Guess what Brie found...

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...her BELLY BUTTON. And I think it's too cute! It's not so cute when she starts lifting up other people's shirts to find THEIR belly button, but you know...other than that :0)

Beautiful Day for a Birthday.

Although this was the only time we stepped outside on Brie's birthday...what a beautiful snowy day it was. Perfect for a mini birthday photo shoot. (To see a few more from the shoot, click here.) That little sweetie, I sure love her to pieces! So knowing me I took a TON of pictures on Brie's big day. So I'm currently sorting through them, trying to decide which ones I'll want to have in our family history. Anyway, more birthday pictures to come.

the Gradens, gingerbread style.

The other night (8 Dec.) we had over the Duartes (a cute family from El Salvador that Bryan home teaches) to take part in the fun Christmas tradition of decorating sugar cookies. I think it was their second time ever making/decorating cookies and they loved it! It was fun for us to watch them have such a good time.

They even decided to make us into a little "gingerbread" cookie family :0). Here we are...

Me, Brie and Bryan.

Apparently I was quite the fragile and breakable cookie :0)

I just love these two :0)

The other day I looked over from the kitchen to see this sweet sight...

...Bry reading with Brie in the play corner. Those two, I sure love them. And what a wonderful father Bry is!

As a side note, Brie has been getting more and more daring with taking steps. The last week or so I've caught her several times taking five or six steps in a row...then dropping to all fours to quickly get to where she's going. It's too cute. She also is getting more verbal. Her sounds are sounding more like words. She frequently says, "hi" and sometimes accompanies it with a wave. Several times it sounds like she has said, "all done"...Em and Rach said that while saying "I love you" to her she echoed it back :0) And tonight after praying (before putting her in bed) she said, "amen." So cute! Oh, and in addition to her words she started signing "thank you" this week. Wow, it's so fun to see her learn and become better able to communicate!

Blurb : Great motivation to keep me blogging

Have you heard of www.blurb.com? It's an AWESOME website for making books. Thanks to them I just published my first book, ever.

200 full color pages = $25, family history = priceless :0)

Maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I was SO excited when it arrived. You know when your breath catches in the back of your throat? Yep, one of those moments. Anyhoo, here it is, in all it's plastic-wrapped glory...

The Bryan and Sarah Graden Family
Volume 1

Front Cover.

Back Cover.

Pretty cool, eh? Bry and I have decided that each year, as a Christmas present to our family, we're going to print out a book of our blog from that year. It'll be a way to add to our family history, one volume at a time. It's definitely given me motivation to keep up with my blogging.

(I was telling Bry that there is something about blogging that brings out my cheesiness. Gotta love it :0))

Problem solved, sunglasses style.

Before the weather turned BITTER cold and snowy I was often going on morning walks with Brie. However, in order to miss the cold I needed to go a bit later in the morning when the sun had come over the mountains....yet when the sun was out it was shining in Brie's eyes. Not a happy situation.

The other day it dawned on me that I could try the sunglasses that Aunt Rachie had given Brie during the summer. They hadn't previously worked, because Brie would pull them off of her face, BUT maybe if her hands were socked for the cold weather she'd be unable to remove them.

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And sure enough, they worked, like a charm.


AND plus, I felt like I was pushing around movie star :0)

Yay for simple solutions.

Little Miss Brie is One.

Crazy that it's already been a year since Brie's birthday. It actually seems like forever since I was in the American Fork Hospital laboring to bring our sweet Brie into our family. I can't help but think of and thank my "crew" (Bry, my Mom, Aunt Elaine, Em, Rach and the nurses and doctor of course) who helped me in the very intense and tiring process. I couldn't have done it without their help.

It was an amazing moment when our nurse Kimmy placed Brie on my chest and I was able to hold her for the first time and to meet this dear daughter whose birth I had so excitedly awaited.

That first week at home was a rough one. I never knew postpartum recovery could be so challenging and painful, but we made it through.

And here we are a year later, having so many wonderful memories to look back on from this first year with Brie. Many times, while speaking of the joy of having each of their children, Grandpa and Grandma Stevenson have asked, "Can you remember your life without her?" NO. It seems like she's always been with us, and I wouldn't have it any other way :0) Brie has brought so much joy and life and laughter into our home. I sure love that girl...her cute crinkled up nose when she smiles, her nasaly laugh, the way she shoves handfuls of food into her mouth, how she cruises around the room hanging onto furniture, grabs for her blankie when getting out of her crib, when she beelines it to the bathroom when she hears it's bath time, how she is playful and giggly, adores her dada, is constantly exploring and discovering, her "uh-oh's" and "WOOOW's", how giddy she gets when she hears the words, "miss bunny" and "blankie", when she sings along to music, how much she loves to "talk" and make new noises, and among many other things, when she pats the nearest thing in sight when we ask her to say "please" :0)

Oh our sweet, strong, curious, dramatic Brie...
thank you for coming to our family. We sure love you!

