2020 Blue Jeans Week 48

We have so very much to be thankful for!  As I heard recently "counting our blessings in far better than recounting our problems" from Russel M Nelson.  So true!  Thanksgiving this year was very different, but it was still nice and we enjoyed it.  I am thankful all my kids were able to celebrate in a safe place where they felt welcomed!  I am thankful we are all healthy and well at this time.  I am thankful we have a job, a home, cars, food, and never go without!  So much to be thankful for!  Take a look at our week....

Sunday we had church online which is different, but it was a special large area meeting, so it was done virtually.  Church at home today.  So grateful that we are able to worship again!

Enjoyed a fun hike one day this week.  Sure love hiking on the trails near our house.  We are so grateful for them and the ability we have to quickly get out into nature.

Piano recital this week.  Mr J did a great job on his solo.  So proud of him!  We are grateful for music!

Mr J also did a duet with his friends.  They did Scott Joplin's The Entertainer and did an awesome job!  So grateful for the beautiful church we were able to have the recital in, masks on and socially distanced, hand sanitizer and temperature checks, but so glad we could have it!

Thanksgiving prep, this kid tried his hand at a homemade apple pie, and it was soooo good!  

Happy Thanksgiving to us!  Just us 3, but it was still super yummy food and a great day with lots to be thankful for! 

Miss A and Mr A were at his family's for Thanksgiving and had a great time!

My other two girls went to Ben's sister's for Thanksgiving since they could not come home.  So grateful for her and making them feel so welcomed!!!

Day after Thanksgiving is always Christmas decorating day at our house.  We got up our crazy big 12 foot tree and get the house all decorated.  It is an all day project!

Saturday we did the outside lights and then worked on neighbor gifts.  We normally do some homemade food, but didn't feel that was appropriate this year, so we decided to make Christmas countdown candles which have been a tradition in Ben's family since he was a kid.  His dad makes them every year for all the family, so we decided to share that tradition this year.  Ben is melting crayon and using that to write on the candle.  We are thankful for family traditions and that we get to share them this year.  

Hope you all had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!  So much to be thankful for!  Stay safe and healthy and well!

2020 Blue Jeans Week 47

Lots of pictures from my college girls this week.  After Thanksgiving some of their roommates will be gone and everything that was in person, which was very little, will be online until end of semester.  They had a bachelorette party for Miss A which was fun with her, her sisters and a dear friend/roommate.  Life is good.  We are healthy and safe and have much to be grateful for!  Here is a look at our week....

Miss E and her awesome roommates which have been such a blessing in her life this first semester of college which was so not normal for anyone!

Miss O and her roommates which have also been a big blessing in her life!

Miss E made these cute towels last year for Christmas, and I was excited to get them out--not to use, they are too cute to actually get dirty and use, but to admire this year! 

My girls up at my grandparent's cabin in the mountains.  So glad they can get away there!

What do college kids buy for food for a weekend at a cabin?  ABC chicken nuggets.  Yum!

Miss A's bachelorette party--a very tame, but super fun affair with my 3 girls and Miss A's awesome friend.  She gets married in less than a month!  So exciting!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving week even if it looks way different than normal.  Ours will be so different than what we normally do, but it will still be good!  So much to be grateful for!  Stay health and safe and have a blessed Thanksgiving week! 

 

2020 Blue Jeans Week 46

I was late in posting last week because I was gone, but got the engagement photos up so be sure and check them out!  Love them!  Last week I had some fun in the snow in the mountains with my girls and Mr A.  Found "the" wedding dress for Miss A and enjoyed a few more days with my girls before heading home.  So nice to go, but also so nice to come home!  Traveling right now is stressful, but I would not have wanted to miss wedding dress shopping for my girl!  Take a look at our week....

Up at my grandparents' cabin we got a lot of snow!  So fun!  The girls found my grandpa's axe in the garage and decided that would make a fun picture.  So fun to be with these girls!!!  Love them and miss them so!

Miss O contemplating life in a snow storm with an axe :)  Sure love this girl!

We were so happy to have Mr A join us, and they all made an awesome snow creature--I think it was a bear.  Lots of fun to play in the snow and be together!

Later we were very happy to have found "The Dress!"  Her sisters were excited behind her too!

