What can you buy with those $10.00 coupons?

I love getting those $10.00 cash coupons from Kohl's and JC Penney's. The kids and I scour the stores to find just the right things to use our coupons on. We did really good this trip. We purchased $76.00 in merchandise and only ended up paying $16.33 out of pocket. That's $59.67 in savings. So this is what we found.

All of the kids at school are sporting these hats that they have given a cute name to. They are no longer fedoras they are now fedora spunk hats. I have never heard them referred to as this name but when Emily came home with hers I had to take Jeremy to get one for himself.

Jeremy's isn't part of our savings but he did get a $20.00 hat for $5.99.

Kohl's had all of these earrings and bracelets at a steal on the clearance rack. We spent the most out of pocket here, $12.95 for 9 pairs of earrings and more than a dozen bracelets.

This bracelet and Emily's fedora hat cost us a great low price out of pocket of $3.38. I can't wait for our next coupons to arrive!

Becoming a Deacon

As I mentioned in a prior post Jeremy turned 12 recently and along with this comes some big responsibility. In our church when a young man turns 12 and is found worthy he is given the priesthood. Jeremy was excited and nervous about this day but I couldn't tell. He can't wait until next Sunday when he gets to help pass the sacrament. Jeremy has been so lucky to have awesome men in his life who have helped us teach and mold him into the incredible young man that he is.

Each of these men stood in the circle as Jeremy received the Aaronic priesthood and a blessing. They all have a special reason for being asked to be there.

Paul Allen has always given Jeremy words of advice and was his primary teacher.

Dave Walker has been like a second dad to Jeremy. He fills in for Rob when he can't be at camp outs. Dave also baptized Jeremy and confirmed him a member of the church. Today he gave Jeremy the priesthood and a blessing.

Bishop Laker is the awesome leader of our ward.

Rob of course is Jeremy's dad.

Lorin Sommer was the bishop of our ward when Rob and I decided to adopt. He helped us get everything together so we could apply to be foster then adoptive parents. Without his help we may not have Jeremy.

Bill Rogers was our home teacher at one time and has always held Jeremy accountable for his actions at school, home and church. He always encourages Jeremy to be an example.

Brandon Hooley is not only our neighbor but he is our current home teacher and Jeremy's priesthood advisor. He delivers great messages and helps me out at times with getting Jeremy to scouting events.

Ian Hanna and Jerry Fulk are the two men at Jeremy's side. Jerry was Jeremy's cub scout master and helped Jeremy through those years. He was also one of Jeremy's primary teachers. Ian is Jeremy's current scout master in boy scouts.

Jeremy in his suit. The funny thing was that when the bishop called him up to the podium they both had black suits, white shirts and green ties on.

This is Jeremy's line of priesthood. Dave gave him this and he is already bugging me to hang it in his room.

New found love

Emily was bored last Saturday so when she said this to her dad he told her to go climb a tree. We have a pretty big maple tree in our front yard and it only took her a short time to figure out how to get up in it's branches. She spent most of the day there and only came down to use the bathroom and gather some supplies to pass the time.

She says the view is awesome from up there and has decided that she loves climbing trees.