Becoming a Savvy Shopper

Living is expensive wherever you live, but it seems to be especially expensive up here. So I decided that I wanted to get serious with using coupons and finding all the great deals. I've found and have been directed to lots of different coupon blogs and sites that alert me to all the good deals, and Chris decided to actually look at the grocery store ads (which we usually just throw away) and match those up with coupons we found online. I'm also trying to get into Walgreens shopping with all their free-after-rebate deals and stuff.

Anyway, so here is a picture of our first serious attempt at being savvy shoppers.We went to three local grocery stores: Albertson's, Safeway, and Fred Meyer. We figured that will all the store cards, sales, and coupons, we saved around $100! We're still new at this, and I hope to get better, but I think it's a good start!

Sam's 2 Year Doctor Visit

Sam finally had his 2 year doctor visit--only two months late. Here are his stats:

Height: 34.37"/35th percentile
Weight: 29 lb. 6.4 oz /62nd percentile
Head Circumference: 50 cm /79th percentile

Chris was the one to take him because I was at work. Sam seemed to like the doctor okay. He kept saying "nice lady, nice lady". I guess she was nice because she didn't give him any shots like we thought he'd get. The one he needed is on back-order, so they'll give us a call when it's available. And when that happens, I'm not sure Sam will think she's a nice lady anymore.

An Evening Out with Our Employees

Last week we went out to dinner with all of our employees and a few old employees for some of their birthdays. I thought I'd add some pictures so you can meet some of the people at the bakery.
This is Jody and July. They are sisters and each have adorable kids.
This is Glen, the previous owner who gave us such a generous deal on the bakery. In the middle is Ruben who is originally from Peru. He's been teaching me a little Spanish, and I've been teaching him a little French. And on the right is Lisa who is July's sister-in-law and who technically doesn't work at Great Harvest anymore, but occasionally fills in when we need extra help.
This is Kaylee with the teeny sombrero on her head. Her last day at the bakery was last Friday. She has moved on to a job that can give her more hours. To the left is Tanya. I took another picture of her, but it turned out fuzzy, so this one will have to do for now. Another old employee, Sara, and her fiance were there too, but they were also included in the fuzzy picture.

Here's Ruben again in his birthday sombrero.

And you should all know who this handsome little boy is. He was stuffing is mouth full of chicken nuggets.

There will soon be a new addition to our Great Harvest family...we just don't know who it is yet. Since Kaylee is leaving us, we have been interviewing a few people. Hopefully we find someone as great as the rest of our employees!

Another Favorite Commercial

This one has been out for a long time. I always tried to explain it to my French students but most of them had never seen it.

Old Home Videos #3

I just like the first part on this one with the big airplane hug! This was a couple Sundays ago when we had a picnic at the park.

Old Home Videos #2

Here is another old favorite back when we lived in the Turpin's house in Bountiful. I love his laugh, and I think it's so funny when he discovers that the camera is taping him.

Old Home Videos #1

This is an old video taken at the Taylor's home last January. Sam is a dancing fool!

Happy Wedding Lara and Dave!

We just got back from a quick trip to Utah over the weekend. Chris' sister Lara got married to Davey-Gravey. The sealing was great, the family BBQ was delicious, and the reception was a lot of fun. They are now honeymooning in Hawaii.
Sam with Uncle Bruce
Lara throwing her bouquet
Lara's friend, who she helped convert in Canada, caught the bouquet.
Monday we went to the Gateway Mall and played in the fountains while Grandma Valerie did some shopping. Sam wasn't too impressed and didn't want to run around with the other kids.

And here is a little bit of video from our trip. Some of the wedding parts aren't very good because it was getting so dark, but I felt like we still needed to document it, so here you go.

Vote for Mary!

Hello all my blogging friends. My cute sister is a finalist in a summer fun photo contest (and currently is in 2nd place out of 400) and she needs your vote. Go here and vote for Mary Elizabeth #15! And if you're interested in a fun giveaway, visit her blog.

Weekend Visit Videos

I forgot to post some video I took from when my family came to visit (most of it was taken at the Future of Flight museum). Enjoy!

Grammar Snob

Thanks John for finding this blog--The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quatation Marks. I love it and it makes me laugh! Though I wonder how some people are able to leave high school without understanding such a basic grammar concept. Come on, people! It's not that hard!

Haircut

Sam finally got a haircut! We thought we should probably do something since his aunt's wedding is next week.

Before

After

We had one of our friends cut Sam and Christopher's hair. They were both pretty shaggy. It was quite the challenge to keep Sam still during his turn.

"Disinfect to Protect"

I'm pretty sure none of my readers are old enough to remember what I'm about to post. Any ladies out there around in 1939 to experience this? I thought it was very interesting.

My Newest Projects

I had heard from a couple people of a computer program that can turn blogs into a book. It's called Blurb and I'm really excited about it. About two years ago I started typing out my mission journal to eventually turn it into a book to keep for posterity. So I began to transcribe it into Microsoft Word, intending to eventually include all my pictures with their appropriate entries. I only got as far as three weeks into my MTC experience. Now that I've discovered Blurb, I am excited again to make my book. I think it will be easier this way. I am transferring my mission journal into a blog (however, it's a private blog for now), and I am including all my pictures so there will be one concise record of my mission. I am so excited for it, however I have a feeling it will take me quite awhile because I wrote pretty frequently on my mission (unlike Chris who doesn't have much of a mission journal--how sad!).

