Bundle of Joy due in July!

Will and I are happy to announce that we will be having a baby in July! We are both very excited to be adding to our family. Our due date is July 12th, so hopefully the baby will come before the weather gets too hot. I have been very lucky so far because the pregnancy has been very easy, so I am praying that the rest of the pregnancy also goes as easily. Now that we are almost past our first trimester its on to preparing the nursery and ourselves to be parents.

Our Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope this year has been filled with joy and happiness for you and your family! 2010 has been a fun, busy and exciting year for us and we’d like to share the top 10 highlights of our year with you.

1. In January we traveled to Leavenworth with our friend Marisa to snowshoe and enjoy some snow!

2. In February the whole Graham family traveled to Maui for a weeklong vacation. It was a wonderful vacation full of snorkeling, surfing, zip line tour, Luau, watching the sunset and enjoying lots of family time.

3. We attended a wonderful weekend called Via De Cristo. It was a wonderful weekend full of worshiping God, learning how to share His word with others, and being in an environment with other wonderful Christians! Both of us attend a weekly reunion group with others who have attended Via De Cristo. It’s been wonderful to have a group of Christians to help keep us accountable.

4. April began the 6 month home project. We repainted the kitchen, living room, dining room and entry/hallway. Had new floors installed in the kitchen, dining room, living room and entry/hallway. Lauri’s dad, Gary built new cabinets for either side of the fireplace and a cabinet for the laundry area. We re-designed our closets and added new 6-panel doors to the closets and rooms. The last part was getting some new furniture! We are very pleased and happy with our new look!

5. Will became a member of Christ the King Lutheran this year. His company also was sold in May and he has been adjusting to and enjoying working with the new owner.

6. Lauri is now teaching 3 Stepping Stones Preschool classes and still totally loves teaching! She also joined the praise band at church and still enjoys playing in the hand bell choir.

7. In September, the Graham family had a family reunion in Illwaco, WA.
It was a wonderful weekend event seeing family we had not seen in years and new
family members. The weather also was sunny and perfect for fun at a park.

8. We started our 2nd year of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and are studying the book of Isaiah which has kept us both busy. We both attend Monday nights. This year Lauri was asked to be a children’s leader. She is teaching level 3 (5th and 6th grade). She really enjoys it, but it definitely keeps her busy.

9. October, we took a trip with Lauri’s parents to Sunriver Oregon. We enjoyed relaxing, shopping, playing tennis, riding bikes and playing lots of pinochle.

10. Next year is going to be a busy and exciting year for us. We are excited to announce that we will be welcoming our first child into our family around July 12, 2010!! We recently had our first appointment and got to see our baby move, kick and saw the heart beat! We are still in debate about if we will find out if we are having a boy or girl.

The one thing we are most excited and thankful for this year is the joy of our love for each other. In this season of loving and giving, we wish the same to all of you.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
William and Lauri

Some other random things we've done

New doors! We got new bi-fold doors for our closets. We did get new doors for our bedrooms and our bathroom, but we are still in the process of getting those painted and installed.


We also redesigned our pantry closet. We have a ton more space and I am not loosing anything on the shelfs!!

Cabinets

Over the last couple weeks, my dad, Will and I have been building cabinets for the space on either side of our fireplace. We wanted to have some extra storage space and do we searched for a couple months finding the perfect cabinet. Everything we found was $3000 more than what we wanted to pay. As we talked to my dad, we figured out a way to build what we wanted and make it cost what we wanted to spend.






My dad being an engineer is great at the little details, measuring, etc. But we ran into a problem with our cabinets. While they were square, our walls are not :) So we had to do some trimming, sanding and lots of luck to get the cabinets into the spaces. Lets just say in an earthquake they are not going anywhere. Our walls got a little destroyed, but luckily we could fix the walls with some paint!

New Floors!

Our floors are in! We are very pleased with them. Its been very entertaining watching and hearing our cats get use to the floor. They tend to slide more than they use to :) After some miscommunication between the contracter and the workers, the floors were finished about 2 weeks later than what we would of liked.

Preparing for new floors!

We had to do a lot of work to get ready for our new floors, I just know that it will be totally worth it! We had to move everything out of the kitchen, dining and living room. We had to be creative on where everything was going to be stored.

