Date Night with Dad

Every year since I can remember when the NCAA tournament comes to SLC, my dad has bought tickets.  During the early years, he would take Josh to the games.  A few years ago while we were living in NC Josh and Collie went to the games.  This year it was my turn to go to the games.  My dad bought 2 tickets for each of the 3 sessions.  Each session had 2 games.  I thought there might be some issues with who was going to what session and who would go to the games.  But it turns out that everyone was able to go to the right session that fit in their schedule. 

Collie was able to go to the first session on Thursday morning, Josh went to the Thursday afternoon/evening session and I went to the Saturday night session with my dad.  I loved spending the night with my dad.  We had the best time and were able to see a fun game and a not so fun game.  The Harvard (14)/Arizona (6) game was a sleeper - but the Gonzaga (1)/Wichita State (9) game was so exciting!  We were able to watch the number 1 seed lose to the 9 seed.  Everyone we sat by was so nice and we got to know them.  Small world story....the people to the left of us were from Fruita, CO and they knew Ryan and Kirsten.  Come to find out Ryan and that girl were friends in HS.  What are the chances of that?!?!  Anyway, thanks dad for a fun night on the town doing one of our favorite things to do together - watch the March Madness tournament!  Love you!

 

 

Craig Came to Town

Craig came into town over the weekend and it was nice to see him.  He came in town late Thursday night (3.14).  We had to go to work on Friday, while Craig visited a few people.  Ryan got off early and met up with him.  We all met up for dinner at Johnny Caputo's.  Everyone (Craig, Jared and Annie) came over and we walked up to Dolcetti for some gelatto.  Mmmmm!  We watched SkyFall, which was a good show.  Saturday, we went to lunch at Crown Burger.  Craig, Jared, Annie and Ryan went to a movie while me and Nolan came back to the house so Nolan could take a nap.  I went to the Jazz game with Josh and Macy which was a lot of fun!  Sunday, Craig, Jared and Annie came over after church and we chatted before Craig had to hit the road.  It was a busy and fun weekend!

Go Jazz....from the 3rd Row

My parents neighbors gave them some Jazz tickets for Saturday night.  These aren't just any tickets, they are 3rd row tickets.....can we say great seats!  We asked Craig (since he was in town) if he wanted to go, and for some reason he didn't want to go to the game.  So I went with Josh and Macy.  We had such a great time.  We parked in a great spot, Macy was on the jumbo tron, enjoyed Red Mango yogurt, Randy Foye waived at me and Macy and the Jazz won!!  What a fun night!!

written Saturday, March 16, 2013

After All These Years.....

I am so glad that we are still getting together after all these years - these girls were a big part of my life during college and we spent a lot of time together.  We went to dinner at the DoDo in Sugarhouse and chatted the night away.  I'm sad that everyone wasn't able to come for whatever reason, but i'm already looking forward to the next get together.  

written Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sunday Afternoon Drive

Sunday afternoon the weather was beautiful and Ryan was itching to get out so we went for a long drive.  We drove past the Great Salt Lake, Tooele, Stansbury, Ophir, Stockton and a few other small towns.  I loved the time with my boys and am glad we decided to go exploring!  

written Sunday, March 10, 2013

Ghana Celebration

One of Ryan's co-worker's is from Ghana.  We have gotten to know them and think they are the nicest people.  They were having a celebration for Ghana's 56th independence day and we were able to join in the fun!  We had listened to the keynote speaker, tasted food from Ghana and we had to leave before the dancing started.  It was a fun night!

written Saturday, March 9, 2013

All Ball!

Nolan has been all about basketball lately.  He was shooting hoops using our lamp in our front room.  When he started doing that, we knew we would have to buy him a hoop of his own.  Late one Friday night, I went to Toys R' Us and bought him a hoop.  After he woke up Saturday morning, we brought him in the front room where the hoop was all set up and he absolutely loved it!!  He has been shooing hoops everyday since we bought it!

