Reunions and Weddings and Visits. Oh My!

Okay, I've been working on this post for about 2 weeks now....time to buckle down and get this gig posted. We've had good reason for our delay. Every member of the Graf family is currently sick with the exception of Billy. It's been a whirlwind of breathing treatments, Tylenol, Benadryl, and nasal aspirators. I'm telling you, you've never seen so much snot... not to mention the fussiness! I think we're going to be forced back to being germ-a-phobic, paranoid parents like we were a couple of months ago. Most importantly, making everyone hand sanitize before touching the kids. I just can't deal with a continuous stream of illness, because when one gets sick, they ALL get sick.

Laine has the routine down pat. He even holds his own mask.

As the title suggests, we've been very busy with lots of events. I'd say we all had fun all the time, but that would be lying. As it turns out, some things just aren't as entertaining if you have to be responsible for 4 babies at the same time.

My sister and brother-in-law, Emmy and Andy, were able to take a quick hop from Germany to Topeka on July 25th. Our cousin, Deena, picked them up and met up with our entourage in Emporia. It was a crowded van, but we had a good time talking the whole way home to Wichita. Em and Andy were able to stay until Sunday, then headed back to Heinsburg. Talk about jet lag! Hope you two survived that Monday at work!

Me, Mollie, Rachel, Mom and Andy piled into the FRONT of the van

Mom, Mollie, Rachel and Emmy after our lunch in Emporia

Maddie Jo, Em and Mia squished in the BACK of the van

Emily and Andy getting ready to head back to Topeka for their flight back to Germany

On Saturday, July 26th, we loaded everyone up and went to the Haag family reunion at Cousin MacAnarney's lake. We stayed out of the water, but got to see alot of out-of-towners (as well as some of our "regular" lifesavers i.e. Aunt Cathy and Aunt Ginny and their families). That evening we headed to Billy's cousin's wedding. Congrats Jennea and Jim! Hope the honeymoon in Mexico is rockin'!

Laine, Danna and Pius catching a few zzz's in the boat house at the lake. Surprise, surprise....Forrest refused to have anything to do with a nap.

Danna and her Aunt Lainie at Jim and Jennea's wedding

Cousin Megan (Billy's goddaughter) and Forrest at the wedding

Pius with his Great Aunt Gloria at the wedding

Laine and Billy (multi-tasking) at the wedding. Gotta get some money for the dollar dance!

We've also spent a lot of time over at Grammy and Grampy Graf's house, playing in the pool and spending the night. Just one big, happy family! I think everyone is ready to go home (and for us to leave) after a few days, but we sure have a good time. Thanks Mike, Vicki and Lainie for putting up with us and helping us SO much!

Do not try cleaning your computer screen. Yes, that's a fly on Pius's brow. Bugs love him.

A happy, bug-free Pius at the poolside

Frosty gettin' friendly with Big Bird and Cookie Monster. Thanks Cousin Jack for loaning us all your toys!

Laineman, Banana girl and Daddy at the poolside

Grampa Stubby playing with the rugrats

Grampy can get their attention!

Billy came up with a GREAT idea (please note that this is dripping with sarcasm) to have a family grocery shopping day. We braved the store in our Choo-Choo wagon, got lots of surprised looks, some nice comments and were in the store probably as long as it took to load them up. We could tell it was time to go shortly after arriving, but it was a fun venture. The babies were exhausted after being out in the 105+ degree heat and fell asleep on the ride home. I forgot to get "in-store" pics, but then again, the opportunity didn't quite present itself. Ergo, a post-shopping trip photo.

The squad with one of our VERY BEST regular helpers, Melody. She has been my friend since nursing school and saves our lives every week!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The princess has spoken, "Peace out, my people!"

Next on the agenda.....all about the boobs! Stay tuned.

Love,

Moni et al

P.S. In all of the excitement and events, I lost my phone. So, sorry if anyone has tried to get ahold of me (Jaclyn). I had to dig out my old school phone, so now I'm rockin it like Zack Morris on "Saved by the Bell". Okay, so maybe it's not quite the size of a brick, but it's pretty frickin' big!

P.S.S. Huge happy birthday wishes to GG Bucko! I won't divulge her age, but I will say that she's not in her 60's anymore. We had a fun surprise party for her (another event I forgot to mention before) and now she's out of the country galavanting around Europe. Thankfully, she'll be home soon to resume her title as helper "1B" (don't worry, Lainie - you're still helper "1A", but don't get too comfortable).