been the biggest slacker the past few weeks, but I figured out how to download my pictures again. I stayed up in Bountiful with my parents for a week while Clay was out of town so I'll tell you about that for now.

On April 30th My Sister, Dad and I threw my Mom a surprise "Jazz" birthday party. It was soooo fun. We ate a yummy dinner with lots of friends and family and, of course, watched the Jazz game (too bad they lost that night). I forgot my camera but Jen took some good pics if you want to check them out.

Here are a few pictures of our fun filled week in Bountiful. We made ice cream in this fun little machine my mom bought that turns regular ice cream into soft ice cream and you can add anything you want and it mixes it in to your ice cream. (a small version of hogi yogi's) We added peanut butter cups and caramel kisses. It was sooo yummy! I also went to dinner with a bunch of my high school friends Macaroni Grill one night and forgot my camera, but here is a play date the next morning with Melanie's Derek and Ali's Justin and my three kiddies! We went to North Canyon Park (down the street from my parents house). The kids love this park and we all had a fun time chatting and catching up on what everyone has been up to. Other memorable activities were:

new pajamas for the kids from grandma, a much needed pedicure for me, Jack sleeping in the "big boy bed", lunch with Grandma at the "restaurant park" (McDonalds), and an eye infection for Jack.

Stay tuned for more and my first

KS {Kristen Smiles} Giveaway

in the NEAR future!