Valentine's Day

This year, Paul and I decided to go out for Valentine's Day a day early and avoid some of the crazy crowds. We decided to spend Saturday with the kids doing family things. We started the day off bright and early (way too early for me!) with Tyler's final Junior Jazz basketball game at 8 a.m. (Who schedules games at 8 a.m. on a Saturday?!) Anyway, it was a great game. Tyler has learned so much this season and improved a ton! In fact, the other day he was outside playing with Justin, and Justin came in all winded and going on and on about how much Tyler had improved and how he was out there telling Justin and Jordan all the rules they were breaking. It was pretty funny! Tyler had a great coach! There were a few kids on his team that he knew from school, so that made it fun. They played 8 games and only lost 2--I think it was their first two games. After that they were on fire, often hitting the mercy rule of 20 points more than the other team when the scorekeepers just flip the white cards over the scores. For once, I had a kid on the team you always hate to play against! It was pretty fun! He still has a lot to learn, and we definitely have to work on his running skills, but overall, it was a great experience for him.

For the next part of our family Valentine's Day activities, we took the boys to see the Draper Temple and go through the open house. It was pretty cold and snowy. We couldn't stand outside very long to get a clear picture or admire the beauty of the outside of the temple, but what a great experience to take our kids inside the temple and experience all the beauty inside and the quiet, peaceful spirit that resides there! I loved the opportunity to show them what going to the temple looks like, and more importantly, what it feels like. It was also another good opportunity to explain to them that what happens in the temple is not secret, but very sacred to us and encourage them when they are old enough to be able to go and experience it for themselves.

We ended our day with a family pizza and movie night. Good food, good show, good times!

A little exercise...

Off track in the winter is always hard! The kids can't really go outside to play for any length of time, so inside all they want to do is watch tv, play video games, tear up the house, or wrestle and fight! So yesterday I decided it was time to get out of the house for some good old fashioned exercise for the kids and their friends and several hours of hanging out and chatting with my girlfriends! We headed to Jumpin' Jacks. It's a huge warehouse full of bounce house type things with slides and obstacle course blow ups as well. Lots of fun! The best part was the kids had a nice change of scenery, played with good friends, got some exercise, and except for the unavoidable interruptions of "Can I have a dollar fifty?" "I'm thirsty!" "Eric got hurt!" "I'm hungry!", I had 3 1/2 hours of sitting and chatting with my friends. All in all, it was a good "field trip!" Thanks Amanda and Kim for keeping me company and providing playmates for my kids!

Proof children really do listen in church!

Yesterday in stake conference, a member of the stake presidency was reading off all of the names of the general authorities of the church for our sustaining vote. When he read off the name L. Tom Perry, Eric turned to Paul's sister and said, "L. Tom Perry?!!! That's like Tom and Jerry!!" (Which happens to be his current favorite cartoon of choice!) Cracked us all up! Living proof 4 year olds can rhyme AND listen in church!