i leave the room for 20 minutes...

dad is in charge...

and this is what i return to.

my valentines

i have two. aren't they handsome boys!?! i love you both so much!

matt surprised me friday with a dozen roses when he came home from work. that was not his only surprise...

he told me to take jake into the guest room for a little bit and then he loaded us up into the truck. we headed off towards neola. we ended up at ty and kim's house (jake LOVES ty, kim and their kiddos). he then told me that he had arranged for them to babysit and he had made a diaper bag. so sweet. i was so excited. off we went for dinner at my favorite...

he then said we had somewhere else to go. next thing i know, we were here...

so i said, "are we staying the night or do they rent by the hour?" hehehe. of course we were staying the night because matt is sweet and thoughtful. he had packed everything we needed, both for us and for jake. that was one of the best parts. anyway, we got checked into to our cute little room with a king sized bed and kitchenette. another surprise...matt had reserved the pool and hot tub for us for after it closed - 11:00. so fun! we had some time, so we went to the movie - valentine's day (how appropriate) and then went back to enjoy our private pool and hot tub. that was awesome! some day we need one of those in our home. we then went back to our cute room and got some rest. the next morning, we went to the vernal temple...

he really did think of everything. it was so wonderful! thank you ty and kim for watching jake. i didn't worry once. thank you, my loving husband! you are so thoughtful. i love you!

how do you follow that??? on sunday, i made fondue and picked a fight. isn't my husband lucky?

celebrations!

dear jake,

hi my baby boy. today is your birthday and i can't believe it. you are growing so fast. you are so independent and busy. every once in a while you wander over to me, squeeze my leg and kiss my knee and then off you go again. it melts my heart. you are mine and i am yours. you have made me into a mother. did you know that has always been my dream...and you fulfilled it. it is more than i ever imagined. even through colic, teething and the occasional stomach flu, i felt blessed because i am your mom. you have changed me. i thank your Heavenly Father each day that He sent you to me and i ask Him to help me be the kind of mom that you need and deserve. thank you for being my boy. you make me smile, you make me laugh, occasionally you make me frustrated, but you always make me a better person. i love you so much!!! happy birthday sunshine!




i took about a thousand pictures of you today. i can't help it, you are so cute. i will enjoy every day and every stage, but i want to never forget the way you are right now.

dinosaur museum

we had a great weekend! we went to salt lake for my cousin cody's wedding. that was beautiful and fun to see and spend time with family. stacy kept jake (thanks sis) and her comment was, "he never stops eating." true so true! he wanders and eats. that is what he does. we stayed at stacy's house friday night. i always love that because we talk and talk and matt watches t.v.
saturday morning, stacy's family headed off for the ski slopes and we headed slowly for home. on the way we did some shopping, had lunch at my favorite - chipotle (surprise, surprise shannon) and we stopped at thanksgiving point to take jake to the dinosaur museum there. he LOVED it! i think he might have wore his neck out, looking up and pointing. he wandered and wandered. when i say wandered, i mean he wandered, but it was at a quick pace, almost a run at times. it was interesting to keep up with him. matt would say, "oh wow. look at that" and i would say, "i can't. i have to catch jake. he's about to climb inside that exhibit." it really was fun watching him explore. i love being a mom so much! tomorrow is his birthday. i can't believe that a year has passed. i love to see him grow, but i want to keep him small. he is so much fun! i am so blessed to have jake and matt in my life!