2022 Blue Jeans Week 22

So this past week was kind of crazy.  We enjoyed the 3 day weekend and then had two days of work and then Ben, Mr J and I left for a 3 day youth church retreat in Nauvoo, Illinois.  It was an adventure!  Take a look...

Sunday game this week was Roll It.  It is a fun dice game that is super easy and fast to play.

Happy Memorial Day!  So grateful for the men and women who have given their all for us so we can have the freedoms we do!  We honor them and their families for their sacrifice for us.  Mr J had to work all day as it was opening day at the pool, so Ben and I enjoyed roasting hot dogs and making s'mores and riding bikes.  It was a beautiful day!

So we are on a bus with 60 teenagers aged 14-18 for a 6 hour drive to a church youth retreat.  We are excited :)  There were 5 buses full of 250 kids and lots of adults.  It is going to be fun!

First night of the retreat we went to an outdoor musical show that was so good!

We were assigned a group of 17 kids and were in charge of them and getting them around.  The highlight was taking them to the temple to serve.  Such a beautiful place!

Glad I got to do this with this cute guy!

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Visiting historic sites as part of the retreat.  In Carthage, Illinois

Had lots of fun with these kids over the last 3 days. Not a lot of sleep, but lots of fun!  A great group of kids!

And these were the other adults that had their own groups of 17 that were on the bus with us and we did things together over the 3 days.  There were 240 kids total and lots of adults, and it was a great experience.  We made new friends and had fun, but man were we tired at the end of it!  A 6 hour bus ride home, plus a 2 hour car ride, and we were very glad to get in our own beds!!!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and happy and well!  Have a great week!

 

2022 Blue Jeans Week 21

I am behind.  We have had a busy two weeks.  School is out.  Mr J ran at the state track meet and did awesome, and he also had a birthday in there too.  Take a look...

Our Sunday game this week was Yahtzee.  What a classic and lots of fun.  Ben remembers playing it with his grandma as a kid.

Went to lunch with my dad.  Grateful that we live close and we can spend time together!  

New recipe.  This is a filled wool roll.  It had a lemon raspberry cream cheese filling. It was yummy but we decided it needed a glaze on it like a cinnamon roll.  Will have to make it again. Found the recipe at King Arthur's Baking.

Mr J's old elementary school is being torn down as a new one has been built.  When he was in 4th grade he made this sunflower picture that the school principal made into this window cling at the front door, so we had to get a picture of his original 4th grade picture with the window picture before it is no longer around.  We walked through the school together to all his old classrooms.  Fun memories.

Mr J's birthday lunch request was .....McDonalds...not my choice but that's ok.  It was what he wanted. 

For his birthday cake he decided he wanted sugar cookies to make and decorate. 

Happy 17th birthday to this amazing kid!  We sure love him!

Mr J and his birthday cookie cake

Mr J lining up for the 2 mile race at the huge state track meet.  

So proud of this kid!  He improved his time by 20 seconds!!! It was a super fast race and he did so well!  A great end to the track season and the school year!

Date night this week was a bike ride on the trails.  One of our favorite things to do.

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and healthy and happy where you are!  Have a great week!

2022 Blue Jeans Week 20

Summer is officially here!  School is out for the summer!  Great week.  Mr J made it to state track!!!  So exciting! Here is a look at our week...

Every school day Mr J gets up and gets to a scripture study class at 6 a.m. with these other awesome kids!  Their amazing teacher is moving this summer so we wanted to get a picture of all the students for her. 

Did you see the lunar eclipse?  It was pretty awesome!

Getting some yard work done with these pretty iris in bloom right now.

Had a beautiful evening this week with no wind, so we set up a makeshift badminton court and played tonight in the front yard.

My cake for May...Reese's Toast Cake with the best Peanut butter frosting from Cake by Courtney.  Yummy!

Last day of junior year!  Our traditional "Toyota" jump to celebrate the end of a great school year!  Ahh!  last senior year coming up!

Cool air show near our house this weekend.  They were all WWII era plans and so fun to see fly in formations!

