2015 Blue Jeans Week 30

A very hot week of summer. Last swim meet for Mr. J and Miss E.  Miss O was gone all week to a student council camp, and then she was home one day and then Miss A left for a week for Girls Nation.  So we have 1 day in these last 2 weeks that our whole family has been home.  Crazy!  Here is a look at our week. . .

Laundry day--Miss E is singing as she switches laundry loads.  Singing while doing laundry is a nice sound to hear!  And we have lots of laundry here!  

Last swim meet of the season--Ben was a timer and I was a place judge.  It was hot!

Mr J doing an amazing job in his breast stroke!  He has improved so much this year!  

Miss E finishes strong in one of her 8 races of the night.  So proud of her hard work!

The one day our family was all together in these next 2 weeks!  Crazy!

Long day today.  Left home at 4 a.m. to get to the airport by 6 a.m. so Miss A could catch her 7 a.m flight to Washington D.C to get to Girls Nation.  It was kind of hard to put my girl on a plane all by herself to fly half way across the country.  This was about 6:20 a.m. as we said good-bye for a week before she entered the gate to get on her plane.  She made it safely and is having an amazing time!  So proud of her!  

After we finally got home from our long day dropping Miss A off, it was so hot and we were hungry and needed a cool treat.  This is what we got at the store to relax with and watch a movie :)  Good stuff!  The yogurt was for fresh fruit crepes that we had for dinner and ice cream for dessert :)  YUM!

And here is a picture of Miss A and the amazing group she is with this week.  Awesome!  A question and answer session with President Obama is on the agenda for the week, one of many amazing things they get to do!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a great week!  Stay cool!

Friday thoughts

Where of where has the summer gone?  Like a friend mentioned to me yesterday "it seems fast and slow."  Fast because the days fly by but slow because school got out May 15 and that seems forever ago.  We have 5 weeks until school starts again.  5 weeks here we go.  

So wanted to share some summer reading I have been doing. . .

I read this earlier in the year and mentioned it before here.  Amazing book.  He is running for President along with a few other people :) but his story is truly amazing.  If you haven't read it you should.

And this I finished last week.  It is about looking at the Big Picture.  Keeping your priorities straight.  He gives some suggestions to help some social problems which were very interesting.  It was written in 1994, but still very good.

Another amazing read that I got through yesterday is this

The above are the seven decisions that determine personal success.  It is a novel but also a self-help motivating book too.  Really good.  I am going to read it to my family on our vacation in a week.  Good stuff!

Any good summer reads you want to share?  I am getting ready to start the 700+ pages of

It is book 5 in the Green Rider series.  They have all been good, I just wish the author didn't take 4-5 years in between each book.  You kind of forget what happened in the last one.  So although I don't really remember the last book, I do remember I liked it, so here we go with the next one :)

Have a great weekend!

2015 Blue Jeans Week 29

Life is very short and very fragile as I was reminded this week as we attended a funeral for a young woman we knew.  It was a big wake up call to cherish every day and really let those that I love know that I love them.  It has made me doubly grateful that I do this Project Life--daily pictures.  So many little things that really are big things.  So much to be thankful for.  So, take a look at our week. . .

This sweet young lady from our church is having some major surgery this week, and the other young women in our congregation made her a basket of sunshine to take to the hospital.  It was so full of fun and cute yellow things.  What beautiful and amazing young women these ladies are!  Sure love all of them!

Enjoying the lazy, and very hot days of summer--Mr J on the trampoline with the water hose :)

Mr J and Miss E have been going to swim practice every morning since end of May, but they have not been able to make it to a swim meet this season yet until this past week.  They did a great job!  Mr J jumps in to swim his part of the IM relay.

And Miss E driving in to swim her leg in the IM relay.  They both did awesome!  So only one more meet and one more week of swim team left.  Crazy!

Ben, Mr J and a friend doing some canoeing at the lake.  

We had the opportunity to watch 2 little adorable boys for a day this past weekend.  The kids had fun.  Miss O and her little friend doing sidewalk chalk in the backyard.

And Mr J was soooooo excited to get to feed this little one. So cute!

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great day!  Give a big hug to those you love!  Cherish every day!!

