Birthday Weekend Getaway

It was my birthday this weekend and I was excited to hang out at home with the kids and with Shantel. However, Shantel did tell me that Jenna would come down on Friday night so that we could do a date night. However, when we got in the car and started driving off Shantel had me pull over to surprise me!

She told me that Jenna was watching our kids for the weekend and we had a hotel for Friday and Saturday night! I was so surprised. She took us over to the hotel (the Hyatt near our house) and she had already checked us in and had decorated with some balloons and had treats for me all set out. It was so kind of her to make this happen and I was so excited. I have been working really hard the last couple of months and to get a break and spend time with Shantel is just what I needed. 

Somehow we did not take a ton of pictures, but the hotel was perfect. It had a seating area with this super comfortable couch. With COVID-19 we wanted to do some fun things, but not too much at crowded places.

We decided to go pick up food from Super Chix and El Mexiquense and take it up the canyon and read books. It was so nice. We found a spot off a trail and cuddled up under a blanket to read books. We went back to the hotel and watched some shows, ate some treats, and just relaxed.  

Shantel had stake baptisms on Saturday morning and so she still had to go to those. It was a bummer for her, but for me it was so nice to just relax. I ate snacks and watched football and it felt so good. I had multiple games up at a time and there were some great games. 

When Shantel got back we went over to the outlets and walked around a bit. We had some gift cards and checked out the Van Huessan store and found some awesome deals and got a lot of clothes. I think that they have probably taken a hit because of COVID-19 and also so many people working from home that the prices were just amazing. 

One of my co-workers called me and she was supposed to take a student and her husband to dinner, but her daughter had to go into surgery and she asked if I could help. Shantel and I were glad to help and figured we would get a fancy dinner out of it. So we ended up doing dinner with the couple at Bona Vita (our first time eating at a restaurant since March). That night we went back to the hotel. We had scheduled to be able to go to the hot tub area and so we went down there, but there was a group already in the hot tub. We sat down and started reading. After a few minutes, there was a group by a fire table that left, so instead of doing the hot tub, we went and sat next to the fire. It was just a bit chilly and so having the warm fire was perfect. It was so nice and calming. 

We were able to go back and binge-watch a few more episodes that night and chat. 

It was so refreshing and relaxing. It was nice to have time to just chat with Shantel. It was wonderful to just cuddle up and watch some shows. It was perfect to get up in the mountains and walk around the mall. I am so grateful for Shantel. She makes so many sacrifices to make my life more happy. My favorite thing in the whole world is spending time with her. We can be doing anything, and if it is with her, it is so wonderful. I loved this weekend getaway. Thank you Shantel. I love you!

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A few notes from Shantel: I'm not great at surprises. I worry about whether David will like them and try too hard to get his input beforehand. Also, I have a tendency to start lying through my teeth to cover my tracks and start spinning ridiculous cover stories. However, I forced myself not to do either of those things this year. David has been working incredibly hard over the past two months, especially. He is putting in so much time and effort in his job, his calling, and our family - and I wanted to do something that would be a respite from the stress he's under right now. Even when I realized that I would have to be gone for 7+ hours for Stake Baptisms I decided to still go for it and I think that the gift of Football was exactly what he needed. More than anything I just hope that he know how much he is appreciated and that he was able to fill his cup a little before he jumps back into his high-stress schedule and routine. I'm grateful that I was able to swing this surprise for him.  

Early Anniversary Celebration Weekend and Puzzling Adventures

Last weekend we took Jenna and Kevin's kids for the weekend so they could have a big date weekend before baby #3 was born. Then this weekend they took Lydia and Austin (and Caleb during the day) so Shantel and I could do a date weekend. (Insert from Shantel, which will happen occasionally through this post, I felt a little guilty leaving my kids with Jenna right before her baby was born but these were the only weekends that ended up working for the two of us.) It was so much fun! We basically used this as an early Anniversary Celebration. Here is a recap. (yay!)

We have been desperately wanting another tree in our backyard for a couple of reasons. First, the sun is just killer and we need more shade. The tree we planted when we first moved in has grown...not at all. As in it is the same size as when we planted it. We are going to work on giving it more water, but we also need another tree to help. In addition, we had a tree growing behind our fence, but unfortunately it was growing too close to the fence and we cut it down. (This was pretty traumatic for me. I loved that tree. I so wish that it had just been a foot further away and we would have left it! It grew so tall and shaded the backyard so well and we didn't have to do anything for it. I looked and looked for a tree exactly like it, but I didn't know what kind of tree it was and my descriptions were fairly lacking. After knowing how great the shade would be with a tree down at the bottom I was determined to get a tree planted this summer.) So we really wanted to buy a tree. You might ask, why would you waste tree shopping on a date weekend? Our kids are the best and they are awesome going to stores and doing just about anything we ask, except going to a nursery. Any time we try to pick out plants for anything it is a huge struggle. If we are going to spend $300 on a new tree, we needed both of us fully engaged. 

Our plan was to find a big tree for the very back corner of the yard. 

We went to Cooks Nursery in Orem and found a Autumn Blaze Maple Tree that we are hoping will be perfect. It is fast growing. The picture here is not actually for our tree, because we ended up paying $300 so we could get a bigger tree (and this is not the maple). But you get the idea, we were tree shopping.

After we picked up a tree we went to drop off Caleb for the rest of the day. So we saw the kids for a couple of minutes at the park.

