Jason is 28

Happy Birthday Jason!!!

28 years goes by in a flash.

We enjoyed a steak dinner and miniture golf at Wahooz!

It's been a fun day.

Meridian Concert: Kings of Swing

Brady and I enjoyed another Saturday evening attending a free concert at the Meridian City Building's outdoor plaza. We enjoyed it very much!

 The Kings of Swing presented the free concert on Saturday, July 21, at 7:00 p.m

The Kings of Swing is an 18-piece big band dance orchestra that performs music popularized by Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and other music legends of that era.

The weather was delightful.

The music was awesome. It was fun to see a member of our ward Larry Reader. He's a quiet man, who is a high school band teacher. He also leads the music during sacrament meeting. I was shocked to see him come out of his shell playing the saxophone and clarinet. He played some awesome clarinet solos with lots of heart and soul put in it. It was pretty fun to watch him and say "we know him".

Sunday I stopped him at church and told him how much I enjoy the concert. He was glowing!

There were a few couples dancing - which is lots of fun too. I especially love all the older grandma and grandpa couples dancing like they were young lovers. It was romantic. ahhhhh!

We sure are loving these free concerts!

Shopping for College

We've been having a bunch of fun shopping for Brady's apartment at BYU. We've found some great deals. Here are some of the things we have bought:

Dishes from Shopko, regular priced at $59.99 each times 2 equals $119.98.

We purchased them for $14.88 each times 2 equals $29.76

Savings $90.22

21 piece pan set regular priced at $119.99

We paid $58.88

Savings of: $61.11

But wait ... we had a $30 rebate (that we've already received)

Total cost: $28.88

Flatware set regular priced at $129.99.

Purchased for $38.88

Savings of $91.11

Aren't those some great deals?

I splurged on towels for Brady. I purchased a 3 sets of towels (2 bath, 2 hand towels and 2 wash cloths per set which equals 6 bath, 6 hand towels and 6 wash cloths) from JC Penneys and had them engraved with his name (by JC Penneys). They are nice towels and totally worth the splurge.

It's it fun?

We have been looking for a bed set, but they looked juvenile or were poor quality. I found this one on-line from Brylane Home for a twin. Green is Brady's favorite color, so this worked out really great. We also purchased two 300 count sheets sets in sage and a mattress cover in Twin XL for his bed. I still need to get a twin blanket or 2.

We've been purchasing a few clothing items too. It's been really fun and I'm excited for him. We leave in just 30 days from today to send him to his first year of college. I can't believe how fast things are going. I just hope he is ready by then.

Between now and leaving for BYU Brady has:

Family visiting next week for a wedding and missionary homecoming.

Stake Helamen's camp for Priests preparing for a mission.

High Adventure Scout camp.

After he comes home there will be only 2 weeks to get everything packed and and ready for the move.

Garden Update

This time of year brings me such happiness. I love watching my garden grow. I love the beauty around me. I love the taste of freshly grown vegetables from my garden.

Our carrots are ready to be pulled and they are soooo delicious! There isn't anything better then fresh carrots in the many casseroles and soups I make - especially Chicken Pot Pie - Yum! (We had that tonight)

 We've had 1 zucchini ready to eat and I had to make stir-fry.

 Chicken Stir-Fry with garden vegetables. I used green onions, carrots and zucchini from our garden. Plus we used celery, broccoli, parsley and chicken (not from our garden). Saute'ed in olive oil, then I add chicken gravy with a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of ginger in the gravy. Then I pour the gravy over the vegetables and served over rice.

 It is yummy with fresh vegatables from our garden. We eat a lot of stir fry all summer long.

 A couple of weeks ago I pulled up the pea plants before our temperatures hit 100 degrees. I ended up with 21 bags of frozen peas (1 cup each). Then I put the containers of beans where the peas were. I thought that worked out very nice. I am enjoying all the vegetable plants through my yard. It's been fun to have food instead of all the flowers I normally grow. Plus I think they are pleasant to look at too.

 Crookneck, zucchini and pumpkin plants are growing.

 More zucchinis are growing - Yea!

 Also the crookneck plants are producing.

 I have 8 tomato plants that I started from seed and they have tons of tomatoes! They all look very healthy! The marigolds and asters peeking out from the tomatoes plants were grown from seed.

 Here are the tomato plants by my patio. They are very tall and it's fun to see all the tomatoes from both angles. I love having them here - 3 plants.  The pot in the front is all volunteer Zinnias growing. It's crowded, but I just let them grow. They are getting ready to bloom.

 Here is a look of my berm with corn in the front and potatoes in the back. The flowers above the purple and red petunias are marigolds that grew on their own and I dug them up and re-planted them in a line. I love free plants that grow on their own.

 Here is a view going from the gate to the back yard. (I don't have a sprinkler system - so my hose is out watering).

 Our grass is green, wave petunias are growing in the pots by my arborvitae trees and vine over the back fence. It's nice to have this growing between me and the alley.

I love this berm. I see this outside my window each morning and it makes me feel such happiness from all the beauty before me. I wish the daisy's last longer. 

This is a look from the yard into my patio. I love sitting on my patio to read or have a barbecue.
I absolutely love this time of year.

The front of my house - still decked out with 4th of July decorations - all through July.

Every day I am elated with the thought that this is my home and my yard. I feel such gratitude for the beauties and blessing I have been given. Daily I pray for a good harvest so that I may have additional food storage.

Brady's Graduation Photos

Dorian took professional pictures at the graduation. Before the student went up on stage, they had their picture taken with a "dummy" diploma holder.

 Brady is such a handsome young man. I love the picture!

 They also had cameras on stage to take a picture as each student received their diploma.

We also received a picture of the graduation class. Unfortunately Brady is not among the class right now. This was taken during the National Anthem and Brady is with the choir. Oh well, he is there in his heart.

Great pictures for great memories! I love that Dorian provides this service. We also received a DVD of the whole graduation ceremony. 

Brady and Emily Sr. Prom Pictures

Senior Prom Pictures 2012

We finally received the pictures from the prom.

 The beautiful and modest ladies.

 The pictures were taken at the Boise Depot.

 The couples ....

 Downtown Boise. 

The men....

 I love the star - very clever.