The Orchard Family

Mia's Haircut

2012-01-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

I love Mia's long hair. Everywhere we go we always get comments on how cute she is and how beautiful and long her hair is, etc. It pained me to agree to let any of it get cut off but it was time. Dealing with the snarly ends was not our favorite thing to do anymore. So, who do you call when you need a haircut??? Aunt KayDee of course! Mia felt pretty special. :0)

And off he goes!!!

2012-01-04T15:28:00.000-05:00

I have been wishing for a long time now that Easton would enjoy riding his bike more so I could get him riding WITHOUT training wheels. I had a neighbor once tell me to lower the seat and take off the pedals and let them glide a little to help get their balance down. It sounded like a novel idea so we gave it a try. It really didn't go so well. Both Easton and I ended up frustrated and called it quits. :0) A week or so ago, my mom was watching all of the grandkids and took them over to the church parking lot to ride their bikes. Afterward she commented to me that if I would take him over there and work with him, we could probably get his training wheels off. My immediate reaction was "yah right!" Well, today we were looking for something to do and the kids needed to get out so we loaded up the bikes and headed off to the church parking lot. I let Easton ride around for a minute or two and then we took the training wheels off. I stayed by his side for a couple of tries and then . . . . I let go! And what happened . . . . to my surprise he took off! He was riding all by himself and I could hardly believe my eyes. So let today got into the Orchard Family Record Book . . . . Easton can ride his bike without training wheels! :0)

4 Wheelin' Adventure

2011-12-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we headed out with my mom and dad to go explore some trails here in Santa Clara. Any kind of outing with my dad is usually more of an "adventure" than an outing. :0) That being said, just into the first part of the ride we come upon the little Santa Clara river. Mia was riding in the Razor with my dad and off they went right through the river without too much trouble. Scott and Easton were on a 4 wheeler and my mom and I were in the Rhino so we all opted to turn around and head back up the hill. We took a few pictures and were taking in the view when we noticed that we could no longer hear the engine of the Razor in the distance. I walked over to the edge of the hill to look down and there was dad, stuck in the middle of the river. He got Mia out of the Razor so she wouldn't get wet. We all rode back down to see how we were going to get him out. The Rhino had a winch on it so we hooked it up but it was not powerful enough to get the Razor out on it's own. The rear wheels were buried in the sand under the water nearly up to the top! It took dad, Scott, and I about 20 minutes of lifting, digging with sticks, and trying to shove rocks under the tires to finally get it out! We then went on our way again. Mom and I hung to the back a way so that we wouldn't get dusted out. After about 10 minutes we turned a corner where the trail narrow and up ahead we saw Scott and Easton on a hill, 4 wheeler tipped up on it's rear end, Scott laying on his back on the ground (Scott's legs were keeping the 4 wheeler from tipping over on him), and dad running up the hill to help! I nearly died! That would be the worst thing that could happen for Scott and Easton to have a 4 wheeler to tip over on the top of them. It was a good thing Scott's legs were long because he kept it from tipping long enough for dad to get up there and help. I didn't see how Easton escaped but apparently he pulled an Indiana Jones and hung from the cross bar of the handlebars until he was able to drop safely. :0) At that point I thought that our little caravan had had enough adventure! We turned around to head back and on the way stopped to look at various petroglyphs. It was a fun outing and we're glad we escaped injury free!

As an added note, my camera used on this trip went through the wash in my coat pocket after the ride. I was able to save the pics off the SD card but my bag of rice was not enough to save my camera. :0(

Christmas

2011-12-27T22:47:00.000-05:00

We had a fun Christmas this year! Not sure if it was like this for anyone else but we kind of spread it out over the weekend so it lasted a long time. :0) We decided that with our church being at 10:00 we really wouldn't have too much time to do things that morning so we had 2 Christmas mornings. One on Saturday morning for family gifts and one on Sunday morning for Santa. It was great fun! Easton wanted a Razor scooter and a Captain America shield and Mia wanted some dolls. It was as easy as that. :0) We have had a fun Christmas break and are looking forward to a few more days of it. Then on to a new year. Bring on 2012!!!

Grandma Jensen

2011-12-18T10:58:00.000-05:00

On December 10, 2011 my grandma, Jessie Andersen, Jensen passed away. Her funeral was held on December 17. Ever since my grandpa passed about 4 years ago she had been longing to be with him again. I'm sure they are having a big party up in heaven now, along with 2 of their sons that preceded them in death. We will miss grandma and our weekly Sunday gatherings at her house, swimming in her pool in the summers, and watching the 4th of July fireworks with her from her balcony. Love you grandma!

OBITUARY:

Jessie Anderson Jensen
(October 15, 1928 - December 10, 2011)

St. George, Utah - Jessie Anderson Jensen peacefully passed away December 10, 2011, at the age of 83, of natural causes. Jessie was born October 15, 1928 in St. George, Utah, the youngest of eight children born to Hans and Ellen McArthur Anderson. Jessie’s mother was the youngest child and Jessie was the youngest grandchild of the late Daniel D. McArthur who was one of the first settlers of St. George. Jessie was always proud of her heritage and loved Utah’s Dixie where she spent her entire life. She graduated from Woodward Jr. High, Dixie High School and Dixie Jr. College where she excelled in sports, dancing and music. While at Dixie College, she served as secretary to several of the teachers. After graduation from college, she worked at the Farmer’s Home Adminstration for two years. Jessie married Richard Ernest Jensen in the St. George LDS Temple June 15, 1950 after Richard returned from a 32 month LDS Mission to Argentina. Their goal in life was to raise a righteous family and always serve. With the exception of a young son, "Scotty" who passed at the age of three, all of their children served missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as have all their grandsons and some granddaughters. Jessie had a firm testimony of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and was always in the service of her Heavenly Father. She served in Young Women, Primary, Sunday School, and Stake Librarian where she was instrumental in setting up the first stake library in the St. George Stake Center. She served two times as ward Relief Society President as well as 9 years as the St. George Stake Relief Society President. While Stake Relief Society President, she helped establish the first church distribution center in St. George. She served 23 years in the St. George LDS Temple as an ordinance worker, special administrative assistant to three Temple matrons, and special assistant to three president’s secretaries. Besides her family, temple work was her greatest love. Jessie also served in the community as one of the original Pink Ladies at Dixie Memorial Hospital. She was on the original Board of the Southwest Symphony serving for 10 years. She also sang with the singing group, The Keytones, for over 20 years. Jessie was always a faithful companion to her husband and served alongside him operating several business in St. George, the last being the Lamplighter Inn and Southern Trailer Park (where Smith’s Food is now located) where they raised their five children. Jessie and Richard were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel throughout the world as well as many church history sites. One of their most memorable travels was the opportunity to sing in the choir at the Orson Hyde Memorial Peace Gardens in Jerusalem when it was dedicated by President Spencer W. Kimball. The Jensen home was always the fun place to be, especially on Sunday evenings when all their family gathered together and as they did to celebrate birthdays, holidays and summer swim parties. Their family was always their greatest joy and they will all miss being with her at her home. Her dear Richard passed away in 2007 after 57 ½ years of marriage. Jessie’s greatest wish was to once again be reunited with him and their two sons who preceded her in death, Richard Scott Jensen and Perry Lynn Jensen. Jessie is survived by her children: Jerry (DeeAnn) Jensen of Santa Clara, Linda (David) Terry of St. George, Stephen (Clarene) Jensen of Camp Verde, AZ and daughter-in-law, Tammie (the late Perry) Jensen of St. George; a sister, Sybill Brown of Henderson, NV; a brother-in-law, Robert (Betty) Jensen of Hurricane; 25 grandchildren; 21 ½ great-grandchildren.; and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 17, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. at the St. George LDS Stake Center, 500 North Bluff Street, St. George, Utah. A visitation will be held Saturday, prior to services, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Stake Center. Interment will follow at the St. George City Cemetery. Arrangements entrusted to the care of Metcalf Mortuary, (435) 673-4221.

FOR SALE: Profoto D1 Studio Kit 500/500 Air w/remote

2011-11-27T22:29:00.001-05:00

Update: SOLD

This is for all of you budding photographers out there . . . .

Last summer I made an investment on some NICE studio lights. Purchased from Pictureline in Salt Lake City. I have used them only 2 times. They are outstanding!!! I can no longer let them sit in my closet . . . that is a bonus for you!!! Studio lights are not only good for indoors but can be used to achieve different looks outside as well.

This kit comes in a super fancy padded case for carrying. I even have the original box it came in. You can get all the juicy details and specs at this link. Check out what they can do!

http://www.pictureline.com/lighting/profoto/studio-strobe-kits/profoto-d1-studio-kit-500-500-air.html

The kit retails at $2,379.00 and a arm and leg for tax. I am selling for $1,900.

I also have a Sekonic Light Meter (L-358) that I purchased at the same time.

http://www.pictureline.com/lighting/sekonic/sekonic-l-358-flash-meter.html
Retails for $309.00. Will sell for $200.

If you are interested shoot me an email or give me a call. (843) 822-6869. OR, better yet, have your husband/wife/mom/dad give me a call to buy you an AWESOME Christmas present!!! :0) Thanks!

Jessica

Champs again!

2011-11-05T22:06:00.000-04:00

Played with Shelbee, Scott & Lindsey, Blair, Rz, and Kyle.

We spent a majority of this cold windy day playing in the Susan G. Komen co-ed Softball Tournament. One pitch, 6 games. Lucky for us it was all worth it because we won the whole thing! Who would have thought??! Oh wait, we always win. :0)

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T23:56:00.000-04:00

These are the kids' pumpkins. Spidey and Buzz!

Mia dressed as Tinkerbell and Easton as Captain Jack Sparrow.

This is the infamous "Beast!" Mia was terrified of this thing, even long after it was put away. :0)

Happy Birthday Mia!

2011-10-29T21:42:00.000-04:00

Today our little Mia turned 3 years old. I think she is 3 going on 13!!! I don't know where the time goes. To celebrate she invited a few of her cousins and friends to go eat and play at McDonalds. She had fun playing and opening gifts.

She got one of her dad's favorite things in the world . . . a Justin Bieber microphone!!! ;0)

Later on we invited the family over for a "haunted" birthday dinner. The dining room was decorated fun. We had chili served in pumpkin bread bowls. Yum!

Mia wanted skeletons for dessert so that's how we did her cake. Green chocolate skeletons in the dirt (brownie). She had a great birthday!!!

California Trip

2011-10-16T23:05:00.000-04:00

We just got back from a fun filled week with my parents and AnnDee in southern California! We stayed at Marriott's Newport Coast Villas on Pelican Hill in Newport. It's one of our favorite spots. Here are a few highlights from the trip . . . .

** The kids had a blast enjoying the nice mid-October weather and playing at the beach in Newport.

** Mia got to pet a dolphin for the first time at Sea World!

** Easton experienced a first at Disneyland . . . finally being tall enough to ride all of the "big kid" rides. He went all out, not missing a single ride. He even went on the Tower of Terror at California Adventure with his dad!

** It was Mia's first official visit to Disneyland. A lady at one of the stores gave her a special badge to wear. :0)

St. George Marathon

2011-10-02T20:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I ran in my first (and probably last) marathon. The good 'ol St. George Marathon! All 26.2 miles of it! I had not run in the 4 weeks between the half iron and this so I was not sure how I would do or what to expect. Since I didn't have any expectations I think it was actually the first time that I was not nervous before the event. :0)

We started off bright and early although not too early as we had spent the night in Central so wouldn't have to ride the bus at 4:30 A.M. to the start line. Luckily it was not too cold at all. I wore my jacket for the first 3-4 miles then I got rid of it. My sister KayDee and I had trained together but since she is faster than me I ended up running the first 12 miles with 2 ladies from my ward, Gina Gottfredson and Nicole Graff. After that I was on my own. I got to see Scott and the kids as we dropped down near the entrance to Snow Canyon (just over 3 hours in). They were all there cheering me on! :0)

Everything went pretty smoothly overall. My legs were starting to get achy around mile 18. By mile 20 I finally stopped to use the bathroom. The last 6 miles were so hard but it really helped to get down into town and have a whole bunch of people lining the streets cheering.

My official finish time was 5:24:47.

Finished 61 in Women's Weight Under 40.

Overall Finishing Position: 4929
Overall Finishing Position in Gender: 2094

Though it was a good experience I can now check that off the list and never have to worry about it again!!! :0)

Kolob

2011-09-18T00:16:00.000-04:00

To end the week we took a trip up to Kolob for a little R & R. It's always fun to take people up there that have never been before. The scenery is beautiful and never gets old. A little piece of heaven on earth! :0)

On a morning ride after the rain we saw a little hoot owl in a tree. That was a first!

Tina's favorite part of the day!

Mom was our tour guide.

The "picture spot" driving off the mountain.

The Subway

2011-09-16T00:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we hiked the Subway in Zion National Park. I've done the Subway many times but this time was exciting becuase there had been several flash floods in the days leading up to our hike. It's amazing how different a little flooding can make things look and what huge items of debris it can jam the canyon up with.

Rappelling Crash Course / Zion

2011-09-14T23:49:00.000-04:00

In preparation for some Zion canyoneering to happen later in the week, my dad and I took Tina and Sheila up to Chuckawalla Wall for a crash course in rappelling. :0)Turns out they were both pros! I haven't been in forever so it was a little exciting for me too!
Later on we headed up to Zion to pick up our permit for the Subway. It was storming when we got up there and there were flash flood warnings. They would not issue our permit so we waited for the storm to pass and then decided to head on up the canyon to explore.

Snow Canyon

2011-09-13T00:10:00.000-04:00

After resting a bit in the morning from our prior travels we decided to take Tina and Sheila exploring close to home . . . in Snow Canyon. We had not been up there in a while so it was fun.

Havasupai

2011-09-12T20:48:00.000-04:00

We were super stoked to have our friends Tina & Sheila from South Carolina come out west for a visit. I promised them a week of sheer adventure and that's exactly what they got!!! :0)

On Saturday September 10th Scott and I drove to Las Vegas to pick up Tina & Sheila. After spending a few hours on the strip and grabbing some lunch, we continued our drive to Kingman, AZ and then on to Peach Springs, AZ where we spent the night. We even got to drive on the hisotric Route 66! The following morning was an early one as we woke early enough to make the remaining hour long drive to the Havasupai trailhead in the Grand Canyon and get on the trail(technically NOT the Grand Canyon because this hike is within the Havasupai Indian Tribe land boundaires).

