A Legacy

Where do I come from?

I love this picture of my parents. It is so them..not planned or perfect, resting in the shadows, a loving embrace, and real.

Ok so my family...they have their quirks (just as my children will say about me, i have embraced this-kinda). They are well...my family. Take it or leave it God gave me to them and vice versa. This is where he wants me; he is sovereign. Well i happen to be very blessed.

For Christmas my dad spent NUMEROUS hours (much to my mother's delight) in the garage building the most incredible gift you could give boys...guns and some sort of "machine type mounted shooting device that attaches to our fort" carved out of wood with their initials on it. I know - amazing if you have boys you know what i mean. This is better than summer camp and a week alone with KG- they have lived in the back yard and spent hours (being on the same team) fighting the pirates, bad guys, cowboy thieves, and shooting grizzly bears named Chili and Rio (our labs)...you name it they have shot it!

(Garrett's gun is not pictured because it is nighttime and a real man sleeps with his gun under his bed!)

I am blessed because of where I came from. My dad is really the most selfless man i know. He does not waste words, so when he speaks you listen. People who know me (and my personality) are amazed when i tell them my dad raised his voice 2 times in my childhood that i remember.

Just as my dad spent numerous hours carving, sanding, and personalizing each gun for each one of our boys- the Lord has spent hours designing each moment for our good and his glory. My parents are not perfect (call me) and i don't claim to raise a perfect family either. But my dad was willing to work on it. That wood came raw and straight and blemished and when he was finished it is something my children will cherish forever (the memories of childhood play in the backyard that their grandfather provided). It has changed them. The Lord is taking me and my yuck and making something useful out of it.

Last Christmas, my dad gave me a verse i will never forget-Romans 1:12 "that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith." Well, Dad I am in awe of your faith and pray my boys have an ounce of courage you had while you were raising me.

There are 5 characteristics of Godly men and i don't know if my father knows these but i know he lives these and that is why KG and i spend the hours we do training our boys. We pray they will stay humble, stand firm, step up, speak out, and serve the King (taken from a parenting conference).

Now if Garrett would stop acting like my dad and wear shorts occasionally i would be ok with that! And if they did not think it was appropriate to lick the bowl after a meal that would be good too...

BTW...get busy dad, Henry (grandson #5) needs a gun if he is gonna fight the battle.

Boys are like Dogs...

I always say after i tell someone that i have 4 boys and their jaw is on the ground that boys are like dogs- walk them, feed them and you can do anything...

So this is a picture of Wagner at 7:10 this morning - I guess I have not feed him enough because he is banging on the fridge and yelling at it. When I open it, he claps. Yea- poor 4th kid!

Braces!!!

OK, so i was ready for the paci fairy, preschool, our first soccer team, even kindergarten... I was NOT ready to see my first born in BRACES! Ahh- this is a rite of passage. Oh he feels so cool but the pain...

It just aches slightly not because of where he is, but what this means. We are headed to the big stuff, the stuff that matters ALOT! Purity in dating, curfews, trying out for football, zits, deodorant.... I would give anything to go back to the painfulness and agony of potty training.

He leaves for his freshman year at college (i hope) in 10 short years- and we are not done with him! There is way more he needs to know...

Where it all began- 1987?

Number 6 on our 2008 Top 10 was our tenth wedding anniversary so i thought it would be fun to start at the beginning...The Graham Half Dozen really began in 1987- yeah, can you believe it? Kyle and i met when he moved in around the corner from my parents house in the seventh grade (yes, our parents still live around the corner from each other - kinda weird i know!) We walked to junior high school with a big crew of friends and it all began.

He wanted the inside scoop and access to all things female and i wanted the same- it was an arrangement that benefited both parties. We hung out "in groups" and the Lord held our friendship in His hands- nurturing us individually. i am so thankful we never "went together" because the Lord had something so much better planned for us. How often we mourn the loss of something we want when He has something so much better planned for us?

He even drove me to Lake Highlands High School each day because he is WAY older than me :) and Michelle and I needed wheels. He hated waiting for her because she was NEVER on time- especially for school. On random Friday or Saturday nights when there were no plans for either of us, we would go to dinner alone and just talk. We spent HOURS just talking and hanging out. Truly as friends encouraging one another.

The guys were a little jealous because for those of you who know KG, he drove a suburban (not just a suburban - the Kodiak). You can fit a LOT of teenage girls in a suburban - so there were also many nights when KG drove dozens of teenage girls around because like i said, we needed wheels.

When it was time for college, i recall an ex boyfriend telling me someday he better get an invite to my and KG's wedding- i said GROSS! He is like a brother to me and there was NEVER another intention. I gave him the most hideous cow monogrammed stationary so he would write only me on it from separate collages- way too embarrassing to send to even his mother. We wrote letter after letter from college and then it began to change. He would probably still have every one of these letters if i wasn't so non-sentimental and such a wanna be neat freak.

The Lord knew we were designed for each other and KG began to pursue with a little liquid courage. We dated so easily, i knew this man from the inside out for seven years before we went on our first official date. There was something different about him i knew i could be me because he knew only me. He survived my brothers interrogation and we dated when we were home from college.

