February?

I had no idea that February could be this busy! It was really fitting that the 8th was Stake Conference and the 16th was President's Day, because the week in between them was so busy and I needed some time to rest and catch up.

I decided that Jared and I would just stay home this year and I'd make dinner for Valentines Day. We don't normally do much for Valentines day anyway, and between kids and a busy Saturday night this seemed to be the best plan. Plus I had a ham that my grandparents gave us for Christmas that needed to find a meal to go with it. My mom always made huge *PINK* dinners for valentines so I figured I could do something similar, although my goal was not to turn EVERYTHING possible pink like she would. For some reason, food that has a funny color sometimes just doesn't taste right. :) I have never really made a meal from scratch, usually relying on boxes and my freezer for help, but this year I decided I'd make the effort. After I had spent much time planning the meal and grocery shopping for most of it I discovered that my sister Kristi and her husband Chuck had offered to come babysit so we could go out for Valentines. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I have a way of ruining those things. I am too type A to not plan things ahead of time. So I decided I'd return the favor and fix dinner for all of us and then we'd go out to a movie. I'd already thought about inviting Vince and Meagan to also come over so I figured we might as well make it a family event. And then we got the flier from Kylie's school saying that this week was "Bring your family to school week". Suddenly my week got busier...

Monday was bring your "ladies" to lunch so Brynlie and I both joined Kylie for school lunch and met a few of her cute friends. We had a lot of fun seeing what Kylie does every day at lunch time.

Of course I didn't get all of my shopping done for our Valentine's dinner so Monday night we headed out to pick up some more things. I really hate shopping with my girls! We had to hurry because I was motived to be home before 8:00 when Heroes started. Yes, I have heard of a DVR and if anyone is interested...my birthday is in May.

Tuesday wasn't too busy. They had an activity planned that evening at Kylie's school but it just didn't sound fun to bring all three of the girls with me. I did that last year for the Kung Fu Panda movie night and I swore I'd never ever do that again! I was so lucky that Matt Earl and his kids were there to help out. So I stayed home and made a cheesecake for a friend that turned 30. You know who you are old lady!

On Wednesday we had to run back to the store since I knew that this would be my last opportunity. Jennifer stopped by that night for a couple of hours. The girls just love when she comes over. Indoor soccer is a favorite, unfortunately. The girls decided to throw snowballs (again, indoors) at Jennifer, but were less than sweet when she got even with them. You'd think that they would know that just because she is a girl doesn't mean she isn't also a South. They made up and were friends again before she left. Wednesday was also another family night at the school. Another night that we missed. Darn it. :)

I HATE mornings but made the effort to get up and go to school Thursday morning with Kylie for bring your parents to school morning. I was able to go see what their morning routine was. Then I went home to get us ready to go to the Draper Temple open house that afternoon. We decided that Brynlie would have more fun at home taking a nap (okay, we would have more fun with her home taking a nap) so we left her with Jamey and the four of us went to the open house. This is the closest thing I got to a family picture while there...oh well. We were just walking out of the temple and heading to the chapel for the VERY yummy cookies that they were serving. The Temple was gorgeous inside. The girls favorite parts were the baptismal font (Sadie is still talking about how we don't play in it) and the chandeliers in the bride's room and the celestial room. It was a wonderful experience to take the girls through and help them understand a little better what a temple is and what is done there.

Kylie was so excited to see the Salt Lake Temple picture.

And of course we needed a picture of the cookies!

We (telecommuters) are now required to come in to the office one day each month and I chose to come in on Friday. If I had known what a crazy week it was going to be I wouldn't have picked that day, but it was too late by then. The last time I went in the home was a DISASTER when I came home so I really wasn't looking forward to what awaited me at home. I was surprised to come home not only to a clean house, but also a scentsy candle that Jared glued back together for me after the girls had their way with it a few weeks ago. It was so nice to not have a huge mess to clean up!! I got the girls dressed and we took them over to Jason and Tawnie's. Maddie and Jason had spent the night the weekend before with Tyler visiting Friday night so she was returning the favor since we had our taxes scheduled for early Saturday morning. We went out to dinner and then picked Brynlie up and went to bed. Like I said, we were up early the next morning for our 9:00 appointment. What was I thinking? 9:00...I should have known better. I also realized Friday night that I forgot to print my W2 off at work so we had to leave even earlier to make a quick stop at the corporate office to print it out. Did I mention I hate mornings? We did really well on our taxes this year so I guess I won't complain too much about the early morning. Plus, it gave me more time for my dinner that night. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into! Homemade rolls, homemade potatoes (can you believe that I had never made them before?), the ham, heart shaped jello, etc, etc. It was a lot of work, but I think it turned out really well. We had so much food so I was really glad that we had others to share it with. After dinner I got Brynlie out of the bath and changed Taylor's diaper and when I came back into the kitchen it was almost clean. I was so grateful to Meagan and Kristi for helping with all of the dishes.

Sorry for cutting your face off Chuck...

That afternoon Sasha and Jason stopped by with the kids for a visit and then left Taylor with us while they went to the Monster Truck Jam with TJ and Jason's brother. The plan was still to have Jared and I go out after dinner, but I was so exhasted after our early morning and all the cooking that it was the last thing I wanted to do. Good thing Kristi and Chuck will have a couple more opportunities coming up in the next two months to do some more babysitting.

Yes, Brynlie is hitting Taylor, but softly. She loves to hit...in anger and in play. Brynlie is lucky because she has cousins on both sides of the family that are close in age to her. We don't get to see Taylor a lot since she lives in Vernal so it was fun for us to play with her. I don't think the Brynlie even noticed that Taylor was wearing her jammies.

My wonderful mom made Valentine's bags full of goodies for each of our families so after the dinner I got to top it off by bringing out all the gifts. It was a fun way to end the evening. Actually I had more fun falling asleep on the couch with Taylor. I was tired!