Oklahoma

After leaving the Hartmans on Friday, Greg flew home to relax for the weekend and go back to work, while Axton and I went to see my dad and stepmom in Oklahoma. Axton had only met them once when we was one so we went back Friday-Tuesday. For me this was more about recuoping from the previous week :) and so I didn't take very many pictures.

They have 3 indoor kittens and Axton was in heaven. Unfortunately for him 2 of the 3 had injuries so he could really only play with the one. He was obsessed. He did very well with them for it being his first time around kittens. He was always wanting to hold them and would get so upset if they ran away from him.



We also got to go help feed the horses, although I didn't even get a picture of them. He was far more interested in the pig and tractor. He was pretty mad at me when I told him he couldn't go for a ride on the tractor.



They had also gotten him a slip-n-slide. He has only been on one once before and that was a year ago. He really enjoyed playing on it even though he didn't quite get the hang of running and sliding. It was mostly running and slipping for him. But he had fun none the less.





Thanks for having us Dad and Julie. It was good to see you guys again, we wish you lived closer.

Goodbye Hartmans

On Friday we had to say goodbye to the Hartmans after a wonderful week of vacationing with them.

Us with Larry and Carla


Us with Tiffany, Viliamu, Mika, Sinalei, Tavita, and Sosefina. Hopefully I spelled them all correctly!


Most of the gang: Somner, Elizabeth, Us, Isaac, Carla, Larry, Tiffany, Viliamu, Mika, Sinalei, Tavita, Sosefina, Christopher, Rylee (baby), Jana, and Haylee.


The peacock we saw by the road when we were leaving the resort.


The drive back to the airport was a nightmare. We left thinking we'd end up sitting at the airport for a few hours, but no. We ended up in so much traffic at noon that we barely had time to catch our breath before boarding the plane. It was fun though to drive through DC and were both surprised when we realized we were right by the Washington Monument.


We also drove by the Pentagon. We were surprised to see all of the airplanes that come into land and how close they normally fly to the monument and pentagon.


We assume The House, meant the white house since we were exiting off on Pennsylvania Ave.


Some day it would be fun to go do the touristy stuff in DC but we'll have to wait at least 2 more years before we go back, we seem to be making that a tradition! We had so much fun with the Hartmans though and are so glad that they invited us. I have only met them a handful of times but instantly I felt like they were family and this trip was no different. I kept telling Axton to go find his cousins and if he wanted to see G-ma and G-pa! Thank you for everything, we hope you enjoyed having us as much as we enjoyed being there! We miss you.

Do Couponsense, I'm telling you!!

TUESDAY: What will $45 get you at the grocery store? It got me 12 boxes of cereal, 6 boxes of poptarts (don't care too much for but when you are out of time and they're free why not?), 2 boxes of fruit snacks, 1 bag of grapes, 2 milks, 8 powerades, 3 paper towels, 18 yogurts, 3 deodorants, 2 bags of BIC pens, 2-12 count toilet paper, 6 boxes of 100 cal snacks, 2 boxes of nutri-grain bars, and 2 boxes of crackers. And they declined about $5 in coupons too (the boxes were .4 oz off the coupon size, go figure!). $183 is what my grand total would have been, minus coupons and the store promos, I paid $45. That's a 75% savings!

SATURDAY: Gotta love Safeway! Just yesterday Greg was telling me he REALLY wanted fruit rollups and other junk food since we only get it when it's on a really good sale. Well his wish was my command! As luck would have it Safeway is running a sale right now! I got 2 boxes of gushers, 6 boxes of fruit roll-ups, 2 bags of granola nut clusters, 2 boxes of fiber one granola bars, and 4 boxes of nature valley sweet and salty granola bars (my favorite). Total cost $52.82, my out of pocket cost $0.93!!! AND I got $7 for my next shopping trip. They paid ME $6 to take 16 boxes of stuff, probably because they know it's not healthy for us :) but I'll take it cause who doesn't love junk food now and then?

I can't imagine my life without couponsense!! I'm a lifer. As well as getting all of the unhealthy food it has helped us get good food too believe it or not! It tells me the best price for produce so I usually spend about $10-$15 every 2 weeks to buy all of the fruits and veggies we need and want. Plus I know now how much I am willing to spend for all of my meat and never buy it unless it's at that price. I also don't pay hardly anything for our personal items like shampoo, razors, toothpaste, etc. Paper towels I get for $0.19 or under, dishwasher soap usually for $.50 (20 tabs) or under, my "high efficiency" clothes detergent I pay $1 or less (32 load), I get my fabric softener for $.50 or less and these are name brands I am getting like Tide, Snuggle, Bounty, etc.

My totals for a year of couponsense:
Total: $8297
Store deals: $4224
COUPONS: $2038
Rebates: $150 (or so, I'm bad at putting those in)
Balance: $1989
A 76% savings. I know that the numbers aren't completely accurate because looking at our own budget I know I spent about another $600-$700 on food over the year, but that also includes us eating out which I don't account for. I lost some reciepts here and there so I didn't imput them, so worse case scenario I saved 70% instead, including us eating out.

Why wouldn't you do couponsense? If you want to sign up please let me know and I'll have my instructor contact you. She is amazing. Couponsense works in Utah, Idaho and California too! The first month is only $4 and if you don't like it you don't have to keep doing it, it's month to month. I know I am blessed to live in an area with 4 differet grocery stores within 2 miles of me but you can make it work fairly well with only 2. It's at least worth a shot. Good luck!

More vacation pics

At the resort they have a lake with..... ducks, surprises surprise. So some of us went to feed them The one duck would come up and eat the bread out of the kids' hands. Axton would attempt it and then chicken out at the last second and drop the bread in the water instead.





