Visit from Aunt Mimi and Cousin Jamie!

JR got a visit this past weekend from his Aunt Mimi and cousin Jamie. It was a busy weekend. He joined them for a tour of the Capitol (which he slept through), went to a couple Mommy-and-me classes (one of which Jamie joined him for), was baby-sat Saturday night (while Mom and Dad enjoyed a "date night"), and finally, made a trip to Mount Vernon (where he saw.... wait for it... a CAMEL!!!!!)

You've all heard of the Christmas Camel, right? Maybe something to do with those three kings? Actually, this one was at Mount Vernon for the X-Mas season because in 1787 George Washington brought a camel to his estate "for the enjoyment of his guests". He paid 18 shillings for it. Apparently that sort of thing was all the rage at that time. Who knew?

JR and "Alladin"

Aunt Judy's

While we were in Michigan, we traveled up to Aunt Judy's place at Higgins Lake to see more family. Here's a picture of JR with his Great-Grandma Graham.

We tried to get the boys to sit still for pictures in their outfits that Aunt Judy got them. Good luck! Here's Preston being very patient while his little cousin pulls his ear.

Who, me? Pick on my cousin? Never...

Turkeys!

JR met his cousin Preston when we spent Thanksgiving at Grandma Graham's house. Check out these turkeys! How do you like those bibs that Aunt Sue got the boys! And mom's apron. What a group. And the pumpkin turkey is a nice finishing touch, don't you think?

Halloween

I'm playing catch up here..

In case you didn't know, JR was a Hershey's kiss for Halloween. Picture below. He wasn't thrilled with the look, but as you can see, his mom really enjoyed it. Dad was also happy that we re-used the costume he was in for Grandma Parker's birthday surprise!


Next, there's another Halloween picture with JR wearing the cute pumpkin hat that Jill got him. He got a lot of compliments on that hat!

At the Pumpkin Patch

We went out pumpkin shopping, and took our little pumpkin along. Here are some pictures of JR amongst his kin (hmm.. do I mean pumpkins or parents...?)

Looking for the Great Pumpkin

With Dad

Very interested in the corn stalks, not so much in the picture-taking.

Saturday in DC

The weather was beautiful this weekend, so we took the metro into DC on Saturday and spent the afternoon seeing the memorials and monuments near the Mall. JR, as always, was a trooper. He seems to really enjoy being out and seeing new people and things. Here are some pictures.

At the Jefferson Memorial (believe it or not)

JR and his dad at the WW II memorial.

Trip to West Point

The family travelled up to West Point last weekend for Tom's 10-year. JR did well with the travelling and with all the activities. He even tolerated the Army game well (toleration being a key personality trait for any Army fan.) Anyway, here are some pics!

Just after the parade and before lunch in the Mess Hall.

A happy Army fan (he must have missed the fourth quarter).

At the game. Go Army!

At Trophy Point as the sun was going down.

Jumperoo

This is a hoot. A hoot and a half, exactly.

From Sep 6th, by the way. The little chunky-monkey has probably gained two pounds since then..

JR learns a new trick

Good fun, entertaining Mom and Dad!



So, is it wrong to say "good boy" when your kid performs his new trick? Well, I didn't give him any milkbones, at least.

Fini Flight as a Fiend

This one's a little out of order, but here are two pics from my last flight (for now?) as an F-16 pilot. It was a cloudy day in Korea (standard), and maintenance didn't deliver my wingman's jet, but I still had fun and got five "kills", thanks to a very accomodating red air. HARRUMPH!!!!

A new favorite cousin?

Here's JR with Tom's cousin, Jamie. I think Tom may be old news now..

JR meets his Great-Grandma

JR took a trip up north in Michigan and met his Great-Grandma and many other family members this week. Here's a picture.

A favorite picture

Not much of a story here, I just really like this picture.

JR and Mom at Grandma and Granddad Parker's

JR and Jill have been spending a few weeks in Tulsa while Tom finishes up things in Korea. Being apart isn't fun, but Skype and emailed pictures make it better. Here are some pictures of JR from his time in Tulsa. The kid's putting on the pounds. He's double his birth weight in less than three months!

The kid at seven weeks

Seven weeks old and pretty much the sweetest most adorable baby in the world. (At least when this picture was taken.)

JR and his cousin Mason

Here's Mason meeting his cousin JR. I wonder what he's thinking.. "When will this guy be big enough to play with me?" Or, more likely, "Why is he wrapped up like a burrito?" Well, Mason, the next picture will tell you why..

JR with Grandpa Graham

Tom's dad was nice enough to agree to watch Millie and Murphy for about six weeks while we finish up in Korea. As a result, JR got a quick visit with his Grandpa Graham when we dropped off the dogs last week. I think there's a bit of a resemblance!

Trip to the DMZ

JR's Grandma Graham is visiting and, yes, we've been taking some pictures of JR -- they'll be up on the blog soon. But here's an interesting picture of a different sort: Mom standing next to a South Korean Army guard at the Joint Security Area in the DMZ. She's standing in the United Nations' Military Armistace Commission building that sits directly atop the demarcation line that divides North and South Korea. The guard is making sure she doesn't make a run for the door, which opens up into North Korea. I don't think he had much to worry about.

JR gets his passport and consular report of birth

So, I don't know if we'll keep up this pace of big events for little JR, but last week he received his passport and consular report of birth (ie, citizenship document) from the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens, and the Eighth Army Commander, Lieutenant General Joseph Fil. The picture above is from the ceremony that officially opened the U.S. Embassy's "satellite office" at the Yongsan Army base in Seoul -- that's the reason they wanted a military family there. Oh, and there's apparently a short news clip playing on the Armed Forces television network showing pictures from this ceremony also.. How 'bout that! This kid is a star.

Happy Mother's Day!

We celebrated a very special Mother's Day this weekend -- the very first one for JR's Mom (how does that sound?)! And we had Grandma Parker here. Grandma Graham will be here soon too. All three are so proud of this little dude.

JR's invitation

JR's getting his passport on Wednesday. (He'll be a world traveler at a young age.) And the little guy will receive his passport and birth certificate from no less than the U.S. Ambassador to Korea and the 3-star 8th Army Commander. What can I say -- the kid's a pretty big deal. (And the Embassy was looking for a family to be involved in an event publicizing the services they provide for military members in Korea.. ergo, the invitation below.)

Two truly awesome pictures

Our first and most recent pictures of JR. Pretty hard to imagine how something so tiny develops into a new person.

A blog by any other name..

Well, here we are. We have a baby, we have an exciting assignment in our future, and we have family and friends clamoring for more pictures. And therefore... we now have a blog.

The first hurdle was choosing a name for our family blog. Among the finalists were thetomandjillshow (too suggestive), thegrahamupdate (too literal), and greatgobsofgrahams (too messy). I was lobbying hard for operationkielbasa, but Jill didn't like the way it would sound in a report to the foundation. So, thosegroovygrahams won out. Now we'll just have to live up to that title!

Standby for pictures and videos of the little one.

Cheers,
Tom