Reading

M&R
Date #29
Reading Together

For our date this week, we intended on getting a babysitter, but it just didn't happen. We had too many other errands to run and things to take care of.

We put the kids to bed and pulled out a magazine to read together. We both picked a couple of articles and took turns reading out loud.

I like reading with my hubby. It's a good way to start a discussion about something that maybe wouldn't have come up in our everyday conversation.

Plus, it was just good to be together. Things have been stressful the past week or so. We both needed that quality one-on-one time. Even though we haven't been awesome with date nights lately, I'm glad that it's still something we are being mindful of and trying for.

A night with knights

J+D

Date #29

All of last week was spent in Las Vegas taking care of my neices and nephews with my sister-in-law. There were 8 kids for two mamas and, to be honest, I had a great time. Can't say I'll want to have 8 kids of my own, but at least I know now that I wouldn't die doing it.

Anyway, the original plan was to fly D down the last day of my Nannying and as payment, my sister-in-law who had been gone all week was going to watch our kids for an evening so that D and I could go see a show in Vegas. I mean, who goes to Vegas without seeing a show, right? And "Ka" was what we had planned to see.

But once D flew in, we realized quickly that plan A would need to be changed to plan B, so that's what we did. You gotta do what you gotta do, you know?

So instead, we went to see The King's Tournament with everyone--6 adults and 8 kidlets. The kids loved the horses and knights, we all loved eating the meal with our hands, and most of all, I just loved to be back with my hubby again. Though it wasn't ALONE time and it wasn't plan A, I'm still counting it as a date for us.

Maybe once August is over we'll be able to be more in tune with our alone-dates again. But for now, we're doing all we can to keep up with you guys. :)

A Concert in the Park

B+C

Date #20

Thai Food, Market, Concert, People Watching, Frozen Yogurt

It's never ideal to bring baby along, but in order to stay out as long as we wanted, we thought it would be easier to take her, and she was a good sport at the concert, dancing and giggling the whole time, and getting us a lot of compliments. ; )

This week, I took B to the Twilight Market and Concert, in Salt Lake. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros were playing! I was so excited about this. (Home is probably their most well-known song, but my favorite is 40 Day Dream, which I put in the video. Scroll down).

We were both starving when we arrived, so we got some [REALLY GOOD] Thai food from one of the vendors.

Then we sat on our blanket and did a whole lot of people-watching, while The Entrance Band played.

There was quite the colorful crowd there. Very entertaining. B's favorite guy was wearing skinny jeans, loafers, and had a mustache. We decided next time we go, we'll dress up. B will grow out his mustache and I'll wear something crazy (edit: crazy, for ME. so probably NOT that crazy).

We DID spend money on food and parking, but the concert was FREE! And, before the main event, there was also a Twilight Market, with jewelry, clothes, and other handmade things.

The best part was when the main band started playing. The excitement level shot up, everyone ran to the front, the music got louder. I love the energy at a good concert.

This was a great date night. We want to go to more of these in the future. Hopefully without baby next time?

Afterwards, we got some frozen yogurt. We both got Thin Mint with graham cracker crumbs and cheesecake bites. Definitely not on my diet but SO worth it. It was so so good!

Temple Night

D&T

Date #31

We had a short a sweet date night this week.  A quick trip to the temple for a session of sealings.  We had never done them before and it was awesome!  Totally recommend it for a date night to the temple.  Quiet and rejuvinating and getting to sit by each other and hold hands for most of the time was a nice treat for a temple trip. Just what we needed this week.  Happy Dating!

Stretching the Jazz

J+D

Date #28

As I've said, July has been hard for dating...

But I bought a great GROUPON to the Jazz Fest up in Salt Lake, so instead of begging someone to take our kids, I made the call and decided that the cultural experience (plus the awesome jazz music---my FAVE) would do the kids some good....even though I bought the tickets hoping to have it be just for me and D to use together.

