FREEBIES

Birds of a feather flock together.

Until we moved to Alaska, I never shopped at thrift stores or garage sales.

Well, I shouldn't say NEVER, but it was so rare that it didn't count.

In our small town in Alaska (Sitka) garage-sale-ing was the social event of the week

PLUS

shopping opportunities were limited (nice way to say that they were almost non-existent)

so your chance of finding something you need is way better at a garage sale than in one of our few stores.

So I learned to love our local thrift store:

WHITE ELEPHANT

and meeting up with friends and acquaintances every Saturday morning at garage sales

(I still hit the garage sales every Saturday when I visit - best deals in the world!)

Living in Sitka, coupled with my upbringing (my mom & sisters and I ALL LOVE a good deal!) has made me a true bargain-hunter.

Caci marrying into our family proves that birds of a feather flock together.

There's no one more frugal in this world than Caci

She's like a bargain magnet!

At any given time ask her how much her outfit that she's currently wearing cost

and I'll betcha it'll never be over $20 (jewelry & shoes included)

I was thrilled when my sister-in-law, Lizzy, introduced me to

FREE SAMPLES FROM WALMART

I'd love to hear from all of you about great bargains & free samples ...

There's nothing that makes me feel like

I'M WINNING

more than a great bargain!

When Did We Grow Up, Michael?

I ran across this old photo a couple of months ago and stuck it in my scriptures.

This is me at age 17 or 18 and my brother, Michael - he's probably 16 here.

The picture was taken at what we all call "the old old house", right next to Tissue's yard.

Tissue was our golden retriever.

I miss Tissue.

I don't remember the picture being taken. But this is what I remember:

Michael was my very best friend

I loved wearing overalls

nearly every night one of us would go into the other's room to ask a quick question, and the conversation would take off ... several hours later the person whose room it was would be asleep on the bed, the other one would stumble out to their own bed

Michael wrote poetry

he would read it to me and would ask me what I thought of it

Michael LOVED Richard Nixon

Michael was a movie lover - but I think what he loved most about movies was telling the ENTIRE plot to me after watching it

Michael's friends were my friends, and my friends were his. And sometimes we had crushes on each others' friends.

We could talk about anything - and we could talk about nothing.

Most of the time we talked about nothing.

When did we grow up Michael?

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO THE SPECIAL MEN IN MY LIFE

I was 3 1/2 when this picture was taken of my Dad with me in our watermelon patch.

When I think of my Dad I think of FUN ...

we actually had a watermelon patch because of all the seeds we'd spit out.

Even as a really young child, I remember watermelon seed spitting contests

as the sticky watermelon juice trickled down my chin and coated my neck.

Dad usually started the seed-spitting

(and ALL the food fights we ever had, Mom,

I want you to know - they were started

by DAD)

My Father-in-law shows us he loves us with the incredible

walking sticks

he custom makes.

Here's a picture of him before I'd ever become a part of the family.

Actually, I think this was the first birthday Brad missed celebrating with his Dad

(Brad was on his mission)

Otherwise they would have been out hunting or shooting in the desert.

Our oldest son, Trevor, is another fun, FUN Dad.

He gets his sense of adventure from his own Dad.

Just yesterday he taught Jace what fun really is:

with Jace comfortably perched on the end of our giant love sac,

and Caci standing ready for a flying toddler,

Trevor plopped as hard as he could on the other end

and would send Jace shooting

through the air

and (usually) into Caci's arms!

Ok - is this the

MOST HANDSOME

man you've ever seen, or what?!!!?

The love of my life

father of my children

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Brad!

The newest father in our family: Brooke's husband, Steven.

By taking care of mother-to-be, Brooke, Steve is already exemplifying what great dads are made of.

Anyone who knows Bryan knows that he'll be an amazing Dad.

ALL KIDS LOVE BRYAN.

Besides being tender, compassionate, and loving,

BRYAN IS ULTIMATELY COOL.

Let me just say that

supporting every awesome Dad in my life

is an

AMAZING wife.

Lots of love and gratitude to

MY MOTHERS

and

MY DAUGHTERS

Following are some pictures sharing

precious memories

of the

FATHERS

IN MY LIFE

ADOPTION

For all my friends who have adopted and those who are interested in adoption, for my family members and friends who are adopted ...

My friend, Lindsey, just shared a new social network with me:

Adoption Voices

Check it out 

LEARNING TO LOVE TECHNOLOGY

I still am lost without the help of my kids when using the computer, cell phone, or anything else that came into common use in the last 2 decades.

BUT

I'm learning to love the access to so many cool things

technology

has provided.

For example:

I just start reading blogs in the morning

while everyone else is snoozing

(a great time to catch up on friends & fam)

anyway

one thing leads to another

and before I know it, I'm exploring blogs from people I don't know.

Cool blogs like this one

MakeItAndLoveIt

and this one

BrittanysCakeWorld

and this one

TraciDove

(remember my blog about JEWELRY? ... TraciDove is a great site!)

So although I'm still handicapped when it comes to technology

I'm starting to really appreciate it!

FAMILY PICTURE WITH DISCLAIMER

Can you believe we were able to get everyone together, in front of the camera, and all eyes open with NO BUNNY EARS?  So, this was last weekend ... our GLORIOUS weekend all together.Disclaimer:  Brooke is not fat - just VERY pregnant :)

(unfortunately, there is no disclaimer for the rest of us!)
 

CHARMEDI

Have I mentioned this before?

I have a charmed life.

sweet ... amazing ... exciting ... precious ... tender

things happen to me

We've had Trevor, Caci & Jace visiting the past few days.

JOY

What could be nicer?

Add a dear friend we haven't seen in 20 years and my heart becomes very full!

Mine & Brad's relationship with Yayoi Swapp goes back to the first time-period the two of us met at the MTC... Yayoi (Japanese) was a tester at the Missionary Training Center.

Brad was my teacher (*wink*wink*)

I left for Japan, Brad & Yayoi and a great group of guys became close friends.

Yayoi went on her mission and we visited together at an All-Japan-Conference during the Tokyo Temple Dedication ...

... and we continued to develop our friendship through letters

(archaic, but it worked!)

Yayoi was instrumental in getting Brad to propose to me (thank you Yayoi!)

Yayoi was part of our family during the first few years of our marriage.  That's why it took her a while to get married - we kept her busy hanging with us.  HOWEVER, I think she had about 50 marriage proposals during that time.

After 20 years, we picked up where we left off ... past/present/future ...

it all feels the same

I love Yayoi.

....... so, what could be better than that? .......

add the biggest surprise that's ever happened to me

we were sitting around at nearly midnight, not wanting the night to end

the boys playing guitars, the girls singing along and visiting together

when

knock, knock, knock

my first thought:

Ed must be dying next door

then the door swung open

and in a magical, surreal way, there stood

Brookie and Steven

 

my heart was then so full it was bursting

(Brooke is now very pregnant, and most of the family hasn't seen her since she started *growing*)

CHARMED

that's my life!

  

Brooke had just hung up after our phone conversation when Steven said,

"should we just get in the car and go?"

SO THEY DID!

Do we have an incredible son-in-law

or what!?!

  

Apparently Trevor & Caci knew all about it.

I would have never thought Caci could keep a surprise quiet ...

GOOD JOB CACI!

  

... so to put things in perspective ...

money comes & goes (ok - it doesn't always come)

health is a rollercoaster

urgent mortal things pop up daily

but, trite as this phrase has become, it rings true:

 

FAMILIES ARE FOREVER