Valentines Day

It was nice that Valentine's Day this year landed on a Saturday and that Russell and I got to spend the day together. We decided that instead of going out with the rest of the world, we would stay in and cook us a yummy dinner and just spend time together. We went to the grocery store and each picked out a steak and got us some shrimp as an appetizer. Russell has no problems using the grill- even in the dead of winter- so he set out to grill the steaks while I got the other stuff ready.

*Doesn't he look HOT? :)*

The dinner was great- the steaks were complimented by none other than Mac and Cheese (Russell's request) and some corn. It was an unusual mix- but a very good dinner!

After dinner we exchanged gifts- Russell is so sweet to me and does such a good job picking me stuff out. Here is what he got me:

He knows that I'm obsessed with jewelry and a girl can never have too much! Here is a close up of the beautiful ring he got me.

I gave Russell a golf discount book that he can use this summer when he goes golfing.

I miss the days of filling out cheesy Valentine cards, making Valentine mailboxes and hurrying to see what the candy heart says that the cute boy in the class gave you :) Even without these things- we still had a great day and I loved being able to spend time with my sweetheart!

About Me

USING ONLY ONE WORD.....
Where is your cell phone? Desk
Your significant other? Amazing
Your hair? Predictable
Your mother? Strong
Your father? patient
Your favorite thing? laughing
Your dream last night? weird!
Your favorite drink? Diet Coke
Your dream/goal? Happiness
What room are you in? office
Your hobby? many
Your fear? spiders
Where do you want to be in 6 years? kids
Where were you last night? bed
Something that you aren't? creative
Muffins? yum
Wish list item? bikini (and look good in it!)
Last thing you did? email
What are you wearing? skirt
Your pets? labs
Friends? Necessity
Your life? Great
Your mood? okay
Missing someone? Russell
Drinking? No
Smoking? No
Your Car? Altima
Something you're not wearing? pants :) (I have a skirt on! haha)
Your favorite store? Just one?
Your favorite color? Pink
When is the last time you cried? Funeral
Who will resend this? Carlye
Where do you go to over and over? work :(
Five people who email me regularly? Krystal, Jill, Marie, Russell, Facebook :)
My favorite place to eat? Gecko's
Favorite place I'd like to be at right now? Beach

This is harder than it looks!!
Yes, it has been awhile since I have posted anything and I hope to get caught up here soon!! Things have been SO crazy the past 3 weeks but seem to be slowing down. So, once I find my camera chords I plan to do some major updating. Here are some posts that are coming soon:
*Valentines Day
*Terrible Twos
*Babysitting Weekend
*Week with the in-laws

Mud Bath

When I got home last night I let the dogs in and they were the normal rowdy selves. I set my stuff down and looked down at the dogs only to see this:

Now if you look closely, you will see that Tar is a light brown color on his chest and his legs- this isn't normal- it's dried mud! This is not the first time he has come in covered in mud but I must say this is the worst I have seen it. Russell and I don't fully understand where he gets all this mud. Sure our grass isn't the greenest but it's not THAT muddy! I am convinced that he sneaks through his kennel and lays on the side of the house under the boat. What surprises me even more though is that while he manages to get covered, Gauge (who by the way is MY dog ha ha) is still totally clean!

*As you can see his tail and hind end are covered as well*

*When I saw him from the side- that's when I knew we had a problem on our hands!*

I decided that both dogs would be staying downstairs until Russell could come home and give Tar a bath. It's quite a chore and I am just not up to the task. I went to just touch his belly to see how far the mud extended and that's when I realized that his belly wasn't dried mud- it was still WET! Which meant that I would have mud all over my tan carpet and my couches. I knew I had no choice. So into the bath we went. It was quite the struggle and in the end I only got half the mud off, I was covered, and Tar managed to get it all over my bathroom- including my pink shower curtain! I had to quit when the tub wouldn't drain anymore-

When Russell got home Tar had bath #2 to get the remaining mud off of him. What a mess!! Next house project- re-wire the kennel to cut off access to the mud!