Well, here's our "JUST HIM AND ME" picture even though our kids were with us. The music was A.W.E.S.O.M.E as I had expected and the kids LOVED it too, which I hadn't expected. D was a little annoyed that we brought the kids, but oh well.

-I- had a great time. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and make yourself LOVE where you are even if you don't LOVE where you are.

And anywhere with D is a good place to be, so I loved the "date" even though it was a bit of a stretch for him. Sigh. Oh well.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (and a dinner too)!

D&T

dates #29 and #30

We have had this particular date night planned for MONTHS!!  Thursday night (or should I say Friday morning) was the HARRY POTTER finale!  We went to  a 12:15am showing with D's fam (and some friends too).  We put the kids to bed at a neighbors house and transformed into our HP characters and then met the HP crew for a pre-party and pictures!!  This date night proves our nerdiness and I LOVE SO MUCH that D will go along with these kinds of things with me (well, not all the time, but he loves Harry Potter too, so for this one anyway).  We were the best dressed group there and had lots of people stop to take pictures with us (of course Bellatrix and Voldemort were the most popular and we were proud to be seen with them!!).  We loved it!!!  And the movie was AWESOME - in case you were wondering.  Only have the energy to do something like this once a year or less (took us a couple days to recover) but it was worth it. :)

Cost: Under $20 for the tickets (that we paid for months ago), if you don't count the cost of putting together the costumes and ingredients for making the treats in there.  :) 

Date #30 

The next evening, our friends invited us to MILAGROS, a new mexican restaurant (by Winco in Orem) we have been dying to try, and they offered their daughter to babysit so we could join them and we said sure!!  I am super picky about Mexican - and this place was DELICIOUS.  I did not love the refried beans (which would normally ruin a Mexican food place for me) but everything else was so great, I could overlook that one minor flaw. 

Our first date night this week we felt like kids back in high school or something and our second date night was very adultish - a great dinner with great conversation and totally normal appearances. :)  A perfect balance.  And I had to count them both cause August is going to be crazy for us and not sure about how our dating life will go so I will take the credit to get ahead now.  :)



Upstairs, Downstairs, and InBetween

J+D

Date #27

July has been a hard month to fit in date nights. Between both of our crazy work schedules taking up babysitters and evenings, we just couldn't find moments to run away together.

But finally, last night we put the kids down and went upstairs (monitors in hand) and had a rip-roaring good time playing ACES & FACES. We laughed and laughed and had a great evening.

Game nights with friends are the BEST--especially when the kids are safely and soundly asleep close by.

The end of our little get-away game date was where the sadness came in. D and I curled up in bed together and reminisced about all the many game nights we'd had with T+D when they lived downstairs from us. Those were the best of days...

WE MISS THOSE DAYS!

But for now, we are just grateful that our upstairs neighbors are cool enough to play late night games with, that T+D aren't too far away to play games with on other nights, and that we have so many other great friends who play games with us when we get together on other occasions. Games are the best.

And making a date of it is even better!

Homemade Rootbeer & Face Time

M&R
Date #28
Homemade Root beer & Face Time

Can it still be called homemade root beer if we had it at a restaurant? Well, it wasn't fountain soda so it was way better anyway.

Our neighbors were so sweet to offer to babysit so that hubby could take me out for a quick date. My birthday was a couple of days before and, again, hubby was working crazy hours and wasn't able to take me out for dinner and shopping, like I had hoped.

I just wanted to go to a place called Emmett and Ethel's in Lehi. We had some coupons for free homemade rootbeer. We weren't hungry and I just wanted a chance to sit face to face and talk, without work phone calls and interrupting children. It was nice! With things being so crazy lately, I'm realizing more than ever, how much I enjoy and NEED time with my man. It keeps me sane and keeps us happier.

