Dinner's On Me Giveaway

You need to check out this blog - not just for the giveaway, but for the great recipes and ideas.

http://www.dinnersonme.blogspot.com/

Sometimes It's The Little Things That Bring Me Joy

Okay, everyone has areas in their home that drive them crazy. Well, I've been cursing my pantry for years. I hated all the grocery bags stuffed in the corner, the fry pan and mondo tin foil that always fell at my feet, and the lunch bags and cooler that were just generally in the way of anything I tried to get to. Here is a picture of my annoying pantry floor.

Now, here is the solution to my problem: for less than $8 I bought this nice stainless steel grocery bag organizer that mounts to the wall. It even fit perfectly. It only holds about 30 grocery bags, but really, when have I ever needed more than that? I recycled a ton of bags, and now only keep what fits. I moved the annoying cooler downstairs in storage since I realized that I hardly use it, and the fry pan now fits so much better. I also installed wire shelving on the door for the kids' snack, freeing up space inside the pantry for other things like the annoying mondo tin foil. Ahh, so much better!

My other kitchen annoyance was this.
Now, some of you might look at the picture and wonder what exactly is annoying about it. Well, I'll tell ya'. The kids cannot reach the cups and drag a barstool over to the cupboard to reach them. The problem is that the barstool never made its way back to the bar, and was parked right by the dishwasher nearly all of the time. I got so annoyed with returning the barstool back to its home so I could load or unload the dishwasher.

Now, the solution: I was at my sister's house and she had plastic kid cups down in a cupboard where they could reach them. Now, why didn't I think of that?! I looked around my kitchen and really didn't have a lower cupboard that would work, so I used the bottom of the wire shelving that I had installed in the pantry for a few kid cups. It has taken a little retraining, but the kids are pretty good about checking the pantry shelf for a cup first before moving that annoying barstool.

So, what are the annoying areas in your house, and how did you solve it?

Leon's New Glasses

So, Leon got new glasses without consulting me, his wife. There is a small debate going as to whether these work for him or not. What do you think? Take a minute to vote (see poll in right margin). There are also some notable people with glasses like these, but I'm not sure if one would want to be in company with most of them. Leave a comment with your favorite look-alike.

Leon's new specs...

George McFly - suggestion courtesy of Tony Johns

Colonel Sanders - suggestion courtesy of Laurel

Drew Carey - suggestion courtesy of Deena

Malcolm X - suggestion courtesy of John Shurter

Nerd Poindexter - Suggestion courtesy of Jason Nelson

Pres. Kimball - suggestion courtesy of Jen

Nu Skin Lagoon Day

Just about every year that Leon has worked for Nu Skin, they have held their summer party at Lagoon Amusement Park. Now, this isn't your typical "Lagoon Day" that most employers do. Nu Skin actually reserves the whole park for just employees and their families. This means short lines!

At one point Leon took the older 3 boys off to do big rides, and Landon and I hung out in the Kiddie Land. I couldn't help think that this just might be the last year I will ever have a child who wants to ride these little boats. Landon loved it, but I think he was one of the biggest kids on the ride.
Leon and the boys rode "Rattlesnake Rapids" and got soaked. They were kind of irritated at me for not wanting to go on it with them, but since I only had a change of clothes for the kids, I wasn't willing to walk around the rest of the night in wet jeans. Call me a stick-in-the-mud, but I was a dry and warm one.
Of course, we had to ride the train.

As I mentioned Landon and I spent a lot of time together in Kiddie Land. Having a small child gives me the excuse to rides these types of rides - just my speed - without appearing creepy. If he grows at all through the year, he will probably be able to ride the big rides with the rest of the boys next year, and I'll have to suck it up and go with them - either that or bring some Dramamine.
Thanks, Nu Skin!

Yellowstone Reunion

This year my whole family (minus one brother, missed you, Jeff!) spent the Labor Day weekend at Yellowstone. We rented a cabin in Island Park for all 26, or so, of us and had a great time.

We saw some mineral pools,
of course, had to see Old Faithful,

fed some fish,

saw some waterfalls,

saw beautiful scenery,

smelled some pretty stinky stuff,

did a bit of hiking/walking,

saw some animals,

and some more animals,

learned how to fly fish (well, sorta'),

and zip lined.

Since we were there on Sunday, we went to a church in Island Park. We had no idea how many people were going to be there. We were among 1900 people, funneling into a regular-sized church building. Cars were double and triple parked in the parking lot, lined the streets, and filled local businesses. The chapel and cultural hall were filled to capacity, as well as every room, classroom, hallway, and even outside. People were sitting outside open windows to hear the service. We sat in a small classroom on kid-sized chairs and the children sat on the floor. As more and more people kept filing in, I wondered how and IF they were even going to attempt passing the sacrament. They actually did it, and it took over a half an hour. I've never seen smaller pieces of bread on a sacrament tray. This was such a remarkable event, that it even made the newspaper. It was incredible to be part of it.

In all, a great family reunion at a great place!

Summer Summary

Once school starts I consider summer officially over. Here are a few pics of some of the random things we did this summer. (I think they all involve water.)

Swimming in our backyard pool, finally!

(After a broken pool, and much debate, we finally found the one we were "watching" go on clearance.)

Seven Peaks with cousins - FUN!

What is summer without ice cream and Popsicles?