Scott's cousins Chris and Sarah joined us for the hike as well. The hike itself was 8 miles to the Indian village of Supai and another 2 miles to the campground. Not a bad hike at all. It was hauling the backpack that proved difficult toward the end. :0) We had the possibility of some rainy weather for a few days and it was just our luck that it found us on the way down. Going throught the village was a bit surprising as I didn't know what to expect. It was very small. The few houses were pretty primal looking on the outside. Most of the front doors opened up to fenced in yards that could double as a junk yards. However, the school building and church looked nice. We also discovered a small "house" that was an LDS church meeting house. Who would have thought???Just down from the village we sighted the first waterfall, Navajo Falls. Pretty cool since it's the first waterfall that you see. Mind boggling that something of the sort could exist out in the middle of the desert in no man's land. Then a little bit before getting to the campground the trail takes a downward plunge with the breathtaking Havasu Falls to the right. Absolutely AMAZING! I've seen a lot of things in my life and these falls are just unreal. Because there was a storm looming we decided to head on down to the campground and get our tents set up in case the rain came sooner than later. Then we would go back up and see more of Havasu Falls. I could really sit at stare at them all day long. So cool!We went back to camp and soon after it started to rain. There is really nowhere to go for shelter down in the canyon so we finally resorted to climbing into the tents. We got in at about 6:00 p.m. amd found ourselves there for the rest of the night. It rained off and on all night with major bouts of thunder and lightning. Needless to say, it was a VERY LONG night. At one point Scott and I packed up all the stuff in out tent into our packs in case we needed a quick escape in the event of a flood. :0) The next morning (Monday the 12th) started at about 5:00 a.m. with Scott and I nearly getting trampled in our little tent by a wild Indian Horse! It was a close call!!! Since we were up, we ate some breakfast and headed down to Mooney Falls. We thought it was going to be a few miles away but it was actually right at the end of the campground. You see these falls from the top and then if you want to get to the bottom of them you have to actually climb down through these holes and then down some really steep spots on the mountainside using chains. I think there is an old wooden ladder at some point. ???!!!So the story goes like this . . . . we got about halfway down and I finally called it quits for me. There were seriously about 3 posted signs of CAUTION and DANGER as we were going down, not to mention someone wrote "Don't Die" in the sand below. Might I also add that the falls were named after an early prospector named D.W. Mooney who fell to his death while trying to climb up the mountain there. (Have I proved my point yet?) The others were going to try to go down further but eventually chickened out. I told Scott that he was worth more to me dead than alive but I was sure that the kids would prefer to have him return home. :0)We had done quite a bit of exploring and had heard that there were flash flood warnings for Monday evening so we decided to pack up and head out while conditions were still fair. We hiked back up to the village and decided to take the helicopter out for a speedier and painless exit. :0) Sure enough, as we were flying out (all 4 minutes of a ride) the rain came and it was dark black skies as far as we could see. It was the best decision we have ever made and the best $100 we've ever spent. :0) Despite getting out of the canyon early we still took forever to make the drive back home. We made a few stops along the way including at the new bridge overlooking the Hoover Dam. Pretty cool and a pretty darn fun and adventursome trip!

Utah Half Ironman

2011-09-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

We did the Utah Half Iron Triathlon and lived to tell the tale!!! Hooray! Here's a rundown of the happenings (the long version) . . .

Thursday- KayDee and I headed to Provo. We wanted to get there an extra day early just to have enough time to pick up our packets and get settled, etc. Upon arrival in Provo we noticed tha KayDee's rear bike tire had some bad gouges in it and a few spots worn down to the threads. Yikes!!! We had to buy her some new tires and get them put on the bike before the tri. At 5:00 we had our carb-loaded meal of chicken parmesan at Cafe Paesan (thank you Kristie for the intro). It was yummy! They had yummy cookies too. LOL! Packet pick up was at SBR Sports in Orem and everyone there looked pretty serious and professional. KayDee and I pretended we knew what we were doing. :0) We spent the night with my "Provo family" and didn't quite know what to do or how to feel without kids to put to bed. Needless to say, we went to bed!

Friday- We had a good night's sleep and woke up around 7:45 but layed in bed until 8:00 (we never get to sleep that late or stay in bed at home!). Mama Ann made us a hot and fresh breakfast of eggs, melon, greek yogurt, an english muffin, and a glass of milk. It was perfect and delicious! From there we set off to go check out Utah Lake and the bike/run course. It was a beautiful morning at the lake. The water was glassy and there was no wind. Looked like a great spot for a swim. We could only hope for such conditions the following morning. We found a guy there named George who was also doing the tri. He was from Wyoming and had travelled by himself so we asked if he wanted to drive the bike course with us. He was happy to. After wondering around for quite a long time, we had the course mostly figured out. The directions were not very good in some spots. When we returned to the lake we hopped on the bikes and rode around for a few minutes and then went for a short run to get the legs moving after 2 days rest. From there we drove up to Wasatch Running in Sandy to pick up KayDee's wetsuit rental then back to Provo to check into our hotel. We decided to take advantage of the time we had before Scott and the kids arrived to get our stuff layed out and prepared for the following morning. We decided on dinner at Chilis (chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and broccoli) and in true"me" tradition, I had to have a little dessert. For some reason it doesn't effect me adversley before a race. :0)
We headed back to the hotel and waited for Scott and the kids. They did not show up until 9:30 (but that is a long story in and of itself)!!! Bed time!!!

Saturday- 3:50 A.M. the alarm goes off! We had everything layed out so that all we had to do was roll out of bed, get dressed, and head out the door. We arrived at Utah Lake around 4:30. All of the info said that body marking started at 4:00 and transition opened at 4:30. Since the bike racks were not assigned and it was "first come first served," we figured the place would be packed.Wrong!!! We were like the second or third car there. At any rate, we got good positioning in transition. LOL! We got set up and marked and spent what seemed like a VERY LONG time waiting and being nervous for the tri to start. Oh, and let me not forget to mention the man eating mosquitos!!! When the pre-race meeting was pushed back 20 minutes we knew that was not a very good sign but the start was only delayed 15 minutes. All of the women were thrown in the 4th and final wave and we were in the water around 7:10-7:15.

The swim (1.2 miles) was great! I swim to KayDee's left so that when we breathe we can see eachother. It was smooth sailing. Not to many bumps or kicks. We had to make 2 loops around the course before heading in. The boat ramp at Utah Lake was so slimey that they had to have men in the water helping everyone out. :0) Once we made the near half mile trek to transition our swim time clocked in at 40:01.

Spent 2:39 in transition. I think we were the only ones that actually put on some bike shorts but I am not ashamed of it at all! 56 miles is a long time to sit on a seat. :0)

We approached the bike just like any other Saturday morning ride. We kept a good pace and rode side-by side when we could and talked. Even though the bike takes up the majority of the race time, it went by quickly. The course was flat as fast. Super fast for us! I think our average pace was 18.6 mph). We ate and drank a lot on the bike to keep fueled. Scott and the kids were able to see us out on the course so that was cool!

The last 10 miles or so of the bike my body started to feel some wear. Couldn't have been happier to get off the bike. Spent 2:44 in T2.

The run was the portion that I was dreading. We headed out without problem until KayDee realized she forgot her belt with her number on it. She had to go back. :0) At this point it was 94 degrees or so. Hot!!! We had not trained in the heat and I could really tell. For the first 6 miles I had a sharp pain in my stomach. Not fun. Then once I got rid of that my legs were just super tight. I was holding KayDee back with my slow pace so I told her to leave me and go ahead. I did not choose to break the rules and listen to my music, so during that time I remember thinking a lot about how I hate running and how I vowed never to run again if I survived. He he he! I saw KayDee a few more times on the route before we finished, as well as Scott, Grandma Orchard, and the kids.

The last 2 miles seemed like it went on forever but I finally made it back to the finish area. I was so excited to get across that line! My little cheering squad was there cheering me on. The kids got to join me in the last stretch to the finish line. It was a super special moment. :0)

KayDee was waiting for me at the finish as well. She finished 15 minutes ahead of me. The first thing she said to me was to NEVER ask her to do something like this again. :0) We both had a blast training and participating in the event but we're not sure how long it will take to agree to do it again! My run time was a horrible 2:35:57 for a grand total of 6:20:42.2.

School is in session!

2011-08-26T18:00:00.008-04:00

Hooray for the beginning of a new school year! The kids just finished their first week of school. Easton is now a whopping 5 years old and just started Kindergarten. He loves going to school!

Mia will not turn 3 until October but she is going to preschool anyway! :0)

My $5 Winnings

2011-08-19T10:03:00.000-04:00

If you live near an Albertsons you are aware of the "Sizzlin' Summer Sweepstakes Game" that was going on. Yes, their little ploy to get more people shopping more often at Albertsons worked on me. I went there all the time and bought things that I really didn't need in order to get more game pieces. I was determined to win a prize! Well, after it was all said and done I only managed to win a measly $5 cash prize. I agree that something is better than nothing but it also took me 20 minutes of waiting at Customer Service to even get it. Not sure that was worth it!

Jackson Hole

2011-08-08T19:27:00.028-04:00

During the first week in August we went to Jackson Hole to visit Scott's grandpa. It has been over 4 years since we've been there and it was just a beautiful as we remembered. We had a great week spending time in town, hiking, and riding around with grandpa. We saw a moose, fox, coyote, as well as herds of elk, bison, and pronghorn. We did one really cool hike to Hidden Falls but unfortunately the kids were completely hiked out afterward and refused to go on any others the rest of the week. :0) I also attempted to keep up my training while there and for the most part was pretty successful. I got to ride my bike next to a herd of bison! I couldn't get my biking video uploaded so if you want to check it out go to the Facebook link here.

Co-ed Softball

2011-07-27T18:55:00.013-04:00

Our family co-ed softball team won the championship again this year. Unlike last year where we lost almost all the games and came back in the tournament, we only lost one game during the season and went undefeated in the tourney. We also had our good luck charm there . . . Grandma Frei. We had lots of fun and are looking forward to next season already.

Subway Hike

2011-07-20T18:12:00.028-04:00

??, Luis, Scott, Jess, Jerry, Lael, Shelbee, Lisa, Lindsey, Scott, Talon

This is the gang that we hiked the Subway with. It was quite the adventure because we ran into a group that got ledged up and spent the night in the canyon. We sent Lael down to find them with the rope and harness in hand. He strapped them in and sent them down into the water where the rest of us were waiting to help. We got them down without a problem and they hiked the rest of the way out with us.

There were plenty of fun obstacles to get over and lots of cold water! :0) We had a great time and all made it out alive.

Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

2011-07-17T09:26:00.019-04:00

Yesterday I ran the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon. It was great because of 2 things. One, it was mostly downhill and two, the scenery was awesome! I mostly appreciated the downhill part. My sisters KayDee and Shelbee also ran it along with my brother Scott's girlfriend Lindsey and our cousin Shellie. We had a great time! My official finish time was 2:06:20. Not bad for me! :0)

Me, Shelb , and Lindsey getting our pre-race treat the night before. :0)

Blurry group shot at the start line.

KayDee, me, and Shelb.

At the finish. Mindy, KayDee, Shellie, and me.

4th of July

2011-07-05T11:42:00.020-04:00

It's been a long time since we've spent the 4th of July with my family at the cabin in Kolob. This year we had everyone there. We did the usual activities like playing games, going on rides on the Rhino and 4-wheeler, and chillin' on the back deck, but this year we spent a good deal of time at the reservoir because dad invest in a canoe and kayak. The grandkids loved paddling around the lake! We also go to take a trip up to the peak. It's been forever since I was able to ride up there as well. Good times!

June = Ragnar Wasatch Back

2011-06-20T10:40:00.030-04:00

The highlight of the month of June was heading up north to participate in the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay with some of Scott's family. It was my first time doing a relay-style running event. Our team was called the Bear Lake Monsters. We had 2 vans of 6 people each and started at 7:00 AM on Friday morning and finally finished after 32 hours 53 minutes 27 seconds! I had a great time, largely due to the fun people in my van because running has never been all that fun for me in the first place. :0) I was Runner #2 and had a total of 13.3 miles.

"The Gang" before the start. Sidney, Satcy, Nikita, Jess, Terry, and Kelly.

Waiting at the first exchange.

Running my first and longest leg. I had some awesome scenery!

At the finish waiting for the 2nd half of the team to come in.

Bear Lake Monsters

Me and the kids. Glad they were there to support us!

Utah Half Iron

2011-06-01T11:30:00.015-04:00

I've decided to participate in the Utah Half Iron distance Triathlon!!! At this point it sounds a little crazy but hopefully it will be a fun experience. It is on August 27, 2011 so I'm just starting my "focused" training. Going to try and talk my sister KayDee into doing it with me. :0) To keep track of my training and experiences I've decided to start a separate blog. You can check it out at http://journeyto70point3.blogspot.com.

Memorial Weekend

2011-05-31T10:00:00.027-04:00

For the Memorial Holiday we wanted to keep our South Carolina camping tradition alive so we decided to head to Enterprise. We set up camp near the Dutchman Cabin (a little old cabin used to sleep in while the cowboys are out riding in the hills for cattle).

We were using a new tent and although we enjoyed all of the room inside, it did not keep us as warm overnight. The kids didn't seem to notice though so it was all good. We did some fishing at the reservoir where Easton caught his first fish ever! He ended up getting one more as well. :0)

We also did some hiking (of which the kids did not last very long).

The weather go VERY windy on us to the point that the tent pegs were pulling out of the ground. It would have made for a long night so we decided to pack up and head home. We unloaded and headed up to the cabin in Kolob to join my family for the rest of the break. Sleeping at night was much more enjoyable. LOL!

Preschool Graduation

2011-05-26T01:06:00.000-04:00

When we moved back to Utah we didn't think we would be able to get Easton into a preschool with so little time left in the school year but lucky for us we found Smarty Pants Preschool who had an opening because another little boy just moved out. Easton fit right in with the class from the beginning. He really enjoyed his teacher, Doree Sargent. They had the cutest little graduation. They did a program where they sang different songs, etc. and then they got dressed in their robes (yes, they had robes with hats and tassels), got their certificates and tossed their caps. So cute! Kindergarten, here we come!

