Hey Ladies (and any Gents out there), You're INVITED!

So it may still feel like summertime, but it's also time to prepare for the holidays! Here are some boutiques that I've heard of.

This first boutique is held at the former Decor Unique store and sounds like there will be a huge variety of vendors - my sister Holly bought the cutest pair of pants from one of them and they were super reasonably priced. Can't wait to shop it myself!

La Di Da Designs




This Winter Boutique is their first annual boutique but I know they've done a lot of publicity in getting vendors and getting the word out. They even have a store from the SanTan Mall participating. So grab your girlfriends and come on out. It's gonna be Fab.U.Lous! You might even want to bring your kids because it says that Santa is coming for a visit!

Winter Boutique

Another GIVEAWAY...

But this time it's from my amazing sister Mindy. These economic times have definitely taken their toll on her sweet family. It is inspiring to me to see how they have united and risen above the challenges - facing them head on and still realizing peace and happiness in spite of it all. Let's send her some LOVE!

Now on to the goods of the giveaway. A FREE 11x14 print of the temple of your choice (and free shipping). Head on over to Bellissima Portraits to see how you can enter. And guess what you can earn EXTRA entries! These pictures are perfect for Christmas gifts. Don't live in Utah? Who cares? :) The SLC temple would look Fab.U.Lous in your house... admit it :) You want it. Now go enter for your chance. It may just be your lucky day! PS. The giveaway ends TOMORROW. So go enter NOW!

Ready.Set.Go

For a little taste of her goodness cast your eyes upon these lovelies...

The JOYS of Boys...

I was getting ready to type the first sentence of this blog post and had to chuckle to myself when my first thought was to write "I love Sundays." I guess instead of chuckling I should say that I had a moment to reflect and be grateful. There was a time when I really despised Sundays - because they seemed to be such a struggle for Garrett and Brexton and consequently for Jared and I. They felt trapped and we felt battered, bruised, and bewildered by the end of Sacrament meeting after 75 minutes of wrestling, sshhhing, and crying (both on their part and on mine). Gratefully we are now past that (for the most part) and back to being able to listen to the talks and enjoy the spirit of worship.

Garrett and Brexton were particularly handsome this last Sunday and I just had to snap some pictures of them. And because I can't pick just one or two... you get a whole slew :)

Whenever I go to take Garrett's picture lately he holds up a hand - not sure why, but it's kinda funny...

Then there's Brexton. I ask him to look at me so I can take a picture of him and THIS is what I get! He's a crack up! Totally had me busting up!

Here's their version of a requested "hug"

Here's why I love Sundays. In addition to being a day of rest from our worldly labor and cares, it's a time when we get to relax and just "be" (even amidst the countless meetings that seem to accumulate). After their naps Garrett and Brexton ran straight to Daddy and climbed up on his lap to enjoy the rhythmic rocking of the rocking chair and Daddy's safe and warm embrace. I sat in the neighboring rocking chair soaking it all in - making a mental picture of the peace and happiness wrapped up in the moment.

Weenie Mummies

Andrea and her boys came over last week while our husbands went on an overnight fishing trip for some creative baking and Halloween fun. She made these little weenie mummies last year and thought Garrett and Caleb might really enjoy participating in the process this time around. She was right! They loved it!



We used my mom's Soft Pretzel dough recipe and after making countless pretzels in shapes of circles, triangles, stars, letters, etc we saved the last portion to mummify some hotdogs. The trick was getting the dough rolled thin enough. It was a great activity and provided a tasty lunch of pretzels with cream cheese and weenie mummies. Funny thing is, Garrett and Brexton refuse to eat hotdogs apparently. Perhaps they have acquired a preference for finer foods with my recent surge of acquiring culinary skills (compared to my total lack to begin with :)

What has ONE DOLLAR done for you lately?

Last week I was running errands and it was fast approaching lunch time. I generally would just go straight home because (1) lunch at home is WAY cheaper than going to a fast food restaurant and (2) my boys go down for their nap right after lunch. BUT, I still had another place to go. I wanted to visit Andrea who was anxiously awaiting news from her husband then currently in the middle of a 8 hour interview for PA School (Physician's Assistant). To help pass the time for her we decided to go through the Drive-Thru at Wendy's, raid their Dollar Value Meal, and make a surprise visit for lunch and play time for our boys (she has two boys the same ages as mine). Two 5ct. Chicken Nuggets, two Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, two deluxe burgers, and a large fry later our total came to $9.43. Not too bad for feeding 6 people...

But I don't think that beats the deal I got at a garage sale recently. It all started with these two frames. Nothing was priced so I asked how much. He shrugged (yes "he", always ask the husband if he's available :) and said "One dollar for the pair." Sweet! I'll take them. I handed him a dollar bill and kept meandering.



Then I found a slotted spoon. I don't know how I've made it through six years of marriage without a slotted spoon. Every time we have canned corn or green beans or _____ (you name it) I would wish that we had a slotted spoon. I asked him how much. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Just take it." Really? Thank you! Then I found a baseball - perfect to go with the little thrift store baseball glove in brand new condition I recently got for my little guy's 3rd birthday coming up in just a week. Again, he said "Just take it." Wowsers! What a deal.



