Our Anniversary

Saturday of Screen Free Week, Jeremy and I celebrated our anniversary. This year marked the point where I've been married to my husband longer than I have not. I love being married to him.

On May 9, National Babysitter's Day, we started out early- Jeremy made us omelettes beforehand- and started our drive to go birding up Nebo Loop. As we were driving up, having a really heartfelt conversation and crying a lot (this guy is my favorite), we found out the road was closed past a certain point. 

O.K. Plan B. We turned around, drove all the way back down, and headed to Powell Lake in Lehi, listening to music and singing along as we went.

We weren't sure we'd have time to go to Powell Lake that day so this change worked out. It was great- plenty of birds to see. I loved seeing the pelicans in the water and Forster's Terns flying around. 

Lots of birds.

We made a quick stop at Costco after that- we needed Hawaiian sweet rolls for our anniversary dinner with the kids.

Then since our original picnic spot was not available (up Nebo Loop), we went out to Provo Canyon and picnicked at Vivian Park and watched swallows fly around (and a kestrel chase them at one point).

More heartfelt talking and crying as we drove. We ended up at the Heber Fields and saw lots more birds.

It was a long day already so when we got home we took a nap then got up to finish making dinner. We were smart and made some things the day before and Jeremy cut up my pineapple before we left that morning.

We had our traditional anniversary dinner with the kids and Jeremy had his yearly one piece of pineapple.

Jet was very interested in getting pictures of Jeremy's reaction to eating the pineapple.

I've told people before and I'll continue to say it: My husband hates pineapple. He hates the taste and smell of it. Yet every year for our anniversary dinner, he cuts up a pineapple for me because I love pineapple. That is true love.  

Have I mentioned I love my husband? I'm happy to spend forever with him.

My Husband is So Nice (and So Am I)

January 27 National Chocolate Cake Day. I didn't make chocolate cake that day but I made some recently. Mmmm. Thinking about it, now I want to make chocolate cake again.

 

January 28 was National Blueberry Pancake Day and even though my husband had a cold, he still made blueberry (and plain and chocolate chip) pancakes, omelettes, and hashbrowns.

 

January 29 was National Corn Chip Day and I made chicken soup (you know, for colds) and we put Fritos in our bowls of soup. Actually, it was turkey meat in the chicken broth with veggies and some pasta so it was turkey soup?

 

January 30 was National Croissant Day. We didn't have any croissants so we just had Asian Chicken Salad Sandwiches (from A Season of Family Meal Plans, volume 1) on rolls. Still yumm even without the croissants. 

 

Bonding Time is Great!

I'm thankful for bonding time with my husband. Things have been so busy with trips and with life that we haven't been able to take much time for just the two of us. So one day my husband made us omelettes, I made us hot chocolate, and we sat down and watched a whole movie together.

I'm thankful for working and chatting in the kitchen together, too. 

There were olives in the fridge and I asked if we should have them in our omelettes. Jeremy said we should. "How many?" I asked. "All of 'em," he replied. So he put "half of 'M'" in my omellete and "the rest of 'M'" in his. He's adorable. 

It was International Men's Day that day on November 19. It was also Have a Bad Day Day. Jeremy, my man, did not have a bad day that day. It's like when I don't feel like screaming on International Moment of Frustration Scream Day. Heh Heh.

 

The next day, November 20 was Universal Children's Day and Absurdity Day. I took my child, Nichole, to a Relief Society dinner with me. I did not get any pictures at the activity. Can you believe it? How absurd.

Road Trip!

Road Trip!

May 30-June1, Jr. Jr., Jet, and I made a quick weekend trip with my sister and her family to California because...

MY LITTLE (younger) BROTHER GOT MARRIED!!!!!!

It was such a quick trip, traveling from Utah on Friday, wedding stuff on Saturday, traveling back to Utah on Sunday. The only day we didn't spend any time in Utah was May 31 which is National Utah Day. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

We met my parents and two of my brothers who traveled from Oregon and we all stayed in a house together for the weekend. 

