three boys + two girls

graham, the performer!

2015-09-05T12:05:00.002-06:00

Graham is at such a fun stage right now!! (Ok, I think all baby stages are fun!) but this is his latest trick with Daddy :) He loves when we cheer for him & when he sucks on his little bottom lip, it's just about the cutest thing ever.

service from grandpa

2015-09-05T12:03:00.004-06:00

Grandpa Jim came over to do a really nice service for us-staining our very worn/weathered wood fence! Of course Max wanted to help out, so he got changed in his "work clothes" and was Grandpa's cute little buddy. Graham's not quite to the helping stage yet, so he was constrained in his car seat :)

I didn't take an after shot, but it looks SO much better!! Thank you Dad! Maybe one day we'll finish the rest of the fence :)

nc: last day!

2015-07-24T21:15:00.002-06:00

Our last day in NC was spent with Tom & Greta being our tour guides! We visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville and though the tickets were a little pricey, it was a once-in-a-lifetime visit! Everything was beautiful (very Downton-esque!) and both the babies were great.

Somehow (we still have no idea how this happened!) we missed our flight home. Tom dropped us off, we went to check-in, and the receptionist told us that we had missed our flight by over an hour! So that was a slight nightmare!! They were able to book a super early flight the next morning, but it didn't put us back in Utah until around noon, so Danny missed a day of work. Oops! All in all, it worked out & Graham was an absolute champ! He is such a dream baby.

Thanks Tom & Greta for being such exceptional hosts & letting us visit!! We love you guys.

nc: day three

2015-07-24T21:07:00.001-06:00

Since we had such limited time at the beach, we set our alarms bright + early to watch the sun rise. It was amazing!! It had been far too long since I had been on a beach + it did not disappoint! The weather was perfect, there were only a few other people walking along the shore, and I was with two of my favorite people in the entire world.

After our initial walk on the beach, we headed back to the hotel to pack up + get a few more minutes of shut-eye before our drive back to Huntersville. After we checked out, we strolled along the beach once more + dipped our toes in the water. Graham loved it!

We hopped in the car + decided to stop in New Bern one last time to see the city in daylight. It was such a quaint little town, but we were definitely not the only tourists. New Bern is the birthplace of Pepsi, so we had to try that, and also got a yummy (and melty) ice cream cone to tide us over until dinner.

That night we stopped at Lexington BBQ, which we heard raving reviews about, and it was good--but not great. There were plenty of people there though! And then we made the trek back to Tom & Greta's. Such a great day!!

nc: day two

2015-06-30T19:43:00.003-06:00

It's no secret that I love family history work & it's also no coincidence that I happened to get in contact with some of my Lebanese "cousins" who live in New Bern, North Carolina just weeks before our trip!! The drive was about five hours from Tom + Greta's, but I figured this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I'm so glad we decided to go!

As usual, Graham was an angel (I'm sure he was loving all the one-on-one attention he was getting!) and the drive was great. We stopped a couple times; once for lunch & once to walk around the campus of UNC.

Cindy, my Lebanese cousin, had planned a big get-together with a bunch of her family, and Aggie (who is in her ninety's!!) hosted the party at her house complete with delicious Lebanese food! It was amazing. They were all so kind + hospitable to us and were incredibly curious about my side of the family. There are still a lot of unanswered questions (like why her grandma never talked about her brother, who is my ancestor) but it really was such a wonderful night. They all LOVED Graham + I just couldn't stop thinking about what a miracle it was! I know the Lord's hand was in it.

After our visit, we drove the extra 45 minutes to the beach (we were too close to not go!) and found a hotel to stay in last minute.

nc: day one

2015-06-27T23:55:00.001-06:00

After catching up on some much needed sleep, we got ready for the day + took the babies out on a walk. I love NC + the neighborhood walk did not disappoint! Such a beautiful day. Plus these cute little boys were so adorable together! Crazy to think that Milo, my cousin!, is just a few months older than Graham. Families are awesome!

That afternoon, after lunch from Cook Out, Danny + Tom snuck a golf game in while Greta + I hung out with all the cute kiddos. It was so great to be back! So many wonderful memories.

And that night, we went out for a night on the town, to Mert's. Good, old-fashioned, southern comfort soul food. We loved the corn bread + the bread pudding (so yummy!) but everything else was just ok. Always fun to try new things though! And the atmosphere was awesome. Everyone was oohing and ahhing over Graham-he was the center of attention!

north carolina!!

2015-06-27T23:24:00.002-06:00

Danny surprised me with tickets to North Carolina for my birthday. I've wanted to go back since I nannied there + it was a dream come true to take Danny and Graham with me!

We took the red-eye flight and Graham was a champ. I nursed him once on the flight, but the rest of the time, he slept like a baby. My uncle Tom picked us up bright and early, and then once we got to their house, we crashed in what felt like the most comfortable bed on the planet (sleeping on planes is so hard!!)

s + g

2015-06-27T23:16:00.006-06:00

Stockton + Graham are the cutest little buddies. I hope they're always great friends!

visiting the memmott's

2015-06-27T23:16:00.002-06:00

Grandma Nell has always had a way with our kids. They especially love when she reads to them. When they had us down for Sunday dinner, we had to fit in some reading time. Graham got story time all to himself!

caught red handed!