Easton turns 5!

2011-05-25T23:42:00.000-04:00

I don't know where the years have gone! It seems like just yesterday that Easton was born and now he is getting all grown up on me. He is a great kid with a big personality! :0) Easton was very excited to be in Utah for his birthday this year. Lots of friends and cousins to party with! He wanted to do his party at Pirate Island Pizza so that's where we headed. I thought I was done with pirate birthday parties after the last one but . . . . it just might not be the last either. LOL! We celebrated on May14th though his birthday was actually 2 days later on the 16th.

Ivins 10K / Ford Ironman

2011-05-24T19:04:00.000-04:00

On the morning of the St. George Ironman (May 7th) Ivins City sponsors a Fitness Festival in conjunction with the Ironman. I ran in the 10K along with my sisters Shelbee and KayDee. At the start line we discovered that there were former Biggest Loser contestant there (Sam, Stephanie, Adam, Sione and 2 others). We were so excited! We spent a good while running with Sam & Adam but then they ditched us on the hills. :0) After the race we hung out and chatted with them for a bit. Shelbee and KayDee almost had Adam in agreement to go to Shelb's party that night but they ended up heading back to LA after they did their thing at the festival. They were all really cool though and had some inspirational advice to share.

Later on that morning it was super fun to watch the athletes in the Ironman. The bike course went right by our house. There were a few people from our neighborhood that were in it and it was fun to see them pass and see their fan club cheering. I also went into town to the finish line around 7:00. So cool to see people cross the finish line!!! It's so inspiring. Maybe one day (when pigs fly) I'll get to do one. :0)

Spokes For Hope 52 miler

2011-05-24T18:23:00.000-04:00

On April 30th my sister KayDee and I rode the 52 mile route in the Spokes for Hope women's bike ride. Despite some nasty wind at the midway point we had a great time! It's been fun living close so we can do various events together. We finished the ride in a few minutes over 4 hours!

April Rundown

2011-05-24T18:11:00.000-04:00

The month of April came and went in the blink of an eye and May has nearly done the same thing. We got to experience the Kite Festival for the first time. It was pretty fun. I think it was also our first hot day of spring. Though the wind wasn't strong enough to get our cool trick kite up and running , the kids still had fun playing all the games and jumping in all the bouncy things. :0)

On our way home from the Kite Festival we decided to make a stop at the pet store to replace our pet gecko that we had to leave behind in South Carolina. I had scored a cheap 20 gallon aquarium at a garage sale to we were ready for the animal. The only problem is that we came home with 2 baby geckos instead of one! Easton was so excited!!!

In preparation for Easter we had fun joining in on one of our long-time family traditions of coloring easter eggs the old fashioned pioneer way with Grandma Frei and my mom. Mom went and gathered the different leaves and flowers that color the eggs then we wrapped them and boiled them in onion shells. Once they cooled off we got to unwrap them and see how they turned out. The kids loved unwrapping them to see the cool designs.

Easter was fun this year as the kids were able to participate in the Santa Clara Easter Egg Hunt. Both Easton and Mia found "prize" eggs and got to pick out a special prize afterward. The 2 year-old competition wasn't very tough so Mia ended up with literally an entire bucket full of candy. :0) And, she insisted on carrying it everywhere!

This is the kids on Easter morning. All ready to go to church!

To conclude the last week of April we celebrated Scott's 32nd birthday and put together a wood swingset/playhouse for the kids! It was a busy month. :0)

St. George Tri

2011-05-22T10:00:00.014-04:00

On June 21st I participated in my first triathlon in the St. George area. It was held on a beautiful morning at Sand Hollow. The water was still a little chilly tough! I was there by myself so I only have a few pictures. Got second place in my division. :0)

overall place:	151 out of 397
division place:	2 out of 12
gender place:	28 out of 153
time:	1:42:43

swim:	20:04
t1:	2:41
bike:	45:22
t2:	1:44
run:	32:54

SHAC Spring Triathlon

2011-04-10T19:50:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday my sisters and I did the SHAC Spring Triathlon. It was a 400 meter swim, 10 mile bike, and a 5K run. It was the first triathlon for my sister Shelbee and she did awesome! Though I didn't particularly care for the set up of the swim and the double loops on the bike and run courses, we had a great time! Going into this so ill-prepared showed me how out of shape I am. :0)

Spectrum 10K

2011-04-03T10:52:00.000-04:00

On Saturday March 19th I ran in the Spectrum 10K. Not quite sure what I was thinking when I signed up to run around on all those hills but I made it nonetheless! If I remember right it took me roughly an hour and 7 minutes but the scenery sure was nice. :0)

My sister KayDee & I

During the run.

Trail of runners to the right going down the canyon.

After the race with our cousin Tara.

Japan

2011-03-21T00:43:00.001-04:00

Although we have been having a fun spring break and are still enjoying doing little projects around the house (I promise I will post some pictures as soon as I get a few more things done!!!), my heart continues to ache for the people in Japan. Some of the footage and pictures that I have seen are absolutely unbelievable! For them to not only get hit with the biggest earthquake in recorded Japan history but to have the tsunami AND the radiation threats is just heartbreaking.

I served my mission in Japan but was in Fukuoka, or the southern most part of Japan. Luckily no one I know was in harms way. I have loved hearing and reading of the reports coming out of Japan talking about how the Japanese people have such a sense of community pride and how they are so selfless and eager to help one another. I compare their reaction to the disaster to Katrina in the U.S. It is a night and day difference. The Japanese people are so humble. I wish there was something I could personally do to help but I guess I am limited to prayers.

I am however fortunate enough to be able to help a friend who has gone to Japan on his own dime to help out where he can. He is in Sendai (where the epicenter of the quake was) helping a NGO called CRASH. I get daily updates and pictures from him and then I, in turn, update his blog. It is neat to hear first hand of all of the good that is happening there. If you ever want to check it out you can find it here. http://www.michaelthemaven.com/

The Big Move & Settling In

2011-03-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

The past month has been a whirlwind and things are finally settling down. We packed up the South Carolina house and moved back on February 12th. What a chore it was! Moving cross-country is a lot more difficult than moving across town. But, since this was our second time we felt like pros and knew what we were doing (mostly).

We flew out to St. George while our truck driver Brian diligently drove our stuff cross-country. I thought I was going to have a good week to doing some painting and other things at the new house but to our surprise, Brian showed up with our stuff on a Thursday (only 4 days after we left)!!! So, I spent an entire 38 hours straight awake painting and getting things done at the house before our stuff showed up. It was fun in the moment (I haven't done anything like that since my college days) but it took a toll on me afterward. :0) The past few weeks we have been working on getting everything unpacked and finding a place for everything. I'm not sure that process will ever end but hopefully soon. LOL! Working out the logistics to get our cars out here didn't go so smoothly but they finally made it last weekend. We had to make a trip down to Las Vegas to pick them up. Planned on doing it all in one evening but the driver was delayed so we ended up spending the night and met the truck driver the next morning.

We are LOVING the new house and our new neighborhood and ward! The kids finally have a playroom that they can make a mess in and I don't have to get on their case to clean up every 10 minutes. They love having new friends and cousins to play with and being close to family. There is always something to do and someone to play with, something that we struggled with in SC. We are "home" and it is great!

Now it's time to get back into our regular schedule/routine of things. A big thank you to everyone that helped us out on both ends of the move! We can even rest a little easier now as we are in the process of ratifying a contract on our house in SC. Hooray!

VT Conference

2011-02-04T09:22:00.000-05:00

Last night I attended our annual ward visiting teaching conference. I was reluctant to go but of course they had it strategically planned to where everyone had something to bring or some kind of food item to make. And when I say everyone, I do mean EVERYONE. My deciding to go all boiled down to the fact that I did not want to disappoint my supervisor Carol who called and emailed every other day for a month making sure I was planning on going. :0) Now that it is over with I can honestly say that I am so glad that I went!

The typical visiting teaching conference is an hour and a half of being told to do your visiting teaching and why there are no good excuses. It usually feels more like a lecture than anything else. This one was completely different. Very well thought out and planned. The theme was "An Angel Like Her." They talked about angels . . . . what they are and what they do. Various people talked about different accounts of angels from the scriptures and gave examples of how the power or job of that angel had been manifest in various visiting teaching experiences in their own lives. It really created a wonderful spirit as you realized the power and effect of angels and how being a visiting teacher and doing your visiting teaching is doing the errand of angels. It made you want to be better at doing your visiting teaching without even being told. It really was neat! I would like to think that I do pretty well with my visiting teaching but I know I could do even better. I certainly have a testimony of it. I will miss visiting my sisters here in SC but look forward to getting to know many more in our new ward in St. George.

Charlie Post 5K

2011-02-03T16:03:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday I did one last event with my Agility Racing group before we move. Not everyone was able to do it but we had a great time anyway. I especially enjoyed the Krispie Kreme donuts at the end!!! :0)

Signs of Moving

2011-01-28T09:46:00.000-05:00

Last week our moving boxes arrived from U-Pack which means the beginning of "moving clutter."

We have packed up most of the garage and I attempted to pack up most of the stuff in the kids closets that was just being "stored" in there. Since we are still 15 days out from loading the moving truck I can't go too crazy with packing. The house is still for sale and trying to maintain it's cleanliness and orderliness for showings is starting to get difficult!

On another note, since Mia is sleeping on an air matress and her bedroom furniture was sold, I realized that was going to mean new bedding for her and her new room in Utah. I had looked online all over the place and didn't really find anything I loved. Plus, most of the kids bedding these days is Full/Queen, not just Queen and it's never wide enough to cover everything on both sides. So what is a girl to do??? Call upon the powers of the best quilt maker I know . . . . my mother-in-law Robyn. After numerous talks on the phone we decided on a pattern (Turning Twenty) and after 2 days of stewing around in the fabric stores we found some fabric. The stack on the left is the quilt back and binding, then the stack on the right is the stuff to assemble all of the quilt blocks. I am super excited for how it is going to turn out! And also glad that it's not me trying to make it! :0)

The BEST part of Christmas!

2011-01-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

Right around Christmas we found out that we are going to be the proud new owners of a beautiful home in Santa Clara! Okay, St. George if you want to be technical. It is back behind Snow Canyon High School across from the Entrada Golf Course. We are so excited! We're packing up and moving back mid-February. Yahoo!

Just when I was in a blogging mood . . . .

2011-01-11T16:27:00.000-05:00

Just when I was in a blogging mood and ready to get caught up, my computer started having issues. Last year the hard drive went out and that was a fairly easy fix but this time it's issues with the motherboard. Grrr! Anyway, the old, slow but steady pc that doesn't display things properly is getting some use again.

We had a wonderful Christmas! We even saw a few flakes of snow here in SC! Easton & Mia were very excited for Santa to come. They assured Krispie (our Elf on the Shelf) that they had been VERY good! :0)

The kids in their Christmas outfits.

Christmas Eve = Christmas Pajamas

Our Christmas Tree

Easton & Mia left cookies and milk for Santa and some oats and carrots for the reindeer outside. :0)

Opening gifts

Easton loves Ironman!

Mia in her Snow White dress up.

Is it true???

2010-12-12T11:08:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is! After nearly 2 months I am sitting down to update the blog. There has been plenty going on . . . too much, in fact. So, for posterity's sake, here is the rundown.

October 9: I participated once again in the Tour de Round O century ride (100 miles) with my peeps of Agility Racing. We have such an awesome and supportive group!

October 16 - November 7: We had the pleasure of having family in town to visit. My sister KayDee and her 2 kids came out with my mom. A little while after KayDee and kids went home my dad came out to join my mom. This was my dad's first visit to Charleston since we moved out here 3 years ago. We had a great time doing all kinds of things and the kids enjoyed playing with each other.

November 7: The Coastal Carolina Fair came to a close. I entered the maximum of 4 photographs into the photography contest and I came away with 3 awards. I was so excited!!!

2nd Place: B&W Division II

Honorable Mention: Color Division II

For the rest of November and through mid December I was blessed to be able to stay busy with photography. 2010 has been such a great year and truely has been wonderful getting to meet so many fun new people! I also launched a new photography website http://www.appleorchardphotos.com/. Check it out sometime!

As Christmas time draws closer I have had all kinds of projects to do like getting the cards put together and making our yearly Jensen family calendar. I've also been slowing cleaning out closets and things in preparation for packing up and moving back to Utah. If you are a trooper and have read long enough to get to this point then you will know that it is official. We got permission from Scott's company to move back home. We are not sure when this will all happen but our house here is now up for sale and we are looking at homes in the St. George/Santa Clara area. We couldn't be more excited! We miss being near our families!

Happy birthday to my Mia!!!

2010-10-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

My little girl turns 2 today! I don't know where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday she was sticking out her pouty bottom lip at me in the hospital. :0)

It's been a wonderful journey ever since that day! Mia has quite the little spunk and personality. We love her to pieces! We are enjoying the fact that she has been exponentially faster at learning things than her brother ever was. She potty trained back in September (hello $$ savings!), she can count to 11 on her own, knows a bunch of colors, and can dribble a soccer ball like a pro. She is proving to take after me so . . . watch out Mia Hamm!

United States Marine Corps Mud Run

2010-10-10T12:02:00.000-04:00

On September 25th (yes, I 'm still getting caught up) Scott and I, along with our good friends the Hardy's participated in the USMC Mud Run in Columbia. We had heard so much about it and decided that it was something we wanted to try. After all, it is the largest Mud Run in North America! We would never be in contention for a prize but the prize purses are a couple thousand dollars. Crazy!
We didn't quite know what to expect but ended up having a blast and didn't do too bad at all (time-wise)! We finished the 4.1 mile, 32-obstacle course in just under 2 hours. There are not any picture of us on the course here. The event photographers only managed to get a few pictures of our team and they weren't good enough to buy. :o(

This was us before the race.

The following are pictures from course description section of the website. Obstacle #25 - The Weaver, was the MOST DIFFUCULT obstacle on the course!