Happy 1st Birthday!! :0)

A Day of Thanksgiving.

Most of my family were out of town (On a brigada in El Salvador) over Thanksgiving so Bry and I decided to host Thanksgiving at my Parents' home. After all, it will probably be the first and last time we host such an event for several years!

Bryan and I had a great time working together to set the table and make our part of the meal. I sure love how well we work together.

1 + 1 = 5 ... Synergy, isn't it great?

Side Note: I am still trying to figure out the line between overdoing things and making things nice. For me occasions feel more special when they are set apart from normal days...whether it's with nicer dishes, a few decorations, special traditions etc. But you can definitely go overboard. Hmm....anyway....

All the food was fragrant and delicious, but my favorite part of Thanksgiving was spending the whole day with family. Eating, sharing thoughts on gratitude, hearing Dad (Graden) talk about "Three Cups of Tea", taking a family stroll, hearing Jon beautifully play the viola, playing games and just catching up. What a wonderful day with SO much to be grateful for!

Duet [djuːˈɛt]

A few weeks ago (8 Nov.) Bry and I sang a duet in sacrament meeting. It was a beautiful song, "Nearer, Still Nearer", and was neat to sing in public with Bry. There was something sweet about being able to hold his hand behind the pulpit while we sang and noticing that I wasn't the only one nervous and shaking :0) In any case, I hope it's the first of many duets with my sweetie.

A picture of us later that day.
(Note the awesome strawberry apron that Julie
made for Bry years ago. Love it! :0))

Savior of the World.

In a recent post I mentioned being grateful that Heavenly Father places certain people in our lives. Well, Grandpa & Grandma Stevenson are two of those people. I blessed out when I married Bryan and inherited G & G Stevenson and G & G Graden :0)

For Christmas this year G & G Stevenson invited us all to attend Savior of the World on Temple Square. So on 20 November we gathered with family to watch the beautiful and touching theatrical rendition of Christ's birth and resurrection. What a treat. I had never seen it before and it was really meaningful the way each scene brought new understanding and context to the well-known yet often vague nativity story. I was especially touched how the humble shepherds were called to witness and testify of Christ's birth.

Me and Bry outside the Conference Center

Afterward we headed to G & G's for sundaes. As always the spread was beautiful; Grandma sure knows how to throw a party! :0)


She and Grandpa had set up several different tables so that everyone could have a place to sit. At one point there was a whole group of us gathered in the dining room...all the chairs were filled and at least five people were standing and eating. It was just fun to see how the family was so excited to be together and didn't mind standing room only.

Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for being such a wonderful patriarch and matriarch of our family. We have much to learn from your example.

Family Photos.

When my cousins came over for our cook off, I snagged Denise and asked if she could take a few family pictures for us. (She also has a Nikon and enjoys photography.) She kindly said yes. Thanks Denise :0) Anyway, here are a few of my favorites. Yay for finally having some family photos...Christmas cards here we come :0)

Did we fill up?

A few weeks ago I was preparing to teach a sunday school lesson, part of which was on obedience to the promptings of the spirit. The thought came to me that sometimes when the Lord asks us to do certain things--such as praying, reading our scriptures, going to church, attending the temple, etc.--we see it as the end goal. So when He asks us to do more we get overwhelmed and think, "Look that ALL that I'm trying to do! How can I possibly do more?" When really those things He asks us to do are MEANS to an end, not the end in itself. Those things are to fuel us spiritually so that we CAN go and do and be on His errand. But if we do those things just to do them, we move on feeling little changed and still lacking. Funny that we do that, eh?

It'd be like going to a gas station to fill up our car, paying, sitting there for 5 minutes then driving off without ever filling up the tank. Sometimes I feel like my prayers are like that. I kneel down for a few minutes, my mind wanders, I doze a bit and then end. Time has elapsed but have I been filled? Or with the hurried scripture study...I read a few verses, close the scriptures and scurry off to "start" my day. But have I taken time to align my spirit with God's? Or have I gotten my spiritual fill to take on the challenges of the day in a Christ-like way?

But ya know, we all do our best, eh? And there are seasons of our life where we are pulling up to the gas station without filling up. But at least we're pulling up...and staying in the habit of going, so that when we're ready again to be filled we will be. Thank heavens for a Heavenly Father who understands and quietly and lovingly encourages us to press forward on the path, and to do our best each day...whatever our "best" may be.

