Christmas Pictures

Emalee's Christmas Recital

Emalee had her Christmas Recital on December 18th. She did such a good job. Her dad couldn't get over how much she has improved. Mostly it's just that she is more confident. I also danced but we will save everyone from having to experience that. Here is our little dancer.

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
Here we are again in the holiday season. I know I say this every year, but it seems this time of year comes around faster every year. So here we ago again.
Ryan is 12 ½ and started Jr. High this year. He is getting so big. He is loving school and doing very well. So it seems all my worries about Jr. High were for nothing. He is still playing baseball and basketball and is just a typical pre teen. His favorite things are his phone and girls.
Emalee is 8 and in the 2nd grade. She also loves school and is doing very well. She is still dancing on her competition team and this year is one of the team leaders. So all that means is mom gets more to do. Emalee is growing up and I don’t really like it. But I can stand it more then her Dad. Rich does not want his little girl to grow up at all. I think it’s kind of funny. She is still very independent and noisy. She just loves to talk non-stop, dance, and sing.
Zachary is 5 ½ and in his last year of preschool. We held him out of Kindergarten for a year because of some of his health issues. He is such a funny kid and literally either has me laughing or crying depending on the situation. For those of you that don’t know we finally have a diagnosis of what is actually wrong with Zach. In November we found out that he has Cystic Fibrosis. So all the other things we have been told through the years were not the case, just as I had always suspected. So at least we know what we are working with and we are just moving forward. Not saying this is easy but what choice do we have. We are going to do everything we can for him. Zach is still playing baseball and is going to go back to skating lessons for hockey in January. He is a really good boy and has gone through a lot in his short life so far. He always has a smile, which I just love.
As for Rich and I we are just busy working and taking care of the kids. Rich is still working at Superior Water and coaching baseball for Zach. I am just busy with my 4 part time jobs that equal more then 1 full time job I’m sure and taking care of the kids. I did start a blog this year and have had a lot of fun with that. The web address is http://richkimgrahamfamily.blogspot.com/. I try to update it a couple times a month. So I would love for you to check it out.
We hope that this holiday season finds everyone safe and well. We are thankful for every one of you. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
Love,
Rich, Kim, Ryan, Emalee, & Zachary

Christmas Decorations

So I wasn't going to put up all of my Christmas decorations this year. I kept thinking to myself it's a lot of work and nobody ever sees it but us. But when it came right down to it I ended up putting everything up. It turned out really nice and I will love having all this stuff around until Christmas Day. By then I will want to rip it all down and those that know me know that it will all be down on the 26th. So I thought I would take some pictures to show off all of my work. Because before I know it I will be putting it all away again. Happy Holidays.

Holland Here We Come

As most of you know Zach was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis on Wednesday of this week. Even though we knew it was a possibiity it was still really hard to hear. So today we just spent 5 1/2 hours in the Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at Primary Children's. They are really nice and made Rich and I feel a lot better. They answered a lot of our questions. Poor Zach got poked and proded and wasn't very happy but seeing how we were there for so long he was actually really good. Of course the 5 different toys they gave him helped him feel better. Anyway this is a poem that they give to the parents on their first visit up to the clinic and I thought it was so good that I would share it.


WELCOME TO HOLLAND

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.


Were going to enjoy every minute of our trip to Holland!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Make a Smilebox slideshow

You really can't judge a book by it's cover

So as most of you know I am a crossing guard for Benion Jr. High. For the most part the kids are okay. There are a few that I just don't care for but for the most part they are a pretty decent group of kids. We probably cross close to a 100 kids so we get to see quite a variety. There is this one boy that has always kind of scared me. I actually nick named him to myself " Columbine". He wears the long black trench coat and is usually dressed in all black. He has a lip piercing and is always alone. Never with any of the other kids. To tell you the truth he looks a lot older then Jr. High. So last year I would just cross him and never try to talk to him. So this year I decided I would start telling him everyday to have a great day or night depending on the time of the day. So twice a day I talk to this kid and I never get any response. So a couple days ago I see him with his sister, trust me there must not be any parents in this house. She didn't look any better then he did and it was really so sad as I watched them walk home. I just started thinking how lucky my kids are to have parents that care and are around to make sure they are okay. But back to the story--- he TALKED!!! Yesterday afternoon when I crossed him I said my usual " have a good night and he said you too" I almost squealed like a little school girl. I was so excited to think maybe I might have gotten through to some small part of him. So this morning I thought if anwers me again then I will know. Well sure enough he said thanks this morning and nodded his head. So maybe by the end of the school year I might even get a sentence out of him. It just teaches me that you really can't judge a book by it's cover and I hope that maybe he will know that if no one else cares at least the crossing guard will always be there to tell him to have a great day.