Obstacles Start - 0.15 mi of flat, open terrain

1- Leatherneck Welcome
5' Wall (x3) - each team member must navigate over

2- The Perfume River
Wall Climb with Rope - each team member must navigate creek and use ropes provided to exit creek

3, 4, and 5- Funchilin Pass

#3 Under Bar Slide (15' length, 8' high) - each team member jumps up and grabs the bar and slides down the bar feet first;

#4 Mud Hole (under logs - each team member crawls under the logs through the mud;

#5 Culverts - each team member crawls through the tunnel on hands and knees

6, 7 and 8- The Ho Chi Minh Trail

#6 Rope Swing - each team member runs up jumps to grab a rope and swings across the water to the other side

#7 Low Crawl under cammie net - each team member crawls on their chest underneath camouflage netting

#8 Wall Climb (15' height) - each team member climbs to the top of the wall and up and over then down the other side

9, 10, and 11- Bunker Hill

#9 Log Crossing - each team member walks the length of the log across the top of the pit to the other side without falling

#10 Mud Hole (over under logs) - each team member crawls through the logs alternating between going over and under the logs

#11 Rope Bridge - each team member crosses the pit by walking across the steel cable and not falling in

12- Mud Hole (over under logs)
Each team member crawls through the logs alternating between going over and under the logs

13- Parallel Bars (8' high)
Each team member grabs the bottom bar, pulls themselves up to the top bar must go over the top bar and lower themselves back down to the ground (Marines will direct maneuvering)

14- Monkey Bars
Each team member grabs each bar in their hands and swings from bar to bar without falling in the pit.

15- Rice Paddy With Logs
Each team member crawls under the logs from one end to the other

16- Parris Island Grinder
Each team member must pass over the top of each log

17- Parallel logs (3' high x 5)
Each team member must pass over the top of each log

18- Hamburger Hill
Triple Hills (10', 15', 20') - each team member runs over the top of each hill

19- Chosen Reservoir
Water Hole (10' deep, 48' long) - each team member jumps in to the water and swims to the opposite end and exits the pit (if you can't swim you may take a penalty of 1 min and walk around)

Enter Belleau Woods
20 and 21- Pusan Perimeter

#20 LAV Trench low crawl - each team member crawls under the LAV from one end to the other
#21 Z trench (2 lanes of mud) - each team member runs through the trench from one end to the other and climbs the hill at the end of the trench

22,23 and 24- Hellfire Valley

#22 Parallel logs (5' high x 5) - each team member must pass over the top of each log

#23 Cargo Net - ( 12') each team member must climb the net to the top and over climbing back down the other side.

#24 Mud hole (waist deep) - each team member must run through the pit

25, 26, and 27- DI'S DELIGHT

#25 Weaver- each team member crawls through the logs alternating between going over and under the logs without touching the ground

#26 10' Wall- each team member must get all members over the top of the wall and down the other side

#27 Mud Hole (under logs) - each team member crawls under the logs from one end to the other

28- Mt. Suribachi
Stairway to Heaven (15') - each team member climbs to the top of the wall, over, then down the other side

29, 30, and 31- Heartbreak Ridge

#29 Tire Flip - each team must move the tire by flipping it end over end the length of the obstacles

#30 Arm Walk - each team member must walk the length of the obstacle on their hands without falling or touching the ground

#31 Switch Backs - each team member must run the length of the obstacle back and forth across the top of the hill

32- Sandy Run
Stretcher Carry - (100 yards) 3 team members carry the 4th team member on stretcher across the finish line.

Here are a few pictures of us after the race. :0) We'll be back next year!

They handed out soap at the end of the race near the showers. :0)

Morris Island "Hunting" Trip

2010-09-30T16:32:00.000-04:00

A few weeks back we decided to be adventurous and do something we had yet to do here in the Charleston area. I found a guy online who has a little "boat tour" business on Trip Advisor. Not only was he listed on Trip Advisor but he was ranked #1 out of all #200 things to do and see in Charleston (Adventure Harbor Tours)! I figured it had to be good and I couldn't have been more RIGHT!!! We had a FANTASTIC time and it is actually one of the most memorable things we have done here to date. We met Captain Howie down at the marina in Charleston where the cruise ships dock. He took us (me, Scott, and the kids, and 2 of our friends) in his boat over to Morris Island (15-20 minute ride). He gave us a brief history of the island and some tips on locations to find shark teeth and big shells then turned us loose for 2 hours. We always heard of people finding shark teeth on the beaches but when you go to the popular beaches it is slim pickings and we've never actually found one. So, Easton was extremely excited of the good possibility to find one on non-populated Morris Island. The weather was great and we had tons of fun "hunting." It had been 2 hours before we knew it and not only did we find one shark tooth . . . we found 40!!! (see picture at bottom) We also found conch shells, sand dollars, sea glass, and petrified bones. I would HIGHLY recommend the outing if you are in the Charleston area! Here are some pics . . .

Columbia Zoo - Labor Day 2010

2010-09-20T14:19:00.000-04:00

For Labor Day we took the kids up to Columbia (1.5 hour drive) to the Riverbanks Zoo. We thought we would only be 3-4 hours and ended up taking 6!!! We all had a great time. It was fun to see Mia at a zoo now that she is a little older. She LOVED seeing the animals and especially liked the interactive parts. Mia fed some goats while her brother didn't dare to. She fed nectar to some Lorekeets and Easton wouldn't even hold the cup. :0) That's my girl! Love it!

Kayaking & 7 Years!

2010-09-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

I am behind on blogging but I'm going to try and catch up little by little as I can. Scott and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on September 4th. I don't know where those year went. It's wierd to think that we have now lived in South Carolina for just under half of our married lives. We are both hoping to get back to good ol' Utah as soon as possible.

To celebrate the day we went on a little kayaking trip on Folly Creek. Even though it was a busy Labor Day weekend it allowed us to escape the crowds and have some piece and quiet out in nature. Scott doesn't really have a good history with kayaks, or maybe just with me and kayaks together, but he "tamed the beast" and did really well. We saw all kinds of birds, a big 12 inch moon jellyfish, a gargantuan (sp?)bananna spider, and some dolphin. Let me also not forget about the swarm of mosquitos that tried to eat us alive. We got out of the kayaks and went to explore a little island and as soon as we stepped out of the breeze they attacked!

Here are a few pictures from the trip. I sure am a lucky girl to have Scott!

It's going to be a long school year!

2010-09-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

Upon reading this title you may think that there is something going on with Easton and school. Well, that is not the case. Easton LOVES school and can't wait to go each morning. This battle I am referring to is between ME and the school kids that gather each morning at 6:45 a.m. right in front of our house at the newly relocated bus stop!!!!

I'm not sure where the bus stop was last year but I have no clue why it had to be moved to our front yard of all the places in the neighborhood. This is pretty much how it works every morning. 5:50 - Scott gets up early and gets ready for work. This does not wake nor bother anyone in the house. 6:45 - I wake up to kids screaming outside. I go downstairs and look out the front window to find a bunch of the kids running around and goofing off. 6:50 - Mia and Easton wake up to the same sounds. 7:00 - The bus comes and the kids are gone for about 15 minutes until the older kids gather in the same place. Some people could be reading this and thinking 7:00 is sleeping in!!! Let me plead my case. At some point we were all in a spot where our kids did not have to wake up early for school and you were able to enjoy that time of getting a little more sleep and not having to wake up early when you don't have to. I am in that spot! I would like to be able to enjoy this last year of not waking up early when I don't have to. Is there anything wrong with that?

After the first few mornings I decided that I needed to go out and talk to them. I tried to do it nicely and explained that I have small children in the house that don't need to be woken up at 6:45 every morning. Most of them felt bad and apologized. They were nice and quiet until the bus came. BUT, kids are kids and the next day came and the same thing happened. Then there are kids that showed up that didn't get my talk the previous day. Grrr! My neighbor has been out there a few times to tell them to keep the noise down as well (I've been out many more times as well, including this morning) but I've come to the conclusion that there's just not much we can do about it and that I might as well just plan on all of us being up by 7:00. Anyone ever had this problem? My neighbor (who has 2 young kids as well) and I have talked about putting a sign up in our yard each night before we go to bed to remind the kids to be quiet. We laughed at our idea but maybe it would work???

Back to School

2010-08-26T11:15:00.000-04:00

Preschool started up again last Wednesday for Easton and I'm just getting around to posting a few pics. He is now going 4 days/week and absolutely loves it! He wakes up plenty early every morning because he is so excited to go to school. Each morning when Easton goes to get his backpack Mia goes and gets his old backpack from last year and has to take it with us too. It's pretty darn cute.

Along with getting back to school, Easton has had to get out of "summer-mode" of doing whatever, whenever. I found a great app for my phone (another one of the many reasons I love my iPhone) to help him do that. I knew we needed some kind of reward system to get him to work on doing certain things. He loves playing on my phone so I thought this would be perfect! It's called iReward Chart. Requires no creativeness on my part. :0) No stickers, no giving him money, etc. They can earn "stars" for the things that they do and then they "cash-in" the stars for rewards. You determine the tasks and the rewards and how many stars each reward costs. The app keeps track of everything. He now has to earn enough stars in order to watch tv or play a game on my phone, etc. This is also great to encourage certain habits like playing nicely with his sister, sharing, taking turns, finishing all of his meals, and putting his plate in the sink, etc. I highly recommend it!!!

What we've been up to!

2010-08-15T22:37:00.000-04:00

I've been procrastinating to sit down and blog. Life seems relatively boring now since returning from Utah. :0) We did have a great time and to say that the kids LOVED playing with their cousins 24/7 would be an understatement! It was so nice to be with family and see some different views and landscapes besides green trees. My heart jumped out of my chest as we flew into St. George and I got to see my favorite red rock!

There were 2 things, or changes that happened with the kids that started and Utah and we continue dealing with here:

Mia, at 22 months, decided that she wanted to start using the potty! She saw her cousin Saidee do it in Utah and started asking to go little by little. So, I had to break down and go buy teeny tiny underwear. I was not prepared for it at all. Easton did not potty train until he turned 3!!! When we got home we gave it a go and she did good for a bit and then not so good. My thoughts were to let her wait a little longer to develop a little more control BUT the second I decided to stop taking her to the potty she started asking to go again. I couldn't tell her no. So, we are back at it. She does well most of the time but I have reverted to switching between underwear and pull-ups (which I did not use with Easton) so that I don't have to clean up the occasional accident. Am I lazy???? :0) I will say though, little girl nderwear is cute and Mia loves wearing them.

Easton has developed this mild case of what I would probably call anxiety. All of the sudden he is "worried" about various things. For example, while in St. George he was worried that he was going to be shy in primary. What? I didn't think he even knew what "shy" meant. And why would a 4 year-old be worried about being shy? We had a very rare storm while in St. George and he was constantly worried that it was going to rain and thunder. He still does that here but I kind of know why on that one. When the storms roll through here (like they do just about every evening when it is so hot and humid like it is) the thunder and lightning is VERY extreme. The thunder literally shakes the house and the sound is like it's coming through a loud speaker right into your ear. It was scary to me at first but we've lived here for 3 years now. It's nothing new. Another of his favorites is that he is worried that he isn't going to get any sleep. It's lots of little things that don't really matter but telling him that it's okay or that he doesn't need to worry doesn't seem to help. I read an article online the other day that talked about making a "worry box" so when they are worried about something you write it down on a piece of paper and then put it in the box. And putting it in the box is supposed to be like giving your worry away. ????? Maybe it's worth a try. If anyone that has had experience with this and is by some miracle still reading, give me some advice would ya? I'm about to go crazy! :0)

On a better note, Easton goes back to preschool in just a few days and that will be very good for him. Scott has been working hard as usual and I have been on mom duty here at the house as well as beginning training for a century ride (100 miles) coming up at the beginning of October. Yahoo!

(Scott and the kids hunkered down during a storm. They were ready for a power outage, he he he.)

Co-ed Softball

2010-07-28T16:49:00.000-04:00

Since arriving in St. George I have been playing on my brother's co-ed softball team. It just so happens that my sister KayDee and her husband, and my sister Shelbee and 2 cousins also play on the team. I seriously had to blow the layers of dust off my mitt to bring it out of retirement. High school softball was one of my favorite sports but it has been YEARS since I have played. I was a little nervous the first game but then started to get more comfortable (despite a few minor injuries, he he he). I feel too old to be trying to play like I'm 16 again but it was so much fun! Last week was the season-end tournament. We won the first game, lost the second, and won the third (yes, that was 3 games in a row in the hundred degree weather). Since it was double-elimination, we were to return the following week (yesterday) to finish out tournament play. Because of our loss, we would be a the bottom of the bracket. This ultimately translates to if we won the first game we would play a second and if we won the second we would play a third. Then, if we would the third we would have to win that team a second time since they are in the winners bracket with no losses. That's 4 games in a row people!!! So what happened you ask? Well, we showed up to play and went clear to the bank! 4 games in a row . . . all won by 10 runs or more. It was awesome!!!! I really had a fun time playing and even more so playing with family and friends. We can't wait to be back home!!!!

We had to have a picture with Grandma Frei. She was our good luck charm and our main cheerleader!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!

2010-07-24T20:02:00.000-04:00

Today is a special day. It's not just the 24th of July, a Utah holiday celebrating the Mormon Pioneers entering the Salt Lake City Valley. It's also the birthday of a very sweet person. She's a beautiful brown haired and brown-eyed beauty. And she just happens to be my wife!

Jess -- I hope you have a happy birthday celebrating with your family today. I'm thinking of you and the kids. I love you guys!

There's no place like home!

2010-07-13T19:01:00.001-04:00

We have been in sunny St. George for the last 10 days and time has passed by SO quickly. It has been great to see all of our family and friends again. Unfortunately Scott only got to spend a week here with us but it sure was a fun one.

We arrived on July 3rd and got to celebrate the 4th of July with family, food, and fireworks. The following Monday we headed down to Las Vegas to see the Lion King at the Mandalay Bay. While kicking around we also went to the Shark Reef & Aquarium there and the Bodies display at the Luxor. We spent the night at the Wynn and headed home Tuesday.

Wednesday we we went up to our cabin in Kolob. I got to go last year when we were here but Scott had not been there since Easton was 3 months old. He was excited to go there again and relax a bit. The weather there is always dramatically cooler so it was also great to escape the heat.

