Thanksgiving

We had a great time for Thanksgiving.  Here is a run-down of our activities.

Wednesday: Andy & Amber and family arrived at our house from Frozen Wyoming.  We chatted and the kids played then we all went to bed.

Thursday/Friday: We all woke up after sleeping in and started to make the turkey and Andy made his famous Banana Cream pie, Amber made blueberry (my favorite).  Around 11am we started making the yams, mashed potatoes, corn, relish tray, gravy etc.  Somewhere in there, we started to make my Mom's famous cornmeal crescent rolls.  The kids helped by rolling up the dough.  It was real nice to have a roaster (Thanks Mom&Dad) this year for the turkey which allowed us to bake all the other stuff and we were eating by 1:30 p.m.  Then we all had naps and watched football.  Somewhere around 8pm, we sent some kids off to bed and then somewhere around 10:30 p.m., the parental units headed over to Walmart.  We waited in lines to get specials at Midnight.  Somewhere in the 11pm range, we noticed that a certain line for the 5am sales had already started to form so we jumped in that line and waited.  We took Amber home around 12:30am and then Andy & I came back and joined Krista in the line to wait.  It was certainly interesting to stay up that late - I haven't done that in a while - about a year since last black friday happened.  Nothing really exciting until time to buy and we were out by 5:30am.  We all went to eat breakfast at McDonald's and then took Andy over to Macy's to look at a leather jacket he had been looking at in the ads.  We were all so tired, we went home and crashed.  Later on Friday, we went out to Old Navy with Amber and bought some clothes and then back home.  More naps in there somewhere.  We watched a movie at the house and then bed.

Saturday: We had a quick breakfast and then went to watch Megamind.  Home again and more naps.  The parents all went out to do some quick shopping at a photo store and Macy's but came up empty-handed. Then we hit up Costco and went on a date to Red Robin and home and bed.

Sunday: Some DeGraw's got to sleep in (jealous) and other DeGraw's went to church.  Andy, Amber and family left for Wyoming around 11am

What a great Holiday.  That's what they are all about.  Family, eating, naps, sports and shopping.

High Adventure

Back in June, Kaleb and Kurt went on a high adventure hike. It was 4 days and 3 nights of sheer torture! Kidding, it wasn't all torture but there was some pain involved. We hiked into the Collegiate Peaks area and camped next to Hartenstein lake the first night. It was very pretty. The next night we went up and over a small pass near mount Yale (a 14,000 foot high peak) which is where this picture was taken. The next two nights we spent near Kroenke Lake. Very fun. It took me two weeks to recover afterwards.

One of our favorite monuments in Washington D.C. is called "The Awakening".  It is a statue of a giant man that is coming out of the ground.  We love this statue.

Jaws

So we got tired of our old Honda Pilot. By the way, don't ever get a Pilot with leather seats, they wear out very quickly, unless you know how to get in and out them the "proper" way, which apparently neither I nor Krista knew how to do.

We are leasing this Toyota Sienna for three years and so far have really enjoyed it. We took it on a road trip and some pictures will be forthcoming in following blogs.

Crazy July for the Denver DeGraw's

We have had a crazy July.  I was sent to Washington D.C. in the first week of July for a business trip for two and a half weeks.  Krista wanted to come out with me since there was a free hotel for the whole time.  We looked at flying but instead, she just decided to drive with the kids.  So a few days after I flew into D.C., she started out driving.  They stopped in Kansas City, MO.  Then drove another day to Indianapolis, IN.  And the last day all the way to D.C.  It was both good and bad having them there.  I was working crazy hours (16 hours a day) and they were going out and playing all the time.  I have to say that I would rather have had them there than not - hotel rooms can be lonely.  After the first week or so, work relented a little and I was able to go to church with them on Sunday and also go into D.C. with them on a very hot day.  We saw monuments and sweated and sweated.  We just got back this past weekend.  They stopped to see Adam-ondi-Ahman on the way back and we had a family home evening on it last night about why that area is so important and what has taken place there already (that we know of) and what will take place there.

Kole Turns 10

Wow, where does the time go when you are having so much fun? This past week, Kole turned 10 years old. He invited a few friends for a sleep over and wanted to go to Casa Bonita. Anyone who has ever gone to Casa Bonita knows that is literally is a Casa Malita (Bad). We told him that next year we would not be coming here. Then we came home and Krista had made a wonderful ice cream cake but our freezer somehow got turned to the lowest setting so it was more of a runny cream cake. Oh well, it was sugar and everyone (kids) loved it.

Crazy Snow in April

Hi all,

We had a crazy snow storm here in Denver yesterday (23 April 2010) and here are some pictures from it.

http://cbs4denver.com/weatherslideshows/colorado.photos.april.20.1605340.html 

Night of PAIN

Ah, the night of pain that I look forward to every year. Kole and I spend about 10 hours total on the car. He draws a design or two or three on some paper. We talk about the design and then he decides on one. Then he draws the design on the wood and I cut it out while he watches. I use the orbital sander and this year he actually tried to run it but got scared when he snagged his fingers a few times. So I finished the rough stuff and he used the finer grain sand paper to finish it off. He picks the paint colors and then paints it. I take about 5 minutes to attach the wheels and that is it. We had fun this year. I don't like how the dads in our ward are so very serious about winning. I would take a very different approach if I was in charge. Each dad would never touch the car. Only the cub would touch the car while preparing for the race. And yes (heresy?) they would even attach their own wheels! On the flip side, you would provide a Dad's night out at the track so they could have an official race of their own. Maybe one night with official rules and one night with an open class. Ah, if only I were king for a day - or two.

Horsey, horsey on your way

Over the Holidays, we visited Rexburg ID and had a great time with family and friends. One of our favorite things to do is to visit Chad and Marlene and ride their horses. It was a very cold day but everyone seemed to be having fun. Afterwards, they brushed the horses down and gave them some hay. Marlene is a real champ. This year we almost came away with a little dog. Everyone in the family wants a dog but mean old dad. So of course we did NOT get one.

Kailey got her Drivers Permit

Kailey finally got her drivers permit. Not a full up license yet but just a permit. The kind you have to have mom or dad in the car to teach you how to drive. She has a big grin, now comes the fun part.

Favorite Niece Wedding

We recently travelled up to Burley Idaho to see one of Krista's favorite Nieces get married. We were able to see the Twin Falls Temple. It was very pretty and very much like the new Oquirrh Mountain Utah temple.