choo choo!

B+C

Date #18

dessert and a game with friends

Okay, M, I know what it looks like, but I promise we didn't copy your last date. We didn't even plan this one.

We didn't have any date plans yet, for this week, so we were excited to be invited to come outside after the kids went to bed, to play 'Ticket to Ride'.

We put the kids down, brought some chairs and a lamp out, applied a layer of bug spray, and enjoyed the beautiful summery weather with great friends, while playing our game.

I just happened to be making a cherry crisp, too, so we brought that out, along with some ice cream in a cooler. Mmmm Mmmm!

This was such a fun night and we all agreed we'd like to do it again. Thanks for the invite, Binghams! It was the perfect way to spend a warm summer's night.

PS, go here to see the 'AFTER' shot of our last date

Furniture Fix-up

B+C

Date # 17

Picking out paint

One of our favorite things to do together is furniture projects. We've built a few pieces of furniture together and it's a lot of fun to do the cutting, assembly, sanding, and painting/staining as a team.

Yesterday, we went to the antique store as a family and found this cute high chair. Today, while the boys were at a birthday party, we ran to the hardware store for some paint.

And the little one came along. She IS the one who has to sit in this high chair, after all.

We picked 'Waffle Cone'. It's a very very subtle green.

While the paint was being mixed, I got some of the free popcorn and B and I hung out with the babe.

I was really hoping to have some 'AFTER' shots of the high chair. The plan was to paint it after the kids went to bed, but the sun was already going down by then, so we opted to watch a movie instead- 'The Dilemma', which, by the way, is not nearly as funny as you might think, with who's in it. Maybe next week's date will be a painting date.

I love dates where we get to enjoy each other's company, while also checking something off of the to-do list. It feels good to be one step closer to completing a project, and I'm glad I got to do it with my Hub.

Ticket to Ride

M&R

Date #25
Ticket to Ride

What happened to the time last week? I was making some cookies and R was watching TV. Suddenly, it dawned on me that we hadn't had a date. We are having so much fun enjoying this summer weather with our kids, that I guess we weren't dying for our date night.

BUT...we aren't going to break our dating streak. So I finished up the no-bake cookies and we picked out a game out of our teeny game stash. Ticket to Ride. We like that game! R won and he wouldn't have it any other way. He is very competitive. I am very not (although I do rub it in his face when I win to drive him crazy).

It was not a very well-thought out date, but at least we did it right? Otherwise, R would have continued watching TV. I would have finished the cookies and gone upstairs to the computer to check facebook and blogs or something. Then we would have gone to bed, probably at different times.

Instead we spent the night together, next to each other, focused on each other and what we were doing together. And I'd call that success!

Tennis Time!

D&T

Date #26

D is awesome at pretty much any sport.  Tennis is one of his favorites and I am pretty sure he has dreams of us playing tennis at like 5am when we are old and grey.  He would also like us to play golf all day as a retired couple.  I have decided as a compromise, I am going to work really hard to get good at tennis (cause I can't stand golf) so we can live out at least some of D's dream.  I am horrible, but actually improving.  This weeks date was fun cause without chasing kids around I could actually hone some skills.  After warming up and getting a lesson from D, we played against D's little sis and her hubby - and we WON!  Not much thanks to me, but I had my hand in a point or two.

Oreo of "Us Time" with Family Fun Filling

J + D

Date #25

Like an Oreo, this week started with a sweet cookie of alone time, then filled with a whole bunch of fun family events, followed with another sweet cookie of alone time.

(black & white picture=like an oreo--get it?!)

Let me explain:

First Cookie of alone time:

Last weekend we were blessed to head down south to attend an ordinance the Manti LDS Temple. D's little brother graciously watched our kiddos for 2 1/2 hours while we were inside such a magnificent building as the Manti Temple.

Filling: Since it was Strawberry Days in our town, we took the kids to the Parade of Homes one night, The Rodeo the next, to D&T's house to watch our favorite show the next, and to the Carnvial the next. All fabulously fun family activities.