Friday and Saturday we hung out with the rest of the family which also included taking a new family picture. I think Mia was 3 months old in the last one we had taken. It's always quite the orchestration with all the little kids but everyone was pretty cooperative for the most part.

We have 3 1/2 more weeks to soak it all in . . . then it's back to the Palmetto State!

Tri the Midlands

2010-07-02T09:52:00.000-04:00

Last week I did another sprint tri with the gang. We always have a blast! This course was in Columbia, the capital and armpit of SC. The course was very challenging with many climbs on both the bike and the run. We were all a little nervouse but came out victorious!

Backyard Birds

2010-06-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

This past month we have had the pleasure of watching a pair of beautiful cardinals add to their family. The female chose to build her nest in a crepe myrtle tree about 4 feet off the ground right in front of my kitchen window. It took her about 2-3 days to build the nest while the male watched nearby (hmmm?). When we returned from our Memorial Day weekend camping trip there was one egg in the nest and by the next day there were 2 more. We were so excited!! 2 of the eggs hatched after about 13 days and the 3rd one followed the next day (I guess there is always a runt in the family right?). I have never seen brand new baby birds so up-close before. It was so cool!!! We all loved watching them grow every day right before our eyes. We tried not to interfere much but I do admit to placing an umberella in the tree during a nasty thunder/rain storm and also to pushing the nest back up into the fork of the tree branch before the whole thing fell out with all the birdies in it. I could tell that the mama bird appreciated it. :0) She was very calm and got used to me being around snapping pictures. The daddy bird on the other hand was really jumpy. While he did help feed the babies everyday, he would fly away with the food for himself if he heard even one little noise out of the ordinary.

The babies were only in the nest for about 10 days before our backyard was converted into a "learn to fly zone" for the babies. One minute they were all in the nest and the next they were out on the branches and one had even left the "home tree" without me seeing. Once I caught on I spent the next 2 hours watching and taking pictures of the momentous event. They would attempt to fly from tree to tree in the backyard. The parents were right there the whole time. The daddy bird looked a little frantic by way of his actions. It reminded me of parents trying to keep track of their kids at Disneyland. :0) One little birdie did pretty well but the bird that was the last one out of the nest struggled a bit. He actually never made it out of the yard all day and ended up spending the night on top of a middle support board on the fence. By the next day they were all gone though I could still hear them calling to eachother in the woods behind our house. They have been gone for almost a week now and we miss them a lot. It's not as fun to do the dishes anymore. I stare out at the tree into an empty nest. Boohoo! I was fun while it lasted though!

Happy Father's Day Dad! - by Easton

2010-06-20T08:00:00.031-04:00

My mom told me that Father's Day is a day that we celebrate how cool our dads are. I love my dad because he loves me. We get to play Playstation a lot and he reads me books every night. He takes me to the library too. He goes to work every day so we can have a happy family. He always plays with me and pushes me in the swing on the swingset. He sings Old McDonals the way I like it. :0) My dad is the BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!!!

(Easton insisted on typing) 554f7643cvbc xxc ncmxbxc bxcbxcvbcxvbxcx xb xsbcxxhcvdcx vc cxv dcgsdfcvvfvcv xvcxc cx xccxc mjcv cmvmccv vbnvxnbxcvnvcxnmbv bvvc bcv bvcbv xbmvxcbcvmbxcbnvbcbncvxbnvbmcvbvcxccxb.

I LOVE YOU! AND MIA DOES TOO! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

EASTON

Lowcountry Splash

2010-06-10T15:39:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday I was one of 450 swimmers in the Lowcountry Splash. It was seriously one of the coolest events I've ever participated in. It's a 2.4 mile swim in the Cooper River that goes under the Ravanel Bridge and right in front of the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point. We made sure to swim backstroke under the bridge to take in the view and Scott and the kids watched me swim by from the flight deck of the Yorktown. I even stopped to wave at them. Very cool! I was in the water for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The current didn't really help much and once we got to the bridge the water got really rough. The newspaper reported that there were one to three foot waves out there. The race director said that day we had the toughest conditions ever for that event that day. Good thing we didn't know any better. LOL! There were also a few times that I freaked myself out because of "things" swimming underneath me (i.e. dolphin, shark, rays) but I made it through okay. :0) Can't wait to do it again next year! Here are a few pics.

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-06-09T08:14:00.000-04:00

The List (Publix):
4 boxes Cheerios
4 bottles Mott's Medeley's Juice
2 bottles Hellmanns Easy-out Mayo
2 pkg. Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches (Awesome deal on the skinny cow stuff - only 50 cents each!)
4 boxes Skinny Cow Ice Cream Truffle Bars
2 Edward's Singles Pie Slices

Total Paid: $5.46
Total Saved: $67.04 (92% Savings)

Memorial Weekend

2010-06-03T15:36:00.000-04:00

For Memorial weekend we went on our annual camping trip. This year we got a little more adventurous and travelled further north (3.5 hours worth) to the "upstate" of South Carolina near the N. Carolina border . . . the land of lots of green and waterfalls. It was absolutely beautiful up there! It felt like we were closer to home being in the mountains. Wish that were the case! :0) Though we had to deal with some rain, overall we had a great time. We camped at Table Rock State Park and enjoyed visiting Devil's Fork (Lake Jocassee) and Keeowee-Toxaway. We hiked Station Cove Falls, Isaqueena Falls, Stumphouse Tunnel, Carrick Creek, and visited the Oconee Station Historic Site. We got to make the trip with our friends the Hardy's so the kids enjoyed playing together and we enjoyed the adult company. I thought that we would get our "fill" by going once but I already can't wait to go back. Here are a couple of pics.

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-05-26T14:37:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've done one of these so for old times sake, here's today great buys from Publix.

The List:
3 boxes Capri Sun drinks
2 tubs Helluva Good! dip
2 bottles Lawry's 30 min. marinade
1 carton Trop50 OJ
4 okg. Osacar Meyer lunch meat
8 boxes Nabisco 100 calorie packs
5 pkg. Oscar Meyer hot dogs
3 boxes Oreo Cakesters
1 box Oreo Fudge Cremes

Total Paid: $9.12
Total Saved: $81.41 (90% Savings)

Happy Birthday Easton!!!

2010-05-17T10:44:00.001-04:00

My big boy has officially turned the ripe old age of 4!!!! Easton continues to be a fun-loving imaginative kid who enjoys tormenting his little sister among other things. He had a birthday party on Saturday and his birthday was yesterday so we have really been celebrating all weekend long. :0)

This year Easton requested a Spongbob cake and birthday party so that is what he got. Spongebob isn't my very favorite but I was just excited not to have to make another pirate ship birthday cake. LOL! Rather than attempt a Spongebob cake on my own, I enlisted the expertise of a lady in our ward who is a pro a cakes, pastries, and all food in general. I learned all about fondant and icing. My favorite was a new trick that makes frosting the cake so much easier called "crumbing the cake." So simple but the thought had never crossed my mind. Thank you so much April!Here are a few pics of the finished product.

At the party Scott put on a pirate hat and eye patch (he even blacked out a tooth) and did the opening song from all the Spongebob episodes. He had us all laughing because he came up with that all on his own without any prompting from me. :0) The kids caught jellyfish at "Jellyfish Fields," had to help Spongebob get out of a pickle in "Bikini Bottom" (pinata), and went on a treasure hunt collecting pieces of a map. They found all kinds of goodies along the way and then enjoyed some cake. Easton had a great time and can't stop talking about his party. Thanks to all of those who came and to everyone who made his birthday a memorable one!

Silly Frog!

2010-05-03T10:07:00.001-04:00

A few days ago I was reminded of a silly South Carolina Frog Phenomenon (maybe it's not just in the south but we'll pretend it's so for this post). I just got home from swimming. Scott and the kids came out to welcome me home. My friend Alice drove that day. When she went to pull out I noticed there was a big frog in the road. I just hate seeing squished frogs in the road (which is NO rare occurance here - especially after a good rain storm) so I had her wait while I tried to shew it off the road. I hesitate picking them up because you just never know where they have been or what they are going to do, though they are probably as harmless as a fly. The first couple of times I tapped its rear it jumped, making it's way off the road. Then we came to the gutter. I was having a hard time getting him over the gutter because he went into "play dead mode." I've never seen a frog do this before. It completely freezes up and plays dead. You can do anything to it and it WILL NOT move. It's hillarious! After about 2 minutes of this frog rolling up and down the gutter like a little ball I finally got him onto the grass. Phew! Safe and sound . . . . . until Mia decides to make a b-line for the front door and steps right on top of the frog! Here I went to all that work to save him from the perils of an SUV tire and here Mia goes and steps on the thing in the grass. Luckily she doesn't weigh as much as an SUV and didn't do any damage. :0)

Picking Strawberries

2010-04-28T12:40:00.001-04:00

It has become a fun tradition each year to go pick strawberries in the spring at the U-pick fields here in Summerville. Easton always has a blast and this year Mia got to get in on the action. I had to just sit back and chuckle as I watched her because she would squeeze the strawberry so hard when she tried to pick it that she got juice all over in her hand. Then she thought that she needed to take a bite out of each one that she picked (even the ones I picked too)! By the time we were ready to go home they were both a complete mess. I think I had to use half a bottle of Shout on their clothes to get all the red strawberry juice out. Good times though! We now have another year's worth of strawberry jam in the freezer. Here are a few pics.

A Fun Weekend

2010-04-19T13:30:00.000-04:00

We just enjoyed a great weekend! Friday we packed up and headed out to the beach for a few hours. Mia didn't like the beach much last year but she LOVES it now. Her favorite things to do are scoop sand to fill her bucket and chase the seagulls. She enjoyed finding sea shells as well but it got a little old when she would stop to pick up EVERY SINGLE shell. That is a lot of stopping . . . or should I say, not moving at all. Easton made a new friend named Jack. I got talking to Jack's mom and sister and come to find out, his sister is Ashely Caldwell of the women's US Ski Team. She was the youngest (at 16 yrs. old) on the team and is an aerialist. I remember seeing her compete. It was her first Olympics. Pretty cool! Here are a few pics from my phone. I hauled my camera out there only to have a problem with the card that was in it and not able to use it.

After the beach we headed across the river to Scott's work to watch the Blue Angels fly. Typically there is an air show held at the base but it was cancelled due to increased air lift operations for Afghanistan. So, they flew over Charleston Harbor instead and I must say the scenery made it even more stunning. I love watching flight demonstrations, especially the Blue Angels. It just blows my mind how closely they fly together and in sync. Here are a few pics from that as well.

On Saturday we spent most of the day working on a service project that our ward was doing for the Southeast Region Day of Service. We powerwashed the Summerville Miracle League baseball field, layed pavers to make the patio/bleacher area larger, made picnic talbes and cemented them in place, and planted flowers. There was also some work done at the Children's Crisis Center. A busy day for a worthwhile cause and a wonderful weekend!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2010-04-18T21:03:00.000-04:00

Today is my mother's 61st birthday. What can you possibly buy for your mother that has everything she needs? The answer . . . . nothing. If I could wrap my kids up and send them to her in the mail, that would make her the happiest. To have all of her grandkids right there with her. (It might make her a little nuts too. :0)

I didn't send a birthday card in the mail because I thought that a blog post dedicated just to my mom would be better. In case you didn't know, I have the BEST MOM EVER!!!! And, now that I have been a mother myself for almost 4 years, I can say that with even more conviction. It's tough stuff and a tall order to fill. My mother has many names. . . . Mom, Dee, Mama Dee, Taxi, Landlady, Mrs. Fix It, Doctor, Banker, and Chef. She is always VERY busy bustling around doing things, and mostly things for someone other than herself. My mom will do ANYTHING thing for her kids. When you need her she is there, no matter where you live or what you are doing. She has spent a countless many of hours doing many things with/for me over the years . . . . like shooting 5 million free throws to get me good enough to go to the nationals in the Hoop Shoot, bribing me with a ferret (I really wanted to have one as a pet) to get me to try out for the "rival" high school's softball team while I was still in 9th grade, collecting bugs for a science project, retrieving javelin after javelin in "after hours" practice so that I could throw javelin and play softball in the same season, shopping for prom dresses, doing projects for my YW Recognition award, taking time out for a girl's trip to England, sending package after package to me while serving a mission in Japan, leaving my dad in the hospital and driving for hours to witness the birth of her first grandson, mailing coupons to me every single week. . . . . I could go on and on.

Since we have been living in SC and have been without our families, I have realized how much my mom did for me and how much I needed and depended on her . . . and still do! There is just something about your own mother that in and of itself makes you feel comforted and safe. I have not enjoyed being without mine over the past few years. :0(

Mom, I love you and miss you! I wish we could all be there to celebrate your birthday with you. You are a wonderful woman and mother! I would be one lucky girl if I could grow up to be just like you.

Easter . . . a little late

2010-04-14T22:46:00.001-04:00

We had a fun Easter weekend. Unfortunately we didn't get around to coloring eggs until Sunday but since it was General Conference we had all kinds of time. The kids enjoyed thier Easter baskets and their little egg hunt in the backyard. Mia had a blast and was a much better "egg hunter" than Easton was at that age. :0) It was also around Easter weekend that Mia and I had this exchange . . . . (but let me preface this with the fact that up until then she has always been ready and willing to go get a diaper for me) . . . . .

Me: Mia, go get a diaper please.
Mia: Why?
Me: Because I said so, that's why. Now go get it.
Mia: No!

Yes, my almost 18 month old daughter is now fluent with the use of the word "no." Most of the time she will say it nicely but occasionally she will yell it. Just like the rest of us.
Also, you may remember a recent post where I said Easton has been calling me all kinds of names (not in a bad way) from various movies. Well, the new one as of late caught me by surprise and it was so good that I laughed out loud.

Me: Easton, come here and let me brush the grass off your clothes.
Easton: Yes Fairy Godmother!

I love my kids! Here are some pics from Easter.

