The Land of the Free

Independence Day is probably my favorite holiday of the year. I unashamedly love America. It truly is the land of the free, the home of the brave. I love having a holiday surrounded with activities that help me feel especially patriotic and thankful for the divinely inspired country in which I was privileged to be born. And I love singing patriotic hymns at church, we should do that more often!

We spent a relaxing Independence Day weekend in beautiful Cascade again this year. Once again, Cascade did not disappoint! There is something so special about a small town 4th of July.

Expectantly awaiting the candy to be thrown...

What can I say? I'm a sucker for old guys on old tractors!

Amen.

The Black Rhino adorned with the American flag...classic.

Love these three little Americans

It was so cold when we watched fireworks on Saturday night, but so worth it.

Elliot kept yelling "I love fireworks!" After the show was over he stood up and enthusiastically said, "That was AWESOME!". Well said, Elliot.

Holy Cow, if you have never been to Cascade, Idaho I highly recommend it. It is so beautiful.

Grace petting Moosie...

Grace and Elliot flipping on to the Love Sac

Bubbles, always a classic!

And I will leave you with a picture of this beauty!

Oh What do you do in the Summertime?

When all the world is green...


You run over to the splash pad when your mom isn't looking and run around in your clothes and tennis shoes :)

You swing (my photography assignment last week was creative shutter speed, can you tell?)

Your dad throws you over his shoulder to take you in to bed at dusk (and you get really dirty feet!)

You find beautiful flowers

You swing some more

You make popsicles and eat them

...and some more!

You hang out in your swim suit all day

You take pictures of your beautiful dogwood tree at dusk

You pull all the tape out of the roll and throw it at your mom???

We are thoroughly enjoying our summer so far! Have a great 4th of July, everyone!

Introducing...

Raymond VanderLouw

Owner/Operator of EnviroPro Pest Solution Professionals

Long story short.

11 years ago guy quits his job as a restaurant manager (with a little encouragement from his wife) and gets a job as a pest control technician with Terminix.

Guy works for Terminix for 2.5 years. Guy quits Terminix and works for Ecolab as a pest control technician for 3 years while finishing college. Guy gets in to management with Ecolab after college and moves his family all over the western half of the US for 3 years.

Guy learns that he is passionate about bugs.

Guy dreams about someday owning his own business but the time is never right.

Guy and his family really want to move home to the west.

Guy takes a job with Sprague Pest Control in Washington.

The job is rocky, to put it mildly, for the. entire. 2. years.

Guy and his family prayerfully consider their options.

Fervently.

About a year and a half in guy realizes that the job situation with Sprague will never change and starts to work on his plan to get out.

Discontent becomes the great motivator to fulfill his dream.

Guy starts working on his business plan in November.

Guy doesn't talk about it much to anyone in case it doesn't work out, but quietly goes about his plans.

His family starts preparing.

Guy takes his plan to the first bank in March.

The bank says NO.

Guy is very discouraged, but bucks up after a talk with his father-in-law who tells him that he had to go to 4 banks before he could get his small business loan.

Guy finds another bank that can capture his vision.

THEY SAY YES!

It takes a really long time to get there, but they finally do.

Guy signs his life over to the SBA for up to 5 years.

Guy and his family gulp down their fears and take a big 'ol leap of faith.

Guy quits his job and starts working (more) on his dream the day after the papers are signed.

Guy and his family are surprisingly optimistic and feel not a whole lot of fear.

Maybe just a little nervousness and a whole lot of excitement.

But they know that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

And they have a really good plan.

They know it will be a whole lot of really hard work and sacrifice, but they are insanely excited about their next adventure together.

The End (I mean, The Beginning)

Eleven

Eleven years ago today I married my sweetheart up a canyon by a beautiful river.

Some of my memories of that day are:

*It rained a little in the morning but it was really hot and sunny by that afternoon.

*My grandma Croshaw was there. She died probably a year later.

*My sweet grandpa Christensen performed the ceremony, I don't remember a thing he said.

*Ray had the most awesome vows. He said that he had a dream about them and woke up and wrote everything down. I still have the paper.

*My vows were totally lame (I figured I would just wing it-bad idea), but my mom told me that no one could hear anything I said so that's good.

*My bouquet had this big ugly bow on it. My mom just cut it off right before I walked down the isle. (what would we do without moms?)

*The food we had at our dinner after was SO good and I was SO hungry!

*I was completely, totally ready. I wasn't nervous at all, not even the slightest little bit.

*After we were married I just couldn't stop smiling. I was so happy!

How the last eleven years have flow!

So I was waaay up in a tree...

And this is what I found!

Actually, Grace climbed up there a couple weeks ago when we saw the nest in a tree in our back yard. She was so excited about the eggs. I decided to climb the tree and see the eggs for myself. I leaned on a branch to steady myself and the branch broke, YIKES! I seriously almost fell out of the tree! I don't normally climb that high in trees, but I was attempting to complete my homework for a photography class I'm taking from my friend Misty. I risked life and limb for this shot, just sayin'...

My Newest Addiction

Couponing. Seriously, such a rush. When you are standing there looking at your total price, then you hand the checker a big 'ole stack of coupons, then stand back and watch the price drop. It's a true high, my friends!

So here is what I got:

-9 boxes of cereal

-9 boxes of hamburger/chicken/tuna helper (not my fave, but good for food storage and when you need a quick dinner)

-4 boxes of gogurt

-3 4-packs of yoplait yoplus lite yogurt

-3 4-packs of yoplait delights yogurt

-2 packs of green giant steamers veggies

-11 boxes of fruit roll up stickers

-30 containers of yoplait lite yogurt

-1 bag of doritos

Total price before discounts and coupons: $129.79

Total price after discounts and coupons: $44.10

That's a 66% savings people!!

Not only that, but...

After I paid I got another $15.50 in customer appreciation vouchers that I can use on my next excursion!! $2 was from yoplait, $3.50 was from general mills, and $10 was from Albertsons-and I can use it on anything I want. So, if you include that $15.50, I got almost $130 in groceries for $28.60! Woohoo!!!

Look how long my receipt is. Awesome.

I just hope eventually it becomes such a regular thing that I don't have to blog about it every time it happens :)