Wouldn't be a complete vacation if Greg wasn't there to make some kind of face in a picture.


Tiffany, Viliamu (the baby), Carla and me sitting on the bench relaxing while Larry and Greg handle all of the kids, now that's a vacation!


Greg, Isaac, Larry, Axton, Sinalei, Tavita, and Sosefina posing while at the lake.


The resort also did a pinada for the kids 8 and under at the park. They only got to hit it two times a piece which was ok. Axton did really well at taking his turn and being patient while the other kids got theres, I was pleasantly surprised.




Notice the only adult in the picture and he's right in the center of the action! We'll claim that he was trying to insure that Axton and Sosefina got a couple of pieces of candy although I'm sure everyone else sees right through that!


Finally more parents helping their kids so we don't look like the hogs! And Axton got in on some of the action too instead of hiding out behind everyone.

More of our Trip

Monday all of us piled into our many cars for the main part of our vacation. The Hartman's own a timeshare so we all got our own cabins at Shenandoah Crossing. It was so much fun! We had 6 cabins and they were all right by each other so we were able to hangout the vast majority of the time.

They have several swimming pools at the resort so needless to say we ended up there twice a day. Especially when we realized swimming at night was so much more fun, no sun, no sunscreen, no burning!



Tiffany brought an extra tube and let Axton use it the whole time we were there! And pink is his favorite color (not really but he's quite used to it with all of his girl cousins and girl friends). It was such a lifesaver. Everytime before when we've tried to get him to use one he refused and would throw a fit but with all of the other kids using them he jumped on the band wagon! It didn't take him long to realize he could do whatever he wanted as long as he had it on. He learned to jump in all by himself with no one there to catch him and also how to balance it so he could swim. It was one of the best swimming experiences we had experienced. I love that he is getting older and more independant.




They also host special events such as the horseshoe tournament. Greg was so excited to play in it. I love his form and the looks on his face. I guess his technique paid off because he got first and won 3 free rounds of pool.





Other activites we did that I didn't get any pictures of were volleyball (the ball was so hard that I hit it wrong on my thumb and it swelled and turned blue and purple that night and looked like one giant bruise for a week!), basketball, tennis, mini golf, regular golf, horseback riding, and the one that I'm sad I didn't get a picture of was the life size chess board. They also had some arcade rooms and arts and crafts but we didn't do any of those.

Well I'm out of time so more to come on the next post.

East Coast

We were invited on a family vacation with a family from Greg's mission, the Hartman's. One of their sons and his family couldn't make it because his wife was due a week or so after the vaction and therefor couldn't fly. Lucky us!

We left on Friday, and it was about a 4 hour flight so we brought the dvd player. I read my book while the boys watched a little Lightning Mcqueen.



We made it to our destination around 2am eastern time. Then at 6, Axton and Greg were up and ready for the day. I cherish my sleep a little more than that so they let me keep sleeping for another hour. The Hartman's had a different family reunion to go to on Saturday so we drove around and saw people from Greg's mission days. Our first stop was to Lee and Courtney Schriever. Lee works for his dad on their dairy farm so we took Axton to see the cows. He wasn't really interested in them but he was eyeing the 4-wheelers so Greg took him for a ride. I think it was the first time he wasn't scared when he actually got on it. He loves to look at them and sit on them but as soon as they start going he tends to get a little nervous and whiny. But this time he couldn't get enough of it.


Then we were off to the local gunstore to see the Hendershot's. Greg seems to think he's going to buy a handgun in the near future. Maybe if our a/c in his car hadn't broke on the way to the airport, costing us $800 to fix when we got home, it might have been a little more a possibility.

After the gun store we decided to get something to eat and took it down to the Potomac River for a picnic. Everything in Pennsylvania was green and there are soooo many trees.



When the Hartman's got back from their reunion we hungout with them that night. Axton learned how to get on and off their trampoline all by himself. Some of their grandkids, and Axton, jumping.


I didn't get any pictures because I was took busy playing, but they got a group of people together and we went and played volleyball at the church. It took me a while to get over my shyness and the fact that I hadn't played volleyball in years but when I did finally join in it was a blast. I'm really glad I didn't stay on the sidelines. Axton was a trooper. Him and some of the other kids played in the nursery pretty much the whole time. He ended up being the last kiddo there around 11pm and he was still being so good even though he was really tired. I really am blessed with such an easy going child. I guess if we're only going to have one at least we got a good one.

Sunday was the usual, go to church see more people and then back to the Hartman's for more fun and talking. Mika brought over his shaved ice machine and made them for everyone. Axton decided he wanted blue raspberry, his mama's favorite. But like his mama his mouth turns colors ridiculously easy, I've learned to go for anything red! Within ONE bite his mouth was BLUE BLUE BLUE! And like his Daddy, he can't stop at having just one!



After the shaved ice, one of the Schrievers brought a parachute thing out. It was the first time Axton had ever seen one, I hadn't even seen one since middle school. It didn't take him long to figure it out and would run under it every chance he got. Greg of course had to show him where the hole in the center was.




Axton also discovered dirt! He made a slide down the hill where they had dirt instead of grass. And of course Greg had to get in on the action too. Unfortunately Axton's slide drew the attention of the other kids who's parents weren't so thrilled to have their kids get dirty since they were still in their Sunday clothes.



Greg had also bought some fireworks on Saturday so the kids got to play with sparklers while the big boys played with the bottle rockets and other loud fireworks. They put on quite the show but it was Mika and not Greg who was the crazy one by holding them until right before they went off and even sticking one on top of his head. You'd think the bishop would be a little smarter than that!!! :)



After that it was off to bed since we were all going to the Shenedoah Resort the next morning.