Valentine Date

Thanks, Kyle, for taking me on a be-lated Valetine's date. Thanks to Linda and Curtis for watching Jason on Saturday so we could go.
Kyle took me to Jonny Carino's. We went there for my birthday while we were dating, but we hadn't been back since. It was definitely time to go again. After dinner, he took me to BYU's folk dance concert in Salt Lake. It was totally awesome. I am all jazzed up to brush off my Irish dancing skills again. We'll see if I can teach Jason a few moves.

It was a Dark and Stormy Night

Our power was out for a little over an hour tonight. Luckily, dinner was out of the oven, so we ate a nice, warm meal by more candle light than on Valentine's Day. We are thankful Kyle had to go on the Klondike camp-out because he put new batteries in our dead head-lamps before camping. Hence, we were prepared for the power outage.

Having the power go out occasionally is a wonderful thing, I've decided. It gives you an extra kick-in-the-rear to improve your emergency essentials; I need to work on our water supply. It also gives you an opportunity to focus on doing stuff as a family, rather than watching TV or playing on the computer. We had so much fun practicing Jason's nursery songs over and over, including "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "Once There was a Snowman," "Ring Around the Rosies," "London Bridge," "Sunbeam," etc. Jason was in heaven playing with his parents, singing all those fun songs, and practicing his candle-blowing skills yet again. Good times.

Love is Fire Trucks and Blowing out Candles

Love on Valentine's Day came in many different forms this year.

For Jason, love was:

• receiving M&Ms and his first fire truck from Grandma Linda
• receiving his own play-dough from Grandma Diane
• playing at the park with cousin Shelby
  
• practicing photography skills with mom's help

• hanging out with mom all day
• seeing dad in the middle of the day for a yummy lunch at Arby's
  
• helping mom with laundry

• visiting his friend Elena
  
• blowing out a candle over and over (I attempted to set a romantic atmosphere for dinner with the candle, but Jason quickly put an end to that. As soon as he saw the candle, he ran over and said "cake!" and "happy". Thanks, Kyle, for helping him practice his blowing skills)

• having mom and dad home all evening (instead of a babysitter)

For me and Kyle, love was:

• working (thanks for supporting us, Kyle)
• staying home all day with Jason
  
• meeting up for lunch
• eating lots of yummy treats
• exchanging presents (ski mask, muffin tin, cheese grater)
  
• cooking a delicious steak dinner together
• hanging out as a family
• relaxing with just the two of us after Jason went to bed

I love my family! Valentine's Day is so much better when you don't have to wonder if you'll have a special Valentine, but rather how you'll show your love to your special Valentine(s).

Klondike Derby

This past weekend, February 11 & 12, I went on the Klondike Derby with the scouts in my ward. I survived the night without much sleep. I had to decide whether to leave my face out of the sleeping bag and freeze, or keep my head in the bag with limited air. So it was a night of falling asleep with my head in the bag then waking up to get some air - falling asleep with my face out of the bag and waking up to move back in the bag for warmth. Next time I will be much more prepared as my valentine got me a face mask for the cold. I also forgot my earplugs, so I had a hard time falling asleep to the singing of the scouts next to our camp.

Even though I didn't sleep well, I did have a great time. Friday night we played capture the flag with all the scouts. We spent Saturday watching the scouts participate in the various activities provided by the camp, which included a sled race, orienteering, fire building, and knot tieing. Overall it was a good experience, but I'm glad it only happens once a year.

Stomach Bug + Weekend = Tender Mercy

Poor Jason can't go a day without catching a new virus. We've had fever after cold after fever after cold, etc. I'm trying to be a good mom and resist the urge to use hand sanitizer constantly because I have faith that this will build him a good immune system for later in life.

He's had a yucky cough lately, and this weekend, he got a stomach bug on top of it. I am very grateful that he had the bug on the weekend because Kyle was around to help-- one of God's tender mercies to me. I don't know how I would have cleaned up vomit and consoled Jason at the same time, and overall dealt with the stress on my own. I tried to do it on my own at first because Kyle was at church, but whenever I sat Jason down so I could clean up, he came walking back to me, screaming to get back in my arms, regardless of the mess he was walking through. So Kyle left church early and we weathered the storm together. Thanks for your help, love! You kept me sane.

Another tender mercy: Kyle and I haven't caught the bug yet! Hopefully we will escape it.