Emalee's Baptism

Emalee was baptised today. She looked so pretty. She had a really good day and of course loved being the center of attention. Mom and Dad are so proud of our little girl.

HOW THE WEST WAS REALLY WON!!!

So Saturday night Zach decided he needed to drag out his cowboy pj's. Well you can't be a real cowboy unless you have all the accessories to go along with it. We had a plastice hanger as a shoot gun. ( That's what Zach calls it), not sure how the baseball glove or the pen on a string all tied in but trust me in his mind it was all a necessity. We even had to bring Thunder (one of his play horses) down from his room to be with Lighting ( his other play horse). Apparently cowboys need to have 2 horses at a time. Or at least that's what we were told. When it was time for bed he even put his horses to bed and covered them with a blanket. Anyway this was just to cute not to share.

I'm sure he'll love these picture when he's 16 don't you think.

Update On Zach

Just thought I would update on Zach. So as I mentioned before Zach had several different tests run last week to find out finally what is really wrong with my sweet boy. On Friday the Doctor called me back for the first time. Never a good sign when the Dr. is out of town and calls you. So one of the tests that Zach had done was for Cystic Fibrosis. I was positive it was not going to be that and almost didn't take him in for the test. His results came back above what they should be for the test to be negative. So as the doctor was explaining to me over the phone, I was trying really hard not to totally freak out what we needed to do next. She had already contacted the Pulmonoligist at the hospital and talked to them about Zach. She said they wanted to retest him in 2 months for this due to the fact that several other things came back positive on him. They are hoping that his other levels are throwing everything off. To make a long story very short he is allergic to Wheat, Milk, Egg Whites, and Soy. So what do I feed him-- my question exactly.

The doctor called today again to tell me that she has an appointment for me with a new Allergist and a Pulmonoligist set up for me on the 26Th of this month. Anyone who has ever tried to get an appointment with a Dr. at Primary Children's knows this is pretty quick service. She also gave me the information to get with a Dietitian at the hospital. That appointment is set up for the 23rd. So we are just taking this all one day at a time. I have said all along I could handle whatever was wrong with him as long as we finally knew what it was. Well now we know and so we are trying to deal. I am just praying that when we retest in 2 months that he comes back in normal range for the Cystic Fibrosis.

I have always known that there was something not right with Zach. Even when everyone tried to convince me that he was just fine. I always had a feeling that there was something wrong. So mothers intuition was right and I am very thankful I kept fighting and finding doctors until I got an answer. So for all the mom's reading this listen to your heart because as mom's we know our kids better then anyone else.

Zach

Zach is not to interested in having his picture taken

can you tell!!!
Here we finally got a good one. Only took 12 pictures.
All set for Preschool.

Zach started his last year of Preschool today. He was very excited and had his backpack completely loaded with stuff he didn't need. ( I cleaned it out before he got out of the house with it.) Yesterday Zach FINALLY had his appointment with his new Doctor up at Primary Children's. We really liked her and she seems to really want to get to the bottom of what is going on. It's only taken us 5 1/2 years to find a doctor to help us. He had some blood work done and is going in for another test tomorrow. She thinks it could be one of 5 or 6 different things. So we are just going to start narrowing them down. I am just hoping and praying that we really get an answer this time and that every test doesn't come back inconclusive. Which has always been the standard answer with every other doctor. So I will keep you updated as to what we find out. I really think this Doctor won't give up until we get an answer!!! YEAH!!!

Calling---- What Calling???

So about a month ago I got called to be a Den Leader of the 8 yr. old boys. To say I was less then enthusiastic is an understatement. My exact words were that I would try it and see if it was something I could even do. So last week I'm just going about my day when Victoria shows up to be babysat for the day. As Alta is leaving she says " Oh congratulations on your new calling" I said how did you find out I was a Den Leader ( They are no longer in our ward) She said I didn't know you were a Den Leader I meant your calling in the Stake Activity Days. She said they sustained you yesterday at Stake Conference. I said that wasn't me I know nothing about it. So I proceed to go through out my day. Pretty soon my phone starts ringing with several different people calling me about my new calling. I tell them the same thing it's not me.

So I call Rich and ask him do you think it could be me and they forgot to tell me?? He just laughs and laughs and is no help. So I wait all that night and the next day to see if I get a call from the Stake. No one calls so I just forget about it.