WOWZERS!! WEDNESDAY

2010-04-14T10:14:00.000-04:00

The List (Publix):

2 bottles Cascade Gel

2 packs Cascade Action Packs

4 cans Scrubbing Bubbles

4 boxes Orville Redenbacher Microwave Popcorn

1 can Planters Nut-Rition Nuts

9 bottles Dentyne Gum

Total Paid: $2.94

Total Saved: $77.40 (96%)

WOWZERS WEDNESDAY!!! on Tuesday

2010-04-06T22:36:00.000-04:00

I haven't done many WOWZERS WEDNESDAYS!!! lately because I've just been too busy and there's been too many good deals (like 9 bottles of Dawn dish soap for $1.50). So to end a long drought, here's my Publix trip from yesterday when the new sale started.

The List:

7 boxes Betty Crocker Supreme Brownie Mix

2 boxes Golden Grahams

3 boxes Reese's Puffs

1 pk. Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt

1 gallon milk

2 bottles Suave shampoo

2 bottles Soft Scrub Gel

4 bottles Lysol Disinfectant All-Purpose Cleaner

3 bottles Dial Foaming Hand Soap

Total Paid: $9.90

Total Saved: $63.80 (87% savings)

Observations

2010-04-03T08:05:00.000-04:00

** About this time of year there is a big "yellow cloud" that sets in over the lowcountry. What is this yellow cloud you may ask? Well, it's pollen. Yucky, yellow, make my allergies flare up, POLLEN!!!! We have to endure a few weeks of misery before this goes away and my olfactory system gets back to normal. It's pretty bad when your 2 year old can run around with a big dirty diaper and I can't even smell it!

** Too much Princess and the Frog can be detrimental. Lately Easton has been calling me Mama Odie.

** I've taken the last 2 weeks off from training due to sickness roaming the family ranks as well as having too much to get done. While it has been nice not having to worry about getting a workout in, I've noticed that my mental health has greatly declined. Note to self: 2 weeks off is too long!

** As a mother I clean up messes all the time . . . all sorts of them. Throw up just flat out grosses me out! I must immediately turn off my nose in order to prevent myself from adding to the pile. I'd take a blow-out diaper any day over throw up.

Catching Up

2010-03-24T21:49:00.000-04:00

I admit, the blog has been neglected lately. So many other things to do . . . . not enough time in the day. :0) In an attempt to get caught up I'm going to share some of the noteworthy things I had made a mental note to blog about.

Parris Island Triathlon
This past Saturday I participated in the Parris Island Triathlon in Beaufort, SC. It is held on the US Marine Corps Training Base and is always a pretty cool venue (except for when you get held up during the race by a platoon formation). I was fortunate enough to have Scott and the kids there as well as be participating with some awesome buddies from Summerville who I've been training with for the past few months. The weather was awesomely cooperative. We all got a little sunburned. Gotta love it. I took 3rd in my division with the following splits:
500 meter swim (11:37)
T1 (1:42)
10+ mile bike (35:51)
T2 (1:03)
5K run (27:45)
Total Time: 1:17:57

Photography Blog . . . . New Look!

I now have a fun new look on my Photography Blog. Spring is here and it's a great time to have some outdoor photos taken. Visit me at the blog or even Facebook. Make sure you become a fan!

Out of the Mouth of Easton

Lately Easton has said a number of things that have just made me laugh:

Easton: "Mom, I don't know why I keep coughing!??? Maybe I ate a beatle."

Easton: "Mom these are my bug bites (pointing to his chest - I know, nice terminology huh?)."

Me: "Yup."

Easton: (reaching over and patting me) "And you have big bug bites huh mom?" :0)

Today we were dusting the furniture in my room and Easton pointed to a picture of Scott on my nightstand. It was an engagement-type pic but he was wearing his tux.

Easton: "This is daddy when you were married huh mom?"

Me: "Yes, that's right."

Easton: "But mom, I'm not married to Loreli yet (his girlfriend next door)."

Me: "Nope, you don't get married until you get older . . . and after you go on a mission."

Easton: "Oh, and then when I get back I can marry Loreli?"

YIKES!!!!! Already at age 3

Edy's . . . . Where have you been all my life???

2010-03-11T14:57:00.000-05:00

Ever since I got into couponing I have opted to stray from my usual preferred-brand grocery purchases and try out some other brands all in the name of saving money. So far I've never been disappointed and yesterday was no different. Our Publix put the Edy's All-Natural Fruit Bars on sale Buy On Get On Free for $3.99. Why had I never tried these before??? Well, I'm not going to pay $4 for a box of 6 fruit bars. Too expensive. Anyway, Walgreens had a $1 off coupon for these. Being the true couponer that I am, I bought 8 boxes of these fruit bars, used 8 Walgreens coupons and a $3 off a $15 purchase Rite Aid coupon and only paid $5.01 for all 8 boxes!!!! After I got them home I thought that I probably should have only bought a box or two to make sure I liked them before stocking up. :0) Too late!

That afternoon Easton and a friend were outside playing and asked for a popsicle. So as I got into the freezer to get them a popsicle I thought that it would be an opportune time to try an Edy's fruit bar. Naturally, I was drawn to the coconut flavor. I LOVE coconut!!!! If everything tasted like coconut I would consider myself in heaven. So, I opened it up and tried one. HOLY COW!!!! This was SO GOOD words cannot even describe. The whole time I ate it I couldn't help but wonder where these little treasures have been all my life? Now that we've met, we're best friends forever. If you like coconut, do yourself a favor and rush to the store and buy some of these babies. Plus, they only have 3 grams of fat and 120 calories, a much better alternative to ice cream. :0)

Gotta love these faces!

2010-03-09T23:50:00.000-05:00

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-03-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

I was so busy snatching up the deals yesterday that I didn't have time to get my post done. There have been some good ones recently. :0)

The List (Publix):

8 boxes Dreamfield Pasta

2 boxes Pedialyte singles

3 Mentos Gum

1 gal milk

Total Paid: $5.60

Total Saved: $26.50 (83% savings)

The List (Publix):

13 tubes Crest toothpaste (won't need any more of this for 2 years!!!)

Total Paid: $2.72

Total Saved: $32.25 (92% savings)

The List (Publix):
6 boxes Band Aid character band aids
1 Oral B Stages toothbrush
1 bottle Crest Kids toothpaste

Total Paid: $1.00
Total Saved: $22.60 (96% savings)

The List (Walgreens):
22 botles Purex laundry detergent (32 load size)

Total Paid: $4.62
Total Saved: $131.78 (97% savings)

Adoption

2010-03-03T12:44:00.000-05:00

We met and made some very wonderful friends while living in Kearns, UT. One of these couples, Liz and Dallin Rushton, are some of the funnest and kindest people we know. They have a son named Alex. Alex came to them through the miracle of adoption and we were lucky enough to be there through that whole process. It really is incredible! I believe that our Father in Heaven has a hand in all that happens through adoption. The reason I bring all this up is that Liz and Dallin would love to add another child to their family and currently have a profile through LDS Family Services. If you know of anyone looking for a WONDERFUL family to adopt their child please pass on the word (click on the button below to see their profile).

Couponing Conundrum Part 4: How to find the deals (and not just groceries)

2010-03-01T06:30:00.009-05:00

Fortunately in the couponing world there are TONS of super nice people that put in a lot of work & effort to discover good deals, match up coupons and turn around and put all that info on their blogs to share with us. It makes couponing and deal finding SO much easier! I have a list of blogs/websites that I check daily for freebies and deals (not just groceries). Feel free to check these out for yourselves and add them to your blog roll to stay on top of the action. :0) Most of these sites have previews of the new sales before they even start so you can get your coupons together before hand and plan out your "deal getting" route.

All things Publix: I Heart Publix

All things Target: Totally Target
This lady is GREAT! If there is a new item marked down or marked for clearance, new gift card deals, sales, etc. She'll tell you about it as soon as it happens.

Other Stores & Random Deals (including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart, etc.):
I Heart Saving Money
Hip 2 Save
Money Saving Mom
A Few Shortcuts
Faithfully Frugal & Free
For the Mamas
** These site will also post any "online deals" from many different places . . . children's clothing stores, toy stores, department stores, etc. This is also a great place to find out about various sweepstakes you can enter and all the different manufacturer mail in rebates. I'm typically skeptical about those giveaways thinking that nobody actually ever wins but a few months ago a lady and acquaintance in my neighborhood won $10,000 from a sweepstakes at our local Publix store (she could choose between the cash or a dream superbowl vacation)!!!!

If there is a "Freebie" of any kind it can usually be found here: The Freebie Blogger

In case you missed the first 3 posts on couponing you can find them here:
Part 1: Supermarket Savings
Part 2: Where do I get coupons?
Part 3: How do I use my coupons?

What a Character!

2010-02-25T13:43:00.005-05:00

Though it is apparent that Easton looks more like me than he does Scott, he is COMPLETELY like Scott when it comes to his nature, temperament, and most of all . . . imagination.

Lately he was introduced to the Ghostbusters while over at our friends house during the power outage. They were playing Ghostbusters on the Wii and he was totally enthralled with it. At some point Scott mentioned to Easton that there was a Ghostbusters movie so naturally, he asked to watch it. About a week or two ago I finally gave in and let him watch it. I don't even remember the last time I saw it, easily over 10 years ago though. Easton watched it and was hooked! He wanted to watch it again and again, and would run around the house talking to himself about Ghostbusters. Today while we were eating lunch Easton thought he would enlighten me about it.

Easton: Mom, the Ghostbusters are Ray and Peter, and I forgot the other guys name.

Me: Oh, that's good. I don't know the other guys name either.

Easton: They run around with guns and catch the ghosts. And there is a ghost named Slimer. He "slimes" Ray.

Me: Oh, cool.

Easton: And the boyfriend is the Key Master and the girlfriend is that Gate Keeper.

Me: Oh boy, looks like you've seen too much Ghostbusters. :0)

Easton really does have a funny imagination. At night when he goes to bed he and Scott read books and usually tell stories. This is where he gets all his practice. Easton can usually spend a few minutes telling a story now. One of his favorites is "Dave the Unicorn." On nights when he chooses me to put him to bed (which is rare) he gets upset that we can't do stories because I'm just not any good at that.

Speaking of bedtime, Easton also likes to sing songs. First he has to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and then Old McDonald. Easton's version of Old McDonald starts out normal (with a cow) but then it goes a little askew. Old McDonald usually ends up having a wrom, a spider, a snake, a lizard, then a pig. And he has distinct little noises he makes for each one that is just hillarious. If you feel like a laugh, I'v included a short audio clip of Easton singin Old McDonald.

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-02-24T08:42:00.001-05:00

The List (Target - 2 transactions):

5 boxes Special K Fruit Crisps (Earned $5 Gift Card w/ purchase of 5)

*5 - $1/1 Special K product Target Q's

*4 - $1/1 Special K Fruit Crisps MQ's

*1 - $.75/1 Special K Fruit Crisp MQ

5 boxes Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs (Earned $5 Gift Card w/ purchase of 5)

*2 - $1/2 Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs Target Q's

*2 - $1/2 Nabisco Cookies or Crackers MQ's

*1 - $5 Target Gift Card (earned in previous transaction)

Total Paid: $2.40 (after gift cards)

Total Saved: $23.75 (90% Savings)

The List (Walgreens - 4 transactions):

2 Venus Embrace Razor System (Earned $8 in Register Rewards)

*2 - $2 off Venus Embrace Razor

*2 - FREE Olay Body Wash w/purchase of Venus Embrace Razor

2 bottles Olay Body Wash

1 Venus Spa Razor System (Earned $4 in Register REwards)

*1 - $2 off Venus Spa Razor

*1 - FREE Olay Body Wash w/purchase of Venus Embrace Razor

1 bottle Olay Body Wash

4 pkgs. Trident Layers Gum

*4 - $1/1 Trident Layers MQ's

2 Easter Pails

2 pkg. Easter Grass

2 Singing Easter Toothbrushes (the kids loved these at Christmas time!)

*$12 in above earned Register Rewards

Total Paid (after Olay $15 MIR): $13.91

Total Saved: $69.37 (83% Savings)

Honest Scrap

2010-02-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

I got this award from my friend Angie. You have to tell 10 honest things about yourself and then award 4 others with the award. I have really enjoyed reading these on many friends blogs. I've pondered on this for a while and here's what I've come up with.

1- I recently re-injured my back and am completely terrified that I will not be able to do much this year with triathlon or any training endeavors for that matter. The best thing to do would be to take a break and let it heal properly again. But I just don't know if I can do that. I'm too competitive. :0)

2- I consider myself a "jack of all trades" and master of none. I am extremely grateful for my know-how but it drives me nuts that I can't be really good at any ONE thing.

3- I can think of a million things I would rather do than sit down and read a book.

4- When I was younger (maybe sometime during middleschool) I made a "goal" book for myself. I spent months cutting pictures out of magazines that represented all of the things that I wanted to do in life. Now at the ripe old age of 30 I can say that I still have my book and I have accomplished all but 2 of the things in it. One of those things is to travel to Africa (there is still hope for that one), and the other was to be an Olympic athlete. My time is far spent for this but I reflect on that old dream every time the Olympics roll around and know that I made the right decision to focus on school and serving a mission while in college. I think I would have made a great olympic javelin thrower!

5- I love reality TV. The shows on my line up are Survivor, Amazing Race,Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, Apprentice and I'm sure there are a few more. I recently checked out the new Undercover Boss and found it intriguing as well. From this large list it would sound like I watch TV a lot but I don't. These shows are all set on the DVR and I watch them in half the time by skipping commercials and doing it after the kids go to bed. I think the thing that is so exciting about most of these shows (the adventure ones at least) is that I get to live vicariously through watching. I would love to be on the Amazing Race!!!

6- Very few people know that I used to play the accordion when I was younger (for quite a few years). To be honest, I would still enjoy playing right now if I had it with me in SC and had the time to practice and work on it again. I think the last time I pulled it out of it's case was 3 years ago and I actually broke the hand strap on it.

7- Coupons and coupon booklets from ANY store are like GOLD to me (as my local Publix will accept coupons for other stores). I have been known to visit recycling dumpsters in search of these treasures. I also carry a very large purse in case I find some good booklets and need to take a few extra. :0)

8- If wishes were fishes we would move back to Utah tomorrow. We have loved our experience in SC and have made some wonderful life-long friends. But the bottom line is, we miss our family and friends in Utah and Utah is a MUCH better place to raise a family.

9- I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom and wife! It blows my mind everyday how my two little ones are so much like Scott and I yet have thier own little personalities as well. They are so much fun at this age even though they know just how to push my buttons.

