2021 Blue Jeans Week 5

Winter has definitely arrived here.  We usually get our coldest weather in February, and it has definitely come!  Burr!  It is cold outside!  We had a good week.  Nothing too exciting.  We are all thankfully healthy and well.  In person school and work continues.  We are grateful for the opportunities we have and the community in which we live.  I realized I didn't post the family wedding pictures, so those will be up next.  Better late than never, take a look at our week....

I have been a Becky Higgins fan for over 10 years.  I have done her physical Project Life book also for over 10 years, but in 2020 I decided to try out her project life app and print my book through that.  Got a nice hardback one for Ben and I and then a paperback one for the kids.  Also did a wedding album for Mr A and Mrs A and it turned out great!  I think I am converted.  No more buying physical albums, page protectors, kits and ordering photo prints, just doing it all on my phone, and my 2020 albums are done!  Love it!

 I called my 95 year old DeeDee (my grandma) this week.  So glad we can do video calls so we can see each other.  Love seeing her!  Hopefully sometime this summer we will be able to see her in person and give her a huge hug!!!  She is amazing.  Still lives at home by herself and bakes cookies almost every day or knits or crochets something.  She got her first vaccine shot a few weeks ago and should get her second this week.  So happy for her!!!

Doing some family history documenting here, this necklace was my DeeDee's.  She wore it all the time when I was growing up.  I remember sitting on her lap and playing with it. I thought it was so cool as a kid.  It is a gold whale's tail.  My uncle went to Hawaii and got it for her when I was just little.  It was the one piece of jewelry that I remember her wearing and associate with her.  About 10 or so years ago when I was at her house, she asked if I wanted any of her jewelry, and I quickly knew exactly what I wanted.  I wanted her whale tail necklace. She very graciously gave it to me.  It means a lot to me and is my DeeDee necklace.   

My graduation desk pictures.  This desk holds each of my girls' graduation pictures and the picture of my 3 girls from Mrs A's wedding that I LOVE!  Will post those pictures in a different post today.  It took me a while to get Miss E's graduation picture printed and out, but I love this.  Just a few more years and we will add Mr J's to this desk, but thankfully that is still a few more years away!!!

Hello February!  Getting our Valentine's pillow cases out and on the pillows today!

Ben ordered some new pickle ball rackets with some birthday money he had not used (his birthday is in Oct) and we tried them out this weekend before it got super cold.  Friday night for our date night, we went to our church and played indoor pickle ball in the gym-just the two of us, and then Saturday he wanted to try them outside on the regular pickle ball court.  They worked pretty well, but we sure didn't last too long outside as it was COLD and windy, but he got his fix so that is good!

Picture from Miss O this week.  These are her freshman roommates, and she got together with them this weekend and had blast.  Such awesome girls!  

Thanks for visiting!  More wedding pictures come soon!  Stay safe and healthy and be kind!

2021 Blue Jeans Week 4

Welcome to February!  January seemed like a really long month for some reason....anyone else feel that way?  We are healthy and well and grateful for that!  It was a good week.  Nothing too exciting, but had a yummy cake to celebrate our state's birthday!  Take a look at our week....

Ben serves as the Bishop in our church congregation which would be equal to a priest or minister, but he also has a full time regular job.  The offices in our church are all volunteer and unpaid.  These are his counselors, clerk and secretary (my dad on the left).  All great men who also volunteer unpaid to serve.  Grateful he has this group to help him with his responsibilities!

Fun picture from Mrs A this week.  They had this awesome frisbee on their wedding registry, and someone got it for them, and she was so excited!  We have the same frisbee that she grew up using.  Lots of fun!

Quiet and cold evening at home by myself--Ben and Mr J at church, so I cuddled up with a warm blanket and read my book.  Perfect evening to spend wrapped in a warm blanket with a good book!

Working on a cake for this week.  I do them over a few days--make the cake, wrap and freeze them one day, make the filling another day, and then I make the frosting and assemble on a different day.  

Love this picture of my college kids this week.  They played pickle ball together and then had lunch together.  Makes my heart happy to see them together!