Just when I thought all my luck had surely run out and I headed back to the car with my goodies. Then I saw this in a pile of real junk (not connected to the garage sale) - this lonely little cupboard door that I have zero clue where it came from or what it could have been used for - it's at least 1.5" thick. But it had a chunky door knocker and some deep groves. I snatched it up and asked him what it belonged to. His response, "I have no idea, I was just going to throw it away. You can have it." Stay tuned for a makeover on this freebie :) I'm still in shock that I got all this for one little dollar...



So there you go. That's what ONE DOLLAR has done for me lately. How about you?

Congrats...

The winner of the blog giveaway was Lauri from Putting My Two Cents in. She was chosen randomly through Randomizer.org but the absolute crazy thing is that we live just ONE MILE from each other! JOYS OF HOME is a blog located back East (at least I think so). What a huge coincidence that the winner is practically my neighbor.

Joy announced the winner Friday morning and within 2 hours Lauri had contacted me with what items she wanted to claim as her prize and I was at her front door step. It was so fun to make a new bloggy friend. She chose two Christmas stockings that are going to look STUNNING in her home - they are the perfect colors to compliment her style and color scheme. It's like they were custom made just for her!

Congrats to you Lauri! Can't wait to see your Christmas pictures adorned with those stockings!

It's GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! My heart is racing with anticipation as to how the next few days will unfold...

To see for yourself go check out Joys of Home. Enter for your chance to win... and spread the word to earn more entries :)

Have a HAPPY DAY!

Sometimes I'm just partial to BLACK...

It's true that sometimes I'm just partial to black and can't hardly resist the urge to break out that can of spray paint. A while back I posted about a hutch makeoever I had finished. Slowly it is getting accessorized (somehow it gets cluttered much more quickly). In the process of refinishing it we accidentally shattered the glass shelf that goes in the top cupboards and we have yet to replace it. But when I do, I'll be looking for a few more things with accents of red.

Another reminder of the cute but not so fabulous "Before"


The stunningly gorgeous "Now"

A Trip to Thatcher

While Jared went on his elk hunt for a week and a half (returned home empty handed - bummer) the boys and I took a trip to Thatcher. Trips to Thatcher are always as great as I imagine they will be - the perfect blend of relaxtion and productivity. Here's what we did this time:

Played racquetball at EA
Painted 5 shelves and 4 picture frames
Went to yard sales and thrift stores
Watched movies
Replaced the alternator in the Tahoe - glad we made it safely there! Thank you Dad for fixing it!
Bottled 84 pints of peaches (next time I'm gonna do quarts... for sure!)


Sewed 27 pumpkins (still need bows and raffia)


Played outside in the PERFECT weather


Brexton wore these Potato Head Glasses for a majority of our time there. Cracks me up! He's also sporting his FAVORITE jammies of all times. He calls them his "monkies"




Garrett caught onto throwing the frisbee pretty efficiently. His wind-up is quite a sight to behold though. Hilarious! LOTS of twisting back and forth before finally releasing it...






For FHE we learned about paying tithing. The boys thought counting those shiny pennies was great fun! I have such a testimony of tithing and the blessings of happiness and peace that come from returning 10% of our increase to the Lord. Our activity was to play trains at the table. And of course have POPCORN!



I love that my parents continue the tradition of family scripture reading in the morning even when it's just the two of them. To gather everyone together my Mom plays a hymn on the piano. At the end of our reading we kneel for family prayer and follow up with a group hug - which we've now termed a "Family Squish Hug." Garrett and Brexton LOVE "Family Squish Hugs."

It is neat to see how the boys really do catch on to glimpses of understanding in the scripture. If you ask Garrett about Samuel, he'll tell you that he jumped off the wall. He LOVES to talk about Nephi, Lehi, and Abinadi. He loves that Ammon served King Lamoni by feeding his horses. While in Thatcher we read about how Nephi and his people built a temple and were industrious with their hands. It was exciting for us to drive by and see the temple being built right there in the Gila Valley!

While Jared was hunting and I was in Thatcher we found out from some friends that we had a water leak at our house (we'd asked them to water some plants for us). Luckily the leak was outside in the water line from the street to our house so there was no internal damage. A blessing for sure! Even so, we had to turn the water off to our house. It was a nice "lower stress" opportunity to learn how to better use our water storage - thank goodness for that! We enjoyed a whole case of bottled water those 3 days and used water from our 55 gallon drums for flushing toilets, washing hands, etc. I wasn't brave enough to try and give baths with that water or wash any laundry by hand though :)

We're all put back together again thanks to Jared and his handyman plumber skills. Count your blessings - running water better be one of them! And clean water at that!

And because I just can't resist a cute little guy in Grandpa's cowboy hat...

ANNOUNCING...

Announcing the opening of my very own Etsy store. At StylishStockings you will find just that - Christmas stockings that will add style, beauty, and function for years to come. These are all handmade by yours truly and are completely unique. Stockings within the same collection coordinate perfectly, although I think that mixing them up would be equally stunning!

Check out the selection and pick out your favorites because they are bound to go quickly - especially as the season approaches (or at least I'm hoping :)

Check back for newly added items soon...
A huge thank you to Holly Brimhall Photography for her amazing skills in capturing these Christmas Stockings - don't I have the most amazing sister in the world?

I'm looking into having one of the decorating blogs I follow do a giveaway for me to spread the word. I'll keep you posted :)