Then last Sunday comes and we are having a homecoming so the Stake President is there of course. After Sacrament I'm taking Zach to Primary--still not thinking anything about this calling and the Stake President comes and asks if he can meet with me and Rich. Right then and there I knew it must be me.

So off we go to meet with him and sure enough they had forgotten to ask me about the calling and they had already sustained me at Stake Conference. The Stake President felt really bad I could tell. He kept apologizing like crazy. By this time I'm just laughing. What do I know about Activity Days--Let alone be the Stake Activity Days Coordinator. So before anything else could go wrong he set me apart and released me from being a Den Leader.

So I have a new calling and hopefully I will learn what exactly it is. So beware if people start congratulating you on a calling you know nothing about. It might possibly be you.

Our 2nd Grade Girl

Dressed in all the latest fashions!!!

She is so cute!!

Showing off her cool new lunch purse

and backpack.

Today Emalee started 2nd grade and we made the morning with no tears. She was really happy and seemed excited for school. Of course her cute clothes and new shoes helped greatly. When I told her how cute she looked, she looked at me and said I know. Good thing she's not conceited. (haha) Let's just hope that she has a really good day. She already told me on the way to school that she wants to become teachers pet again. Just like last year she said. So it looks like were off an running on a another school year that will be full of stories to be told, I'm sure.

Junior High---- Oh My!!!!!

My cute boy!!!
How cool am I!!

So today is Ryan's first day of Junior High!!! The school where Ryan goes has all the 7th graders come the day before school actually starts so they get the school to themselves for the first day. He was excited and nervous. As is Mom and Dad. We can't believe we have a kid old enough to be in Jr. High. Really where did the time go. It seems like just a couple years ago I was taking him to his first day of Kindergarten. Of course we were much to cool to give mom a hug goodbye but that's okay. I'll get him back someday. Emalee on the other hand had a complete melt down in the car after Ryan got out. She doesn't want her brother going to that school. This is the same girl that was cheering yesterday when she found out he had to go to school before her. I guess the realization really hit her that he won't be at the same school that's she's in. So hopefully now that she's had her moment she can start school on Monday tear free. Let's hope. This is going to be a new experience for us all. I know it's going to be a good one or if not at least I'll have plenty to write about.

Grandparents

Yesterday my last grandparent that I had passed away, my Grandma Heinrich. (She's the one in the purple dress) It's not a big shock, she's been sick for a while and has been terribly lonely since my Grandpa died in April 2004. My Grandpa Foote passed away in December 2000 and my Grandma Foote in September 2005. The thing about Grandparents is the you really don't appreciate everything that they do and tell you until they're not here or are unable to anymore. There is probably not a day that goes by that I do not think of something my grandparents tried to teach me or wanted me to know. What I wouldn't give to be able to call them and ask them how to do some of these things now. My Grandma Foote was an amazing seamstress. She could sew anything. I can't count the times she tried to teach me to sew of course at the time I didn't think I would ever want or need to know these things. I wish I could learn from her now!! My Grandma Heinrich was quite a lady. She new how to entertain and was quite the social butterfly. My Grandfathers were both hardworking. My Grandpa Foote served in WWII and I wish I could ask him more about that. Even though he didn't like to talk about it-- as most men that served over there don't. I have recently found some really old pictures of him and his army buddies. I would have loved to have him tell me about them. My Grandpa Heinrich was very involved with the Oddfellows. He held a lot of postions and was even Grand Poo-Paa as I liked to call him for a year. ( Don't know the official title--Just know it was a big deal) He thought it was really funny everytime I called him that. The time we have here with our families is really short and we need to try to get evertything we can from it. I was lucky enough to have really wonderful grandparents. They even came to visit me ( all 4 of them toghether after I moved to Utah) At the time I remember it being a lot of work. They were all older and had variuos things wrong with them--but I will always treasure that time that they chose to come and spend with me. So for those of you reading this that still have one or more of your Grandparents you are lucky. Take the time to be with them-- because life is really short. As for my Grandparents I will remember them and miss them everyday.