10- About the afore mentioned "button pushing," I think my new calling in the primary is for me to learn to be more patient. I have the 5 year-old kids and there are 10, that's right, TEN kids in my class. I am the only teacher.

I now pass this onto my hubby Scott, my friend Alice who won't have any trouble being honest, my friend Erin who has a great whitty way of writing, and my sister KayDee who probably won't read this. I'm going to have to tell her. :0)

My Valentine

2010-02-15T09:08:00.000-05:00

We had a fun and eventful Valentine's weekend. My sweet husband did all sorts of nice things for me that he does on a regular basis. I feel special all year-round! He even got me some roses this year . . . something he has not done since we were engaged. :0) Love you honey! I was thinking about getting him one of those boquets from Edible Arrangements but I couldn't come to grips with spending that much money. So what is a girl to do? Make your own of course! For my first one it didn't turn out so bad. There were more things that were part of the master plan but I only had a small window of time in which to get it made. Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day and got to spend time with your family!

Our crazy weekend!

2010-02-14T21:09:00.000-05:00

Most of the states in the US had some sort of storm/snow over the weekend. South Carolina was not excluded from this and received it's first snow storm in the past 10 years (our small town of Summerville ended up getting over 8 inches)!

Snow is a big deal for people here as they hardly ever see it. During the day on Friday people flocked to the stores to stock up on groceries and other items, much like they do right before a hurricane makes landfall. I got a good laugh out of it for 2 reasons; one, I'm from Utah and the thought of a few inches of snow didn't scare me at all, and 2, I'm LDS and have been taught to always be prepared for emergencies (i.e. food storage, etc.). It started snowing Friday evening. Scott and I actually got a babysitter and had planned to go see a movie. There wasn't much accumulation as we headed out (as seen here)

but once we got out of the movie around 9:30 there was a good 3+ inches on the ground. On our way home we saw numerous cars that had slid off the road and into the massive ditches that line the sides of most streets. It continued to snow all night and we eventually lost power a little before midnight. Morning came and it looked like this . . . .

we cooked breakfast on our butane camp stove, went out and played in the snow, drank hot chocolate, and come 2:00 p.m. still had no power. Since we don't have a fireplace to help with warmth, we headed down to our friend's house who, by some miracle, still had power. They were gracious enough to feed us lunch and let us hang out there.

Dinner time rolled around and we still had NO power. We were fed again and started to make plans for a possible "air matress" camp out in our friend's family room. At that point it finally dawned on me why I had seen people in such a panic . . . they weren't afraid of the storm itself, they were afraid of how long it would take the SUPER SLOW electrical company to fix all the problems that the storm caused. To our surprise, the power came back on just before 8:00 p.m. and we were able to spend the night in our own beds. :0) Here are a few pics of the Saturday snow fun.

12 on 12

2010-02-12T15:42:00.002-05:00

Instead of taking on a massive photography project like the 365, I've decided to do the 12 on 12 that I have heard of on a few different blogs. It is where you take 12 pictures on the 12th day Though I've decided to take them on the 11th) of each month and throw them all together. I figured this would help me to better document the day to day things and happenings that I tend to bypass and forget. So, here's February.

Easton terrorized his sister by pushing her around in a laundry basket like a lunatic, did some cleaning, and playing, and got a surprise in our family Valentine's mailbox. :0)

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-02-11T11:33:00.000-05:00

The List: (Publix)

4 pkg. Knox Gelatin

2 bottles (24 oz.) Kraft Dressing

3 tubs Sara Lee Cheesecake Bites

1 pkg. night light replacement bulbs

2 pkg. Chips Ahoy cookies

11 bags Fisher Fusions (trail mix)

Total Paid: $1.52

Total Saved: $54.45 (97% savings)

The List (Target):
15 tubs Quaker Oatmeal Express
4 Hasbro Monopoly Deal games
4 Hasbro Scrabble Slam games

Total Paid: $6.62
Total Saved: $47.30 (88% savings)

A Mexican Vacation

2010-02-05T11:28:00.002-05:00

Wow, where to start! We had a wonderful week in Mexico (Playa del Carmen - 40 miles South of Cancun)! We were all so excited to escape the cold and spend time with family who we haven't seen for 6 months.

Besides hanging out at our awesome resort and playing on the beach we got to visit some fun places and participate in some cool activities.

* Scott and I attempted to get in a day of scuba diving in Cozumel but when we got over there we found out the wind was so strong that they were not allowing scuba boats out. We had to settle for a shore dive at Paradise Reef. It was fun to be under the water again! Also got to play with my dad's new toy - a digital camera that could go underwater WITHOUT a waterproof housing. It is supposed to be good to 30 feet but we discovered it worked just fine from 40 to 90 feet as well.

* One of the days my dad, Scott, and I hit up on the Myan ruins of Chichen-Itza and Ek Balam with an LDS Tour Guide (my wonderful mother watched the kids). We've been to most of the ruins in the Yucatan Penninsula, and even to one in Guatemala, but having everything put into an LDS perspective made this day trip VERY cool and interesting.

* Swam with the dolphins at Puerto Aventuras. This was Easton's first experience with the dolphins and once we actually got in the water he had a bit of a freak-out as I predicted he would. :0) We were able to get him calmed down and convinced him that the dolphins were nice. He was smiling and having fun by the time it was all said and done.

* Scott and I visited a fairly new place called Xplor. Again, a big thanks to mom and dad for watching the kids! This place was a BLAST! It has nearly 2 miles of zip-lines. On the course there are 11 zip lines, 2 suspension bridges, a water slide, and 3 water landings off the zip line. They also had rafts that you could paddle through the underground cave systems in the water, as well as swim through the caves. The 4th activity was driving Rhino-like ATV's (they called them Amphibious vehicles) out through the jungle, across bridges and down into caves, etc.. To top it all off, the park entrance fee included an awesome buffet for lunch!

* The day before going home we spent all day out at the pool and beach. We all got a bit of a sunburn to prove that we were there and Easton finally decided (go figure - on the last day) that he wasn't going to die if he put his head under the water and tried to swim. Once he figured out he could do it, he didn't want to stop. Mia took a liking to the water as well. For some reason she got a kick out of stepping off the edge of the pool and going underwater until I pulled her up. Not once did she suck in water. I was pretty surprised. This was her favorite thing to do second to chasing the big black birds all around. Scott's mom and dad even met up with us on that day and we all went to dinner that evening.

It was a fun week! Easton is probably going to have quesadillas growing out of his ears soon and I've got to work on that 5 lbs. of guacamole weight that I put on. He he he. We also learned that a mild tranquilizer would be great for Mia the next time we fly with her. That girl refused to sit still! :0)

Enjoying Mexico!

2010-01-24T21:52:00.000-05:00

We are here in Mexico for some fun in the sun for the next week with my parents. There will be some AWESOME pictures to be seen once we are back! :0) Diving in Cozumel tomorrow.

Are you serious???

2010-01-23T00:27:00.000-05:00

The other day Easton and I were outside doing some yardwork because it was a nice and toasty 68 degrees. Back in the spring I had planted 2 potato vines and a petunia in a planter pot in the front yard. For a while there, while the potato vines were still small, the petunia did wonderful and looked great. But then those vines started to double in size every other day or so until they covered a third of our flower bed in the front. I cut them back often (a haircut of sorts) to keep them under control. At one point someone pointed out that by cutting them back I was making them grow more. ????? Anyway, we survived the growing season and they finally died off last month. The pot looked pretty ugly with a bunch of brown growth coming out of it so I decided to pull it out and clean up the pot. To my surprise and amazement, underneath the soil in the pot, we found a bunch of big "potato-like" bulb things. One of them was huge, about the size of a cantaloupe. I couldn't believe it! Since it is called a potato vine does that mean that potatoes will grow from it down underneath the soil? Was this some tidbit of common knowledge that I somehow missed out on learning? I was totally surprised. I'm sure there is someone sitting in Idaho right now laughing at me but I serioulsy didn't know. My neighbor came over to see them and then asked if I was going to cook them and eat them. Are you serious???? I don't think so!

Changing of the Guard

2010-01-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

We've had a little "changing of the guard" at our house this past week (or two). Two weeks ago Scott was called as the new Young Men's president in our ward. I remained Young Women's president for another week before I was released. It was a super sad moment. We were excited for minute thinking that we would end up with callings that were not so "involved" so that we would have more time together as a family but Scott's new calling ruined it. :0) I will get to be the CTR 6 teacher in Primary beginning in February. Though I've never been in primary and am a little worried about my patience levels, I think it will be a good change.

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-01-20T21:35:00.001-05:00

The List (Target):

16 bottles All 3x laundry detergent (32 load)

2 bottles Nivea Body Wash

Total Paid: $19.56

Total Saved: $72.27 (79% savings)

The List (Publix):

2 bottles Scooby-Doo One A Day gummie vitamins
2 bottles Flinstone vitamins
2 rolls Johnson & Johnson First Aid tape
2 boxes Quaker Instant Oatmeal
4 bottles Aunt Jemima Syrup
1/2 gal. chocolate milk
10 packs Dole Fruit Cups
2 dozen Egglands Best large eggs

Total Paid: $21.39
Total Saved: $66.51 (76% savings)

Couponing Conundrum Part 3: How do I use my coupons? (i.e. Store Policies)

2010-01-20T08:25:00.001-05:00

Every chain of stores has differing policies on what types and how many coupons they will allow you to use. Even various stores of the same name can have different rules so the best way to know for sure what your store's couponing policy is to ASK THEM, prefferably a manager. :0) This will save you from embarrasment when you have a cart (or buggy, if you are Southern) full of groceries thinking you can use certain coupons and come to find that you cannot. It also pays to know the policy because some store employees don't even know so they will just tell you that you cannot use certain coupons because they are lazy.

Before we get too much further into this you should know that there are 3 basic types of coupons: manufacturer coupons (MQ), store coupons, and competitor coupons (a store coupon for use at a store OTHER THAN the store you are shopping at).

As I stated earlier, the best way to find out about policy is to ask but here is a little compilation of information to give you an idea (all information was found on each store's website). I would also love for anyone else reading this who has more or added information on certain store policies (especially those in Utah) to leave it in the comments here and I will update the post with everyone's input.

“Wal-Mart Stores can accept coupons that are available on the Internet for customers to print from their home computers. The following are guidelines for the stores for accepting Internet coupons:

- The coupon should be legible and say “Manufacturer Coupon”. There should be a valid remit address for the manufacturer, to ensure the coupon can be processed for payment.
- The coupon should have a scan-able bar code.
- The coupon should have an expiration date.
- The coupon cannot be a photocopy.
- The limit is one coupon per item, per Customer.
- A Salaried Manager can refuse to accept a coupon if it does not meet any or all of these guidelines.”

“Coupons are a great way to save even more when shopping at Target, and we make it easy to use them at our stores. But because of the variety of coupons available to our guests, we do have some guidelines for how coupons can be redeemed at Target:

-We accept two kinds of coupons: Target-issued coupons and manufacturer-issued coupons.
-We’ll accept one Target coupon and one manufacturer coupon for the same item, unless either coupon prohibits it.
-We can’t give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item; in that case, we’ll adjust the value of the coupon to equal the price of the item.
-We can’t accept coupons from other retailers, or coupons for products not carried in our stores.
-All valid coupons should be presented to the cashier at the time of sale.”

**Target will now price-match any competitor on the same items sold at their store. In order to do that you need to take the FULL competitor ad (not just one page) with you. It is sometimes best to check out at Customer Service when price matching.**

Publix allows the use of one manufacturer coupon AND one store coupon per item purchased. This applies to BOGO items as well.

Publix accepts competitor coupons. Check with your store to confirm who they consider their competitor.

Publix doubles coupons up to and including $0.50. There are no limits to the number of coupons that will double. Only manufacturer coupons will double. Store and competitor coupons will not double. This policy does not apply to Florida—coupons do not double in Florida

Publix does not accept expired coupons.

The Publix Promise guarantees that if during checkout, the scanned price of an item (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) exceeds the shelf price or advertised price, they will give the customer one of that item free. The remaining items will be charged at the lower price.

Publix accepts internet printables (IP’s). Many Publix will not accept IP’s for free items or IP’s over $5 in value.

Publix does not limit the number of coupons that can be used per transaction—BUT …after a $50 coupon threshold has been reached, a manager override will be necessary for any additional coupons to be accepted.

Publix registers also require that the number of coupons and items purchased be equivalent. If you have more coupons than items, a manger override will be required.

During a BOGO sale, you do not have to purchase two items to receive the discount. BOGO items each ring ½ of the regular price. This is not true in Florida—you must purchase both items as the 1st item rings at full price and the 2nd item rings at zero ($0)

Publix will gladly give a rain check for any sale item that is not in stock. Some stores will only write RC’s for items in the weekly sales flyer not the Advantage Buy Flyers

The penny item coupon is valid for use on Wednesday or Thursday (varies by store). The actual coupon can be found in the ad located in the paper (location may vary). Florida does not participate in the penny item promotion.

Harris Teeter Coupon Acceptance Policy

General
•We accept coupons that have not passed their expiration date for use; we can not accept any expired coupons.

•We accept only one manufacturer coupon per purchased item.

•We do not accept coupons on items not purchased.

•Coupons must be presented at time of purchase; we can not return money for coupons not used.

•Coupons presented and items purchased must match exactly; size, variety, flavor, etc.

•We uphold any purchase stipulations set forth by product manufacturer.

•We accept only one coupon for Buy One Get One Free items.

•We accept coupons for items only of equal or more value; we do not give cash back.

•Sales tax is paid by customer at full retail.

Doubling
•We accept 20 double coupons per day per customer/household with VIC card; all others redeemed at face value. No orders may be separated that would allow the 20 coupon limit to be exceeded.

•We double manufacturer’s coupons up to face value of $0.99; with total amount not to exceed $1.98 or entire retail of item; whichever is less.

•We double up to three identical items with manufacturer coupon; additional coupons for like item will be honored at face value.

•No competitor coupons will be doubled or tripled.

•In the event of triple coupons, up to 20 coupons will be tripled per day per customer/household with VIC card; all others redeemed at face value. No orders may be separated that would allow the 20 coupon limit to be exceeded.

