Ward Talent Show - Awesome Dancing!!

We had our ward talent show tonight and Ryan and Cooper did some AWESOME break dancing! Ryan and I weren't sure if Cooper was going to do it or not since he didn't get a nap in or eat well today but he did fantastic!!

I am sorry it is a little grainy but the lights were low and I was in the middle of the floor! Sorry for all my laughing it was just cute! Thanks Jessica for taking Reese so she wasn't crying for the whole video! There were so many talented people there it was so much fun! Ryan and I want to do something together next year if we live here!!!!!

Carver Farms 10/10/09

I am late at blogging as usual! This month has been crazy but things will start to slow down by Monday! We went to Carver Farms back on Oct. 10th, on a beautiful yet chilly Saturday afternoon with our friends, the Farris and Forman families! I guess it was a day for the last names that start with "F"!! We loaded up and of course we had to do the tractor ride out to the field but you can also drive. You only have a certain amount of time to pick your pumpkins before the other tractor comes but there were tons of them left! You have to flip them over to make sure they aren't mushy from lying on the ground.

Ryan held Reese most of the time in one hand and a pumpkin in the other...Here he is searching with Morgan and Skyler for a perfect pumpkin!

Weighing our pumpkins in! There is part of the Farris family with us!

The better family picture because no one is looking!

Those first pictures are smaller for some reason...I stole them off Elaine's facebook!

Thanks Elaine!

The kids apparently didn't want to take pictures and the sun was right in our face!

Cooper didn't want to take pictures so I did the girls! Poor things were freezing outside but once we got in the van it was toasty warm!

After picking pumpkins and weighing them in we had to wait for caramel apples! Ryan loves these things...I think they would have been good had they not been so fresh! The caramel was so soft it was a big bite of caramel at first but once you got to the apple part it was yummy!

We love Carver Farms because it isn't too far away and since our kids are so small they can only last for so long! We loved that our friends the Farris' and Forman's could come also!

I got my money!

So after that post I decided to call the customer service number on my receipt. I got to looking at my receipt and thought what do I have to lose? So they took my information down when really I thought they would just tell me if I should have received the discount for each $10! About 45 minutes later the manager calls me and I ask him about it....He really had no idea what the promotion was which I thought was funny to begin with and then Ryan gets home and I go down to Albertsons by myself and ask him about it with my receipts and he really didn't understand what I did....So funnier right? Not really I got to thinking because if I am explaining this to the manager who doesn't understand then how will anyone else know what to do! They gave me my money + tax which was nice and I was on my way home to eat dinner! Not a bad experience although I did split up my transactions Tuesday night when I went to make sure I got ALL of my discounts! Those instant discounts can be tricky but I have learned!!! I hope all of you have also! This concept came in handy teaching my coupon class last night, where I had about 2o ladies come with great questions and eagerness to either save money or build up a food storage! I love couponing!

Rule #1

So today I thought I would brave and go grocery shopping with my kids! I kind of threw everything together last night for my trip with coupons and what I was going to get! I thought I was organized but apparently not! I missed out on saving $15...That might not seem like much but I was only planning on spending a certain amount and paid an extra $15! When I taught my first coupon class I told everyone to go by themselves! I didn't obey my first rule! And I should have planned better while I was organizing my coupons!

I did get some awesome deals with the Quaker Promotion but spent too much on the Schick razors! I purchased 10 of them but was shorted $12 from not doing separate transactions...

These razors are usually $7.79 / each and so only paying $19.82 for 10 of them should be a good deal but not for me....I am bummed because I can't go back and return and redo the transaction because I don't get my coupons back so I am going to go and see if they will refund me the $12.

At frugalchicliving.blogspot.com she posted that her promotion savings automatically came off ($3 x 6 totals of $10) - $18 but they hit total before her coupons! Minor detail apparently!

I thought I knew a lot about using coupons and store promotions but each store and checker is different and every time I go I think I learn a new lesson! Wish me luck getting my $12 back!

Family Vacation for 2009

We don't go on a real family vacation very often due to me working everyday and Ryan being a work-aholic! This year we went to Utah for Ryan's mission reunion. Ryan has never been! The couple that served as the President and his wife over the mission are great and keep in contact with most of the missionaries that served their mission in Sweden at the same time they were there. I was kind of a pessimist because he has been home almost exactly 7 years...Time flies, since we were married a year after he got home and here we are going on 6 years of marriage and 3 kids!! Ryan was able to meet up with quite a few missionaries and the kids played and I mingled with the wives in between chasing kids! Sorry no pictures of the reunion...

We started out at 4:30am Thursday morning and drove straight to Orem. Dan and Chelsea let us stay with them and we felt bad because Dan's sister showed up and they had to stay in the basement, it is finished but we didn't know they were coming! Dan and Ryan served in the mission field for a period of time but were never missionary companions. Chelsea and I clicked from the beginning because we are a lot alike! They were the best hosts! I wish we were at the house longer we just were go, go, go! Thursday night we hung out at their house and let the kids play and ate yummy homemade chili that Chelsea made! Friday we got up and headed to Temple Square...Ryan and I have not been to this area since 2000 so we kept looking for the mall across the street and there was nothing just cranes and really tall buildings! Neither one of us remembered those buildings from 9 years ago....(that makes me feel so old!) So we found a place to park and headed to Temple Square and walked around as you can see from the pictures...We found a place to eat, The Garden Restaurant, which was amazing...It looked too fancy for kids but they were great and we had an amazing view of the Salt Lake City Temple. We were able to see the free Joseph Smith movie and I missed part of it due to potty breaks but it is amazing! The movie helps people to understand what Joseph went through and the history of the pioneers!

It was a little chilly so the kids were all bundled and ready to walk Temple Square.

The kids at temple square looking at one of the fountains.

Have to get a picture in front of the Christus.

Picture in front of Salt Lake City Temple.

Reese and that tongue cracks me up!

Chloe didn't want her picture taken! We put the kids across the back and then set up the laptop on the middle seat so they could all see it!

We then went to IKEA! Ryan LOVES this store (it is swedish) and we had to get some Swedish food from there, mostly chocolate! We ate dinner there and then headed to Ryan's missionary reunion. We aren't used to heavy traffic so it took a lot longer than we planned but we made it! Got back to Dan and Chelsea's at 10pm that night and stayed up talking until 11:30! Saturday we packed up and headed to Idaho Falls..On the way we stopped in Pocatello and had lunch at a park where the kids played..

I thought this picture was funny because everyone's face is different!!

Reese and Chloe on the swings in Pocatello...Reese just starts giggling when you put her in one of these swings!

Chloe was pushing Reese in the swing and Reese was chewing on a piece of cucumber (green thing in her mouth).

Ryan and I learned Cooper can do the monkey bars almost all by himself!

Right after we checked into our hotel we headed to the pool! The kids loved it and it was fun until this couple came in and were all over each other in the hot tub so we pulled the kids out and ordered from Chili's! We ran to Wal Mart and picked up our food and of course went swimming about an hour later!

Sunday we got up and finished our drive home...We started up Monida Pass and the elevation there is almost 7000 ft. and we hit a snowstorm! Not a light one, it was still snowing, blowing, slushy and plain crappy! That lasted for what felt like a long time even though it wasn't compared to the whole trip home! We did see 4 plows, crazy semi drivers and one truck off the road so we are grateful for our safe travels! Home Sweet Home!