2015 Blue Jeans Week 28

Summer is quickly slipping away.  I have so much less computer time in summer with all 4 kids home :)  Life is good.  I am officially a school board member now effective July 1.  I had my first meeting this week.  One meeting down and 4 1/2 years to go, but it is an opportunity that I am looking forward to.  Wish me luck.  But back to summer. . . here is a look at our past week. . .

Sunday night there were fireworks in the field behind our house.  We enjoyed watching them from our trampoline.

A fun summer project--Mr J made a Lego candy dispenser.  He got the idea off pinterest.

I started volunteering for the library home bound books program this week.  This was my first delivery.  It was a neat experience, and the people were so grateful to get their books.  

My family and especially my kids love the comedy show Studio C on BYUTV.  For a late birthday present, my sister and brother-in-law sent Mr J this poster.  He was soooo excited! 

The library is a huge part of our summer.  My girls volunteer at the different children's programs during the summer.  Today they had a cool science program that Miss O and Miss E helped with.  Mr J enjoyed going to the different science stations.  

This weekend we were able to go to the city and visit the temple for our Church with my oldest girls.  The flowers are so pretty there!  It was a beautiful day!

Thanks for visiting!  Come back soon!  Hope your summer is going well!

2015 Blue Jeans Week 27

It is crazy to think that summer is almost half over--HALF over!  Crazy!!!  We had a great 4th of July week--did a lot of work on the house--finishing up painting, and then enjoyed some great family time on the 4th.  Here is a look at our week--and I finally have "before" and "after" pics of the house because we decided on a front door color :)  so take a look. . .

Sunday afternoons are one of our favorite family times.  We love to play games.  Ben and the kids were playing Blokus today.  That is a great game if you are looking for a new one.  

We got the main house painted, but we still have the summer house and the shed.  The kids have been given the job of painting the summer house.  So each day this week they have done a side.  Doesn't Mr J look thrilled up on that ladder?  I am proud of their hard work, though. It is looking good!

Enjoying one of summer's perfect desserts--strawberry shortcake!  Yum!

and a "before" house pic from early June

And an "after" house pic from last week.  We painted the front door a turquoise, and love it.  So nice that it is done!!!

For church young women activity tonight, Miss O had to tell Miss E how to draw something while blindfolded.  It was a lesson on faith that was awesome.  So grateful for good leaders in my kids' lives!

Back to work, Miss E and Ben work on getting a new door installed in the summer house--white one behind Ben is new door.  Miss E is taking off the base from the old one.  The list of things to do doesn't ever seem to get shorter, but it is nice to cross some things off!

And for 4th of July we went to a move before heading to friends for a delicious BBQ and fireworks.  For one of Ben's Father's Day presents he wanted to take everyone to see the new Disney Inside Out movie.  It was really good, and we all enjoyed it.  A late Father's day present and a great 4th of July activity!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a great week!

Friday thoughts

I cannot say enough how much I love my country and how blessed I feel to have been born here and lived here my whole life.  I am blessed my kids have done the same.  We take so many things for granted, but our freedom should not be one of those things.

We need to remember.  Hope you have a wonderful 4th of July and remember--remember why we have this great country with so much freedom and say a prayer of thanks for those who made it this way and who continue to keep it that way.

And one last thing on this fine Friday. . .  

Our "before" house picture

And our "after"   Love it!  Tons of work, but so worth it and so glad it is done!!!

Have a blessed weekend!

What's up Wednesday--crepes

One of my favorite summer meals is crepes with blueberries, strawberries, bananas, and vanilla yogurt inside sprinkled with powdered sugar on the top.  Divine.  When strawberries and blueberries are in season together, we have this often.  The batter is super easy to make.  Just put everything in your blender and blend until smooth.  Enjoy!

Basic Crepes

4 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups flour

2 1/4 cups milk

4 TB melted butter

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Heat a lightly oiled 9" frying pan on medium high heat.  Pour the batter onto hot pan using a 1/4 cup measuring spoon.  Quickly tilt the pan so the batter spreads out even and smooth all over the bottom of the pan.  Cook about 1-2 minutes and then loosen with a spatula and flip to cook the other side.  Serve hot and fill with whatever you want.  We love vanilla yogurt with berries and bananas.  Nutella with bananas is also really good!  Enjoy!