Jr. Jr. and Jet both got to visit Nevada for the first time since we drove through there and stopped for lunch. 

We brought Jet's pteranodon wings for the trip and he loved wearing them both in the van and flapping around at the house we stayed in.

I got to meet my brother's fiance/wife for the first time and see that my brother is so in love. I am so happy for them. 

 

Saturday was a wonderful day. Jet was so well behaved in the waiting room at the temple with Jr. Jr. and his cousins while I went to the sealing. Jr. Jr. told me Jet didn't say anything while I was gone and when I got back he was quiet and whispered requests. I wonder if he could feel the Spirit there. It was beautiful. Outside for pictures, he also did well. No running off, he followed instructions from the wedding photographer. I am so proud of him.

I'm also proud of my brother for making such a good choice.

It was nice spending time with my brothers. Paco got to meet Jet for the first time. Jet has seen "Paco videos" at home but they hadn't met yet.

The reception was so nice, too. Jet again didn't run off but stayed by me. They had pizza so Jet got several slices as well as other foods.  

There was dancing. There was juggling. Of course there was juggling. It's our family. I love that I have a new sister-in-law who juggles with her juggling husband.

Some of my cousins came from Utah and Wyoming for the reception. That was great. 

It was a beautiful day. And getting married on National Smile Day is a pretty awesome thing. 

  

On Sunday, I said goodbye to Jr. Jr. because he traveled back to Oregon with my parents and my brother. It was his turn for the grandparents trip like Nichole and Jr. both did in previous years. He had a great time and my parents loved the time with him. 

Since we were traveling with my sister and her family, I had nieces and nephews part of the time in my van and my sister actually sat with me the last leg of the trip on Friday. It's a great time for chatting when you're traveling all day.

On the way back to Utah, we stopped briefly to get pictures with Donner Lake (after making all the jokes about not stopping while going over Donner Pass... just in case).  

Once again we stopped in Nevada for lunch. 

 

When Jet and I got home, Jeremy surprised me with an omelette bar. I got to choose the insides I wanted and he made me an omelette. My sweet husband. I love omelettes... and I love my husband.

It was a quick but very nice trip and I'm so glad we went to support my brother and sister-in-law and had quality family time.

Happy Anniversary... Months Later

We weren't able to do something extra special on or near our anniversary this year (though having our traditional anniversary dinner with our children is always special) so one day in August, Jeremy surprised me with our anniversary celebration. He took care of all the arrangements with the kids and did a good job making it a surprise. I had no idea.

He gently woke me up early that morning, had my clothes picked out for me to wear (it was a date, so of course he had my Jurassic Park shirt ready). He made me an omelette. I love his omelettes. 

Then he drove us up Nebo Loop to one of our favorite birding spots up there.

We enjoyed a relaxing time there and I got my target life bird- red crossbill. There were four or five of those. Yippee! 

We also had some nice closeups of other birds and critters.

There was a red breasted nuthatch that kept landing on branches right above our heads. Right above us. That was wonderful.

After we had a few hours of birding in that spot, we went up to Devil's Kitchen to picnic and enjoy the view. Jeremy surprised me again with our picnic food. Winco salads (it's our traditional date food, like my Jurassic Park shirt is my date shirt) and sodas in plastic goblets like we used for our anniversary picnic last year.

After Devil's Kitchen we headed to the Orem Library to do some writing/blogging. Sweet Jeremy, kept nodding off (he got up really early to make me that omelette) so we finally headed out to eat at Cafe Rio. Yumm.

Then we went home to take a nap because we were both exhausted. 

We woke up later and gathered the children to go out for a late night meteor shower. They didn't take a nap so were all tired while we were out there.

That was a great way to end a wonderful anniversary celebration. Thank you, Jeremy, for the sweet memories and for being the best husband I could ask for.