Other Cookie:

Yesterday we then attended the Wedding of D's sister in the Mt. Timpanogas temple. His Aunts watched our boys and for an hour we sat hand in hand (I cried a bunch) and listened to the sweetest man give the sweetest couple the sweetest and most thoughtful advice for married couples. It was incredible.

Here are a few of the points he touched on:

Marriage should be focused on:

SACRIFICE--we need to make sure we are ALWAYS sacrificing for our spouses. ALWAYS.

OBEDIENCE--healthy & successful couples don't try to mimic the families they came from, but decide together how they are going to run their home. Then, by obedience to the principles of the gospel and to the rules of the house you both agree on, the household is a peaceful, productive place.

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST--as long as we pray & play together, keep quiet & controlled voices in our conversations and home, and maintain the standards of the gospel in our home, we'll have successful marriages

CHASTITY--we can love, respect, and feel close to our friends but we need to keep the love we have with our spouses sacred and special and eternally focused.

GENEROSITY--be generous in all you do as often as you can be...with your time, your efforts, your love, your patience, your talents, your possessions, etc. because we can never outgive God and we all should do our best to be like Him. And when we give of ourselves, we are blessed beyond measure.

Though we had a really busy week of loud, crazy fun events to go to as a family, I'm so grateful I got to have TWO temple dates with my hubb in one week to be alone in such quiet, peaceful settings. Being in the temple with my hubby is such an honor and a privilege.

Team Support!!

T&D

date #25

Being married is the greatest team sport I will ever play!!  And D was so awesome this week to come support me in one of my hobbies.  He got his parents to watch the girls while he came to the finish linw of the Ragnar to see my team finish.  He brought me some flowers and just having him there to lean on (I was EXHAUSTED) was exactly what I needed.  We grabbed some grub at Cafe Rio on the way home.  I was a little loopy and its possible I fell asleep in the car a couple times, but it was so nice to have some time with the hubby before rushing back into mommy mode. 



Couple Friends

M&R
Date #24
Couple Friends

We planned a double date with some friends, to go again to the driving range and then have dinner. Due to lack of babysitters, we ended up being "that" couple that had to bring our kids along. We love our kids, but date night just isn't date night when you have to deal with sibling fights and temper tantrums. Oh well.

After the driving range, we headed back to our house for dinner, kids bedtime, and dessert and chatting with adults only.

We have been living here for a year now, and are just starting to get to the point where we are finding couples to be friends with and hang out with. Until recently, it's just been a wave and small talk in passing. I think it may be that everybody is starting to feel comfortable in their new neighborhood, and now that it's warm, we're all coming out of hibernation (and maybe depression). Seriously, the sun and warm temperatures are like prozac for me.

Anyway, we had fun with our new couple friends. That is a hard one sometimes. Finding a couple where we all like each other individually and as couples. Luckily there seem to be some winners around here. Hooray for that! Funny thing about this particular couple is that the husbands are the ones who are initiating all the get-togethers. Usually my hubby is just happy hanging with just me or just the family, but he is the one making buddies this time. I kind of like it.

And..on that note...I wasn't quite comfortable enough to whip out my fatty camera and take a picture for the blog. We'll get there though. :o)

I did take a picture at the driving range with my phone.

By the way D&T, J&D, and C&B--you guys are all great individual AND couple friends! Just want to make that clear.

Picnic in the Park

B+C

Date #16

Picnic and a movie

B's birthday is on Monday and, since Father's Day is the day before, and he will be working ON his birthday and the day AFTER, I figured the best time to celebrate would be the Friday BEFORE.

I had plans for something, but B thought we'd be too rushed, since it was in Salt Lake and we have a nursing baby who would need mama home on time, so I'm storing that idea away for a future date.

So, I just kept it simple and relaxed this year. I picked up some Kneaders (surprise, surprise! We really like Kneaders) and packed a bag with a blanket, a candle to 'set the mood' : ), some fun drinks, the laptop, and a redbox.

We ate our dinner in the shade of a huge tree, and watched our movie, snuggled up under a blanket.

I sang 'happy birthday' to my man and we shared a piece of burnt almond fudge cheesecake.

