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.

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.

BATTLECREEK FALLS

J+D

Date #19

BATTLECREEK FALLS

The stars were against me when putting together our original plan for date night this week.

We were supposed to visit the temple, but

the kids were ornery all day

which put ME in an ornery mood all day

(sorry C, for having to see that)

the traffic was horrific which made D

as well as Juju (aka my mom--aka our babysitter for the night)

LATE

which put all of us in a mood that was not sufficient for the needs of the temple.

So, to blow off steam and get away for an hour

D & I threw on our tennies and our camelpack and headed for the hills

D and I have ALWAYS loved to hike together. If you made an excel spreadsheet of all of our dates before we were married, hiking would take up a majority of the list.

So, on this date, we knew just how it would go:

PERFECTLY.

Battlecreek falls is in Pleasant Grove, UT just south of the "G" on the mountain. Its a great hike, easy enough to take the kiddos, easy enough to march up it as fast as you can in an hour, but hard enough to get a nice little sweat out.

Its gorgeous up there...

...and since D and I were really rockin' the speed factor, we made it up to the upper falls, which we had never done before.

Unfortunately, the camera's batteries ran out of steam before we did, so we didn't get any pictures from the hike. So, I thought I'd dig up some old pictures of us hiking from the pre-marriage days.

Aren't we cute?!

....And though we had originally hoped to get to the temple,

being up on the mountain is just about as close to God as we can get outside of the temple!

So we felt like we had accomplished that part of our plans for our date night!

:)

Lets Build Something Together

M+R

Date #5: Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie first. Home Depot second. Starbucks third.

Since seeing this blog turned website two years ago, http://www.ana-white.com/, I've been dying to try my hand at woodwork and wanting to do a project with the hubby.

Which brings us to our date. We had to grab something sweet to eat first, of course. Then we went to Home Depot to enjoy some time there without the kids. We looked at paint samples. We looked at small hardware. We looked at planks of wood. It was magical.

We priced out the project that we are planning to do together and figured out everything we need to get. If you're curious, we're going to make the twin-sized farmhouse bed.


The actual project will have to wait for another day, but we're looking at about $100. Not bad for a solid wood bed.

We ended the date hanging out at Starbucks with some hot chocolate since it was FREEZING outside.

Doesn't seem too exciting, but a couple of uninterrupted hours together was just what we/I needed to refresh ourselves for the rest of the week.

Cookie Cook-Off

M+R

Date 4

Ingredients for Date #4:

One Boy

One Girl

One Empty House (no kids)

Chocolate

Sugar- and I'm not talking just the granulated kind

Hang out music

Laughing

Turning up the heat--you know.....the oven!

For this date, we had a cookie cook-off. Our rule was that it had to be a new recipe. I chose a new sugar cookie and frosting recipe. The hubby chose Fudge Ecstasies. A neighbor took all three kids, which was amazing. First time I've been away from my 4 month old for more than a quick run to the grocery store. The house was sooo quiet. Too quiet actually. It was really weird, and nice at the same time.

We got cooking right away. First thing first-- a tutorial on the difference between a sauce pan, a glass pyrex bowl, and a frying pan. That produced some good laughing! Then onto the measuring, mixing, rolling, cutting, and baking.

My cookies turned out great. My favorite sugar cookie recipe (which I needed). The hubby's turned out tasting better than they looked. His were flatter than a pancake. They were rich and more of a dark chocolate. He's more partial to sweeter, milk chocolate flavors.

It was a fun night anyway, and it went by way too fast.

One month of dates down, 48 more to go!!

Carl Bloch ROCKS

J+D

Date #5

BYU has an exhibit up that is a MUST SEE. Carl Bloch's depictions of Christ are just incredible and the spirit in the exhibit is so reverent and quiet.

D and I sat and stared at the paintings in awe for a long while just drinking in the holiness. The picture I included here was one of my favorites.

Everyone must go.

It's free (well, $3 if you want an ipod to be your guide)

but it surely isn't a cheap experience.

Strike Out

J+D

Date #4

I suck at bowling. I suck at any "ball" sport, for that matter (well, minus ping pong. I kind of rock at ping pong, actually), but bowling is one of my worst.

However, I LOVE to bowl and so does D, so we go as often as we can (which is like, hardly ever).

D knocks down all the pins all the time.

I knock down some pins only sometimes.

And to make it even more fun we take friends and make bets and try to be as creative getting the ball down the lanes as possible

The important thing is that we laugh and have a great time, and that's the main reason we are picking up on "dating" again. Because we love to laugh and have a great time together.

And though D strikes out on the lanes all the time, he never "strikes out" with me. :)

Bowl here....its awesome.

Can I Get Some Fries to Go With That Shake?

M+R

Date 3

For Date#3, we dropped the kids off with our free babysitters (i.e. family) and hopped in the mini (we just joined the world of minivan owners-nooo!!) for a hot date. We went to Smashburger.

{hubby and our little date crasher}

The hubby got the Sin City Smashburger and RAVED. He may or may not have been really hungry, but he said that it was the best burger he's ever had in his life. If you know my hubby, you didn't even have to hear him say that in words to know he was in love at first bite. He nodded his head in approval and mmmmmm'd the whole time he was eating.

Me? I just got the Classic Smashburger. It was good, but I am not a burger-fanatic either. The fries were yummy, and the shakes looked delish!! I'm still on a no-dairy diet at the time being, so the shake will have to wait for another visit-which there will be, according to the hubby! He's already dreaming of visit number two.

Since I was still pining over that shake, we went across the street to the mall to walk around and get some gourmet chocolates. We tried Mrs. Cavanaughs, but shhh, I'm still loyal to See's. No contest there.

What a treat!

J+D

Date #2

MASSAGES and DESSERT

You can tell we've been worked...

Our muscles, that is.

For our second date, D & I found this chiropractic office that gives the public half hour massages for only $12 dollars......so we called some friends and invited them to come along.

Not only were the massages inexpensive, they were AWESOME. This is a must-do-again date.

After we all recovered and the circles around our faces (from the massage table) had gone away, we headed over to Kneaders for a little treat and some good, hard laughing.

We went away from the date thinking WE WERE SO SPOILED TONIGHT!

What a treat the whole evening was! Especially since we got to do it all together!

Our First Date

J + D

Date Number 1

It's pretty convenient that D and I got married at the end of the year (6 years ago) because we always have a "NEW YEAR" ahead of us whether we commit to something together or not.

This year, since I prepared and presented him with date nights each week for our entire 7th year, I was excited to start fresh with the first week of January and get going, making it a habit fresh off.

Our first date this year sent us to do temple work at the Provo Temple. Just the two of us inside a gorgeous building doing incredible things for incredible people.

The price? Nada.

The Experience? Priceless

Bucket Lists

M+R

Date 1

For our first month of dates, the hubby decided to be in charge.

So Date #1 was writing Bucket Lists.

We went to a little dessert shop, picked out something yummy, and pulled out pen and paper. Then after getting kicked out, since they closed at 8, we read our lists to each other. It was fun to just talk, laugh, compare and contrast each others' lists. Since I didn't take any pictures during the date, I had our daughter take a picture of us afterwards (hence the awkward angle).

If you need an idea for a place to go, the dessert shop that we went to was Dippidee.

Here are some other ideas in Utah County:

The Sweet Tooth Fairy

The Chocolate

Kneaders

Paradise Bakery

Lehi Country Bakery (for the donuts)

Flour Girls and Dough Boys