Where have I been??

In the kitchen!! I'm very lucky because my boss has quite a few peach trees & always hooks me up with a LOT of peaches. The pears are off of our trees in our back yard. Casey took some peaches that we didn't use & had started to get flies to the dump last night & took all of the pears too!! I was totally going to can them, but I was waiting for them to ripen a bit more. I can't complain though - he thought he was helping & really, less work for me. I am grateful that I have so much delicious food on my shelves! I'm excited to make more grape jelly this October. It's sooooo good!

28 Quarts of Peaches
I think fresh canned peaches are so pretty!

12 Pints of Jam

20 Pints of Regular Salsa

10 Pints of Peach Salsa

AND - my little sister is finally MARRIED!! Her dress was stinkin cute and it's always fun to look back & see how much STRESS went into the whole thing & now it's just . . .over! It was a nice time for them. May they live happily ever after!

I want to rock & roll all night...

I finally go to go to the concert that I won tickets for back in April!! Def Leppard came & went. I was really disappointed in them!! We missed Cheap Trick because the traffic was INSANE. I don't know what the deal was, but it took us an hour to go about 30 blocks. Poison was really, really good. I'm in love with that dirty boy Bret. Def Leppard should probably consider retirement. Or maybe it was the microphone - or the acoustics - or something. I feel like I need to make excuses for them because I don't want them to suck yet!!!

The following day my sister, Angela, was going with her friends to Nickelback. They were leaving at 3:00 & at 2:30 I got a phone call that one of their friends couldn't make it so I was invited...I had to go right? The concert the night before was pretty much a bust, so this was divine intervention trying to make up for it. I'm so glad that I went. It was much more fun than the night before. I now need to purchase Hinder's CD & Saving Abel. Papa Roach...not so much a fan. The lead singer for Nickelback is an alcoholic. He got more & more drunk as the night went on. Tis the life of a rock star. Lucky man.

Some ladies who I'm guessing shop at Hot Topic :)

Dog the bounty hunter trying to find his seat.

I love to people watch. It's a problem.

The lead singer for Hinder.

He was so close!!!

Angela, her friend Jeri , her daughters & I ended up going to a Denny's by the E-center after the concert. None of us had had any dinner & we were so hungry! We got there at 12:20....a bit before everyone else from the concert ended up there....and at 1:30 (AM mind you) we still didn't have our food!! Jeri went to ask about it & the gal said ours was next...well, 15 minutes later we still didn't have it! So we left and ended up at a Denny's in Centerville (I think) and ordered our food & had it in 10 minutes. Crazy!! We didn't get home until 3:30-ish (I think)...a very late night, but a very fun night too.

Bridal Shower

Picture overload! Don't say you weren't warned.

My sister Angela & I hosted a bridal shower for my sister Ashley on Saturday, August 15. It was held over in Logan at one of Ashley's co-workers homes. She had a beautiful home!! JEALOUS! Angela & I were quite thrown by having it at a strangers house because what if we needed _____ or ______ or what if ______ . . .but it ended up being just fine. Watching my sister's wedding unfold makes me realize how people (ALL people...myself included) let so many things get to them when they aren't that big of a deal or not in your control and somehow things always work out just fine.

The invite

We had wonderful food. BLT squares...cheesecake pops...and chicken pasta salad. I love to cook & love to try new things, so we had fun with a couple new recipes.

Chicken Pasta Salad

BLT Squares

Cheesecake Pops

Hot pink, black & white were our decorating colors. I thought it was cute. Angela & I gave Ashley the 11x14 picture that is on the table. It's a small collage of some of their engagement pictures.

We had a great turnout!! We were all pretty nervous that not many people would show because Ashley was having 17 bridal showers! (okay...not 17, but I think 5) Several people came & that was awesome.

Aunt Sandra - Mom Kim - Aunt Karla

These 3 freaking cracked up when they looked at this picture. My aunts are wearing head pieces.

Ashley & Cousin Amber

Me - Grandma Babe - Ashley - Grandma Cloe - Angela

Angela - My mom - Ashley - Me

Caleb is supposed to getting use to wearing a tie for the wedding. So I put it on him the other morning. Dollar bills in his diaper would make this picture a TEN!!

Really??

Before I go off...please note that I am not a racist person. I enjoy people of all shapes & sizes & colors. But I would not expect another country (we'll say Mexico) to change their ways if I moved there in order to accommodate my lack of Spanish speaking. Comprendo?? If one is going to move to a certain country (we'll say the United States) then I believe that the language you need to speak is English...the native tongue if you will. It is the land of opportunity...so please take the opportunity to learn English.

I was clipping coupons the other day, and came across this.

I thought I was annoyed when I saw the 2 languages on the back of a cake box...but this topped that for sure!!