A beautiful night shared between us. I thought the date turned out perfectly. I love that man and I'm thankful I get to share every birthday of his with him, forever after.

game night

B+C

Date #15

We had a fun-filled day with the fam, going to the carnival and out to eat for dinner, before I realized we hadn't gone on a date this week!

SO, while we were at dinner, we picked up some dessert. Then we went home, put the kids in bed, and stayed up to play some Mastermind and eat our [KNEADERS] peanut butter pie. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm, it was good!

The game lasted a few rounds before we were just too exhausted and had to head to bed, but it was nice to have a quick little 'mini date'.

Parade of Homes

M&R
Date #23
Parade of Homes

For our date this week J hooked us up with tickets to the Parade of Homes. (Thank you Thank you!) I've always wanted to go and thought date night would be the perfect opportunity.

We checked out four houses and they ranged from nice/reasonable to luxurious/unrealistic. I liked the fact that R and I were both on the same page with what we liked and what we would want. Walking through the luxurious dream houses, we both thought it was fun too see, but agreed that we wouldn't want to ever raise our kids in a house so big that we would never know where the heck our kids were and we wouldn't want them to have SO much privacy.

That being said, R really liked the golf simulator, and I liked the theater rooms. We both loved the showers with multiple shower heads on the walls and ceiling. Perfect to accommodate two.

Mostly though, we just had a good time driving around and hanging out.

Caminar en la playa. . .

T&D

Date #24

As alluded to in date #23, this weeks date took place in Rocky Point, Mexico on the beach.  We put the kids to bed and left the rest of the family behind and went out to enjoy some quiet time together.  In my head, I had planned a longer and more oozing-with-romance date, but after long days in the sun and kids who don't sleep well not in thier own beds, we were lucky to keep our eyes open long enough to take our little walk.   We strolled in the sand for a bit and then sat down under a little straw cabana on the beach to just talk.  Then we broke the rules and put our feet in the hot tub for awhile to finish the conversation (the pools were closed but its fun to be a little rebellious and the little adrenaline rush hoping we would not get kicked out helped with the fatigue :).  We were going to get in the hot tub, but both our backs were sunburned, so the thought of super hot water was not appealing.  It was short and sweet and just the quiet time that we needed amidst a very fun-filled, super busy, on the go, Mexico trip. 

We brought the camera, turned it on and went to take a picture of the ocean in the moonlight and the battery died.  So here is a picture of the resort we stayed in.  Look hard enough and you can even see the little cabanas on the beach that we sat under for our little date night chat.  You can also imagine that no matter how tired we were, it was still one of the most romantic date atmospheres we will probably have this year and we won't soon forget it!

Porter's Place

J+D

Date #24

D and I typically try to steer clear of spending our date nights just sitting at a restaurant...and this is for three main reasons.

1--we make pretty awesome food at home for a fraction of the price of going out

2--we really want to do things that are active (aka burning calories instead of consuming them)

and 3--though we have great conversation over a meal, we prefer to chat without food in our mouths

BUT, sometimes dinner is what we want to do for date night, and that was the case for date #24.

So, we found a restaurant that we had heard of and wanted to go check out, and we WENT.

Porter's Place is a restaurant once owned by Porter Rockwell, himself and is located on Lehi's Mainstreet. I had looked up the menu, and studied reviews and thought it looked like a perfect place to spend our evening---but when we got there we discovered it was a little different than we had expected.

We thought it would be a little classier, busier, and cleaner

AND

We thought the food would be fresher, more flavorful, and more authentic

But we still had a good time.

D liked his food just fine and I was glad to finally see what the place was all about, but we both agreed that we probably wouldn't need to ever visit Porter's Place again.

Lucky for us, we have other options for a date out to dinner.

But MOST lucky for us is the fact that no matter what we do together, we seem to have a great time.

Yay for dating.

"DATE NIGHT" DATE NIGHT

J+D

Date #23

After a crazy week and a weekend trip away from the hubby, we needed to fit in a little US time before the week ended...so after the kiddos went down for a nap, we made our favorite cookie dough,

pulled out BACKGAMMON (D's favorite game)

And popped in "DATE NIGHT" the movie.

