Jonah's Birthday Celebration

Matt got tickets to the Jazz game the night before Jonah's b-day and took him on a surprise trip. As you can see, Jonah was beyond excited about that.

Jonah told me he wanted a "I love sports" party, so I told him to invite 7 friends (have you heard of that rule, as many friends as years old they are turning?) and luckily Matt took the afternoon off so he could lead them in a bunch of games.

Matt got some athletic things from the school he works for and set up drills and relays for the kids to do. It was actually warm enough for the kids to be outside, so that was a definite plus. One little girl brought her pom-poms just in case.

I kept it simple and just did some cupcakes with little footballs. The kids loved them

Doesn't Matt look "official"? (I know, that was a pretty bad one.)

Since Jonah is really into sports and follows all the teams in the newspaper, he told me exactly what he wanted for his birthday- a LA Lakers jersey. He runs out and gets the newspaper every morning and studies the sports page and he noticed that they were ranked #1, so he requested the jersey.

He was pretty happy about that. All in all, it was a great day!

Happy 7th Birthday, Jonah!

I can't believe that Jonah is turning 7 years old today. I know everyone says this, but the time really has flown by too quickly. I remember when he was born and how I would just sit and hold him and stare at him and take a million pictures of him. I couldn' get enough! I still can't.
I couldn't ask for a better son. He is loving, obedient, friendly, smart, funny, and a million other things. People love to be around him and I am grateful to be his mom.
He wanted to have a "I love sports" party and made his own invitations.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONAH, WE LOVE YOU!!!!

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Temples and Whole Foods

On Valentine's Day we were able to go to the Draper Temple Open House. I was really excited to take the kids, since they have never had the opportunity to go to a Temple Open House before. That is definitely one of the best things about living in Utah. You see temples where ever you go. We had a great experience. It was snowing (of course) but the temple was beautiful and it was wonderful to see so many excited people walking through.

Yesterday, Matt and I went to the Bountiful Temple. I haven't had the opportunity to go back to this particular temple very much, but it was where I went for the first time and it is special to me for that reason. Plus, as a teenager, I remember going to the Open House with some non-member friends. Matt and I also drove and looked at it when we were dating. He almost kissed me for the first time when we were walking around the grounds, but someone ruined his plans (unknown person).

Matt had a few hours to spare (miracle, I know) and it was really snowing when we left. We started heading up the steep hill and we wondered if we would make it to the top. We were in his little Honda Civic and that thing really doesn't have much power when it comes to slushy, blizzardy weather conditions. We didn't know exactly where to go and usually you get to a certain point and then you can see the temple and go from there. We figured it out eventually and made our way inside. The weather outside was frightful and made me nervous, but as soon as we walked in the doors of the temple, the atmosphere around us completely changed. It was so peaceful. It seriously felt like we were on a higher sphere. And I know we were. It was a great afternoon.

By the time we got out of the temple it was almost 5 pm and I had skipped lunch, so we were looking for something to eat. We went shopping for Jonah's b-day present and then I finally settled on some fast food. It was the only quick option.

But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Whole Foods. I go there whenever I can to get all of my favorite grains in bulk, (red lentils, quinoa, bulgur, millet, nuts, flour, etc) and I remembered the beautiful, fresh salad bar. So I asked Matt if I could run in there instead of going through a drive-thru. He decided it was okay, but had some preconceived ideas about what types of people shop there. Hey, if money weren't an issue, I would do ALL of my grocery shopping there. I would live there if I could.

Anyway, I was so happy. I try not to talk about food too much on this blog, but let me say that it was my fave meal I have had in a while, especially since I didn't have to do any work in order to eat it. I got some spicy pumpkin soup and stirred in a little quinoa. Then I made a fab salad with spinach, shredded zucchini, carrot, and beets, sprouts, black beans, edamame, marinated tofu, cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella. I grabbed a tiny multi-grain roll and was happier than anything.

Matt went through the drive-thru anyway and settled on a strawberry shake. I love my Matt!

Pegasus has an owie

Do you ever think your child is in a room being quiet doing something and then you find out they were actually doing something else?

I thought Ryanne was going to the bathroom. Then she came out and showed me her pegasus. Pegasus had an owie and Ry had to take care of it. The tail really had a problem. She came out of the bathroom and showed me and then I went into the bathroom to see the damage. Not too bad really. But definitely a photo op.

That is a whole lot of bandaids

My Valentine is the Best!

I have the most thoughtful, loving husband in the world. I don't mean to brag, but it is the truth. I woke up this morning and found this heart on my dresser.

Then I went and looked outside and saw all the hearts on the lawn. Matt actually cut out 100 hearts and then took the time to think of 100 things he loves about me. I mean who has the time to do that?

Unfortunately it snowed last night. He put all of them up last night when he got home from a basketball game at midnight and didn't know it was going to snow. So this morning as he was leaving for work, he wanted to show me that they were actually all hearts.

Ryanne put on some shoes so she could bring some of the hearts inside. The snow wasn't very wet, so the hearts weren't getting ruined. And Matt used a permanent marker, so I still got to read all the nice things he loves about me.

This is true. I still can play the clarinet. Matt got out my old clarinet and put me to the test. I haven't touched the thing since I graduated from high school, but I could still do it.

So nice to be married to someone who likes my opinions! Well, maybe not my opinions, but the fact that I have my own.

Yeah, sorry about the ruined anniversary trip.

This surprise absolutely made my day! I love my Matt- he knows how to get to my heart! And it is true, 8 years later, I still fall for his tricks. Some of them are so nice.