2015-06-27T23:10:00.000-06:00

Sweet little Max has always been our bookworm (he takes after his mommy!) + we couldn't help but smile when this is what we saw when we went to check on him after we had tucked him in :)

park date

2015-06-27T23:09:00.001-06:00

We live just minutes away from an amazing park, so one day, we took advantage of that and had a wonderful time! (Pictures taken 10.9.14)

seven months

2015-06-27T23:00:00.001-06:00

Ohh, sweet baby Graham. We love you more than words can say!! You have really been such a wonderful baby & we can't imagine life without you. Thanks for bringing so many smiles to our faces & for the spirit and light that you bring into our lives.

first night

2015-06-27T22:59:00.001-06:00

We were finallyyy able to sleep at our own house on October 4, 2014! It was a great, great day! The pictures say it all. I sure love this family of mine!

birthday trip to the zoo

2015-06-27T22:50:00.003-06:00

Max's preschool field trip for the month of September was to go to the zoo! And it just so happened that it fell on his actual birthday. He was in heaven! Besides Max getting his fingers smashed in the door (and throwing a giant tantrum!) it was a wonderful day. We love Grandma C's awesome preschool!

#genconflove

2015-06-27T22:48:00.001-06:00

It's no secret that I LOVE general conference + I'm pretty sure that my kids are right there behind me. For the last two years I've put together little treat bags for each of the apostles + whenever that apostle speaks, the kids get to open that bag. It works great + allows us more time to really try hard to listen to the amazing talks + feel the spirit that is so abundant during conference. Such a wonderful time of year!!

the in-between

2015-06-27T22:25:00.003-06:00

Life sure was crazy for a few weeks (when is it not?!) while we were trying to get stuff done on the house/moved in, but my parents were very patient with us while we got everything in order. The kids had a wonderful time + Graham just kept on growing up!! Thanks Mom + Dad for letting us take over for a while! You're awesome.

provo house prep

2015-06-27T22:11:00.000-06:00

Once all the loose ends were tied up with our Nephi home, it was time to shift all attention to our Provo home. There are a lot of hopes + dreams we have for this house (we plan on being here a looong time) but we started with retexturing + painting the front room. This left dust everyyywhere + was a slower process than we had originally hoped. But, like most things, it finally came to an end + the result was a much cleaner, fresher, and brighter home! We also got Google Fiber figured out (one more perk to living in Provo!) + got cheered on by one of the smiliest babies on the planet!

our new house!!!

2015-06-27T15:17:00.005-06:00

I can't remember if I've posted about finding our home or not, but here is a condensed version. We walked through it on our first day out with our realtor & I hated it. Sure, it was in a culdesac in an awesome part of town, but I couldn't get past a lot of things. The seventies style, everywhere. The split-level (I vowed never to buy one!) The bedroom arrangements. The yellowish-orange brick.

But then, a few days later, I woke up thinking about the house. And how we had to buy it. It was an amazing deal, had lots of room for improvement, and was in a really, really great spot. I'm really not sure what got over me (I think my great-grandparents who used to live in the ward had something to do with it ;) and I wanted to go see it again, that day. Luckily, our realtor had no conflicts & as soon as I walked through it again, I knew it was where we needed to be.

Crazy? Yes.

But are we absolutely happy with our decision? Yes!

These pictures were taken on the walk-throughs with our realtor, and during the inspection. Can't wait to look back on these in a few years & see how far we've come!

cleaning day

2015-06-27T15:08:00.001-06:00

A few days after closing, my parents came down with me and the kids to do a final walk through & cleaning. Once again, it was bittersweet but it sure felt nice to leave a sparkling clean house. I hope the new owners love it as much as we did!!

moving day

2015-06-27T14:38:00.000-06:00

Moving is not for the faint of heart! There are so many boxes to be packed. So much junk to throw away! So many things to clean. The list goes on & on!!

I had been finishing up everything in Nephi while Danny worked in Provo & then I flew up to Provo to sign the closing papers. Danny had rented the U-Haul, so as soon as everything was finalized (woohoooo!), we turned right back around and made the trek to Nephi, as residents, one last time. A bunch of YM and other neighbors were there at our house, waiting to help out, and then the truck was packed. We saved the deep cleaning for another (slightly less crazy) day, and then at around 7:30 on September 16, 2014, we pulled out of our driveway with all of our belongings. We got to our new house in Provo & a crew from our new ward was waiting to help us load everything in.

What a whirlwind of a day it was!

the last night.

2015-06-27T14:26:00.003-06:00

Our last night sleeping in Nephi was bittersweet.

I loved it there. I hated it there. I had SUCH mixed emotions about that little town. Overall, it was an incredible experience. One that I would never change. The people in our ward were some of the greatest people I have ever met. They were so incredibly service-oriented, and work harder than I ever have. They were so kind to us & welcomed us into the ward.