 

Sunrise

On my way to work one day, this sunrise was beautiful! This was heading east on I-80 around 7:45 am. 

written February 28, 2013

First Visit To The Pet Store

Tonight we took Nolan to the pet store for the first time.  He absolutely loved it!  He loved seeing the fish, turtles and all the other animals there.  I loved spending the night with our little family!

 
written February 27, 2013

Living Aquarium

Since I had the day off work on Monday, (thank you President's) I wanted to do something fun with Nolan.  There was still too much snow on the ground to make going to a park any fun, but something indoor with something Nolan loves.  The aquarium came to mind and I brought it up to my mom who also had the day off and we made if official!  We wanted to be there first thing and before Nolan's nap.  We got there early and found a good parking spot and it wasn't crowded at all.  I took our hiking backpack to carry Nolan around in.  He hasn't liked his stroller much, plus if it was crowded it would be a nightmare to push that around and I didn't know if the view for him would be all that good in the stroller.  He isn't to the point where I would let him just walk by me as I know how that story would end and neither of us would have a good time.  From the second we walked in to the time we left, Nolan was silent and just soaking it all in.  He loved seeing all the fish, sharks, penguins, otters, spiders, snakes etc.  He would point to the tanks, touch them and just smile the whole time.  He did freak out when we left the penguin area because he wanted to keep watching them, but other than that he was great!  My mom bought him some sharks from the gift store and he hasn't set them down since!  We went straight to Costco after the aquarium, back to my parents house where Nolan took his nap.  My dad made resgrensgrut (I don't know how to spell it) for dinner and I took some home to Ryan. 

It was a fun day and I loved spending the time with Nolan.  He is changing into a little boy and getting so big.  I keep telling him to stop growing up so quick and stay my little baby! :)  

 written February 20, 2013

{Heart} Day 2013

We started out the day by going to breakfast at the Park restaurant.  I love going to breakfast because there aren't any crowds and it is a fun way to start the day - with my 2 boys!  Ryan surprised me with an iPad Mini, which I totally wasn't expecting.  I was so excited for this fun gift!!!  I gave Ryan a new workout shirt and Nolan a puzzle and a car mat for him to drive his cars on.  

 written February 14, 2013

January Wrap-Up

January was a fun and busy month for us!  I'll start out by mentioning all of the snow we have had this month - I honestly cannot remember when we got this much snow in such a short amount of time.  I know it is January and it is supposed to snow in January but this was crazy!  We had about 6 different huge snowstorms that all left 6 inches or more.  One storm left 15 inches of snow at our house.  On Monday, January 28 I had to shovel the car out, Ryan had to help push the car out, I drove around the block so I could come back to get Nolan and Ryan - couldn't make it up the street so had to walk up to get the boys and deal with the crappy, snow covered roads.  I couldn't make it up Becky's hill to drop Nolan off so I walked with Nolan and a gallon of milk in hand to Becky's.  This was about a 1/2 mile walk....not the greatest start to the morning but you do what you gotta do. 

Nolan asks to have his coat taken off the second we get in the house and immediately wants basketball turned on.  Luckily, there are replays of games on PAC12 network and ESPN all the time right now.  Not sure what we will do when there aren't any basketball games on or on replay.....He loves to sing ABC's, Old McDonald had a farm (chiming in on the E-I-E-I-O part), Once there was a snowman and If you're happy and you know it.  He still runs everywhere and continues to have way too much energy all the time! 

That pretty much sums up January, work, snow and Nolan.  :) 

Sundance 2013

We were finally able to go to a Sundance film last night!  About 4 years ago we tried along with Noah and LaShae to wait in line to attend a film at the Tower theater in the 9th and 9th area - we waited for about an hour and didn't get into the film.  It was fun, but we were not successful.  Ryan was determined this year to get tickets.  The process started a few months ago.  He had to create a log in, make a donation, request that he be able to order tickets and from there an email would be sent to him with a date and time to actually order tickets.  That time came a few weeks ago and we were able to get tickets to the 99% Occupy Wall Street documentary.  Of course we wanted to invite Noah and LaShae to finish our Sundance adventure we started years ago. 

The film started at 6:45 pm at the Broadway theater downtown.  We met up at 6:30 pm and walked into the theater which was already packed, so our seats were on the front row.  A volunteer introduced the film and had the directors/producers come to the front and introduce themselves.  We watched a short film, then our featured film started.  It was a great film and was a true documentary.  We were able to view the events that took place during all the occupy events firsthand and I saw a lot of things that the news definately left out.  After the film ended, the producers/directors were brought back to the front and the audience was able to ask questions to them about the film.  It was a neat experience to have and I hope we can go to another Sundance film.

After the movie, we went to Vinto for dessert/pizza/hot chocolate.  It was a fun night out with the Steele's and we are lucky to have them as friends!