Internet Coupons
•We gladly accept internet manufacturer’s coupons for product; however no “free” product internet coupons are accepted.

•With the purchase of two like manufacturer’s products, we accept two internet coupons, per store, per day.

•We do not accept internet coupons that do not appear to be originals or that won’t scan.

Competitor’s Coupons
•We gladly accept local competitors’ circular or direct-mail coupons for MONEY OFF THE TOTAL ORDER; we do not take competitor’s coupons for money off specific items.

•We do not accept any internet coupons from other retailers.

Rainchecks
•Rainchecks never expire and are accepted at any Harris Teeter store.

•We do not issue rainchecks for coupon items that may be out of stock or for “while supplies last” items.

•We reserve the right to limit raincheck quantities based on product availability and advertised limits.

•Rainchecks can be written for a limit of three unless otherwise stated in the ad.

Scan Guarantee
•Our scan guarantee states "If an item scans higher than the shelf tag or sign, you will receive one like item free, excluding alcohol and tobacco."

Harris Teeter reserves the right to limit quantities in coupon usage, as well as products and to amend our policies as we deem appropriate.

If you missed the previous couponing posts click HERE for Part 1: Supermarket Savings and HERE for Part 2: Where do I get coupons?

Couponing Conundrum Part 2: Where do I get coupons?

2010-01-18T23:23:00.000-05:00

The two most common places to get money saving coupons are from the Sunday paper and online websites.

Sunday Paper: Mostly every Sunday you will find a booklet published by Smart Source and/or Red Plum. Other booklets may include P&G Brand Saver, General Mills, etc. The word on the street is that it is better to actually subscribe to the newspaper rather than purchasing the Sunday paper separately at a gas station. Apparently gas station/drug store versions may not have as many coupons. Many people prefer to buy a few copies of the paper so that they have a few sets of that week's coupons. The cheaper way to do it would be to get coupons from your family and friends that don't use them. My WONDERFUL mother gathers 3-4 sets of coupons every week and mails them to me!!!

Online: Some of the most popular sites to print coupons are listed below. Most of them will only allow you to print two of each coupon until they reset for the next month. If you happen to have a second computer and printer at your house, you can have four! If you have a husband who has a computer and printer at work there is 2 more. See where I'm headed with this? :0)

Coupons.com - You can enter your zip code for additional savings offered in your area. Keep in mind, this also works the other way around. There may be a certain awesome coupon that will only show up under certain zip codes that are not your own. So, if someone were so nice as to share with you what zip code they found a certain coupon under, you could print that one off too.

Red Plum

Smart Source

Hot Coupon World

Coupon Mom

Competitor Coupons: If your stores accept competitor coupons then TARGET is an awesome place to get printable coupons from to use at your store. Most other grocery/drug stores also have websites. So, get online and bookmark what you find so it's easy to go back again later.

** A note about printable coupons. It is my experience that it is easier to print a coupon (even if there is only a slight chance you may use it) right when you find it rather than pass it up and try to find it again later. Also, there are times when coupons from manufacturer websites are no longer available after they reach a certain print limit. So, in order to save yourself some heartache (this is fresh on my mind becuse it happened to me this last week), print, print, print!

If you missed Couponing Conundrum Part 1: Supermarket Savings click HERE to check it out.

Riverfront Half Marathon

2010-01-17T21:27:00.002-05:00

This was our "fan section" at the half marathon on Saturday. And what a good looking one at that! This was a cool race. Had a great time training for it with all my running peeps and it was such an accomplishment to complete. Scott is still learning to be friends with my camera so this is the only "action shot" that turned out. It was right at the beginning of the home stretch. Boy was I glad to see it too! My final time was 2 hours 16 minutes 58 seconds.

This is our group that did the race. Way to go everyone!!!

Couponing Conundrum Part 1: Supermarket Savings

2010-01-13T14:30:00.008-05:00

The wait is over! Finally . . . . a series of posts on the "how to's" of couponing.

Let me begin by saying that though I do have a pretty good grasp on this whole thing I do not know EVERYTHING there is to know about couponing, but I did have to learn it from somewhere. So, rather than reinvent the wheel, I will borrow excerpts from some of the trusted couponing blogs I follow and pass the info on to you. It may seem a little overwhelming at first but I PROMISE if you take a few minutes to educate yourself on the matter, it will save you money big time.

First off, lets talk about the logic/strategy of couponing and how you can use it to your advantage in the grocery stores.

Posted by the ladies at Southern Savers:

Have you tried couponing but felt that it was not helping any? There is a better way than just using a coupon whenever you buy an item.

First, couponing isn’t just cutting your paper up and handing over a few coupons every now and then. If that is what you think, then you will save $5 or $10 dollars and become discouraged that it is not worth your time.

True couponing is cutting those coupons from your paper and then saving them until the product you want to buy is on sale. Doing this you can get items for 50-100% off regular price (yes that’s right – FREE).

How?? It is really putting two concepts together:

1. Product prices fluctuate on cycles normally 6-8 weeks long. When an item is at its lowest price in that cycle you want to buy enough of that item to get you through until it comes back on sale. An example, your family eats 1 box of cereal a week, so you buy 6 boxes when it is on sale to get you through the sale cycle.

2. When it is a rock bottom price you use your coupons to reduce the price even lower. Grab some extra copies of coupons that you will use a lot of by purchasing more papers, getting friends papers, or buying the individual coupons online.

That’s the basics! Pretty simple and yet so many of us have never put these things together.

If I don’t have you convinced let me spell it out with money.

You can buy 1 box every week for 6 weeks, or buy all 6 boxes on sale.
1 box @ $4.50 x 6 weeks = $27

1 box @ $1 x 6 boxes = $6

That’s one product and you have saved $21. Now think of the other 200 products that the average family buys a month. Even if you didn’t have coupons for all of your items, if you wait until the product is on sale to purchase it you are still saving.

Want some more tips to save even more?

1. Cut ALL coupons or Save all inserts from the Sunday paper. If you save the entire insert to cut as needed make sure you mark the date on insert so that you can find it when you see a coupon can be used. (I didn't understand this at first but now I've seen why. Sometimes there will be a good deal on certain things that will make them free plus overage. Even if I don't need the item, I will get it just for the overage. For example, a while back there were 3 great coupons to be used all together on Revlon beauty tools (nail clippers, emery boards, etc.) Using all 3 coupons made the items FREE, PLUS $3 of overage per item. Now that is a deal. Get a couple of them and that has paid for your milk, bread, eggs and anything else you want. See the reasoning? Needless to say, the homeless shelter got a big donation of nail care stuff. He he he.)

2. Start to shop buying only the things that are on sale and using your coupons then. Also when an item is on sale you STOCKPILE. Some sites recommend 12 weeks worth because that is the common time it takes for an item to come back on sale. Thats great if you have the space, if not get enough that if you shop at two different stores you can hold off until it goes on sale at the other store. Once you have a good stockpile you will only be shopping for sale items and never having to pay non sale prices. Also once you pay an amazing price for something like .90 cents for cereal you will not want to have to pay the regular price ever again.

3. Make a menu for the week based on what is on sale that week at the store. An example being don’t plan fish when no one has it on sale and you are paying top dollar.

4. If you know that you are going on a trip or having a special event in the future start a separate stockpile early for those items so that you are not paying top dollar just because you are on vacation for your groceries. Paying $3 for 5 12pks of Coke at CVS a month before a trip is much better than paying 4.50 a 12pk once you get to the beach!!

5. Give up what brand loyalties you are able. Scenario: You have a good coupon that makes the Old Elpaso beans .10 cents but you have always bought a different brand. If you want to pay the full price for the other can go for it, but I’ll use my coupon. If Herbal Essences shampoo is .20 cents a bottle it can’t hurt to give it a try.

6. No house brands are NOT the best deal. National brand items bought on sale with coupons become incredibly cheaper than house brand items. That was a hard lesson to learn after years of automatically grabbing the house brand item. If you can buy house brand butter for 2.49 or get Land o Lakes butter for .80… thats not hard math. Remember a store wants you to buy their house brand because they keep all the money, they will try to make it seem like a deal but your interests are not what they have at heart.

7. Shopping at Costco and Sams will become a thing of the past mostly. I get dairy items there that do not have coupons often or are rarely on sale. Most of the time though buying the 4 boxes of cereal for $10 at Sams never compares to getting 4 boxes for 2.50 (the average price of cereal when bought correctly is .70-.90 cents). Personal Care items that could be a good deal can’t even touch being FREE at CVS.

I was one of those people that initially thought I was wasting my time even attempting to coupon. But when you see the logic and strategy behind it, it makes total sense. Then, when you start to see the major savings, you kick yourself for not getting into couponing earlier. :0)

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-01-13T10:20:00.006-05:00

The List (Publix):

2 gal. Milk
1/2 gal. Chocolate Milk
2 pkg. Kraft Shredded Cheese
2 boxes Nabisco Reduced-Fat Cheese Nips
4 pkg. Hall's Cough Drops
2 boxes Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs
2 containers Crystal Light
4 bottles Flinstone's Vitamins
4 cans Oust Disinfectant Spray
16 cans Del Monte Vegetables

Total Paid: $30.29
Total Saved: $99.72 (77% savings)

WOWZERS! WEDNESDAY

2010-01-06T08:18:00.008-05:00

I have decided to attempt a new Wednesday ritual by posting my great deals at the store. Hopefully it doesn't get boring to everyone because it sure makes me excited!!! :0)

When looking at the totals and percent of savings of today's deals, it may not seam that great on first appearance BUT you need to look at the items. Most of these are all more expensive-type items. When you can get savings on things like this, it's great!

The List (Publix):
4 boxes Honey Bunches of Oats (Family Size)
2 gallons milk
1/2 gal. chocolate milk
2 Egg Beaters
2 tubes Neosporin
3 packs Neosporin + To Go Case
5 boxes Band Aid Brand Band Aids
1.67 lbs. Bananas
2 bottles Flistone Vitamins
8 Reach Total Care Toothbrushes
2 packs Reach Total Care Floss

Total Paid: $29.39
Total Saved: $101.94 (77.6% savings)

The List (CVS):
4 bottles Irish Spring Body Wash
1 bottle Nivea Body Wash

Total Paid: $8.21
Total Saved: $19.00 (70% savings)

FYI: Movie Ticket Deal

2010-01-05T11:34:00.003-05:00

If anyone else out there is like me, I hardly ever make it out to a movie in the theater because by the time I buy tickets alone I've already had to cut off one of my arms. Well, just wanted to share a little General Mills Cereal/Movie Promo that is going on right now so that ya'll can get FREE movie tickets like me. :0)

All you have to do is purchse 2 specially marked boxes of General Mills Cereal and from there the instrcutions to get your FREE ticket are on the box. The ticket value will go up to something like $12.50. Easton and I caught a matinee showing of The Chipmunk movie over New Year's and I paid $1 total. You can go to THIS site to see which theaters in your area are on the "participating theater" list. I know our local theaters here are all on it as well as all of the major theaters in SLC, but check just to make sure.

Now, if you want to be even smarter and feel even better about your deal, you'll wait for a sale on the cereal and use lots of coupons (check the general mills site for some cereal printables) like I did today. I paid $6 for 4 boxes of Lucky Charms (they were the only specially marked boxes at my store, though I found one on Cheerios last time)! That translates to 4 boxes of cereal that I would buy anyway, plus two free movie tickets! Love it! Now go buy some cereal!

Where did 2009 go?

2010-01-03T22:24:00.011-05:00

Just like that . . . it's over. And here I sit on January 3rd trying to catch up clear back from Thanksgiving. Lately it seems like all I post about are my great deals at the grocery store. There's always more going on I've just been a blogging slacker and I've already start 2010 off on the wrong foot when it comes to the blog. At any rate, in an attemp to redeem myself and get caught up . . . here is a little recap of the last few months.

*Easton played his last soccer game for the season.

*We ate Thanksgiving dinner all by ourselves.

*Mia learns how to reach the snack basket in the pantry.

*Mom came to visit the day after Thanksgiving. We LOVED having her here!!!

*Easton writes a letter to Santa and is POSITIVE that he's been a good boy.

*The kids THOROUGHLY ENJOY their advent calendars sent to them all the way from England by our friend Lynne! Thank you!!!

*We all had a wonderful Christmas! Santa brought Mia a Melissa & Doug kitchen (which I fell in love with as it was simple yet cute and different . . . everything out of wood . . . fruit and veggies to cut, cookies, pizza, ice cream cones, and birthday cakes to make) and Easton, the Handy Manny Repair Shop. Both were a hit!

Happy New Year 2010!

I promise

2009-12-30T09:18:00.003-05:00

I promise to catch up and post about Christmas really soon! For now I need to spread the word about a $100 Publix gift card giveaway on I Heart Publix. I'm hoping for some good luck!
Click here for all the info.

I just can't resist!

2009-12-22T16:26:00.004-05:00

I just couldn't resist posting about this morning's couponing "first." I got everything in the picture for FREE, plus the store had to pay me 11 cents! I was stoked!

2 gallons skim milk
1/2 gallon chocolate milk
2 Suave Men's shampoo
2 tubs Daisy sour cream
8 packages cream cheese
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans green beans
3 packages Thai Kitchen noodles
9 packages Revlon emery boards
2 Revlon nail clippers
1 package makeup sponges
1 box black rubber hair bands
1 pack 2 Revlon eye liners

Starting off on a good foot!

2009-12-16T12:55:00.004-05:00

I know that I have started the day off right when my trip to Publix yielded $120.24 of savings with only $4.04 out of my pocket!!!!

Here's what I got:
10 boxes Barber Stuffed Chicken Breasts
4 boxes Aunt Jemima Frozen French Toast
4 boxes Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate
4 boxes Whole Wheat Pasta
4 tubs Sarah Lee Cheesecake Bites
4 cans Evaporated Milk
2 tubs I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
8 boxes I Can't Blieve It's Not Butter sticks
1 Revlon Nail File

AWESOME video from Santa

2009-12-09T15:06:00.003-05:00

Go to THIS link to enter info to have a personalized video email sent directly from Santa to one or all of your kids. This is VERY cool. I was super impressed! Easton received his this morning and he honestly couldn't believe it. You'll will definitely want to do this. :0)