Death and Destruction

While on our trip to St. George we came across these fun stuffed animals (on clearance of course) for "the boys". We decided they would love to have something to play with so we picked them up for them. We also hoped it would help the car ride home from Camp Barkalot- which is why we pulled them out for the drive home. We named them Ali the Alligator and Leo the Lion. (I have no idea why we named them- but we did!) They really enjoyed playing with them but we soon realized (and from past experience) that they could not be left unattended with them or they would simply tear them apart. Tar is especially good at this. He usually goes first for the eyes and nose and piece by piece pulls the fluff out and sets it to the side. It's actually quite funny to watch. So when we first got them we let them play with them supervised in our room

*Tar with Ali, Gauge with Leo (don't mind the white legs in the background!)*

*Gauge with both of them- they don't always share the best- just like kids!*

One day Russell decided to let the boys play with them downstairs- unattended- and this is what I found when I got home-

Who knew that 2 stuffed animals carried so much fluff! I was worried at first it was a couch cushion or something- thanks goodness it wasn't!

Poor Leo and Ali are now dead and had to be thrown away. Good thing they were cheap! (if you look close you will see that the whole face of the lion was ripped right off- they don't mess around)

*I'm sorry if you think posts about our dogs are lame- but until we have kids- this is it folks! ha ha*

Crafts and Home Projects

If there is one thing I really like to do (besides sleep and shop) - it's craft. Now I don't even begin to pretend that I'm good at it- because I'm not! But I like to attempt and occasionally create something I can actually put out in my house. Carlye and I got together one night after work and worked on these cute HOME blocks from the Wood Connection.

*Carlye doing the modge podge on our letters*

What you do is buy the letters H, M and E and then the O in home you switch out with different wood figures for the season. For example- March = Leprechaun Hat, April = Rabbit

We did not get finished but got a good start. I am really hoping to get my bunny done before Easter comes around! (that is one of my problems- I start things but have a hard time finishing them!)

Russell and I also took a Saturday and finally got some things hung up around the house. We (I) have a hard time sometimes deciding where to put stuff so things don't get put up as fast as they should. Here is what we got done:

My aunt gave this to me 2 Christmases ago! I can't believe I took so long to hang it up cuz it's so dang cute!

This is from Christmas 08- so I'm not as behind on this one

The temple picture I got for my birthday

We also decided to rearrange the furniture in the family room and when we moved the couches this is what we found:

Jackpot!! The boys were in HEAVEN. They couldn't get to them fast enough!

Superbowl Fun

I still need to post about my dad's big birthday this year- but I seem to have misplaced my other camera with all the pictures on it! So we will skip it for now and move on to Superbowl Sunday (the day after the big party).

Superbowl Sunday we went over to my parent's house for soup and bread and to hang out. I am not a huge football fan and if you had asked me before that day who was playing- I'm not sure I could have even told you! Russell isn't really into football either so it just isn't that big of a deal at our house. Russell had to work so I went out alone and hung out for a few hours. Bill got us these awesome 3-D glasses to watch the big Pixar movie trailer- so we had to try them on before hand and model them. (the best part is- when the time came to actually watch the movie trailer- we missed it! At least we look hot!)

*Linsey,Jill, Mom, Carlye*

*Jacob and Carlos*

We enjoyed yummy soup, watched some great commercials, and in the end got really caught up in the game (well most of us) because we really had hopes the Cardinals could win. Around half time some of us escaped to the basement for a game of Settlers of Catan. We are obsessed with this game and play it as often as we can. It is so much fun and can get quite intense! (in face it was banned from my parent's house by my mom for awhile because she thought it was getting a little out of hand! haha)

*getting all set up to play- Carter & Livvy love to play with the pieces*

After the game the kids got to finally watch their show- Thomas the Train.

*Carter and Olivia*

It was a fun night and was nice to hang out with family and just have a good time.