We somehow ended up at the same college and began to pursue our relationship without dating others (ok yea, i transferred to A&M). there was the typical on again off again re-evaluative moments but all in all dating was fun and we had a blast hanging out and tons of memories from this time in our relationship. an amazing proposal of marriage followed (there were cannons and sabers- i had no choice but to accept). this best friend became the man God destined to be my husband, the man of my dreams and His plans.

A very fun time of wedding planning began- my mom did 3 weddings in 3 years so it was old hat for her. All i really cared about was no carcass of meat on any table - so we had fajitas- classy i know....but it is just us. We had a beautiful ceremony on the most beautiful June day in Dallas with all our friends and family. The reception was a truly Texas celebration with a band, dancing, and food and more food....

i prayed for my husband many times (just as i pray for the future wives of our boys). I never guessed in a million years it would be the boy around the corner and that the Lord had all THIS planned for me. I still cannot believe this is my life and the Lord his given me all this. i am not saying it has been easy. marriage is the hardest thing we have done; not because of him but because of me. And thankfully there is the most important HIM.

I put my thoughts and ideas first and selfishness sets in. Communication is complicated. We have had to learn how to fight and that it is good to do so - occasionally. we have spent hours discovering where we came from and why we do the things we do. but most importantly there is God who is holding our marriage as sacred. and we do to. There are many people who have encouraged us and helped us on our journey in marriage- church, counselors, community group, friends....we are not in this alone-thankfully!

Someday I will tell the "funny" story of how our family began soon after we were married....

Bad Hair Baby

This is what the sweet lady at The Crop Shop did to our baby. Why is it that when you ask for a little trim so his hair will stop tickling his eyeballs she scalps the poor guy? I specifically said, "Please do not make him look like Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber. " Apparently she loves this look - oh well. He has been wearing a faux hawk to avoid the comb over. Hair will grow and it is nothing a little product can't fix... BTW- This picture is after 2 weeks of grow out! OUCH!

My 2008 Top 10

Notice the new pic- thanks Angela Weedon (amazing photographer) and Kyle for figuring out how to get it there. I am about as tech savy as the Amish (Missy-that is for you)

I never make resolutions- i think it just sets me up for failure. But when 2008 rolled around 12 months ago, i decided i was going to do everything i could to make this year different "eternally" for my husband and boys. The past several years my husband has been becoming more aware of what God desired for himself and our family but it was my turn for a change.

For those of you who love Letterman like i do, we cannot close the book on 2008 without a top 10 list. I started this blog in August so both of my followers/readers of this blog missed the events of the first few months of 2008 . I discussed my selfishness, the ever so delightful insights from my boys, and my crazy revelations about life so i feel the need to share my favorites... These are not in order of importance (remember i have 4 children who are currently quiet so i need to write fast).

10. We had our final baby boy on February 4, 2008. Wagner John Ellis created the Graham Half Dozen and has been the biggest joy and easiest baby (does he have a choice?) In the delivery room after Wags was born, garrett organized the events and began to become the #1 fan of this new baby. He is his caretaker, mentor, and general gatekeeper if anyone wants to even look at him. He recently asked Cathy Hutton to keep her house cleaner so it would be safer for Wagner to be there. Yeah... We had our first 3 boys in 4 1/2 years and Wagner is 3 1/4 years younger than Reed. so we have been able to "enjoy" watching the boys be his big brother. what a gift!

9. Family Camp at Pine Cove in July

8. Spending time connecting with our community group. These families see the good, the bad, and the UGLY and love us through it all. Thanks for taking the time to hold our hands through tough decisions and encouraging to honor and glorify God (staying at WRE this year, children issues, encouraging us in our marriage...) They have been a rock of encouragement and i truly can't wait to see what God has in store for this group of believers.

5. Reed winking at us all year

6. Our 10 year anniversary on June 6, 2008. I married the most loyal, patient, loving man. Thanks for encouraging me to become what God desires for me, calling me out, laughing with me, laughing at me, and all in just 10 years. i never would of imagined this is where we would be and i still pinch myself- i am the luckiest girl in the world.

6. Baseball season - Coach Kyle coached Mason and Garrett's teams this past year...Mason has a special love/intensity with this sport. i love the way he analyzes his sports.

5. The boys going hunting- Garrett loves this!

4. Going to Roundtop with the girls and Girlfriends. It takes special women to make 20,000 steps in 90 degree weather in one day fun. Also, spending time with the amazing women I am raising kids with in this special place (Lynn, Laura, Tracey, Cathy just to name a few...) They also happen to be the women who shuttle my children all over LH.

3. Hanging with the Huttons - I don't know if Kyle and i love Ames and Cathy more or if our kids love their kids more. It's a win-win. Amazing people, fabulous friends, great family, always a laugh- what more can i say!!!

2. Time with our families. Wes and Kevin and Anna all came for visits and these are such important people to our children. The kids also LOVED spending time with their amazing grandparents.

1. Family Devos and being better off because we had this year together as a family. We had struggles with each kid, laughed at each new stage, slept very little, watched our families hurt, and still I know God designed each event for us for Him.

To our friends and family- God bless and thanks for being a part of making this year a gift for us and we are blessed because we know you. You have forever changed our family and we are grateful for each parent, coach, teacher, and person who has loved our family this year.