So beautiful!!!  Love the bead work!

So elegant!  And it fit perfectly so no alterations which is great!!!  So excited!

Back on campus I loved this shot of the mountain (Can you see the Y?) and the colorful trees.  It was beautiful!

So fun to go, but nice to get back home.  Mr J made dinner and made these awesome pepperoni pizza rolls from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  Yummy!  He has decided he likes making and eating these more than regular pizza, and that says a lot!  Find recipe here

Hope you all had a great week!  Thanks for visiting!  Stay healthy and safe!

Engagement photos

Ok, photo overload, but here are Miss A and Mr A's engagement photos.  These are my favorites.  There were lots more :)  Enjoy!!!  So happy and excited for these two!  Love them both so much!!

Fun that her sisters got to be there too!

 

2020 Blue Jeans Momma Week 45

I am behind.  Kind of an emotional roller coaster of a week.  My grandpa passed away, and I live too far away and was not able to get to the funeral.  He was an amazing man!!!  He blessed my life soo much.   Super hard!  Then  I got on a plane and flew out to see my girls and go wedding dress shopping.  Wow!  That was fun and surreal and crazy amidst COVID right now.  I made it safely there and back and am staying away from everyone to make sure I didn't get sick while traveling.  Tried really hard to stay safe, so prayers, everyone stays well!!!  Take a look at our week....

One of my sweet cousins got this flower arrangement from the grandkids which was so nice since we all could not be there.

One night before I left, we played the game Quixx on the couch all with our blankets over us.  

And then I got on a plane and flew to see my girls to go wedding dress shopping!!!  Crazy!  This is not the one she finally picked, but still super pretty!  We found "the dress" the next week, but will share that next week, but was so fun to have all my girls there plus Miss A's really good friend/roommate.  

We were able to get up into the mountains and relax at my grandparents' cabin which is always a happy place for me!

An early morning hike in the mountains with my Miss E!  So fun to see her!  We have missed her so much since she went to school in August!

A picture from my Ben and Mr J who stayed home while I went out.  Beautiful bike riding weather for them!

While we were up at the cabin we got some snow!!!  So fun!  It was beautiful!

Ok, I am going to post the engagement pictures.  Has taken me a while, but they are in the next post.  Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a great week and stay safe and healthy!!! 

2020 Blue Jeans Week 44

We had a great week.  After worrying if we would have a cross country season, we made it through the whole thing and made it to state!  Season is now over, and it was a great one!  Made our traditional Halloween sugar cookies.  My college girls got to attend a football game, masked and socially distanced, but in person and it was fun!  Got the engagement pictures back, but will share those in another post as there are too many and they deserve their own post.  It was a good week.  Take a look....

Mr J helping me make our traditional Halloween sugar cookies.  We make these on Halloween and Valentine's.  Love sugar cookies!

And then everyone's favorite part is decorating and of course, eating them!

We had some cold weather last week!  Enjoyed a hike all bundled up with the pretty fall leaves!

We got snow this week!!!!  We never, ever get snow this early.  Never!  We will usually have our first snow beginning of December, but never before Halloween!  Crazy!

My college girls got to attend a football game!  They were excited!  Masks and socially distanced, but it was still a fun game to be at in person!! 

Mr J had two days off school this week because of parent teacher conferences, so we went up to the city to do some shopping and get out of town.  I made him drive all the way up there and around.  It was a good experience for this small town kid!  He wasn't so sure about all that driving before we started....

Donated blood this week. Always glad when I am able to do that!

State cross country!!!!  It had warmed up a little from earlier in the week when we had snow.  It was windy and 50 when he ran in the morning.  He did so much better than last year at state!  He has improved so much and excited to see what next year holds!  The end to a great cross country season!

After running his state race, sure proud of this kid!  Fun to cheer him on!

After the race, we were in a part of the state we normally don't get to, and we looked up some hikes in the area and went exploring.  This went on top of that ridge behind Ben and Mr J and all along it.  This was in the Flint Hills area and was just so beautiful!  So fun to explore the beauties of the earth that our Heavenly Father has given us!

Happy Halloween!   We got our pumpkins done!  No trick-or-treaters, but we rarely get any out where we live.  

Looks pretty good all aglow!!!! 

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are staying safe and healthy!