I got Caleb some sidewalk chalk & he really loves it. I wrote his name & drew some shapes & now he's convinced that the chalk only will work in that general area. I've tried to have him draw in other spots, but he freaks. He can recognize and say 'star' & 'circle'. We're still working on the square.

He is doing much better at trying to communicate with me & Casey to which I am very relieved. The Up to 3 program told me that I should be concerned because of the delay, but they will keep coming to see how he is doing. On most of his evaluations he was in the 9-12 month range. Which is quite a bit behind if you consider how quickly the toddler mind develops (he is 20 months). He says 'car' a million times a day still...airplane, circle, star, boat, up, mama (but he doesn't know it's me yet) tiger, cow, duck, truck, tractor and today he said tree a few times. Improvement for sure!! Hooray!

Zoo Day!!

Casey & his brother Shelby & I had planned a fun Bear Lake day for last Saturday...but the weather was not Bear Lake friendly at all. So - we decided to head to Hogle Zoo. And...so did everyone else in the upper 6 counties! It was PACKED! We had to park quite a ways away in some gravel patch - but we made it. For how full the parking lot was, the actual inside of the zoo wasn't that crowded.

Aren't we cute?

We totally matched - I thought that was funny. Right when we walked in the gates, the train was just returning and there wasn't a line, so we headed that way. It was $1/person. And that was $1 too much. I don't remember the train ride being that freaking lame when I was little. You didn't even get to see many animals. There were turkey vultures (ew) and some buffalo & a raven. Yep....a raven. Lame. So - if you're wondering - I do not recommend the train ride.

Ahhhhh!!! Don't eat me!!

I thought this would be a funny picture.

Caleb wasn't on the same brain wave.

Caleb's favorite was the cougar. I don't know why. I thought he'd love the bear or the tiger...but he loved the cougar & just growled & growled & growled. The animals were more active than I remember them being - probably because of the cooler weather. Shayden (Shelby's son) called the zebra's zee-bees. How cute is that?

I think animals are fascinating. My favorites were the rhinos, the penguins, the baby meerkats, the baby giraffe & the baby snow leopard. There are some weird, weird creatures roaming around this earth.

Checking out the penguins. I don't think I'd ever seen a giraffe laying down.

It looked very uncomfortable.

The baby :)

On Sunday I met my friends Kelly & MaLynda at the gateway for some browsing & lunch. We are funny girls. We just browse & don't spend. I spent a whopping $10 at Hot Topic on some cute knee high socks & some nail files. We at at the Rumbi Island Grill. It was delicious. We each got a different salad & they all looked wonderful. I love my friends :)

FINALLY!!

I was just thinking about calling it quits on the whole couponing craze when BAM!! (yes...I just said BAM) Smith's is having 3 days where you can use UNLIMITED double coupons!! I found this out at 11:30 last night...made my list...and was to the store at 12:15 am. I love shopping at that time. No people. No lines. No Caleb. No rush.

Item - Listed Price - Double Coupon Value - Paid Price

6 cans Ortega green chilies - 1.29 on sale - 1.00 off = .29 each 1.74

4 24 Load Tide - 5.88 on sale - 2.00 off - 4.00 P&G Off = 2.88 each 11.52

5 Huggies Wipes - 2.59 - 1.00 = 1.59 each 7.95

4 Dial Hand Soap -1.00 on sale - .70 off = .30 each 1.20

5 Sure Deodorant - 1.80 on sale - 1.50 off = .30 each 1.50

10 Mars Candy Bars -.79 each - 1.00 off = FREE

5 Pringles - 1.65 each - 1.00 off = .65 each 2.60

5 NEW Ritz Cracker Sandwiches - 3.69 each - 2.00 off = 1.69 each 8.45

6 Duracell Batteries - 3.00 on sale - 1.50 off = 1.50 each 9.00

4 Packs Pampers - 9.77 - 2.00 off - 4.00 P7g off = 6.77 each 27.08

3 TN Pride Sausage = 2.99 on sale - 1.00 off = 1.99 each 5.97

(If you decide to do the calculations and it doesn't add up...dont' judge me. It is what it is & if it's incorrect...oh well...it's SUPER close.)

MFG coupon savings =50.15

Promo Savings = 40.05

FreshValues Savings = 22.30

Total Savings (61%) = 112.50

The gal rang my stuff up and it was around $190. Scanned my FV card which took it down to around $130 then rang in all my coupons and my total was $75.70 w/tax. Sweet!!

And I got a 15 cent fuel reward!! My faith in couponing has been restored. When you look at the picture, it doesn't seem like a lot, but considering I got 4 packs of diapers (would've been $40), 4 bottles of Tide detergent (would've been $25), 5 Huggies wipes (would've been $13) and 6 packages of batteries (would've been $18) I feel like it was quite a successful trip.