Bronson

Bronson is such a funny boy.  I wish I was better at documenting his cute and funny moments because I'm afraid I'll forget them as he grows.  Here are a few things that make me laugh:

He's still not very vocal.  I know what he's saying most of the time because I speak Bronson-ese, but no one else does.  Still, he has no problem expressing himself most of the time.  He lets us ALL know what he wants and how he's feeling without question.

He loves to sit next to me or his dad.  Whether he's watching TV or sitting at the dinner table or playing with his toys on the floor, he pats the seat next to him and motions for us to sit.  Once we're sitting, he just grins at us, and goes back to whatever he was doing.

He can officially reach the Band-Aids.  Whenever he gets hurt (which is several times per day, by the way), he runs off and gets a band-Aid for his "owie."  I find Band-Aids on the outside of his socks, in his hair, and on his toys all the time.  I guess his toys are a little clumsy too.

He has a bit of a swagger.  Sometimes, he purposely swings his body from side to side while he walks, but other times, he just saunters around.  Both are adorable.  Whenever he gets brought into the Relief Society room for me to change his diaper, he walks right in like he owns the place.  There is usually an audible sigh as all the women coo over his cuteness.

I've been growing his hair out for a while in hopes that it will finally lay flat.  I think it's really cute, but sometimes he wakes up with the CRAZIEST bed hair!  He looks a little bit like Wolverine in this picture.

Valentines Day

Goodness!  How time flies!  I'd better write something about our Valentines Day before I forget what happened.

We always start our V-Day with a little gift for each child from Mom and Dad.  This year, David did the shopping.  When the kids came out for breakfast, they found a small toy, a little candy, and a balloon waiting for each of them.  I love seeing our little Valentines get so excited.

While the girls were at school, the boys and I ran a few errands.  Then I performed the ultimate act of love - I put together the Zhu Zhu pet city.  Do you know what Zhu Zhu pets are?  They're little robotic gerbils that squeal and zip around their little houses.  Each gerbil has its own personality.  You can buy houses for them one-piece-at-a-time. Well, between the many MANY sets we've bought throughout the years and the ones we inherited from some cousins that out-grew theirs, we have a LOT of Zhu Zhu stuff. The problem is, putting together the town is so complicated and time consuming and messy that it takes an adult - preferably one with an advanced degree and six to ten years of construction experience - to put it together.  Seriously - not  a fan!  But I did it for Valentines Day.  Bronson loved it, but Josh lost interest LONG before I was finished setting up the stupid thing!  Of course we left it up for the girls to play with when they came home from school.  That's the joy of having a basement with a big play room!

Valentines Day is so much fun when you're in elementary school!  The girls had a bast!  Parties, treats, letters to and from friends, treats, luuuuuvvv, treats...all the good stuff! They were in very high spirits when they come home.  I was in high spirits too, because I was going on a date with my Valentine that night and I couldn't wait!  The kids got to spend the night with a babysitter and eat a heart-shaped pizza - they were THRILLED!!!

They look thrilled, don't they?
 

 

 

Dave and I gave each other very small token presents for Valentines Day.  My heart lies more in doing things together (and, let's be honest - FOOD!!!)  So for our big Valentines splurge, we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Ogden - The Union Grill. We hadn't been there since before we were married.  It was one of the best nights we've had in a long time!  First of all, it was fun for me to get all dressed up and wear nice make up, etc.  Then, we got to eat at a restaurant that didn't have a playland or kids meals anywhere to be seen.  It was so nice to sit and talk to David without any interruptions.  That rarely happens.   We saw my brother, Scott and his wife at the restaurant - they were just finishing their meal when we arrived.  That was so fun!  And our waitress turned out to be an old friend of both David and I - Leann Dixon (that's her maiden name, I don't know her married name).  We had a great time catching up with her. 

 

Just to be out on a nice quiet date with David was enough to make my Valentines Day a success, but it gets even better.  I haven't told you about the food yet!  We got one of their specials - the dinner for two.  It came with soup or salad, fresh foccaccia bread, a bacon wrapped fillet Mignon, three large coconut shrimp, sauteed zucchini and carrots with grated Parmesan cheese and butter, and mashed potatoes.  Wow!  I can not adequately describe the joy both of us experienced with every bite!  We are talking about two HUGE food lovers who had been on a diet for six weeks.  Just to eat mashed potatoes that were clearly made with butter and cream was a treat!  We were in heaven!  Then, just when you thought it couldn't get any better...as part of the dinner for two, we could choose any dessert from the menu to share.  We went with the chocolate mousse cake.  It was roughly the size of Rhode Island with several layers of dark chocolate cake and mousse, topped with chocolate syrup and a little dollop of cream cheese icing.  It was amazing!  But it defeated me.  I had to bow out pretty early on that sucker!  Dave held out a little longer than I did, but even he couldn't pollish off the plate.  (I have to admit, we weren't even home yet - still in the car - when I started wishing I could go back for another bite.)  Regrettably, I don't have any pictures of the meal.  It truly was a thing of beauty. 

 

On our way home, David and I stopped at Grandma Church's house with a small Valentine.  She was surprised to see us.  She said she'd had a wonderful, special day.  I was happy to hear that.  She'd been to the temple with my mom, lots of people came to visit her, and she miraculously found Grandpa's ring, which she had been looking for for a long time.  I'm so glad she had a good Valentines Day.  Visiting her was a perfect ending to a great Valentines Day of my own.