Events in July

<

The Bekken house has been enjoying the lazy days of summer! Though we are not that lazy! I decided to chronicle the events that have taken place since the beginning of July through to the end of the month. Loving the summer!






2nd of July- Swimming with the Millers while Jami Judd was house sitting. We had a blast in this Puyallup home pool. I wish I had pulled the camera out while Jami was there. On this day I had tried to get on the floaty in the pool, three times very unsucessfully and fell off each time into the water. Suzanne of course got it on her first time around.....of course she is from cali! Suzanne is the best friend ever! I just enjoy every minute we get together. Our kids get along great as well.

4th of July- We had a great day with the Miller clan at the Stewart Heights Park in Tacoma. This waterpark is not only affordable but super safe. We have taken a few day trips out to this place we call "mini wild waves"

July 7th-MOPS Playdate at Sunset park in Bonney lake. We had a blast with our wonderful friends! Always like hanging out with the ladies and all our kiddos!

July 9th- Spontaneous trip to Wild Waves. We got a great deal with a radio coupon to go for only $10.53 from Spirit. Geanie and Suzanne also came with us, as well as Jason who got the day off of work! We had such a good time hanging out together! Went on all the rides and the boys were tall enough to join us.

July 17 and 18-Jayden's birthday party weekend. We had a great time camping with the Millers. Went to Taidnapam park on Rife lake near Morton. It was such a great place to camp for our families. We celebrated Jayden turning 7 years old with smores and a gift from Nathan and Zach of Apples to Apples Jr.

Love this picture of my BFF and I together. Nathan was so patient as we perfected the art of getting the perfect picture on the beach together!! hahaha

July 19 and 20-Trip to Oregon. From the camping trip we went down to Hillsboro to visit Jason's grandma Shirley. We had a great time of recalling memories of Papa with her as well as swimming in the pool!

Shirley was so hospitable the entire time we were at her home.

July 21-Bible man at Sumner Community Church. The kids loved this fun event together with Emmy, Orion and Aaron.

July 22-Holly and I met in the morning to get a pedicure together. It was our last event before baby came so it was a special morning as sisters. We spent the rest of our day with Kree and Teresa at Stewart Heights Pool. We had a blast with our friends, enjoying the sun and cool water.

My girlfriend, Kree has become a huge part of my life. I just adore her and her family. She is so thoughful and one of the best friends a girl can ask for!








July 24-25: WOF in Seattle







Talk about an amazing weekend. We were able to volunteer at the Women of Faith event in Seattle. My grandma let Suzanne and I stay in her house while we attended the event and so the only thing we paid for was the parking spot!! We were able to meet Steven Curtiss Chapman, Mandisa, Shelia Welch and so many more amazing speakers/singers all while serving in this amazing ministry! God is so good!

July 26-We started out the day with tickets to a Rainer's game in Tacoma with the family. Nana Jackie had bought these tickets as a father's day gift for Jason awhile back. We ended the day with Jayden's 7th Birthday Bash! We had a big gathering on the day after WOF at the YMCA with friends to celebrate with my wonderful first born son!

July 28-Free movie day with Nathan Miller. We went to see Journey to the Center of the Earth at the Bonney Lake Movie theatre. Afterwards we met up with Suzanne, Zach and Will at the Pioneer Park to have lunch, be entertained by the Rowdy Ref show and play in the wading pool. We spent the entire day out there and I ever squeezed in my haircut appointment!

July 29- We spent the day with my mom and sister eager for Baby Payton to arrive. She was already a day late so the countdown had ended. We went to the movies in Federal Way on the hottest day this summer- 109 degrees. We were smoldering as we waited in line. Holly called that evening when she started to go into labor. We were all at the hospital by 11 pm, Derik and Holly, mom and Dad, Rene and I. Rene was only able to stay for a few hours before heading home exhausted. The rest of us all stayed through to the end.

Payton Monaghan was born on July 30th at 1:54 pm weighing in at 8.5 lbs and 19 in. long. She has quite a bit of hair as well. She is beautiful and I love being an auntie for the very first time!! It was such a special time to share with my parents, brother in law and wonderful sister. I am so glad Payton has joined the family!

July 31-Ended the month with a work party. Gathered with some of the best co-workers to play a wicked game of spoons and make smores at Gail's house.