Thirty years have already come and gone.

(My mom asked me to take a few pictures of them on their anniversary. To see more, click here.)

My parents' celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary yesterday (6 Dec 1979- 6 Dec 2009). Three decades...wow! That's quite the accomplishment, especially in this day and age. Over the years of observing my parents' marriage, I have learned that marriage takes work each and every day. Some days are rough, others are joyful and many may be filled with the mundane routines of daily life. But the more we love our spouse, the more we're able to humbly change, the more we're able to laugh...the happier we'll both be.

Happy Anniversary Pops & Biscus!

Robertson Family Italian Cook off.

Denise, my cousin Jeremy's wife, and I have been keeping in touch through our family blogs. They were finally in town so Thanksgiving week (24 November) we had them and their siblings (Cody, Holly and Doug) over. It was so fun to finally get together in person AND to have an Italian food cook off. FUN times and YUMMY food!

The guys working to get the pasta filling prepared.
Homemade stuffed pasta....A LOT of work went into them,
but it was so worth it. YUM!
Holly and Denise helping make the bruschetta.

Our first time making biscotti...
double chocolate pistachio biscotti at that.

Thanks you guys! We had SO fun catching up and making great food. We need to make this an annual tradition :0)

Un Goût de Paris---revisited.

My last two semesters at BYU, I had the opportunity to teach French 101. The first semester was such a learning curve and it felt like every day started off with nervous butterflies. But my second semester teaching, although still a lot of work, was such a joy for me! There was such a feeling a friendship and camaraderie in our class and at the end of the semester I was so sad to say goodbye to my students but also to my friends. Thankfully I've been able to keep in touch with several of my students. Last month (November 14) in honor of an awesome French café, we put on while stuyding the chapters on food and drink, we had a little reunion.

Here we are at the original French Café...almost everyone from the class. A few weren't able to make it.

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I put magnetic boards and French poetry on the table for decor/entertainment. Caitlin's husband had some fun...no need to know French to play with French poetry :0)

Here's everyone that was able to make it.

The guys trying to ditch out on the group photo :0)

Such great girls!


Caitlin, Emily, Anamae, Jessica, Rachel and Sherry.

Catching up and eating yummy food.

A beautiful camembert dish that Anamae made. Délicieux!

I used our French café menus to decorate.


How grateful I am that God is in charge...
and that He places each of us in certain situations with certain people for certain reasons.

Ghoti.

I remember one day in seventh grade when one of my teachers went up to the board, wrote GHOTI and asked us how to pronounce it. Goatee? I don't know. No, she said, it is pronounced FISH. She was pointing out how odd English phonetics can be. (Amen to that!) For those who have never seen the ghoti example, I'll break it down...

GH = F = as in rouGH
O = I = as in wOmen
TI = SH = as in naTIon

Weird, eh? Anyway, that's really beside the point. I really just wanted you to check out Brie's Fishy Face...

...I think she's decided to go pro ;0)

Is it ridiculous...

...that I have tell myself to sit down and read through the instruction manual for my new camera?! Don't get me wrong...I am OVERJOYED to have it, but realizing how much I need to learn overwhelms me... A LOT! I think I've got something down, point, shoot and the picture doesn't turn out the way I had wanted. Such is life. There is always a learning curve, eh?

In spite of all that I just said, I'm having fun playing around with my camera :0) So, here's a sneak peek of what's been going on in the Graden household the last little while:

(My dad also bought a new camera, same model as mine and all.

We've had fun figuring out the cameras together.)

Brie really doesn't like having her diaper changed, SO...every time I bring her to the changing table I tell her that the Ribbity family is saying, "hello Brie, ribbit, ribbit" :0) As silly as it sounds it seems to help.

My mom was so sweet and got us a free sitting and 8x10 portrait from Fotogenix. As much as I wasn't so pleased with their exorbitant prices and stringent policies (It's against copyright laws to scan their pictures to upload to blogs, Facebook and such. Bummer. So this is as good as it gets.) I am so happy to finally have a NICE official family portrait. YAY! Thanks Mom!!! :0)

My handsome husband.

Just couldn't help but take a picture :0)

Brie with her blankie. She LOVES her blankie and has started hanging onto it when I get her out of her crib. I have to admit though, it's so cute how excited she gets when she sees it :0) And this weekend I was feeling yucky and it kept her entertained for almost two days straight. Yay for the blankie!

Brie waving...

...and waving some more. Too cute.

P.S. Does anyone else leave their kids in thier jammies all day? I just can't bring myself to picking out a onesie then a shirt then a warm sweater and pants and socks...when cute, sweet, simple, snuggly footed jammies will do :0)