My New Favorite

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is my new favorite book! Please, please read it! The format of the book is all letters which is different to read but used so wonderfully by the authors to tell the story. The places and characters are so vivid; I really think that if I visited Guernsey Island today I would be able to meet them all. Read it- you'll love it!

Rollin'!

Our little Isaac is rolling now! I can't believe it! He had only been really working on it for a couple of days, and then he did it. The first time was on Friday. I put a ball just out of his reach for incentive and he rolled right over to get it and then chewed it to death. He can even roll front to back too. He is so strong and determined. He loves to play on the floor. This picture is right after he rolled the first time and you can tell by the look on his face how pleased he is with himself.

Yesterday I got the boys dressed for church and then realized they matched, so of course, we had to take a picture!


Last night Greg went to bed a little before me and I jumped on the computer really quick and found out Smith's is doubling coupons today and tomorrow (actually it started Sunday). So, crazy girl that I am, I got up at 5:00 am (ok, I was already awake by 4:00) and drove off to the store without telling Greg! I didn't want to wake him up, plus he would have just told me I was crazy anyway! The shopping was well worth it, though. Here's what I got for free:
5 tubes of Colgate toothpaste
2 Reach flossers
3 packages of dental floss
5 tooth brushes
3 4-packs of yogurt
5 bottles of salad dressing
1 jar of pickles
I also got Honey Bunches of Oats cereal for .88/box, family size yogurt for .38, deodorant for .25, Huggies wipes for 1.09 and 1.59, and Extra gum 3-packs for .19! In all, I got $79.85 in groceries for $8.64! Not bad for a beginner, I think. Yea for coupons!

Bear Lake

We spent last weekend camping at Bear Lake with Greg's parents. Will had such a good time swimming, playing in the sand, and being outside all day. I think Isaac had fun swimming too and was spoiled being held every second. My favorite part was being up in the mountains in the COOL air!

Horsies and more

I finally broke down and let Greg get us a new computer. Our old one was SO SLOW! Now I can post lots of pictures and it doesn't take me an hour!

This is so funny to me. Will was having a little snack before nap time and was so tired he just laid his head on his hands and went to sleep at the kitchen counter! I promise we get him to bed at a decent hour... I have no idea why he was so sleepy! Of course I had to take a picture before I put him in his bed.

Little Isaac is holding his head up so good. He's also quite the chatterbox. He coos and buzzes his lips and blows bubbles and sqeaks all the time.

While we were in Montana my Grandma just loved holding Isaac every chance she could get.

Will enjoyed seeing Grandpa Buroker's horses. Greg tried to give one of our apples to the horse but Will protested and ate it instead. He prefered the horses eat the hay instead of his snack. You can also see Auntie Tanza and her boyfriend Mike in the picture and my Grandpa on the far right.

Greg's mom bought us this wonderful double stroller and the boys and I have been walking all over town. We all LOVE it. It's a great workout for me, too. The weight of the kids and stroller and gear adds up to about 80 pounds.

We love going to the planetarium in Salt Lake. It's free and Will loves to see the rockets.

We went to the Riverton 4th of July parade and me, my parents, Will and Issac, my brother, and Tanza's boyfriend all wore red shirts. Will's favorite part of the parade was the motorcycles and the classic cars. Oh, and of couse all the candy!
We've had a fun and busy July and there's more to come- we're headed to Bear Lake this weekend!

We're still alive!

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last blogged! Time sure gets away from me sometimes. We just got back from a great trip to visit my family in Montana. Will had a great time playing with his cousin Scott he hasn't seen for over a year (that's a long time when you're only 2!) We celebrated my Grandpa's 80th birthday with a big party- about 60 people came. It's about a 7 hour drive (Greg claims he could do it in 6, my parents say it's closer to 8)... but the boys did really well.
This week we are moving... again! This will be our 7th move in 5 years of marriage. Yikes. We really are stable people, I promise! The people we are house sitting for are coming home from Italy, so we are going back next door where we lived before. Hopefully when we move out of that house, sometime next year, we won't be moving again for a LONG TIME!
Greg got a new job at L-3 Communications in North Salt Lake. He liked his old job but was ready for a change, and of course a raise. This company is really nice with great benefits. Good job, Greg!

Favor

Does anyone out there get the Sunday paper and not use the coupons? If so, can I have them? I'll come get them or pay the postage if you want to mail them to me. Thanks!

Today we got an awesome deal on a pair of shorts for Greg at JC Penny. They were originally $49, marked down to $15, and we had a $10 off certificate we got in the mail. That's almost a 90% discount! Woohoo!

On Saturday we took a little day trip up to Causey Resivoir to fish for Will's first time. He kept whining about the cold (really there was just a nice mountain breeze) and then he fell in the lake (probably woke up the whole mountain with his screaming!) Luckily we were prepared with extra clothes and Will eventually settled down for some relaxing fishing.

On Memorial Day we went to the Riverton Cemetery and then to my Uncle Steve's house for the annual family swim party. The weather was a little iffy at the end of the week so we weren't sure about getting in the pool, but it cleared up for a nice day.



Our sweet little Isaac is growing up so fast. The last picture was in his blessing clothes. Luckily we got some pictures before he grew out of them! He a very smiley boy and content to watch us go about our business or sleep the day away. His smiles really light up my day.

The Secret of my Success

So, like I said, I'm a beginner at this coupon thing, but here's how it works. It takes some time and effort, but I think of it as a job since I have the time to put into it. I use a site called www.pinchingyourpennies.com and they list the grocery deals each week. They even rate them as to what is really a good deal and what isn't (don't you hate it when you think something is on sale and you find out you got 10 cents off? Lame!). The idea is to save the coupons from the Sunday paper each week and then match up your coupons with the store deals for extra savings. The website tells you where you can find deals for coupons that have already come out.
Like I said, I've only started, so I don't have my coupons saved up yet, but just going off store deals has already saved me a lot. I had to go to 3 stores, but I got what I would normally buy plus the $78 extra; and they were all foods that we like and eat all the time. But they do say if you're willing to try new brands and varities it's easier to save. The idea seems pretty straight-forward, but I think some parts can get complicated when you get into it. I still have a lot to learn, but I got my first newspaper yesterday, so I'm on my way!