Miracles Happen

One month ago we posted about our two little foster kids who left us to go and live with a relative.  It was a very sad time for us.  On Thursday we found out that they are coming back to us.  Miracles DO happen!  We have really missed these little guys over the last 4 weeks!  We wish they had never left, but sadly, it wasn't up to us.  Now they are coming home and hopefully it will be for good this time!  Of course, the judge has to rule before they can move back in with us, but in the meantime, we will be able to spend time with them, like taking them to trunk-or-treat at church tonight!  They'll be spending the night so we can take them to Church tomorrow as well.  We are grateful to have had these two angels in our lives and we are especially grateful to know that we will have them in our lives again soon.  We love them so much!

Great Deals at Cash & Carry

My house smells like bacon.  It doesn't always smell like bacon, but right now it does.  Why, you may ask?  Because of one of the great deals I got at Cash & Carry last week.  If you don't know about Cash & Carry, then let me be the first to alert you to it's awesomeness.  If you're willing to watch for deals, you will definitely find them there.  Last week I stopped in (without even researching the sales) and here are the deals I got:

3 heads of green cabbage - .94 each (sold individually)
11 lbs Hillshire Farms Kielbasa - $1.59/lb (11lb package)
5 lbs sliced pepperoni - $3.45/lb (5 lb package.  The 10 lb package would have been $2.97/lb!)
24 lbs bacon slices and pieces - .49/lb (I bought 8 - 3lb packages)
10 lbs yellow onions - .32/lb (10 lb bag)
50 lbs LARGE baking potatoes - .12/lb (50 lb bag)

Grand Total:  $58.50

Since I have a Foodsaver machine (and a couple of extra freezers), I brought the meats home and divided them up to freeze.  I cooked 2 packages of the bacon (I think there was more meat on these than on regular sliced bacon!), then I chopped up the meat and now I have lots of frozen packages of bacon bits, which we will use in soups, salads, omelets, and on baked potatoes (we'll be eating a lot of potatoes in the coming month!).

If you are interested in seeing the sales at the Tacoma Mall Blvd Cash & Carry, please go to this link. 

http://www.smartfoodservice.com/specials.aspx?Ad=UGA

And if you find any screaming good deals, please let me know!

Youth Conference!

"I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I know who I am.  I know God's plan.  I'll follow him in faith.  I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ.  I'll follow his plan.  I'll do what is right.  I'll follow His light.  His truth I will proclaim!"

Since I am a counselor in the Young Women's organization at my church, I was fortunate to participate in this year's Ward Youth Conference over the weekend.  A Book of Mormon marathon.  It wasn't easy, but we read the entire Book of Mormon from cover to cover over a 2 day period.  I am so proud of the 22 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 who valiantly showed up early Friday morning and stuck to a brutal schedule with minimal breaks, taking turns reading aloud until almost midnight, only to turn around and be back at 7am for another day of the same!  I'm not kidding about the brutal schedule....We even listened to it during meals! 

At first I thought that it would just be a fun challenge (do you really think we can do it in 2 days?), but that we wouldn't get much out of it, since we wouldn't have time to stop and discuss what we were reading.  I was wrong.  As for me, I gained a new understanding of the Book of Mormon as a whole.  It seemed to flow so well together and I feel like I got a real sense of the timeline and history of the Book by reading it straight through.  I don't think I've ever seen it from that perspective before.  I am grateful for the opportunity I had to participate in this memorable event, and I hope that everyone gets the chance, once in their life, to feast on the Book of Mormon as we did.  HAZAA!

Goodbye to my sweet little ones

"Pinky sqaure....I love you!" - AJ

As sometimes happens in our lives, we had to say goodbye to these 2 incredible kids last week when they went to live with a relative.  We are very sad to see them go!  It is always hard to say goodbye, but sometimes it's downright heartbreaking - and this was one of those times.  We really love them as if they were ours.  In fact, if the option had been available, we would have adopted them and kept them forever.  So good luck, you two.  I hope you have a happy life with all the love and care you deserve.  We miss you so much, and though we know as time passes you won't remember us, we'll never forget either of you!  We love you, our little "magpie" and "cereal"!