Friday Date Night--with COVID, stay at home dates are definitely the norm, especially on a cold winter night.  We did a puzzle date night.  It was fun.  

My grasshopper pie cake all done and decorated with a sunflower to celebrate our state's birthday.

My traditional sunflower cake picture, but Ben was the only one home to have me take it with the cake this year.  We celebrate our state's birthday every year with a "sunflower" cake.  This was ours this year, and it was yummy!

Thanks for visiting!  Stay safe and healthy!  Be kind!  Have a great week!

2021 Blue Jeans Week 3

Life continues, different than before in some ways, and similar to before in some ways.  We are healthy and well, and for that I am so grateful!  We enjoyed the long weekend.  Made another cake.  My goal was one a month, so we can handle two also.  No one was complaining.  Grateful for the peaceful transition of power this week.  Grateful for the country we live in and hopeful for the future.  We can get better.  We can do better.  We can be kinder.  Take a look at our week...

Mr J and his friend recorded an awesome duet.  Piano recitals are not quite "normal" yet, so we appreciate Mr J's piano teacher recording and posting the performances so family far away can enjoy too.  Two very talented guys!

Cake #2 for the month.  Ben and Mr J both helped me out.  Making those smooth sides is definitely not as easy as they make it look in those videos.....but it still tasted good!

Cake #2 for the month all done.  It was just a basic vanilla with a vanilla bean buttercream that was so good!

Monday was a school holiday for Mr J, so he celebrated by making 3 different kinds of pancakes for breakfast.  He did a banana peanut butter, a chocolate banana peanut butter and a cinnamon roll pancake with icing.  They were all yummy, but the cinnamon roll was my favorite.

These two enjoyed their Monday off also.  They went on a winter hike.

And they ran into some pretty deep snow on that winter hike!  Burr!  Definitely making memories!

The president's inauguration was today.  So many prayers that it would be a peaceful transition of power, and I am happy to say that it was.  I loved this image of Dr Biden looking at her husband--the new President of the United States.  He takes over during a rough time, but I am hopeful!  Lots of prayers for all our leaders and our nation!

One of the things I got Ben for Christmas was this BYU flag.  It didn't come with a pole or anything to hang it with, so we worked on that this weekend and got it ready to fly!  Proud of fly our BYU flag!  Go Cougs!

Weekend game night.  Ben got me the game Silver and Gold for Christmas, and we have really enjoyed playing it!

Picture from Miss E this week.  She had to go to an Icelandic memorial for one of her classes this week celebrating the people from Iceland who migrated to this area.  Thought it was a pretty cool monument!

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

 

 

2021 Blue Jeans Week 2

It seems like we have been in January a long time, but this is only the 2nd week of photos.  Sometimes time seems to just drag, and others it flies by!  It was a good week.  Adjusting to just the 3 of us home again.  Girls and Mr A made it through their first week of the new semester, and Mr J in high school and Mrs A in law school made it through their 2nd week of semester after the break.  Everyone is healthy and well, and for that we are extremely grateful!  Praying for a peaceful transition of power this week.  Never thought that would be something I would ever imagine we would need to pray for!  Prayers for our country, our leaders, and our people!  Take a look at our week...

Sunday's family call--we use Skype.  Mr A and Mrs A had to leave early, so we just had Miss E and Miss O for most of the call.  Grateful for technology that allows us to do this!

Part of my routine each morning since July is stretching.  These are the things I use each morning to stretch.  

Sporting my favorite team jacket today!

This amazing lady is my grandma, but we call her DeeDee, and she turned 95 this week!!!!  She is truly amazing!  She still lives by herself, bakes cookies almost daily (get my love to baking from her) and truly inspires me!  I want to be just like her when I grow up!

My cute January towel that Miss E made for me.  Makes me happy to see it!

Two of my girls studying together at the library at school.  Love to see them do things together!

Date night--I have tried to be way more intentional about date nights the last few months--actually scheduling them--even if they are just stay at home date nights.  Tonight we got take out from one of our favorite Mexican places, and it was so good!  Sure love this guy!