The Fridge Switch

When Will moved up to Tacoma he left his fridge down in his little room where he works. The fridge we had was smaller and it had an issue, still worked, but wanted something a little newer. So, we needed to switch them before our floors got installed. It took a long time, because we also moved a bunch of items from Tacoma which we are storing at my parents place. Once the newer fridge arrived and we tried to put the fridge in the spot, but can across a problem... the counter was about 1 inch to long. Luckily our friend Bruce came to the rescue! He cute the counter, separated the glue from the cut piece and the finished edge and then reattached.

Sheetrock, drywall, oh my....

With our TV being mounted above the fire place, we needed to do some work to hide the wires in the wall and do some rewiring. So, Will has spent many hours cutting parts of the wall down, running the wires through the wall, moving some outlets, the cable box, etc. Once he finish that up, it was the fun part of figuring out to put new Sheetrock up, tape, mud, texture, etc. It has been very interesting, but its coming together nicely! My dad started to guide Will on the first part of the taping and mudding. Then our friend Bruce came and helped finish the rest of it!

Our first year anniversary celebration

About two months ago Will and I were talking about how we wanted to celebrate our one year. I told him I would let him plan it, but the only thing was that I would prefer to stay overnight somewhere. For someone who does not like surprises I really should not have told him it was up to him. I had a very hard time waiting and just letting it happen. I was asking him questions trying to get some hints, but no hints he gave. I asked him if I should pack an overnight bag or not and if there was anything specific I should bring. All he would tell me is you can pack one, but you might or might not need it.

On July 5^th, I woke up and had a horrible headache, so I ended up taking a nap until about 1pm. I packed an overnight bag and waited for Will to tell me what or where we were going. Will was acting very strange, so I had no clue what to think. Around 2pm, Will had both of us drive our cars to my parent's house to pick up the top of our wedding cake. Then we drove back to our place and he said that he had to go pick up the last of my gift and he would be back shortly and that our reservations were in 45 minutes. So I finished getting ready, put makeup on, fixed my hair and waited for Will to return. I was sitting watching TV when all of sudden someone pounded on our door. When I went to answer no one was there, but there was a clue on our door mat. The clue said… "July 5, 2010. Where will you be? The adventure stars under the driver's seat of your car!"

Off to the car I went and found clue #2 which was "It all began when you answered the following question in the affirmative: Will you marry me? Since I know how much you enjoy scavenger hunts (or maybe it's I just like hiding from you), it's time to put your super sleuth skills to the test. From here I'm not far, Not west, north or south. My free weekend samples are yummy and tasty in your mouth. You're quite familiar with my red and blue sign, even though you may have to stand in line. For just 365 days ago was my favorite day when you said hi, you as a beautiful newlywed who stopped then passed by. Better hurry as there's no time to rest. Clue #3 and a gift awaits at the customer service desk with a lady whom you've met before."

So off to Costco I went. Once at the customer service desk, Sally recognized me and went to grab the red roses Will had bought and clue #3. This clue said "Congrats! I knew the 1^st clue would be nothing for a pro like you. Now's a good time to fill up the car with gas for the journey ahead. You know this is tons more fun than at home sleeping in bed. While I know it hard to say no to 'foop' (inside joke) I'm sure this hard work has your stomach in the mood. When it comes to delicious you know I'm the best. It's purple and yellow that put me ahead of the rest. A special surprise and clue #4 awaits you at our favorite pizza joint in Issaquah."

Once at Round Table Pizza, I picked up our favorite pizza (red onion and pineapple!) and cheesy twists Will had ordered and received clue #4. The clue said "Way to go Super Sleuth! Now with flowers and food in hand, it's now time for clue #4 in the search of your man. We welcomed your guests with round tables and wooden floor to behold joy, speeches, dancing and more. The buffet was of so delicious. We're definitely sure you've missed us. Twas' the first place you entered as husband and wife, the blessing of marriage with who to share the rest of my life. Clue #5 awaits you at the customer service desk of the Inn where we partied the night away.