We had multiple callings while living in Nephi. Danny started out as one of the Gospel Doctrine teachers & finished up in the Elders Quorum Presidency. I started out as the 11-12 year old girls Primary teacher, then worked in the YW's as a Beehive teacher, and ended up teaching the Family History class!

I helped to start back up the summer reading program at the city library, and I tried starting a Mother's Club (but didn't work out quite as I envisioned). We walked/rode bikes up & down just about every street there is in Nephi & made some wonderful friends.

The seminary program was awesome & the kids were just as great! Danny couldn't have asked for a better place to begin teaching as a full-time seminary teacher. Our area director, Dave Walton, is honestly one of our favorite people in the world & was so incredibly sincere and genuine when helping us with all of our life questions.

Max and Avery were able to take dance/guys on the go from an outstanding teacher (there is no one quite like her & I'm still sad that Avery doesn't go to her anymore!) And they grew up around the corner from their Nephi "grandparents," the Memmotts, who are some of our dearest friends. We spent many Sunday evenings at their home, reading stories, playing with Legos, eating an assortment of yummy treats. It was wonderful!

We learned so much by fixing up our little 1920's bungalow (that home will always have a special place in my heart!) and again, were touched by the selflessness of so many around us to help with whatever project we were working on.

As I tucked the kids in bed that night, on September 15, 2014, I thought about all the good times. All the hard times. And how grateful I am for a loving Savior who knows us better than we know ourselves. He knew we needed that experience, and looking back, I know it too!

What a beautiful life it is.

max turns FIVE!!!

2015-03-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

Max is my planner. He is super project-driven & loves to think about every little detail (he is my clone & it is adorable and scary all at the same time!!) Anyways, birthday parties are his thing & he helped me plan and execute his TMNT party amazingly well.

We started out with invites and he would not go to sleep until they were allll complete. Ave got tuckered out in the process, so he hand-delivered hers :) How adorable is that?!

We stuck to his Primary class friends & it ended up being a huge success. The kids had a blast, Danny was an excellent ninja trainer, and Max was one HAPPY birthday boy. Still can't believe that I have a FIVE year old; time sure flies!!!

Happy birthday Maxwell! We are so happy that you're in our family & we certainly can't imagine life without you! XO

the darndest things // part six

2015-03-06T22:05:00.001-07:00

I just found this draft that never got published so some of these pictures are pre-Graham (can hardly remember life before Graham!) but better late than never! :)

Max

When talking about the garden we're going to plant in our new house, he said, "We can't forget to plant humpty-dews!"

After killing two flies with the fly swatter, he looked up at me and said, "Why am i so good at this??"

Me: "Max, you're turning into a little Picasso!"

Max: "What? I need to go to Costco?"

Avery

"My hair is so cute and watery!"

The kids got into my yarn & strung it up alllll over the place. Once they were finished, Avery excitedly said, "Our house is so yarney!"

I got some soap at Bath & Body around Christmas time that was a light green color & one day it was missing from the bathroom. Avery turned to me and asked, "Where is the guacamole soap?"

Avery still calls the piano the "Pipanio"

Me: "Avery, please throw away your go-gurt wrapper." (Those wrappers are going to be the death of me!!)

Ave: "I can't. I'm Queen Coralee and I can't walk."

Max was smiling so I asked him what she was talking about and apparently there is a Jake episode about Queen Coralee the mermaid who can't walk on land. Ha!

That girl...

Graham Collins:

The three kiddos:

the little things

2015-03-06T21:58:00.004-07:00

Some days, motherhood is so incredibly hard for me. Other days, it is so incredibly wonderful that I wonder what I was thinking when I was complaining about it being so incredibly hard. But regardless of the day, THIS is exactly what I want to be doing with my life. And when I catch the kids being sweet to each other, that's just the icing on the cake!

grandma c's awesome preschool!!

2015-03-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Once we were under contract on our Nephi home, things were starting to get serious that we were actually going to move to Provo. I knew that I wanted to put Max into a "real" preschool since the co-op with a few other moms that I tried just wasn't quite what Max needed.

Not knowing where to start, I posed the question on Facebook, asking for recommendations for great preschools in Provo. I got so many responses & started looking into each of them. Two of my friends mentioned the same lady, Cindy Madsen, so I got in touch with her & after speaking with her, I knew that I needed to get Max in her preschool. She miraculously had one opening left & the next week she was holding an open house to come and meet her, check out the preschool, and see if it was the right fit.

To make a long story short, it was the PERFECT fit. I knew the second I walked into her home. Cindy is one of the nicest ladies I have ever met & she genuinely cares about every single person that walks into her home. She teaches the preschool class at the Museum of Art once a week so her preschool is very art/play-based which is exactly what Max needed. She runs her preschool out of her basement (which is adorable!!) and it honestly is one of the best things that has ever happened to Max. Have I mentioned how awesome she is?!

For the first few weeks, we were making the drive from Nephi to Provo, which wasn't too crazy because our lives were already insane!! But once we moved to Provo, the commute was so much better! These pictures are from Max's very first day of preschool & he had a blast!!

Facebook can be a source for good & in this case, it was an answer to some very sincere prayers.

We LOVE Grandma C's Awesome Preschool!!