I have also decided to make a new wedding album with this program since our original album's binding is falling apart. It also lets you add stuff from your computer (it doesn't necessarily need to be from a blog) and I'm really excited about this one too. Luckily our wedding photographer gave us all the negatives (really, they're files since it was with a digital camera--does anyone use regular film anymore?).

I think Blurb should pay me for the advertising I have done here!

A Great Weekend

We had my dad, brother, and his four oldest kids come visit over the weekend, and we had so much fun having them. Sam was so happy to have his cousins back to run around with. Sam went without his regular naps so he could play with everyone the couple days they were here, and miraculously he was never very cranky (usually he gets pretty bad if he doesn't get his full amount of beauty rest: 10-12 hours at night and 2-3.5 hours in the afternoon).

Grandpa and Sam at the petting zoo looking at the bunnies.

Sam and a goat.

Meghan and Mr. Bill Boeing

Me and Bill

Laptop party!

As I write this Sam is still asleep. I just hope he doesn't wake up and expect to play some more with his cousins. He will be very disappointed! And Kierstin who has been here all summer will be leaving us in 2 1/2 days and then Sam will be stuck with just Chris and me. I hope he doesn't get bored. Luckily we'll be down to Utah in less than 2 weeks for some more family fun!

Missing my Talk Radio Friends

We're adjusting just fine to our new life up here. I really like the people in our ward, our employees are great, I like our apartment, the weather is beautiful...but I'm missing my talk radio friends. Since junior high I spent most of my mornings listening to Radio From Hell on x96. I loved their random conversations and political talk. I loved their "Things that Must Go" segment and their love psychic Margaret Ruth. I remember when they used to do Space Elders and it was so funny (that was a loooong time ago). I have yet to find a morning radio show up here that I like as much.

And then for my AM friends. Basically everyone from 570KNRS (with the exception of Bob Lonsberry because he has such an annoying whiny voice at times). I'd spend my afternoons with Dr. Laura in the background of whatever I was doing--homework (doing my own or correcting my students), cleaning, and even sleeping. Yeah, I was kind of weird and would turn on the radio even though I knew I'd be asleep in a matter of minutes. There's something about her voice yelling at people making stupid decisions...now that's some kind of lullaby!

After Dr. Laura came Glen Beck. Again, he played in the background while I tried to get dinner ready with Sam climbing up my leg. And then I'd listen to Dave Ramsey during the evenings while I waited for Chris to come home the nights he worked late. Oh how I love listening to him! Every time I hear those "I'm debt free!" screams, it just gets me so excited! One of these days that'll be us calling in!

Luckily for syndicated radio, I have found Dr. Laura and Dave Ramsey up here. However, they have not become part of my daily routine yet because of the times they are on. Theoretically I could continue my regular radio listening schedule since all of these shows stream online, but I feel like I should let go of all things Utahn, and become a true Washingtonian. Oh, and by the way, it is thanks to my dear hubby that I have been converted to AM talk radio...and all things spicy, but that's a post for another day.

Let them eat cake!

Happy Bastille Day everybody!

To celebrate, I had crepes for breakfast!

I made it safely!

Just in case you were wondering, I made it to Dillon, Montana safely for my week of training with the franchise offices. I did the 10 hour drive all by myself, and entertained myself with some books on CD. I only got sleepy once, and so I took a 30 minute nap at a rest stop. I have a little motel room all to myself and will be here till Friday. This is the longest I've been away from Sam. I guess I'm just getting a little taste of what Chris went through this past spring for so long.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Sam turned two years old yesterday. We have been preparing him for this day for the past couple months. We've practicing singing the birthday song, blowing out candles, and answering correctly when someone asks how old he is. Here are a few highlights from his special day.

We first opened presents. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for his books! We've already read them both many many times. Here is video of Sam waking up and opening his presents.



Sam had a special birthday play date at the park with two of his friends. They had fun on the playground, stuffed their faces with cupcakes, and then went to see the animals at the petting zoo.


This was our present to Sam. We got it at this cool used kids' clothing store. You'll see the play area of the store in the video I'm including. The set came with the whole alphabet too, but his room is too small, so we're just using the numbers until he has more space.

We decided to give Sam a birthday tatoo on his arm. Doesn't he look tough?

Fourth of July Camping Trip

About a year and a half ago we got all sorts of fun camping gear from Chris' parents for Christmas. Up until this past week we had used it all only once--in our backyard! So we thought we'd take it all out for a real camping trip...finally.July 3rd we left for Cascade Park for a fun trip with some of our friends from the ward. The first night it was just us and two other families who each had little girls Sam's age. The rest of the group didn't show up until the next afternoon, and we all left the following morning. Total there were five kids more or less Sam's age, seven couples more or less our age, and three teenage siblings who are visiting. We had so much fun! We played games, played Frisbee and baseball, explored, jumped in the cold river (only the three boys after playing a weird combination game of frisbee/soccer/keep-away), played with the kids, etc. Chris took a little nap in the sun and got fried. Friday night we went to a lake to watch fireworks. It was one of the best shows I've seen, mostly because there were like 20 firework shows going at once all across the other side of the lake. We only stayed an hour, but they went for a really long time. Sam really liked them.Sam was mostly a good camper. The only struggle was the first night going to bed. He was up past midnight just screaming. He didn't even want to snuggle in our sleeping bags. That night he only got about six hours of sleep. He took a great nap the following day and went to bed without a fight the second night. When we got home Saturday, he took a five hour nap!

It was a fun trip and I'm glad we got away from work for a bit. I'm also glad we have nice friends to hang out with up here. We've never been in a ward with so many young families in the same stage of life as us.

Here's a short video of our trip.