The Ball Girls

Last Saturday I was able to go meet up with an old elementary school friend and photograph her 4 girls (all under 8). It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed working with the different age groups. Here are a few of my favorites (most are pretty unedited):

I tried out watermarking the photo above. The 2nd oldest girl cracked me up. She would ALWAYS put her head on her shoulder. Baby girl was not happy that day so this was the only one where she wasn't crying and everyone was somewhat looking at the camera.

Here is a picture of her oldest daughter. I had a hard time getting a smile on her face. She is still gorgeous though.

This is the 2nd oldest...no head on the shoulder here:

The 2nd to youngest was my favorite. Why? Because she was totally oblivious to the camera. Sometimes I think parents "train" their kids to pose or do something they think is cute for the camera. That is how the older two were. They were aware of the camera and no matter how far away I was, the second they saw my lens aimed their way....POSE! Not this one though. She had no clue if I was taking her picture or not. She also has the CUTEST dimple on her chin.

On the one above and below I was playing with some different styles I learned in my photography class I took in May.

I love this picture of her. She loved the flowers, all the girls did. This little one carried one in each hand almost all the time.

I did get some pictures of baby girl but she was not a happy camper most the time so I only got 2 really decent ones. It was a lot of fun and I love being able to apply the things I have learned. Plus, it is nice to get some use out of my camera.

My New Passion

So I have a new passion. Well, not so new. I have always been someone who LOVES to find a GREAT DEAL! Recently, after several Sacrament meetings and General Authority messages, Mike and I have decided that we really need to begin living more frugal. We have always tried to be smart with our purchases. ALWAYS PAY CASH type thing. (Yes Mike's TV was paid for in cash that I had saved up.) Now, it has become a passion. It started with the day I was able to get a FREE lip balm pallet with 7 colored lip balms on it from PINCHINGYOURPENNIS.COM. That really got me thinking of how many great deals are really out there. We are also following a plan to have our debt (besides a little on the car and student loans) paid off by the end of October.

The counsel from the church has been inspirational. We need to pinch our pennies, do with out and focus on spending quality time with family doing things on the cheap.

So here are a few good deals I know of:

*IMPACT DIRECTORIES COUPONS FOR THE BOISE AREA
There are great deals in here. Our favorites are the 1 hour free paint balling session (includes all equipment) and the Buy 1 Get 1 free for mini golf and other attractions at WAHOOZ (or as I will always call it Boondocks).
*KIZN 92 Half Price Hook-Ups....Just what it sounds like. Go to KIZN.com and type in keyword HOOKUP in the search engine. Every Friday is a new deal. You get a gift card for half price. Sometimes even at 1/3 the price. One week it was $50 to Texas Roadhouse for $25....GREAT DEALS. Sometimes they sell out really fast though.

We have had some friends and family that kind of look at us funny when we refuse to go to a movie that is not matinee or cheap seats, or we decide we can no longer be spending $14 on one brand of lotion and switch to $7 Aveeno (I would get even cheaper stuff but I have SUPER dry skin and have to have special ingredients), but honestly, I don't care. We know what we are doing is right and that by following the counsel the church has given us we will be blessed.

I will be listing some great money saving sights on my sidebar. I hope everyone else can enjoy these money saving offers, because honestly.....don't we all like to have a little extra money? Don't we all love the feeling of finding a great deal? You know you do!

(PS~ If you know a great money saving site please comment so I can add it to my list. In these hard times we need to help each other find great deals.)

Loved This Movie....

Mike and I went and saw this movie on Saturday (Matinee of course)! I loved it! It got me all excited for the last one (well, 2)...that....unfortunately.....I have to wait over a year to see. Dang It!

What I have been up to....

So I haven't posted in a while what I have been up to. I mean a real post. So here it goes:

Tuesday night my friend Sabrena and I went to a FREAKIN' AWESOME concert....

