Mom and Dad's April Results

Here is the result of our April goal. We of couse read the articles in the ensign and I think I want to reread them quite often because I need to be reminded to be more grateful for what I have. I did keep a graitude journal, Dad however was unable to. We both either wrote to or in person told a person how they had made a difference in our lives. I also wrote a note to my mailman thanking him for being such a good guy! I'm not sure what inner things Dad did for this goal, but I decided to direct all my morning prayers to be graditude prayers only. Dad and I also started to have morning prayers with each other at 5:00, something we have never done before. This was a good way for me to start the day. This was a wonderful goal to do for our family. It made me more understanding of the many blessing Heavenly father has given in my life. It was a real good goal Jill!

April Goal

Hey Family, just wondering how your April goals are coming along. I just realized that we are super close to the end of the month and I haven't written my thank you letter yet. And Sally, are you ready for the May goal?

Swenson Gift Ideas

As Sally suggested, here are some suggestions for the Swenson family.

Preston: CARS anything. Not just any cars, but cars from the movie CARS. He would especially love Rescue Squad Mater, purple Ramone, Snot Rod, RPM, Tex Dinoco, Dirt track Lightening, Tongue Lightening, Bug Mouth Lightening, or Tumbleweed Lightening.

Kari: lip gloss, lotion, body spray, nail polish, hairbands, headbands, barrettes, scrapbooking paper, tape.

Braden: he likes Bionicles, Star Wars and his newest thing is Army Tank and Planes.

J & S ( I never realized until Sally posted her last post that we have the same initials as a couple.) I never know what I want. Good luck Leesa. I'll keep you posted. We do like games though.

HOpe that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

Cook gift ideas

As I suggested in the last post's retorts, I will give a few ideas for our family for gifts. As I hope you will all do... at least for R&R, Braden and Cassee....

Sam: he likes books, puzzles (jigsaw and big wooden ones,) Lightning McQueen, coloring, taking pictures, movies, flyswatter (his words, not mine)

Livia: she likes stealing Sam's toys, necklaces, bath toys, books

J&S: we like games, date nights, things to do together, movies


I hope that helps, and I will anxiously await your wish lists as well....

Christmas Names

This afternoon Leesa and I worked together to draw names for all the kids for our Christmas in July. Here is who everyone has:

Addie: Kari
Kylee: Adam
Brynja: Preston
Emmee: Sam
Cassee: Addie
Adam: Kylee
Andrew: Livia
Braden: Brynja
Kari: Emmee
Preston: Andrew
Sam: Braden
Livia: Cassee

Ronda/Ron: Leesa/Dan
Leesa/Dan: Jill/Steve
Jill/Steve: Sally/Jason
Sally/Jason: Ron/Ronda

If anyone has a problem with this........um, sorry. See you all in July!

Last one just for fun

So Ron my wonderful husband got up with Brynja and picked up our Bountiful Basket this morning. (He wanted it as I was not going to buy it this week since I would be gone)
So my last post on this just for fun:
1 head broccoli
2 bags carrots
1 Container Grape Tomatoes
1 Container Mushrooms
1 pineapple
1 cantalope
1 head romaine lettuce
1 pk/head swiss chard (if you know what this is or what to do with it let me know)
10 banans
1 container blackberries
8 fuji apples
16 red potatoes
I think I will continue.
I also bought the 9 grain bread again and learned to today that each slice is only 50 calories so pretty exciting since it is so good.

Week 2 of Bountiful Baskets

so this week we received:
1 head/bunch celery
4 little green squash
4 artichoke heads (never had these before and not sure what to do with them, Ron is excited to try it however)
17 Cuties
5 tom.
1 head broccoli
2 big heads of romaine lettuce
8 mangos
5 lb. bag of potatoes
9 Braeburn apples
1 carton of Strawberries
10 bananas

I also bought extra 12 lbs of strawberries for 8.00 and 5 loves of 9 grain bread for 10.00
so what do you think this week and any ideas for the artichokes let me know.

Like Mother Like Son!

Mom, maybe these pictures will look familiar some how!
I was sitting next to Adam tonight watching a movie and I looked over to see him rubbing the ear of his "puppy" Sally made for Christmas a few years ago on the underneath of his nose. (Cassee actually does the same thing with her blanket too.) I just thought it was funny that it was the same shaped stuffed animal I did that to.
Sally, it will make you happy to know he loves his "puppy". He holds it all the time and does this.
He loves any type of fleece/felt material. He is a blanket boy. The only good thing about this is that he's not attached to a certain blanket. He'll go for any blanket that has a certain feel to it.
Funny how something like this will transfer from generation to generation. I certainly didn't "teach" my children to do this, yet I did the exact thing when I was their age 30 years ago!

Jones March Goal Results

Sorry about being slackers on posting this goal, especially since it was my own.
Dan and I did the following things:
1. We each read a book. Dan read some book about direct investing. I read Suze Orman's book, The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom. Excellent book about insurance information (Life, Long-Term Care, etc.) and about wills v. trusts. Hopefully all of us with young children have Life Insurance right now!
2. We finally got all of our water barrels filled. We have 3 55 gal. drums and 1 100 gal. drum, and 3 5 gallon containers. I don't really want to see the water bill next month!
3. We replaced the snack food items in our 72 hour backpacks. The Mt. House food packs we have in there are good for another 4-5 years. They are light weight and actually very good to eat.
4. We also put our financial packet back together. Somehow with the move S.S. cards, birth certificates and car titles ended up all over the place in our house.
5. A week before March started I also opened an online savings acct. to stash away any extra money we get. Money like Dan's overtime, tax refunds, basically anything outside our regular paychecks. Hopefully all of you are savings for a 6 mon. living expenses savings acct. With this economy you just never know! Right Ronda??
Thanks for the April Goal Jill. I'm already more aware of my blessings and I've only been writing in the gratitude journal for 4 days!

Bountiful Baskets

Hi
Just wanting an opinion from everyone. I tried a new thing today. It is called Bountiful Baskets. It is a veggie/fruit co-op. You get on their site on Monday and order a basket for $15.00 then Saturday morning each site is different but the one in Layton is 7:30am you go down and get your food. It is a co-op so every basket is the same and you don't pick anything it is just what they have to split evenly. So today I got:
Fruits:
1 pineapple
1pk. Strawberries
1pk Blackberries
6 apples (like Fuji maybe)
9 oranges
6 bananas

Veggies:
1 head romaine lettuce
1 head broccoli
2 yellow squash
1 onion
6 roma tomato
9 corn on the cob
6 small yams

do you think it is worth 15. I will probably try a few more weeks and see what I think.
Sally they do it in Springville too.