What's for dinner, mom?

How many of the moms out there have heard the comment from one of their kids "What's for dinner mom?" Sometimes I hear this comment at work from co-workers as I head out of the office. The dinner dilemma has plagued many a house on more nights than most of us want to count! I have finally decided to take charge of my time and my grocery bill by freezing meals. Yes, I am becoming the June Cleaver I never wanted to be! I have stockpiled 13+ meals up in the freezer and here is what my calendar shows:
May 12th: Pasta salad and English muffin pizzas
May 13th: Enchiladas with homemade guacamole
May 14th: Quasadila
May 15th: Homemade macaroni and cheese
May 16th: Pizza and Orange salad
May 17th: Salmon, rice and veggies
May 18th: Sweet and sour chicken with egg rolls
May 19th: Pesto pasta dinner
May 20th: Shrimp stir fry
May 21st: Dinner out and theatre performance at school
May 22nd: Dinner out with friends
May 23rd: Dinner out with kids
May 24th: Fish and chips
May 25th: Memorial day BBQ
May 26th: Dinner out with friends
May 27th: Swedish meatballs with cranberries
May 28th: Teriyaki chicken and egg rolls
May 29th: Tacos with rice
May 30th: Meatloaf with mashed potatoes

I also prepared some extra meat loafs, pot roast with veggies and a lasagna! I made 13 meals in the freezer in one day. It only took about 5 hours (which I also thoroughly cleaned out the freezer/fridge and arranged the pantry). I have spent a total of $300 including lunches and breakfast items for the month (minus the weekly trips for milk, bread, eggs, fruit, etc...). I am so lightening my stress load in so many areas and feel SOOOOOOO good. I want to be good at what I am doing as a "home manager" and this is one area that I feel like has been conquered. At least for the month of May!!
p.s. tonight I am making healthy breakfast cookies for our on the go mornings and some egg casseroles for weekend breakfasts. =)

If I could.....

If I could try anything new, I would choose.......traveling because I have not left the country (well I have been to Canada but it is so close it dosn't really count). I would love to experience new cultures, understand native customs and foods. I would be forced to be out of my comfort zone at times in order to speak and relate to others in another country. I have only been to 15 of the 50 states and want to see them all! Jason and I have a goal of taking a cruise but I also would love for our family to take a road trip one year and see how many states and sites we can see, together! There is nothing like experiencing the world (or so I have been told) LOL!

Saving the big bucks!

I am so excited about my goal this month: Saving Money! I am determined to save as much as I can on my grocery bills and was inspired by this video: http://www.wbir.com/money/story.aspx?storyid=76748&catid=92

I decided to cut coupons and check out all the local ads that come in my mailbox every week. I usually go to Winco foods and Costco once a month and then have random shopping trips throughout the rest of the month (mostly for snacks, dairy and fruit). Last month we spent more than normal at $500 + and I would like to have it be under $300 for most all the grocery needs we have until March 10th.
I saw that Albertsons was having double the manufactor coupon and went through the other store ads as well. I pasted the name of the store and the specials along with the coupons on each sheet of a lined notebook. Then I got our my monthly calendar that I keep on the fridge and wrote down meals I can make with the items on sale. We have a trip coming up to Leavenworth and so I need more snacks than I normally by.

I went to Safeway, Albertsons, Top foods and Summit to get some of their best deals:
At safeway I spent $17.99 and saved $30 on everything. I got 2 packages of Ground turkey for $4.99! And yogos for the kids 2 boxes for $1 to name a few of the sales there.
At top foods I spent $49 and saved $50 including 10 yoplait yogurts for $3.60 and 8 progressive soups for $9!

At Summit foods I got $40 worth of groceries and got kraft mac n cheese for $0.69 each and tomato sauce for $0.19!
At Albertsons I got $77 worth of groceries and saved $85! I got 2 bags of gold fish crackers for $1 and a box of pizza rolls for $.3o! I also got a free galon of milk after buying 3 bags of cereal.
I spent $185 and saved $170 for all the groceries I got. I was very happy to get so many good deals and hope it will be benefial this next month.

I want to be able to be a good stewart of the money that God has given our family and use my time and energy wisely to bless our home!