Remember the tickets I won that qualified me to win the CMT trip....KENNY CHESNEY! Opening for him was Lady Antebellum {Love them} and Miranda Lambert (She is CRAZY but knows how to put on a show).

Only at a Kenny Chesney concert do you have as many tailgaters as a football game.

This picture doesn't even begin to show the tailgate story.

Nothing hotter than Kenny in a BSU hat....except my husband in a BSU hat.

Then Wednesday, I woke up feeling like I was hung over (or what I imagine that would feel like). I don't even want to know how all those people who were drinking all those beers felt. I think it was the loud music and dancing that did it for me.

I had the day off work on Wednesday (Thank goodness) so I offered to do $10 photo sessions for friends. Here are some of the pictures (all are the unedited versions).

This young man is blind. I think he did a great job!

This is his little sister. She has {BEAUTIFUL} blue eyes.

This is Alyrie, she is a family friend to the kids and their nanny. (Her sister is my friend Sabrena who I went to the concert with)

This is Edina & Trammel. Edina is {Beautiful}.

I used to work with Edina. It was fun catching up with her and taking their photos.

Edina is 5 months pregnant. She is not showing very much but I look forward to doing maternity pictures for her in October or so.

I also met up with some wonderful ladies from our ward for lunch at good old Delsas.....SO DELICIOUS!

I will have to put another post for the weekend as this is getting a little long with all the photos.

Fanci Freeze!

Tonight we went to our favorite summertime ice cream place...

FANCI FREEZE.

In the fall, winter and spring, we are all about the Baskin Robbins.

But in the summer, soft serve from Fanci Freeze is the only way to go.

Soooooo GOOOOOOOD!

Baby Spencer

Spencer James

Our friends Rachael & Curtis had their baby boy on June 23rd. We finally got over there to see him. He is adorable and so relaxed. Such a good baby. Welcome to the world, Baby Spencer.

The New Mike!

Mike has lost 35 pounds so far. He rides the exercise bike 40 minutes a day and watches what he eats. He only has 20 more pounds to go! YEAH MIKEY!

5 Things to Be Happy About in July

1. Road trips with family and friends
2. Air Conditioning
3. Hot Pink Nail Polish on my toes
4. Chacos and the Zorro tans they create
5. Kenny Chesney Concert! (with free tix)
   

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Family

For the 4th of July weekend, Mike and I went over (on the 3rd) to Firth to see my Dad's side of the family. It was fun seeing everyone and catching up.

My cousin's little girl was attached to my Grandma Farrar

My niece Danielle is gorgeous. We drove over with her, her brother Gregg, and her mom-my sister Cathi. Gregg and Mike rode together following the girls.

Danielle was so good with all my cousin's kids.

On the way home, Cathi, Danielle, Gregg, Mike and I stopped at Massacre Rocks to camp for the night. Camping in the dessert was not near as nice as camping in the mountains and I don't think we will be camping there again. Mike did enjoy a little more fishing. It was cool seeing the Pelicans that nest there. It was extremely humid while we were there. All in all, it was a fun weekend. We went home that morning and went to dinner with Mike's mom for the 4th of July.

It is hard to believe that the year is more than half over. I am still excited for the adventures we have coming up this summer. I have the Kenny Chesney concert, a day trip to Lagoon, a Yellowstone Trip, rafting, camping, 3 Island Crossing, and a trip down to St George. It is going to be a busy summer but I think it will be a BLAST!

Stanley Lake Camping Trip

I have tried doing this post a few times but there have been issues with blogger uploading the photos. So I will try again!

Stanley Lake in the morning

The last weekend in June Mike and I headed up to Stanley for a camping trip. We have not really been able to go camping for the last 3 years since Mike has either had to work or have classes on Saturday so this was a nice treat. Stanley Lake was beautiful. The Sawtooths above the lake were so majestic. Stanley is a special place for me. Many of the family camping trips during my childhood were at Stanley Lake.