Sledding on MLK Day

Sunday we went to dinner at my parents with the whole family.  This only happens on the 3rd Sunday when Collie and Zach come down from Heber.  Me, Josh, Macy and Ryan go there on basically every other Sunday.  Since Monday was a holiday, I had the idea to have people stay at my parents and go sledding the next day.  My dad had to work and so did Zach but me, Ryan, Nolan, Collie, Easton, and Corbin stayed over.  We watched Brave, and National Parks disc 6 before going to bed. 

My mom got bagels for breakfast and we were off sledding at Murray Park.  We took Nolan sledding in Durango and he liked it ok, but was done after 3 runs.  We took him out in the snow a couple of weeks ago when we had a major storm that left us with 15 inches of snow and he hated that - wouldn't even walk around in it.  I wasn't sure how he would do this time but with his cousins around I thought it might be a little better.  Nolan loved it and wanted to go again, and again, and again!  He went down the hill with everyone that came and towards the end he was even running in the snow.  We joked that he looked like Ralphie from Christmas Story since he couldn't put his arms all the way down.  :) 

We put Nolan down for a nap, left him with my mom, Collie and the boys and headed for Winco for the first time.  We had a coupon if we spent $50 then we saved $10.  Every time I go to the store I spend over $50 so it was a no-brainer.  Winco was ok, nothing to write home about but the prices were good and if we are in the area I'm sure we will stop by again.  It is a little far away to go once a week. 

Collie gave Ryan and my dad a haircut, we had Cafe Rio for dinner and went home.  Ryan gave Nolan a haircut and this time it was a success.  I had the idea to give him a sucker and he loved it.  Ryan was able to cut his hair quickly.  We watched Bachelor and went to bed.  It was the perfect holiday from work - spent with family!

written January 21, 2013

Just Catching Up

Ryan has been busy with work.  This week he has been staying late trying to get stuff caught up and ready for their trip to Rexburg this week.  He was sad to see the Broncos lose on Saturday along with the Utes basketball team. 

I have kept busy with work, spending time with Ryan and playing with Nolan.  My favorite show started again - Bachelor.  I love Sean and can't wait to watch him this season.  I still love being in the nursery at church and can't believe that Nolan is one of the older kids now. 

Nolan is so much fun.  I am loving the stage he is at right now minus the tantrums and whining.  He loves basketball, football, balls, books, running, laughing, playing with other kids.  About a week and a half ago we took Nolan out in the snow and he just stood there - didn't move at all and wanted to go inside!  We are working on saying colors right now and learning more words.  He loves to sing the wheels on the bus, popcorn popping, twinkle twinkle little star, ring around the rosey, if you're happy and you know it, days of the week (song I made up) and the itsy bitsy spider.  He will bring things to you that he wants to play with and points to things that he wants.  Basically he loves our attention and being in the same room as us.  He makes us so happy and his sleep this last week has been good - 3 of the last 5 nights he has slept through the night....fingers crossed! 

Last Thursday we had a huge snowstorm hit Utah - the avenues got a whopping 15 inches of snow in less than 24 hours.  The drive home from work on Thursday took 2 hours and I didn't go faster than 20 mph the entire way home.  I was so glad to make it home safe and that Nolan was good in the car for the ride home.  I haven't seen the roads that bad in a long time.  I didn't go into work the next day, I stayed home with Nolan who was coming down with a little cough/cold.  We didn't go out the whole weekend, except for walking to church on Sunday.  I paid a college student to shovel out our car that was buried from the snowplow.  It was a fun weekend with the family and for Sunday dinner we stayed home and had our excellent chili. 

Ringing in 2013!

2013 didn't start out with a bang or huge party for us - we went to bed at 10:30 pm and slept right through the night.  We were up late the night before watching a movie with Collie at her house, went to the Sander's house for brunch and ran a few errands the rest of the day.  Nolan didn't have a good nap that day so he was exhausted and went to bed early.  Pretty low key and that is the way I like it!  I hope 2013 is a great year for our family!  I can't wait to see what is in store!!

Getting Away from the Inversion

Ryan has been wanting to go snowshoeing for a few weeks now and Saturday (1.5.13) was the day we made it happen.  Jared came over to watch Nolan - Thanks Jared!  We rented snowshoes from Wasatch Touring on 7th East and headed up Emigration Canyon.  We weren't sure where to go so we went to the top, parked the car and set out on our journey.  I haven't been snowshoeing in years and it was a lot of fun.  I loved being out with Ryan and enjoying the fresh air.  Looking back into the valley was really disgusting with the inversion going on right now.  We trekked through the powder, took a lot of pictures and had fun!  I can't wait for the time when Nolan can come with us! 


 







written Saturday, January 5, 2013