The BIG 3-0

Well it happened- Russell turned 30! It’s hard to believe that we are getting that old- but yes- it’s happening! To celebrate Russell’s birthday I decided to surprise him with a little weekend getaway. With some advice from Carlye and Kirk (thanks guys!) I made reservations at a hotel for 2 nights and then made reservations for a tee time for Russell to play some golf. Russell has been dying to play golf and with nice snow free weather far off in the distance-I thought this would be a good idea. I didn’t say anything to him until the Friday we were leaving. I had worked extra hours during the week so I could take Friday off. That morning we woke up and I gave Russell a little book called Lessons I Learned While Looking for my Ball and told him this was a clue as to what we were doing for his birthday. I then told him he had an hour to get showered and get packed- and that he wanted to make sure and get his golf stuff. We got our stuff pulled together, loaded up the dogs and took off. It was then that I told him our destination (St. George)- it had been SO hard to keep a secret!! We dropped the dogs off at Camp Barkalot and were on our way. It took about 4 hours and we went from 23 degrees in Salt Lake to a nice 60 degrees in St. George. I wore capris and flip-flops in preparation for the nice weather- but was freezing until we got there!

We arrived at our hotel and checked in and were surprised to see we had been upgraded to a nice suite! I had reserved a golf package so Russell got a little golf bag with a mug, some golf tees, mints and some golf balls. Here are some pics of our awesome hotel room. It was so big and new and nice- we loved it!! If you are looking for anywhere to stay in St. George I would highly recommend the Wingate Hotel. Fabulous staff and it’s a newer nice hotel.

*Super comfy bed! This was one of 3 rooms in the suite*

*The sitting room and little kitchenette*

*loved the bathroom!*

*Our awesome hotel*

*Russell's "golf package" *

That night Russell and I went shopping. We checked out a golf shop, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Roberts (got some GREAT deals!) and then glanced at the outlets. I was disappointed at the outlets though. After shopping we then took a VERY scenic route to dinner at the Cracker Barrel. We had never been there and decided to try something different. It was good- different- but good. I can see now why my brother-in-law from the South loves it- grits anyone?

Saturday we woke up early and I drove Russell to the golf course in time for his 9 am tee time. The golf course was named Coral Canyon and it was just outside St. George by a few miles. I dropped Russell off to play and headed back to the hotel to chill and sleep some more! Russell had a good time playing golf with two other guys he was paired up with- but he wished the course had been a little greener! Even though it was in the 60’s the grass was still a little dead from the cold winter. We decided will have to head back another time when the weather is warmer.

*Russell at Coral Canyon*

We had lunch at a cute little Mexican restaurant by our hotel and then spent the afternoon just relaxing and it was nice not to have to do anything. That night we went and saw ‘Marley and Me’ which I loved and totally bawled at! Russell and I just laughed most the movie because we could totally relate to all the terrible things that Marley did! After the movie we got Cold Stone ice cream, and then grabbed a pizza at Hungry Howie's just around the corner from our hotel. Later on we enjoyed a nice dip in the Jacuzzi. It was such a fun little vacation and was super relaxing. We drove home on Sunday and picked up “the boys”, who were super excited to see us- and nice and clean! Thanks Camp Barkalot! Sunday night we opened presents (since Sunday was officially his birthday) and I made him his favorite cake- carrot with cream cheese frosting. All in all we had a good weekend and I think Russell had a good time!

*late night pizza and ice cream- so fun to just do whatever we wanted!*

*Russell's birthday gifts*

So in honor of my sweet husband’s birthday- I was going to list 30 reasons why I absolutely adore him- but I will stick with 10 as not to bore you readers (and it’s not because I couldn’t think of 30! Lol)

1- He is funny and always keeps me laughing
2- He loves me unconditionally
3- He is a good “dog dad”- which I’m sure will translate into a good dad with real kids! lol
4- He is a hard worker and quite the handy man
5- He sacrificed so much for us to be together and he continues to sacrifice for our family
6- He loves to go out and play, but also loves just chillin and not doing a thing
7- He is a fanatic about golf and hunting- its adorable really
8- He loves and honors his parents
9- He honors his priesthood and has such a strong testimony -I admire him so much for being a convert to the church
10- He doesn’t have to keep up with others or outdo others. He is comfortable just being him, which is great- because that’s who I love!

I love you sweetie! Happy Birthday- here’s to 30 more!