My awesome gardening friends and neighbors have been generously giving me their goods this week. I love garden fresh veggies, mostly because I haven't taken up the challenge of growing my own yet. Anyway, I have this big bag of red, ripe, juicy tomatoes which is great but....no one in my family likes tomatoes! But we love salsa..so I thought I would try and put the tomatoes to use and make some. I went to the internet, googled salsa and was amazed at the thousands of recipes. There were some I couldn't even pronounce, much less make. I am asking my blog friends...is there a recipe for salsa that doesn't involve 5 kinds of peppers that I've never heard of and spices that I know I couldn't find in our town. I am searching for that easy to make salsa, that not only we will love to eat but so these gorgeous tomatoes won't go to waste.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

This is a crazy thing that happened a couple of weeks ago...it's been on my mind, kind of like I'm supposed to tell this story. Although I don't have a picture, I'll do my best to describe it with words.

I was running along the bluffs, my kids on their bikes in front of me. My mind was not thinking of anything, just watching my kiddos and wondering how they got so big so fast and listening to my ipod music. We came around a curve and there it was...a rainbow in the sky...starting at a point from behind the bluffs and ending in a cloud above us. It was probably the neatest thing I had ever seen simply because it's completely dry. Like most of you, it hasn't rained in weeks. And yet here was this rainbow making an appearance. Wow. What was even more cool? The song that came up the minute I noticed the rainbow was "Open The Eyes Of My Heart".

No one can tell me that wasn't a God thing because it had God written all over it. And I'm so glad we were there for it.

This is my girl sporting her SDSU attire which we will need to get out again once football season starts up. It's been 14 years since my bh and I graduated from the coolest school in SD and we are excited to become a part of the campus again. Only in a different way. A couple of SDSU alumni in town wanted to start a Yankton tailgate group, where we would have our own spot, our own tent and grill at all home football games. Since me, my bh and my son love football games, we decided to join the group. Not only is it a great way to be with people from Yankton that also went to State, it's a great way to meet even more people and their families, support SDSU and have some fun. So it's official. We paid the dues and we are now part of the 25 (and growing) families called the YJTG (Yankton Jackrabbit Tailgating Group). I'm excited to be in the college action again, even though I'm quite a bit older now. So, fellow Staters, we'll see you at the game. We'll be the ones stuffing down hot dogs and trying to act like grown-ups!!

A few snapshots of our favorite things to do when we just get to hang out and have some FUN! Of course we make it to the lake quite often but the sand does not do well with my camera! These are the times that are treasured the most. I wish the summer days would go a little slower...

This one's for Karen....thank you for the tips to make our 4th of July a huge success! We did the burgers, your awesome salad and ice cream for dessert. Everything was so fun and was really easy to do. We ended up having about 30 people for the festivities. Now I'm ready for more! So, Karen will you be available in a couple of months when we host a football party?! Thanks, you are wonderful!

Here she is...goodbye van-ster, hello jeep-ster!