Regional track meet was this week after school got out and this kid leading the pack made it to state for the 2nd year in a row!!!  Woohoo!  Way to go Mr J! Proud of your hard work!!!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and healthy and happy!  Have a great week!

2022 Blue Jeans Week 19

We had a way too hot week this past week.  We were over 90 every day, and it is way too early for that!  Had end of the year band concert, league track and some other fun things.  Take a look at our week...

My mother's day gift was all these flowers and better yet was Ben planting them for me.  I didn't have to plant a single one.  Best mother's day gift ever!

Enjoying so many birds on our feeders lately--humming birds and this beautiful Oriole.  Love our bird feeders!

Had lunch with my awesome friend this week.  We get together once a month.  We met checking people in at the COVID vaccine clinics last year. 

End of the year band concert.  Mr J doing awesome with his jazz band!

Blurry picture, but he had a solo and it was amazing!

Donated blood.  First time that we didn't need to wear a mask in over 2 years!

League track meet and Mr J rocked it in the 2 mile!  League champion and moving onto Regionals next week!  So proud of him!

Our high school graduation was the past weekend.  It was outside, and it was hot!  Ben took this shot of me and the other board members on the stage.  Thankfully the graduation was only 42 minutes long (but who was counting?) in the hot May sun!  Not normal May weather for us! 

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are healthy and happy and safe wherever you are!  Have a great week!

2022 Blue Jeans Week 18

Hello!  What a week!  Miss E headed to Europe for a summer study abroad program, we have some beautiful flowers, we had a LOT of rain, we heard a lot of band music and our date night was a track meet.  Take a look at our week...

Miss E getting ready to board the plane to Europe for the summer!  So exciting!!!

Mr J's jazz band played a show with the local community college jazz band.  It was a great show!  Lots of good music!

Miss E in ROME!  She is there with a study abroad program with her university.  She was been wanting to go for the last 2 years, but COVID, so she was SO excited to finally get to go!!!  She will be going all over Europe.  Her dream!

We have some iris blooming!  So pretty and wet from the rain over night.

One of the beautiful tulips we have blooming right now. 

We got SO much rain (multiple inches over consecutive days) that our basement was getting close to flooding, so we spent a sleepless night pumping out our window wells so the basement would not flood!  Thankfully it didn't but it was a long, wet night.  

Date night this week involved driving to a track meet and enjoying watching it together.  It was a nice night and Mr J got first in his 2 mile race which was awesome!!!

Saturday was an all day band fundraiser day. Ben and I took turns helping to drive around band kids to play at different people's homes.  People paid us to play for people, and it was a great fundraiser, but a very long day!  Great group of kids!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are safe and happy and well where you are!  Have a great week!

2022 Blue Jeans Week 17

We were part of the week still visiting college kids and then came home.  So fun to be with our college kids and be together!  Got home and hit the ground running!  Had a college junior day visit with Mr J and a fun trip for Mr and Mrs A.  Take a look at our week...

Mr J had a piano recital while we were gone.  He had 2 duets with his friend and then one solo.  We got to listen to them practice since we were missing the recital.  They did a great job!

Back at the cabin, the kids decided to do a 2000 piece puzzle and spread it out over a chair and end table and the box.  It was really big.  We didn't get it done before we left, but Mr JC and Mrs OC got it almost done before they had to leave.  We decided 1000 piece puzzles are the best :)

Went to see my amazing 96 year old Grandma (DeeDee) and she showed me this picture.  She said it was her favorite of her family growing up.   She was one of 5 girls.  She is on the far right.  A family treasure for sure!

And it was so fun to see my DeeDee now!  Sure love her and she is amazing!!!

Mr and Mrs A headed out on a fun adventure to visit several national parks in CA, Oregon and Montana for their summer vacation before jobs start in a few weeks.  So pretty!

College visit junior day with Mr J.  Visited the home of the NCAA basketball champions--the Kansas Jayhawks, and this is where they play basketball.  Had a great day.  It is was a good experience for Mr J to be in a college campus and help him decide where he wants to go in a few years!

Date this week was an amazing concert of a brother and sister with one playing the piano and one the cello.  It was classical music, and it was so good!  Love my dates with this guy!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope you are healthy and happy and well!  Have a great week!