 

Saturday date--our first bike ride of the new year!  It was warm enough and we had time today to get in a quick ride on our favorite trails!  Sure love this guy and grateful for the time we have to be together!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you have a safe and healthy week!  Remember to be kind!

2021 Blue Jeans Week 1

Wow!  Welcome to 2021!  I think we were all hoping it would go better than it has.  What a crazy first few days of the year!  Praying for a peaceful transition of power!  This should never be an issue in this country.  It is just so disheartening and sad what happened!  Prayers we can agree to disagree and move on.  We are better than this.  We are grateful we had 2 of our college girls home for one more week.  They start back this week.  Prayers for an uneventful, safe and happy semester for them! Mr J is back to school here and so far so good.  Ben got his 2nd COVID vaccine shot and I am so grateful!  That has been a huge blessing and relief to me as he sees COVID patients almost daily.  He had a sore arm and a slight headache and didn't sleep well the night after he got his 2nd shot, but the next day he was feeling totally fine and worked all day.  Grateful for that!  What a week!  So much going on, but still lots to be grateful for!  Take a look at our week....

Happy New Year!  Hoping for good things from 2021!!

Got a winter storm--ice and then snow and took a fun walk along the trails in this winter wonderland!

These two college girls are enjoying having time to read fiction books for fun over their break!

Per tradition, we made our personal goals first Monday night of the new year.  Lots of good plans for everyone!

Enjoyed family game time playing new games we all got for Christmas.  Missing our Mr and Mrs A!

Had to document the sad event at our nation's Capitol.  So sad.  So wrong.  Prayers for healing and a peaceful transition of power later this month.  We need more love, not hate and division, and we can love each other even if we don't agree on anything!  Agree to disagree--we can do that and still be kind. 

Miss O still working on her awesome, huge denim blanket.  It seriously will cover a queen sized bed easily.  So cute!  She is getting ready to sew the binding and finish the edges today.  Hoping it will fit into a suitcase!!!  She really wants to take it back with her!

She got it all done, and these 3 enjoyed using it to keep warm and cozy as they watched silly you tube videos.  Sometimes it is nice just to laugh!  and especially nice just to be together!

For Christmas I got some fancy cake making tools.  One of my goals this year is to make a fancy cake once a month.  This was my January cake.  It is a chocolate peppermint cake from Cake by Courtney, and it was so yummy!  It was definitely not perfect----not sure how they make the sides totally smooth???  but I will practice lots this year and hopefully get better!

This was the inside.  The girls helped me and they piped the layers in the middle.  So cool!  It was our good-bye celebration cake before we took the girls back to the airport to head back to school end of the week. Sure going to miss them, but hoping they have a great and healthy semester!!!  Grateful they can attend school in person!

Hope you are all healthy and well and safe!  Spread kindness and love wherever you are, and have a great week!

2020 Blue Jeans last week wrap-up

Last week of 2020.  What a year!  So much crazy and unreal, but lots of good too.  We have learned to not take anything for granted!  Hoping 2021 will be much better!!!  Here is a look at our last few days of 2020.....

My girls and I all got these cute aprons from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  I have been a huge fan of hers for years, and was excited when she opened an apron and hoodie shop just in time for Christmas!

Enjoying some family time on our favorite trails by our house.

Beautiful day on the trails with wonderful people!  

Enjoyed a day playing pickleball with everyone here.

Kids enjoyed playing Monopoly together.  

Years and years ago I cut out all these denim squares to make a blanket.  I sewed a few of them together, but Miss O took over the project a few years ago.  This week we finally got around to tying the quilt and glad my mom could help us!  She is the expert!

The quilt all tied, just need to bind it.  It looks so awesome!

A picture of our house with the Christmas lights on this year.

And the most important event of this week---we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary!   Had originally planned to celebrate by going on a cruise, but you know, 2020 and how things didn't work out.  We will have to postpone that celebration, but sure love this guy and so grateful he is mine!  Looking forward to another 25 years!

And that wraps up 2020!  Thanks for being a part of it!  Stay healthy, happy, safe and Happy New Year!!!  Here is to a much better 2021!!!