Valentine's Day 2011

Valentine's Day was another success! Of course, who doesn't enjoy a day filled with sweets, love, and kisses?

The day started with heart-shaped doughnuts.

Next, the girls were bestowed with gifts of greeting cards and pillow pets.

Lunchtime included heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches with red sprinkles and strawberry milk.

Rick and I had a hot date that night, thanks to our awesome friends the Johnsons. But, for some reason, I didn't feel compelled to photographically document the 45 minutes we spent driving aimlessly looking for a restaurant to eat at. Nor did I think it was necessary to take any snapshots of us visiting our local home depot. Of course, I really should have taken photos of our last stop at the grocery store.

Rick has promised me a Valentine's Day redo. I'm still waiting for him to pay up. Good thing I love him.

Socializing

Most of our activities over our Christmas vacation involved spending time with the girls. But, we did sneak in a few things for just adults.

Cathy took all the sister-in-laws (plus Katie who was deemed old enough) to get pedicures. There is nothing like a little foot pampering.


Rick and I also snuck away one night to be with some of our dearest friends that we met while still newlyweds...

I also went to a girls' night slumber party at Emily's house. I didn't get any photos, so I might have to steal some from some of the ladies!

Dave Matthews Concert

Rick and I decided to treat ourselves to an early Christmas present when he had the opportunity to buy Dave Matthews tickets in the 2nd row. How do you say no to that?

The problem was that it was a school night, a youth night, and we really didn't have a lot of options for babysitters. But, my friend Camille (who was pregnant with twins at the time) offered to watch the girls for us. We didn't know Camille and her husband Eric very well, but now we consider them dear friends and are still trying to repay the debt!

Since we were going to be back so late, the plan was for the girls to go to sleep there and we would come and pick them up later.

Gwen was so excited for her "slumber party" The night before she packed up everything she thought she would need.

Isn't she funny?

We got to the concert a few minutes early. I was giddy with anticipation!

It was well worth the wait. Dave and Tim put on an amazing show (as always). I couldn't get over how close we were. Dave and I made eye contact for a good 20 seconds. He's so in love with me.

The source of our major ticket hook-up...

And after the show...I may be smiling on the outside, but on the inside I was crying because it was over and I will probably never get 2nd row seats again.

Date Night

Rick and I went on our first date night since moving to Colorado. We were invited to a fancy Christmas dinner for Wells Fargo management. I made myself a skirt and a necklace for the occasion.

We had a great time, although we realized that we were a little out of place when we discovered there was mandatory valet parking and our car seemed to be the only one that wasn't a BMW. We were definitely the only ones driving a car with two car seats in the back and cheerios littered all over the floor! It was fun to pretend that we were important for one evening!

Nine Years and Going Strong

Rick and I celebrated our nine year anniverary in October. Nine wonderful years. Boy am I glad I married him.

I am certain that Rick got the short end of the stick in this deal. I feel like he is the giver and I have been mostly been taking. He has given me unconditional love, patience, endless service, security, laughter, and two beautiful daughters. The list really goes on and on.

He could give more backrubs, but nobody is perfect.

We decided to not do gifts this year, but we still both ended up suprising each other with a little something.

I decided to make Rick Red Velvet Cake Balls which is something I've been wanting to try for a while now. It is really hard to suprise Rick, mostly because I'm not very good at keeping secrets, and also because Gwen has a way of ruining suprises for me.

I went to great lengths to keep things top secret. This involved doing my baking while Gwen was in quiet time, doing lots of dishes to destroy the evidence, and hiding the treats in my closet. They turned out great!

Rick showed up from work with nine roses for me to represent the nine years we have been together.

He also had one for Gwen (because her middle name is Rose). She was overjoyed!

We then gave instructions to the best baby sitter in the world, bestowed a kiss upon each girl, and escaped to a nearby restaurant.

We ate our food slowly without stopping to cut up somebody's meat or to wipe up spilled milk. We took time to reflect on the food's taste. We ordered an appetizer just so it would take longer.

We enjoyed over an hour of conversation. Adult conversation. No interruptions unless you count the visits from the server who was practically invisible to us anyway. It was so nice to talk and to laugh and to remember why I fell in love with this man...

Of course, it was also nice to actually be able to taste my food. And to taste Rick's too...

We came home to three girls. Two peacefully sleeping and one happily cuddling with the youngest of the three...

The spell was broken when Fiona woke up and and altered our plans of cuddling on the couch and watching a rented movie. Don't worry- we watched it the next day!