Last weekend was our last weekend of the summer because Ben started school on Monday.  So, what did we do?  We played some fun Minute to Win It, ate lots of yummy food, went to church with my brother and sister-in-law as the blessed their baby, played more awesome games, spent time with some of our cute nieces, said goodbye to my little sister as she headed back to Provo for her last year of school, enjoyed being lazy at my parents.  Thanks for such a great weekend everyone!  It was a great way to say goodbye to summer!

Apparently, I didn't get the pink/coral color memo :)

We'll miss you summer, and can't wait for you to come back next year (preferably earlier than this year...)!

Machine-less

AS I mentioned in a previous post, I was sans-sewing machine a few weeks ago. It was sad because the day it happened was the day Ben left for a campout with the young men in the ward. Luckily, I found a shop that was still open (it was about 8:00 pm on a Friday night) and I hauled my sewing machine over and dropped it off with the assurance that they'd have it back within 1-2 weeks. 1-2 weeks! I was so depressed that on my way home, I stopped by Michael's to find some crafts that I could do in the mean-time.

I found plenty.

I have done several really cute crafts, but unfortunately I can't really share them because they might be making appearances in the future (yes, gifts). But, let's just say that my cricut found a new friend with vinyl and I can't believe I didn't find out about this earlier because it is pretty freaking awesome!

Don't worry. I'll post pictures of them all once they are safely delivered to their recipients :)

Helps for dinner

Whenever it comes to what we are going to eat for diner, I always feel a little overwhelmed. There are so many things I want to try, but it seems like when it comes time to do the cooking I hit a roadblock. I can't remember what it was I wanted to try, we don't have the ingredients, I'm feeling lazy (I don't get home until 6:30 so if it isn't a quick meal, we eat late), etc.

I've started trying to plan a menu, wither for the week or the month and this has helped so much in making sure we have the ingredients and a plan. It also makes it easy for Ben to see what's for dinner, and he can get started on it before I get home :)

Last month while I was working downtown, I perused the monthly insert in the paper called Dash and discovered a gem when it comes to dinner help. They have great recipes that are easy and quick. Some of our favorites included: Bowties with Chicken and Sweet and Sour Chicken.

I hope you (Shannon) find it as helpful as I have!

1 post for August 1

I was going to write one more blog post for July, but time got away from me last night as Ben was teaching me about intentional infliction of emotional distress. I realized that I have been intentionally inflicted enough to cause emotional distress because of all the teasing I received from an older sibling about having full cheeks when I was a child. But, that is not what I wanted to blog about.

There have been two things of importance come up in our lives.

First: My sewing machine died and had to be taken in to get worked on (and boy was it expensive!) It was gone for a week, so I had to move past sewing to other crafts. I got a call Friday saying it was done, but I didn't recognize the number and thought it was a place that I had stupidly given my phone number to a year ago and now they keep calling me. Anyway, I listened to my messages Sunday morning because the primary president had called while I was getting ready for church, and there was a message that my sewing machine was back! Halleluiah! I just got back from picking it up, and I'm so happy to have it back!

Second: We walked into the church building yesterday as usual, and as we were walking into the chapel, there was Elder Christofferson. Yes, the Elder Christofferson. And, he was the concluding speaker. His son and family moved into the ward this week, and he came with the son to drive and unpack the truck. It was really neat to have one of the Twelve Apostles speak in sacrament meeting not on official business like he was any other member of the church. The neatest thing was that there were two people who were being confirmed and he stood in the circle as they were confirmed members of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. They probably had no idea how rare that is, but one day will realize that they had one of Christ's Apostles giving them the gift of the Holy Ghost.

That's it. Ben is camping again tonight, so I'm left home with the Singamajigs. Better get crafting, so i can get a lot done . . . .