This is seriously the story of our lives...So many of the conversations they have WE have regularly. So many of the things they do at dinner together WE do at dinner together (we have even taken someone else's reservations a time or two...). So many of the crazy things that happen to them have happened to US (well, maybe not, but still).

My hubby teased me about how the only reason we were playing backgammon and watching the movie were to count it as "a date night." The fact of the matter is that YES, we did need to count it as a date night because we were too crazy all week to get time together, but even if we didn't have a blog to post on, I STILL would have wanted to spend time doing something alone with him. That's the whole point of this---to purposefully and thoughtfully make time for each other.

Without the blog, I probably wouldn't have taken a picture of the cookie dough or the board game, but I still would have meant to make a "date" out of our time alone together...

Everything's Free on Vacation . . .

T&D

Date #23

The title of this date was the most repeated line on our date this week.  :)  We happen to be vacationing in AZ - soon to be Mexico (look for next week's date = romance on the beach) - and did a date night tonight with family.  My older brother got a babysitter for his kids and let ours jump in while we went to dinner at Tia Rosa's, one of the greatest Mexican Food Restaurants in AZ (not claiming its authentic, just really great).  My little brother was our server so we had to of course pad the tip.  :)  Dinner only was the original plan, but afterward it was still early and kids were happy and my bro. started looking up movies.  D & I shared the "everything's free on vacation" phrase and said what the heck to full price movie tickets and paying a babysitter for another 2+ hours.  Normally not in the plans for our dates, but since I only see my older brother once a year or so, we through caution (and the budget) to the wind.  We ended up seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  GREAT flick!!  D & I loved it!  And although we are easily entertained (and proud of it) I will say I did NOT really love the last 2 Pirates movies. In fact, I did not like them at all really (D thought they were okay, but for sure not as good as the first).  I loved the 1st Pirates for the action/adventure/romance - classic entertaining movie.  I would say this 4th installment was as good as the first and possibly even better!  I wonder how many people would agree with me - but I loved seeing so much of Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp is quite brilliant) and the story was intriguing and thrilling with just enough romance and lots of fun characters.  Just my thoughts.  And D loves movies so much, its fun to watch him watch movies and talk all about them afterward.  Great date for us - especially since "everything is free on vacation" (aka . . . already spending gobs of money on the trip anyway, so whats another $20 or $30 or $40  . . . ). :)



Thor

B+C

Date #14

We went to see Thor with our friends, Kyle and Sara, who we don't see very often. I wasn't sure how I'd like the movie, I was just going to catch up with our friends, but to my surprise, I LOVED it!!

Lately, I've been having camera troubles. This time I brought it and realized, when we got to the theater, that the battery was sitting on the counter at home.

SO, I took a pic on my phone (that I'll add when I get the chance), but here's a picture of the poster.

This wasn't the most creative date, but we don't get to go to the movies very often, so we had a good time holding hands at the theater, laughing, and catching up with our friends.

Dine and Dilly Dally

M&R
Date #22
Dine and Dilly Dally

I think it has officially been established, that the Riverwoods in Provo, has become a hot spot for date night between all of us. It has live entertainment on the weekends, good food, interesting stores to play in, and the Provo Beach Resort.

Sooo, that is why we went to La Jolla Groves for dinner on Friday with R's brother and his wife. Yum!! It's perfect because the ambiance is clean and fresh and elegant. The food is delicious. You can eat an appetizer, entree, and dessert and still not leave feeling gorged. The prices are not through the roof. We are fans!

Afterward we walked around, chatted with friends that we bumped into, listened to some live music, and scouted out this little deal that I had read about in the paper. This fun little store gave us ladies a free pair of earrings for checking in on facebook while in the store. Sweet!!!


A nice relaxing dinner, socializing with adults (we love our kids, but sometimes you can only play so much Candy Land and answer so many "but why" questions in a week), browsing some shops, and leaving with a free pair of earrings? I was a happy little lady, and you know what they say about that....when momma's happy, everybody's happy!