Ryan's Summer

So Ryan is having quite the summer for himself. As a present for his 12th B-day last January my Dad and Stepmom gave Ryan a ticket to Florida to come and visit. At the time it seemed like summer was really far off and that sending my kid on a plane to fly 2000 miles by himself wouldn't be that big of a deal. Well summer is here and Ryan is gone. He left last Thursday to fly to Ft. Lauderdale all by himself. He of course made it just fine and is having a great time being spoiled rotten by Grandpa and Grandma Foote. I know that kids have to grow up but Ryan seems to be doing more then his fair share this summer. ( Braces, Contacts, Cell Phone, 1 Week at Boyscout Camp, 10 days in Florida) We miss Ryan being around!! But don't worry Ryan I will save some of the house cleaning for when you get home. I wouldn't want you to feel that you weren't loved. HAHA

The Latest Style

So this is my new shoe!!!Isn't it pretty. I went in for my surgery on foot yesterday. I had a Neoroma that had to be removed. So far so good. The drugs are good and the pain is not to bad. Worst part is I am wrapped all the way up to my knee. The doctor never mentioned that part. I look pretty funny in my Capri's. The shower was no fun this morning either. Not sure how I will survive that part for the next 3 weeks. Oh well hopefully it will go by fast. So if anyone wants to know how or where to get a lovely fashionable shoe like me I'm more then willing to share.

Memories

Okay I saw this on a couple of my friends blogs. So hopefully the few of you will play along.

1. Add a comment on my blog. Leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Happy 4th of July

On the 4th we went up Big Cottonwood Canyon and took Guardsmans Pass over to Park City. Along the way we ended up in a parade at Brighton ( long story) and found some snow. I had to have a picture in the snow on the 4th of July.

Swimming Fun

So most everyone knows that I always seem to have other kids at my house. I hardly ever just have my own!!! Last Friday we had a little swimming party in our blow up pool. The kids love playing in it. Here is Kendyll, Emalee, Victoria, Zach, and Nathan posing before they got all wet.

Trip to the Zoo

Emalee and Mom "Dancing Queens"

Emalee's class learned this dance about 4 weeks before the recital. She loved it. She loved the bikini and she loved how much her dad would shake his head and cover his eyes whenever she did the dance.

Okay so they offered an adult dance class at Emalee's dance studio this year and I got roped into taking it by one of the other moms. What I didn't know at the time was that they wanted us to perform at the recital. So I ended up performing at the dance recital. It surely wasn't the best dance ever but I had a good time. I just kept telling myself that it's good to push yourself to do things that make you uncomfortable and put you outside of your comfort zone. Well this certainly did that. Overall I think we didn't look to bad for a bunch of mom's.

Emalee's Dance

Here is one of Emalee's dances that she did for competition. They were so cute. This video was when she performed at her recital at the Gallivan Center June 21st.

Finally We Have An Appointment For Zach

So everyone knows the struggles we have had with keeping Zach healthy. Trust me when I say it is a full time job. We have been trying for probably close to a year to get him into one of the Pediatric Gastro Doctors up at Primary Children's. The way that they schedule is they have one day a month you can call and leave a message to get an appointment. If you are lucky you get an appointment, if you are not you are just told to call back the next month on a certain day. ( Also they never have the scheduling on the same day so you have to keep track of what day they say to call back for that month). So today is my lucky day!!! They actually just called me and we finally have an appointment for September 2ND at 9:00 AM. Now I have to hope and pray that maybe we will finally start getting some answers as to what this kid really has. We have had diagnosis from anything to-- mom is just babying him, ( Yes I like cleaning up diahrea and vomit), to Irritable Bowl Syndrome maybe, Chrones Disease maybe, and several others that I can not even remember the names of right now. So here goes another try and I know this time we are actually going to get some answers and not just it might be this or it might be that. So I will let you know how it goes.

What a day!!! May 30th, 2008

So this was quite the day. Ryan graduated from 6th grade!!! Emalee recieved an award at the school award assembly, and Zach finished the day off with a T-Ball Game. Here is a movie Rich and I put together of our day.

Where Have My Little Kids Gone?

So this is the last week of school for my kids. In some ways that is a relief-- no more homework, no more driving to and from Murray twice a day, no more worrying about if they have lunch money or if I have anything to make them for lunch. So those are all a plus. The down side they are going to be home all DAY!!!! Ryan officially graduates from Elementary School on Friday. I can't believe he is going to be in Junior High. Zach graduated from preschool last Thursday. I am a horrible mom, I didn't even take any pictures. Luckily he is going to be in preschool again next year so I get a redo on the picture thing. Emalee is finishing her last week of 1st grade and is not really looking forward to 2nd grade. Here we go again with her. She is my kid that doesn't like change. I used to think when people told me to enjoy them it goes fast what do they know. Well they did know and it does go by way to fast.

Why Don't We Have A Blog Mom?

So everyone has a blog and my kids are always seeing me check and read them. So they are constantly saying why don't you have a blog mom ? So here goes my attempt. Hopefully I will be able to keep it up and make it look cute like all the other Blogs I read.
( AllisonP, Allison L. , Michelle). So here we go.