Heartbreaking

My cousin in law's 18-year-old daughter passed away last week.  A clot traveled from her leg up to her lungs, cutting off the oxygen to her brain.  We went to her funeral yesterday.  My heart is breaking for her family.
 

Date Night

So, whenever the stars align, Jared and I go out on a date.  Last week we had a church thing on Saturday evening, so we went out for dinner afterwards:

Those shakes were awesome.  

I finished the knitting project you can see on the table- it's a hat:

And I'm trying to decide if the snow we had two days ago is a sign that I should not be planning my garden.  Actually, I think I'll ignore all the signs of continuing winter, and plan away.  I am really looking forward to fresh peas from our garden. :)

Speaking of gardens, this is what our starts look like now:

We had to scrap the science fair project because EVERYTHING grew.  And while that is awesome news for our gardening, it meant we had no results for the science fair.  Hyrum ended up testing a bunch of fruit to see which ones (besides the lemons) would be able to power a light.  

Jared spent most of last week in the basement, working on a project.  He's pretty happy with the results, and I'm pretty happy that he's finished with them, and able to come upstairs for more than bathroom breaks.

Tomorrow the kids have no school.  That should be interesting...

Supervising

Apparently, bread-making requires supervision.  H is providing this service for his dad.  Notice he has dressed up in honor of this: baseball cap, guitar (instead of a shovel), and a pillow in his shirt to make a cute little potbelly.

Oh, and the bread came out very well, thanks!

Shopping

So yesterday Jared went shopping ... for stuff.  Work-related stuff, which is always interesting because of its randomness.
When he got home, he unloaded the car and brought everything into the house.  No idea what was inside all the packages, but here is what paraded past me on the way from the garage to the basement:
* 3 square white boxes
* 1 cooler and a plastic shopping bag full of things
* a full suitcase
* 2 more coolers plus 2 full plastic shopping bags.
* 2 empty suitcases and an empty cooler.

I'm thinking about evacuating going away for the weekend.

Weekend getaway

First of all, big thanks go to my SIL and her husband: Melinda & Jon.  THANK YOU for keeping my kids from lighting anything on fire, or selling each other on ebay.  I am sure they were exciting to watch, and I thank you for returning them in pretty much the same shape in which they came to you.  That is not easy to achieve, and I appreciate it!

Secondly, Jared and I were lucky enough to spend the entire weekend (Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon) at a marriage seminar put on by the National Guard in Salt Lake City.  This is the only picture I have to document this weekend (sorry), because I was too busy enjoying my one-on-one time with my honey.

But, if you're interested, here's a brief recap of the weekend:
* I ate sushi for the first time.  Yes, that means I ate raw fish.  Mostly it was delicious.  Ooooh, and our personal sushi chef made us a dessert roll which was aMAZEing.  mmmmmmmmmm.
* We laughed a LOT in the marriage seminar.  It was a recorded event, so we weren't able to meet Mark Gungor in person.  He was excellent at using humour to teach important things, and I laughed so hard my face is still sore.
* Jared has a "nothing" box.  So when he's sitting there, and I ask him, "What are you thinking?" and he answers "Nothing," he is telling the truth.  :)
* I remember details because they are emotionally important to me.
* Jared and I both value peace a LOT, which explains both why we get along so well (we can understand each other because we speak the same "peace" language), and why we rarely fight (same priorities).
* Jared also values control, which is why he gets to drive whenever we're in the car together.  unless he's headed to the ER with a kidneystone, then I get to drive.
* I also value perfection, which is why I'm the one who organizes the linen closet, and supervises the kids' packing list whenever we travel.
* the Italian food we had for dinner Friday night was pretty good.  I do not, however, like tiramisu, probably because I don't care for the coffee flavor at all.
* the Chinese food we had for lunch on Sunday was not really Chinese.  It was a bad American interpretation of Chinese food.  And no fortune cookies :(
* I do not miss cable TV as much as I thought I did.  Amish Mafia, really?!?  I did like Duck Dynasty, but not enough to pay for cable.
* I really liked the bathroom cupboard in our suite.  It was similar to the Ikea Expedit shelving unit- dark black/brown color, 2x2 open squares on either side of the sink area, flat panel over the sink area, and a good way to store things without any doors to get in the way.
* We walked around SLC a few times.  We had a break before dinner Saturday, and also went after dinner.  There are some interesting panhandlers on the street.
* There is at least one real, live trout in the creek inside the City Center Mall.
* I love the stationary store Papyrus.  Also the chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is excellent.  mmmmmmmm.
* An occasional weekend getaway with my husband is an excellent marriage enhancer.  :)