Mike enjoyed a lot of fishing, even though the fish weren't biting. He was pretty bummed when the very next Tuesday they dumped 7000 fish into the lake.

I enjoyed taking photos that are a little different than I have taken before. Here are a few of my favorites.

We had a great time. We were pretty surprised how many people don't do "real" camping anymore. So many trailers with generators and plasma TVs and everything in them....CRAZY!

We hope to be able to get the entire family together next year for a reunion camping trip up in Stanley.

The CMT Awards

This week, my friend Sarah and I went to Nashville for the CMT Music Awards. We had a BLAST! We arrived Monday around 3 pm. After checking into the hotel and getting a little relaxation in we headed to Historic Broadway.

Then we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe! That was fun.

We went to the pool that night and got to see Shawn Johnson in the fitness area (although we were not sure it was her at that point). The next morning we ate at the hotel (next to Terry Fator (I hope that name is right)) for breakfast the next morning and then rode in the elevator with Shawn Johnson. We then went to the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum.

Afterwards we walked a little more of Broadway, and then, exhausted from the heat and humidity came back to the hotel to rest and luckily we got there before the big thunderstorm and rain came in. Then we got ready and headed to the show.

The show was AWESOME! Sugarland performed with the B52s and Taylor Swift performed with Def Leopard. Yes, I made it on TV for a few seconds as well!

Wednesday, after a small problem with the rental car (that ended up scoring us the car for free) we went to Pancake Pantry to eat....YUMMY! and then to the GORGEOUS Opryland Hotel. (3 indoor gardens)

Unfortunately, after that, it was time to go to the hotel to catch the shuttle and go to the airport to go home. It was a lot of fun and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go.

If you want to see more photos, check out my face book. I will be adding them all on there and already have TONS of the Awards show.

5 Days and Counting.....

I am very excited. My trip to Nashville is next week! WOOHOO! My friend, Sarah, flies in on Sunday the 14th. We leave early Monday morning to go to Nashville and don't come back until LATE Wednesday evening. We found out we are going to be right in front of the stage in the "Mosh Pit" (is there such a thing at a country concert?). We also received free passes to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. We get to stay at a super nice hotel as well!
Bill Engvall is hosting...I LOVE HIM! He is hilarious! Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Toby Keith and more for the performers. It is going to be the concert of a lifetime. There are more Performers than categories for the awards.
Everyone go to CMT.COM to vote for your picks. This is the only fan-voted awards show in country music so go vote TODAY!
Of course I will be taking TONS of pictures and will post all about it when I get back.

A Gospel Sharing Home

Mike and I know the importance of a Gospel Sharing home. These types of homes influenced Mike coming back to church. So we have tried to make ours a Gospel-sharing home. Often times though I feel like we are failing, due to the lack of acceptance by our friends and family. Then today, two things happened that made me realize we are doing what we should. The first is that my mother-in-law knocked on our door today at 10:45 dressed and ready to go to church. She only went to Sacrament but it is a start.

The second is that when we went to church, this quote was on the front of the ward bulletin. It is by Elder M Russell Ballard:

"A Gospel-sharing home is not defined by whether or
not people join the church as a result of our contact with them. Our opportunity
and responsibility are to care, to share, to testify, to invite, and then to
allow individuals to decide for themselves."

This quote touched me very much and let me know I was doing everything I needed to do. I pray that we all will take the time to share with those that come into our home. We just need to remember that everyone has their free-agency and that we can only do so much. The rest is up to the Spirit and the person.

5 Things To Be Happy About

I really like to read some of the tidbits in the Redbook magazine. Especially their 5 things to be happy about right now. So I thought I would make my own list.

1. The smell of neighborhood BBQs filling the air
2. Summer Thunderstorms
3. S'mores, both traditional and frozen ones (ask me if you want to know how to make them)
4. Camping trips at the last minute
5. Recognizing the sound of the ice cream truck, even though you won't be running out to find it.