mid-summer excitement....

July is always a busy month for us!  Frans spent the first 5 days of July in Minnesota for our church's summer services and his high school's 20 year class reunion.  He had the camera with him, so I didn't get any pictures of our family get-together over here for the 4th!  By the end of his trip, I was starting to wonder what I missed more....him or my camera!  I'm JUST KIDDING :)  We really did miss him, but I was glad he had a chance to go...he needed a vacation!
We celebrated Taryn's 1st birthday!  How in the world did a year pass already since she was born???  It just amazes me how fast time goes sometimes :(  She is ALMOST walking, she loves when we all make her laugh, she loves to be held by mom or dad, she loves being outside and in the pool, she is the light of our lives!!  All the kids RACE to get her when they hear her wake up in the morning or from her nap!  I really love this stage she's at...now if we could just keep her here for a while :) 
We celebrated her birthday at Bartlett lake with my sister and her family...
She did not like us singing Happy birthday to her!  We sang to her all week long, and she loved it, but when it came down to singing at her "party", she was not thrilled...I guess she just figured that it was HER party and she could cry if she wanted to!

The lake is the best place for that frosting!

Once we put her in the water, we couldn't get her out!  She loved it....

And one more shot I got of her that I just love!!  I printed it to a 12x16, but am thinking that I would really like it on like a 20x24 canvas...how cool would that be!

This month we also celebrated Kierstyn's 8th birthday....she had a few friends over for a day of swimming...My beautiful 8 year old!  She is so tenderhearted, has a very unique individual style, loves to wear boots with any outfit, has a beautiful smile, is very expressive and i love her face expressions, is very bubbly, and is so loved by us all!







In other news, I have started coupon/ad shopping, and after just 2 weeks into it, I am loving it!!  I am excited to go to the store now to see all my savings :)  Who would have thought that I could enjoy grocery shopping!?  I have found a few online sites that I get coupons from....like:  www.coupons.com and www.shortcuts.com and www.cellfire.com to name a few.  Are there any other sites that you can share here?  And any pros out there, feel free to share your information!  I posted this on my facebook a week ago, and got some pretty good tips from lots of ladies, but I welcome any other tips/advice!! 
I was pretty excited on my first shopping trip...I spent $72 and had $59 in savings, and my 2nd trip I spent $55 and saved $40!  So I'm off to a good start I think :)
And speaking of a good deal....stay tuned tomorrow for a way to purchase some greeting card kits from the ever so talented Kim Kesti 
She put together some card Kits to help us raise some funds for our Mothers retreat!  Thank you Kim :)
Happy Monday!