What's Different?

Can you spot the difference in the two pictures?

Yup, NO BRACES!

Oh, but don't worry, they will be back once all his teeth come in.

Apple Pickin'

Each year, those of us who can make it, get together to pick my Grandma's apples. She has 8 trees in her yard - enough for everyone to take what they want and to fill the trailer with 2000 lbs (yes, a ton) to press into juice.

Jayden WAS actually working, but stopped to be a "ham" when I asked to take his picture.
Grandma is 87 years old and still tries to do what she can out in the yard. She is really an inspiration to me and what I want to be like when I'm her age.
I really didn't take that many pictures, and asked my sister to take some for me. I guess I'll have to wait until she makes her "Apple Picking" post to see them. I'm hoping that, unlike me, she manged to get some cute pictures.

Happy Fall!

Extra Special Jazz Game

Nu Skin gave Leon two tickets to last night's pre-season Jazz game as a way of saying "thank you" for some above-and-beyond work he recently did. Now, these weren't your average "nose bleed" seats, these were extra special. We were first invited upstairs for a VERY nice dinner. Leon had about every kind of meat you could imagine (beef, chicken, shrimp, crab, cod, lamb, and buffalo). The dessert table wasn't bad, either.

Like I said, these were extra special tickets. We had courtside seats - first row - right by the Denver Nuggets' team - next to the basket.

(Tip Off)
(Some proof that we were both there.)

Our son Jayden is a HUGE Denver Nuggets fan -really don't know why. So, this picture is for him. Unfortunately, since it was pre-season, his favorites didn't play - guess they didn't want their best players to get hurt.

(Denver Nuggets - And, NO I didn't even have to zoom in to get this shot.)

We were sitting in front of a pretty hard core Jazz fan that kept heckling the Denver bench, especially Kenyan Martin, who was not playing this game. So, at half time when most of the fans went to concessions, Leon turned to Kenyan Martin (yes, he was just standing right there) and told him that our son is a BIG Nuggets fan. I took this opportunity to ask if I could snap a photo. He was a nice guy, even if he was being heckled pretty good by the guy behind us.

(Kenyan Martin and Leon - Leon is actually standing on the bleachers - about 12-18" high - pretty big dude.)

Sitting right under the basket, I could get some good shots - if only I had a nicer camera.

Denver has some pretty "colorful" characters on their team.

Oh, and there were some pretty good looking referees, too.

They all three looked pretty much alike, but they were all pretty "tasty." Hey, if the men can oogle at the Jazz Dancers, us ladies can oogle at the refs, right?

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!