Heck Yeah I Did!

Every year I seem to amaze myself with the domestic skills that I pick up. This year I did the unthinkable and did some canning for the first time. That's right I said canning! My friend Tracie and I canned our very own spaghetti sauce. And it tastes amazing! I remember when my mom would pull out her canning stuff I would run for the hills. I wanted nothing to do with it. After doing it, I found out it was not that bad. From start to finish we were done in 2 hours. Maybe I can handle it if it's not an all day deal.
Then today I picked up some strawberries and busted out some freezer jam. Not to brag, but Chad loves my freezer jam. So when he came home and the laundry still had not been put away the fact that I made my homemade jam put a smile on his face.

Who knows what kind of skills I will come up with next.

Chad's Love Affair

Chad has spent all of his spare time this summer on his bike. He is training for LOTOJA. A 206 mile bike race from Logan to Jackson Hole(in one day). This grueling ride will cover 3 mountain passes in the first 100 miles. I am pretty sure that his 95' civic would never make the climb. But Chad has logged more then 1000 training miles and so my money's on him.

Chad has been so dedicated to his training except for the 3 weeks he took off because he torn his ACL(again). But it worked out well, he torn it the week before I had Austin so having him around for a couple of weeks was helpful.

Chad and Craig take off every Saturday morning and pretty much ride Utah County from one end to the other. About 5-6 hours on those tiny seats...no thanks! Then they have their weekday rides where they head up Provo canyon before work, during lunch, or after work and climb to their hearts content.

Just 12 more days until the big ride!! I am glad I get to be part of this huge accomplishment and get to be his support vehicle. This way I can check in with him every 60 miles or so and make sure he is still alive; peace of mind for me. Good Luck Chad. You've trained hard now get out there and ride hard!

(Thanks Craig for documenting his summer with photos)

Day at the Lake

We were lucky enough to get another day at the lake. This time we bought a new tube and couldn't wait to use it! Since I was not going to be able to get out on the wake board this year, I thought tubing with the kids would be the next best thing. Actually, tubing with my kids was a lot more fun. We were able to take my mom and sister with us for a great day at the lake.

Luke loves to drive the boat. He always asks me if I brought his drivers licence...um you are 3 kid.
My sister Necia and her cute family.

Austin was a fan of the boat ride.

Luke is the best person to ride on the tube with. This kid cannot get enough of it and does stunts while riding it. He rides with no hands, flips from his stomach to his back and then back again, and yells the whole time about how much fun he is having. I could ride all day with him!

Luke and Grandma Cook.

Blake likes the tube but is done after about 5 mins.

Me and my boys.

The whole gang

Austin sweating bullets. Poor kid it was hot.

Luke and Chad out for a swim.

My cute boys. They love boating!

Captain Chad and Blake.

Austin's Photo Shoot

We had these photo's of sweet little Austin done last week. (6 weeks old) He did so great. He was asleep when we wanted him asleep, and awake when we wanted him awake. He is such a good baby. The first one is my favorite. I wish I could keep him like that forever.

I love Summer!

Summer is my FAVORITE time of year! I love warm weather and hate the cold. Even with having a newborn we have found some fun things to do. I have really appreciated being able to get out even if I can't do much.

We took the boys out to the lake for a dinner cruise and swim. Neither one of them were big on the idea of jumping in off the boat. But eventually they warmed up and loved it.
Blake and I hiked the waterfall here by our house. I ended up taking the young women for our activity. Not a good idea 5 weeks post C-Section. I paid for this one!

Blake LOVES this hike to the waterfall. I love taking him because he gets so excited!

Luke loves to swim. He thought he would try out the snorkel this time.

There's nothing better then food, sun, and water!

I wish summer would last forever!

Swim Lessons

I have to say we were all sad to see swimming lessons end. I bet Austin was happy to not have to sit in 95 degrees for 30 min. The boys loved it! I could not believe how much the boys improved just in the 2 weeks! Luke loved his teachers and would do anything they asked him to do and then would do it 2 or 3 times in a row...kind of a lesson hog.

I was not sure how lessons would go (having a 4 week old was not going to help). Luke really wanted to take them, but Blake was not big on the idea. I kind of forced him to do them, but with love. After the first day they both could not wait to go again. Blake always complained that they were not long enough. I think we might sign up for another session next week!

Luke with his swim class Luke getting ready to do his back float

Blake & his kick board skills

Blake mastering his arm strokes

Money Saving Fools

For a while now it has bothered me how much we pay for the basic "necessities" like our TV, Internet, home phone. Things that I have wanted to cancel or go without, but we enjoy them way to much. I hate when it comes time to pay our bills and I see all our money disappear. So I decided that I would make some phone calls to see if there was a way we could save money on these things.
To my surprise these companies were more then willing to give us a discount. All I had to do is ask for it! We did not have to change any of our services or down grade on the options we were already enjoying.

Here's the wrap up:

SAVINGS

• Home phone $10 a month
• Customer loyalty credit for 3 months $30
• TV $10 a month
• Internet $17 a month

We were also able to refinance on the car loan we have to save us another $50 a month.

Total Savings $117.00 a month!

Wahoo!!! I love keeping the money in my pocket.