Valentine's Day

These two boys had fun picking out what to do for their valentines this year.  Asher went with a sports theme, while Beck wanted a planet one (he's been learning about the solar system at preschool).  We all had fun making them, and the boys came home with tons of treats, hearts, candy, notes, toys and smiles.  All in all a fun day of l'amour! Corey treated me to a beautiful bouquet of flowers (shame on him...we did a night away instead of gifts this year!), which were beautiful and smelled as good.

 

Last year we started something with Aaron and Meagan where we switch off taking each other's kids for a night out for Valentine's Day.  This year we went to Santa Fe for a night at our favorite Bed and Breakfast, Las Palomas.  We actually stayed at this place one Valentine's Day before we had kids!  They have adorable southwestern Casitas with fireplaces, saltillo tile, kitchens, bathrobes, etc.  So cute and romantic. For Dinner, we found a quaint little restaurant off the plaza that was recommended to us by the man who checked us in. To top it off, Cor had reservations for us at 10,000 Waves a fab little Japanese Spa tucked away in the hills above Santa Fe, where we had our own Japanese soaking tubs, sauna, etc.  It was relaxing, decadent, romantic and wonderful!  We did a little perusing around the plaza too, but mostly just cozied up in our casita and enjoyed the time away.  Wonderful night and wonderful husband for getting it all together!

 These last two pictures are a couple I thought were fun from a little storm we had in early February.  We get snow so seldom that a dusting of snow makes for a morning of wonder and awe.  The boys just stared out my bedroom window at the winter wonderland before them...then Beck and I made a snow bear that morning (Ash had school, boo).  We had to take a picture quick because Dion wanted to scarf for himself!

Beckett's Ninja Turtle Bash

  Five whole years have gone by since this little guy came into our lives (2 months early!), and he's kept us on our toes ever since.  His spunk, sweetness, and passion for life are all the things we love about our B.  He's wanted a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Party for months now, so we pulled one together and it really was a good time...and he had fun, which is all that matters really!

For his preschool birthday celebration, he wanted Ninja Turtle cupcakes, so I did my best to deliver.  After what I thought would be a little work and ended up being a little more, I finished them up:)  The next day, wouldn't you know it, Beck ate his cupcake and left the super cute, labor intensive part on his plate.  "I don't like that frosting!" Bah!  So, I may need to find ways to use good ole, Beckett approved buttercream frosting in a better way.  Ah, well.  Most of the other kids liked it just fine. Funny kid.

For his friend party, Beck invited all of his best buddies and cousins and we played games like the Mutant Slime Relay, Pin the Mask on Leo (Beck's fave TMNT), the Stack the Sewer Lids (aka Oreo) contest, and a Pinata.  Beckett reeaaaallly wanted a pinata, and was the one reason we had a party at home instead of at Chuck E. Cheese like his brother did this year.  I told him if we did it there, I wasn't doing a pinata, and that was the deal breaker for him.  There had to be a pinata!!

We had the kids make their own pizzas, which was, I think one of the best parts.  The kids loved eating pizzas of their very own creation. Corey and I even wore green in support of our favorite mean, green turtles;) The cake was a big Leonardo, which, if you look closely, is only partly fondant and was easily peeled off the top to reveal plain old buttercream frosting, in honor of Beckett's new frosting preferences.

I was so glad he had a good time at the party, especially since he wasn't feeling well on his actual birth date.  What a great day for a really amazing, smart and funny little boy.  We sure do love you buddy, even though we wished you'd stop growing so fast. 

Pinewood Derby, Baby!

Oh boy, oh boy.  The good old Pinewood Derby.  This was an event we knew would come once Asher was a Cub Scout, but I can't say it was one we were super excited about tackling.  Everybody knows that an 8 year old isn't going to do his own car all by himself.  That's just not what happens because who is going to hand their boy a saw and some drills and tell them, "Good luck, buddy!"  Nope, that's just not how it's done.  SO, we had a great book to give us a good jumping off place, I helped mark up the little block of wood, and Corey was off to cut it.  Things went okay, but not exactly as planned.  Still, it seemed like it might work out.

The day of the race (of course), Asher had it all painted up in his very own design (all by himself, yay!) and Corey added some weights to it that he had carefully hand picked himself.  All looked to be fine and dandy, but the car was just not moving like it should when we gave it a trial run. 

Corey (a little desparately) called up our friend Danny, who is a passionate scouter and an experienced pinewood derby-er.  In a very short time, Corey went to his house and came back with what looked like the same car, but when it rolled along it was apparent that there had been some definite changes made.  Good changes.  Changes that helped Asher to end up with a winning car. 