The Mighty Thor

T&D

Date #28

D was out of town most of the week on a High Adventure Camp out.  For a minute I thought about just skipping the date this week since he would not be home till late Sat. afternoon and I knew we would both be tired.  But the thought of breaking our date streak was sort of heart-breaking when I was fully capable of planning something - and then I saw that Thor was playing in our favorite theatre - Water Gardens.  They had a 10pm showing Sat. night so I surprised him and got a after-kids-to-bed babysitter (couple neighbor girls) and we went to the movies.  D had already seen it once but could not wait to see it again and insisted that we see it together at the theatres.  D loves Norse Mythology and has always had a thing for Thor.  Its possible we will have a dog named Thor.  I can now assure you, after seeing this movie, that I have a thing for Thor.  And D is perfectly okay with it. 

Great date - just to hold hands and have him next to me in the movie after a long week apart was perfect -   both of us too tired to be super entertaining so just happy to be together and very happily entertained by the movie!

Snoozing Hubby

M&R
Date #26 and #27
Tired Hubby+Movie in bed=Snoozing Hubby

For our dates these, weeks, we totally dropped the ball. I'm a little dissapointed in how we've been doing the past month actually.

Hubby has been working 12 hour days, 6 days a week. He comes home basically dead and not in the mood to do anything but lay down and get some shut-eye. Not fun for him and not fun for us either. We look forward to the hubs coming home and it's sad when he comes home so exhausted. Obviously he doesn't like it either.

We tried to work out a date, turning on a movie on a weekend night. But it turned into a snoozing hubby both times. Sigh....what can you do? You win some, you lose some.

Today hubby called me from work saying that we are going to have to double up the next couple of weeks and make up for our low quality date nights. That made me happy. He cares just as much as I do! Hopefully we're back!

Val's

B+C

Date #19

Dinner and a Walk

We were in California last week, visiting B's family. We did all kinds of fun things, including a day trip to San Francisco, an A's game, swimming, going to the beach. . . . but we didn't want our kids to miss out on any of those things, so we did them as a family.

Date night was just a quick night out to one of our favorite restaurants, Val's Burgers. We love the 50s vibe of the this place. We left the kids with Grammy and Grampy and went for some burgers, shakes, and fries, and felt so GOOD afterwards (I'm being sarcastic).

Val's is a place we've always loved going (this time, we sat at the bar, which was fun), but I think it's about time we rethink our eating habits. We're getting older and probably need to start watching what we put in our bodies.

Anyway, after dinner, B pulled over on the side of the road and we went for a little walk to work off the calories. He picked a flower and put it in my hair. That's the most romantic he's been in a LOOOOoooooog time, so I think that was the best part of the date. It was fun being in a new place for this date, with a change of scenery.

Game Nights Galore!!!

D&T

Date #27

I think game night was the theme of the date night blog this week - and we totally did steal the M&R idea!  A couple years ago a game night with friends could not be considered a date night cause it happened so frequently, but sadly, not so much anymore.  We invited our neighbors over after kids bedtime so play my favorite two games and eat some DELICOUS homemade ice cream D and I created a few days earlier.  Much to D's dismay - I won BOTH games.  That has never happened before and may never happen again, but it won't be forgotten cause now its in the blog.  :)  No pictures of the game playing couples cause my neighbor friend and I (the women of course) were both having allergy issues and I totally looked like quasimodo with one eye swollen shut. 

But I still won the games. :) 

Lake Powell Post-Bedtime Time

J+D

Date #26

It may seem like a sorry excuse for a date, but we were at Lake Powell all week and couldn't really sneak off for very long since we had two babies with us and LOTS of WATER to worry about.

So, we counted our date this week as all of the time we spent together and with our family after the kids went to bed. We also kind of counted the whole week as date time because even though we spent most of the time on a boat skiing, wakeboarding, surfing, and sightseeing with the kids, we got a lot of time cheering each other on and growing more and more fond of each other.

And dating is all about growing more fond of each other, right?

My hubby is hot. And I'm fond of him. :)

That's one thing I was reassured of at Lake Powell.

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.