Off to the Holiday Inn I go! As I drove over there I was remembering our wedding day and was amazed at how Will tied our engagement as well as our wedding together to help celebrate our first anniversary! I went to the front desk and introduced myself and then received a room key and clue #5. Walking to room 214 brought back even more memories and looked all too familiar. As I opened the room I saw rose pedals on the floor, saw sparkling cider chilling and our toasting glasses on the table which welcomed us on our wedding night. The only thing different was that my husband was waiting for me! It was very sweet and extremely thoughtful!!

We took a walk to Costco, to the bridge and other areas where we took pictures on our wedding day and then enjoyed a meal at Junipers (the restraint in the Holiday Inn). We then just enjoyed an evening relaxing and spending time together. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our first year of marriage!

One year update

It's so hard to believe that a year ago Will and I got married. The year has gone by so fast and it has been a very enjoyable year. We have grown a lot together in our relationship with each other and in our faith with Christ. Will and I attended an amazing weekend called Via de Cristo and have attended reunion groups weekly to further our individual relationships with Christ and also to build our relationships with other amazing Christians. Will also became a member of the church which I have attended since I was 3. This was such a wonderful day and was surrounded by many friends and family. This was also the first day Will took communion with me in our church! Will and I have been participating in many ministries our church has to offer and am excited to see what else we may be involved in over the many years to come.

Other updates…

-Will's company DTI, changed owners. It has been a long, long process with many details still needing to get ironed out. There have been many long nights for Will and lots of headaches. Luckily the change might be almost over!

-I have started singing in the praise band which will lead worship in our new contemporary worship service starting in September. I have also been asked to be a children's leader in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) in the fall. Not sure what age group I will be teaching, but nevertheless I am very excited about it. I also am excited for the fall because my position at work will be changing a little. I will be teaching 3 classes instead of teaching 2 classes and being a TA in 2 classes. I will still be the TA manager and helping with the preschool program. I am very excited about all the opportunities in the coming fall!

 

TV mounted over the fire place

There has always been a mirror above our fireplace/mantel. I never thought I would be okay with pulling it down and putting the TV up there, but since it's been up I wish we would of done this sooner. It is so wonderful to have mounted up high and it gives so much more room in the living room. Will has been working so hard at getting this accomplished. After many hours of research and talking to other owners who have done the same thing Will began to pull down the mirror only to find tongue and groove wood nailed to the wall. After pulling that down, there were lots of holes which had to be filled with beadex. Then we had to measure, find the studs and figure out the best way to hang the TV mount. After that got figured out, this weekend Will spent all of Saturday and most of Sunday cutting drywall and moving our cable box and outlets further back as well as running the wires through the wall. We now have to cover the holes up and paint. So excited and happy about how everything is coming together.

Redesigning out closets

So one night I was looking at our linen and entry closet and realized that the shelves would have to be removed so we could paint the closets the same the color as the walls. Well then that meant we had to redesign them as well! I am very pleased with our new closets. More room to store things!!

Painting

We have been busy painting, the ceiling, the walls and the closets. We painting the ceiling white and all the walls and closets a color similar to what we had on the walls, just lighter and more refreshing. It has been a lot of work painting, but it looks so nice and helps make our place a little newer. Cannot wait for it all to be done so I can hang pictures up and decorate! We have the washer/dryer closet, the pantry closet and about one more wall to paint and everything in our house is painted!!

Kitchen upgrade

I have lived in our condo since January 2005 and since I have moved in the only updating I have done is painting the bedrooms and updating the bathrooms some. Since Will and I are planning on staying in the condo another 5 years or so we decided to do some updating.

The first project we worked on is our kitchen. We painted the kitchen white, added some blue to the ceiling/light area, changed the florescent lights to something updated, got a new dishwasher, valance and knobs.

Hawaii Feburary 2010

The Graham Family took a family trip to Maui. Janet and Mark met us in Maui (this was the world travelers first trip to Hawaii). The whole vacation was amazing and such a wonderful way to spend time as a family. We all got along well and amazingly enough Brad never made me cry! My parents rented a house along the water in Lahaina and it had even had a pool.
We learned how to surf, went on a zip line tour, snorkeled, went to a Luau, shopped, relaxed and just had fun!








**more pictures from Hawaii on the sidebar**

Happy New Year!!!

Our 4th annual New Years Party was again another fun evening. We had many friends who came to help celebrate and bring in 2010! The evening was full of fun, friends, food and games!