 

At the actual event, Asher excitedly ran his car in race after race, and won nearly every time.  I believe there was one other car that was faster, but it belonged to one of the Webelos, so Asher's was still a winner amongst his age group and beyond.  He was ecstatic!  It was a huge relief to Corey too, because he was feeling really bad about what was going on before the Danny modifications.  Other dads congratulated Corey (and Ash) on such a huge success his first time out...he came out looking like a champ too!  But, we were sure to give credit where it was due.

Beck had a car too, which he was really proud of, but thankfully didn't need to be in any official races. He had fun running his after the regular races and can't wait to do it for real.

This first year was a big success, but we were definitely sponsored by some kind service from a very nice friend.  We've all vowed to start earlier and do better next year!  The kids loved this event!

Gilbert Temple Open House

When we heard that tickets were available for the Gilbert Temple Open House, Corey was on it, and went online the day they were available.  Once we had the tickets, we planned our little road trip.   The spring-y weather was a welcome change compared with the still wintery weather we left behind in NM!

Beckett's 5th birthday happened during our trip, so we let him open up a bigger present (a Ziggle bike) before we left. He was excited!  

On our first day there, we hiked A Mountain.  I'd never done it before, and Corey only had memories of running up the crazy steep hill when he did track in high school, yikes! It was a nice, quick hike, and the kids did great. Mostly.  At least until Beckett said he needed to go to the bathroom' really bad' just about the time we reached the top.  Corey and Beck went down ahead of us to try to get him to a bathroom quick while Asher sidled along the steep mountain to the 'A'. On our way back down, we came across a distraught looking Corey and a Beckett who was still awkwardly squatting to the side of the trail doing his best to avoid all the cacti. Uh-oh.  Corey was horrified.  Apparently, Beck just couldn't make it in time, and it wasn't just a quick pee behind a bush situation.  Oh, and there were no trees to speak of nearby, so there were no leaves to use for an emergency clean up.  No worry though, Corey had gotten creative with a 3x5 card with a little water poured over it to soften it up.  I was laughing SO hard.  Usually I am the one faced with all the awkward and weird scenarios, so this was just funny to come across after the fact.  The cherry on top was the posted sign at the bottom of the hill with some plastic bags for 'doggie' clean up.  The guilt nagged at Cor, so back he went with his little piece of plastic bag to remove the evidence of Beck's emergency.  I was laughing so hard, I had to get a picture of Corey delivering the package to a nice, neat garbage can nearby.  I'm not sure I would have gone back up.  Ugh, how bad is that?

The boys love miniature golf, so on one of the days we went to Golf Land, also one of Corey's old haunts as a high schooler.   It was one of the best mini golf courses I've seen...everything was working, and well maintained.  Things were all fine and dandy until Asher's ball went in a little river.  He crouched down and leaned over to grab it, but lost his balance and went head first into the water!  This picture is the after shot.  It was pretty funny:)

The morning of our tour was beautiful, as was the amazing temple.  Seriously, what a gorgeous building!  The kids really enjoyed it too, despite the line we had to wait in outside.  Once we were inside, it was all worth it though.  First we went into a church building on the temple site to watch a movie about temples, which was awesome.  Next was the Temple, and it was so amazing...the boys' favorite (and maybe mine) was the baptismal font, but the most awe inspiring site for our boys were the HUGE and sparkling chandeliers.  Beck, who is inclined to love anything gold or sparkly was amazed.  There was a nice spirit about the place and the Temple just felt special.  I know the boys could feel it too, and they really enjoyed the tour and being able to go inside.  I hope they remember the day and the feelings they had. Corey's parents were able to meet up with us for the temple tour, which was a fun bonus, and the boys were also excited about. Oddly enough, we even bumped into several families we know from NM while waiting in line.  Small world! After the Temple, we all headed over for some yumminess at Nelson's Frozen Custard (a place we never miss on our AZ trips). It was delish.

 We spent the afternoon of Beckett's birthday at Freestone Park with Corey's parents - a place we had visited a few years back, but Beck was just a baby in arms, so this time both boys were able to get in on the fun.  They played hard and rode all of the little old rides a bunch, but especially liked the little train.
Sadly, that night, poor Beck wasn't feeling well at all, and spent his birthday feeling sick.  All of us went to the Old Spaghetti Factory to celebrate, but he really didn't eat a thing, poor kid.  I was glad that he had at least had a fun day.  Happy Birthday to our littlest man!

 

Aside from Beckett feeling sick, the trip was so much fun, and I can't wait to visit again soon.  The Gilbert Temple Open House was a great first chance for our boys to to inside a temple, and I am so thankful we were able to go.