Then we went downtown to do our "Puzzling Adventure." One of our 12 dates for the year was a puzzling adventure. You are asked various questions and you have to race around answering questions and looking at a bunch of things. One of the biggest surprises of the whole day is that Shantel does not remember ever being at the capital. (Shantel: David means, that I told him that I've never been to the capital building before and he is so surprised he thinks that means I just don't remember... but I really don't think I've ever actually been to the capital before. But for a first trip, this was the best!) So I am so glad our tour started there. We ran all around the capital answering questions and then it took us down to Temple Square and then up to Memory Grove Park. It was so much fun! Honestly, it was the perfect day to spend together. We raced as much as we could and when we had chances to take breaks, we just enjoyed talking and laughing together. Here are the pictures that we took (you actually took them in the app as part of the activity).

(I think this is like the tree that we had to cut down in our yard. I told you I was on the lookout for it. Too bad we had already bought our tree at this point. Here's sending lots of love to that Autumn Blaze Maple and hoping that it grows really well!) 

(I really liked this big tree. Apparently I had trees on my mind. Also, I really liked the dedication on this plaque next to a little bridge "Living to serve them she build bridges of unity with charm and honor, over moving waters." May I also live to build bridges in my life with charm and honor.) 

When we finished it pulled up the rankings and we finished #5! That is pretty awesome. We took a picture to prove that 5th is pretty good because it showed the top 100, so a lot of people have done this and we rocked it. (We are pretty awesome.) 

After the puzzling adventure...well at first we just sat and the grass by the Capital because we were tired! We did a lot of walking and running. (This may have been my favorite part of the day because we were able to just sit and talk about some deeper things in our family and our relationship and our lives. It ended up being the perfect place to talk about the things that mattered to us. I feel really excited and happy about the place that we are and the direction we have for our little family and these few minutes were very precious to me.) 

Then we decided on dinner, we were debating doing something really fancy (and expensive) or something less expensive. I am particularly bad at this because the thought of spending $100 on dinner is just too much. So I always lean to something less expensive because I feel like I'll enjoy the food nearly as much and pay way less. We had on our list to try Ruth's diner which is just up Emigration Canyon. We ended up going there and really loved it. We sat outside under these beautiful trees and both really like our meals. It turned out to be the perfect thing for the weekend. (This is quite possibly the best dining experience of the year and possibly of our entire marriage. It was just so perfect for the day. So beautiful and just so great.)

Right next to the restaurant was some commercial space that was for sale. It had a beautiful deck with some tress and a little stream nearby and we took our camp chairs up to it and just sat and read books for a little while. It was so pleasant. The funny thing (picture below) is that as we looked at the space and thought, this would be the perfect reception center! We were all in on calling to see how much and get an agent to take us through and start a reception center business...then we looked and parking and it just would not work. There were not enough spots for the restaurant and reception center and there is no place to put more parking. So our dreams ended after about 15 minutes...alas. (It's sad that we got a picture of the for sale sign but not of the actual deck area. It was just so quaint and peaceful. I'm usually a strict rule-follwer and wouldn't even think about doing anything that looked like trespassing. But the deck was open to the parking lot, but once you climbed the stairs you were tucked into this little tree and stream filled space. I figured it was fairly public property. And also, to David's point, the lack of parking is probably why it isn't doing well - but it just cries out wanting to be a reception center!)  

That night we picked up Caleb and then went home to spend the evening together. We picked the kids up on Sunday in Morgan. Shantel, I love you so much and can't imagine having more fun and more happiness than being with you all weekend. I loved laughing and joking and talking. Happy Anniversary, I love you!

(I am truly the one who is so so blessed. David is the perfect fit for me. He brings such light and peace to my life and I can't imagine doing this adulting/parenting/life thing without him. Nine years together, and it's just getting better. I love you David. Thank you for being mine.)

Park City - Last Minute Getaway.

I (David) am in charge of organizing the UACPA Leadership Academy which is leadership training for newer CPA's (3-10 years). It is a great event and I love organizing it. This year when I got to my hotel in park city, it was incredible. (Sorry very few pictures). In fact, as soon as I got in I got on Marco Polo to send Shantel a video message so she could see it. Shantel had been deciding whether to come up and spend a night in park city or not. She had been leaning to no, just because of the work of bringing the kids and because I don't really have much free time because there are activities I am in charge of at night as well. Then I sent her the video of the room and she had to come. It had a big kitchen and family room/dining room area, a master bedroom with a giant master bathroom and a separate bathroom...and...a hot tub for the room on the patio.

Jenna ended up offering to take Lydia and Austin for a night and Shantel came up for one night. She went to the dinner with our group at a nice restaurant. Then she put Caleb to bed and we were able to go out and relax in the hot tub. It was so incredible, it was cold outside which made it nice to sit in the warm hot tub. Honestly, it was such a relaxing night, I'm not sure how we stay in a room without a hot tub now. We were able to just talk and rest. The next morning I had to leave pretty early, but Shantel took advantage of Caleb sleeping to sneak out to read her book in the hot tub. I'm grateful we had the chance to relax together.

(Shantel's note: This was the most relaxing weekend! It was a little lame that David had to work - but I brought a book and it was just perfect. A fancy dinner with David and his group (which we just brought Caleb with us, and he was perfect as always), hot tub in the crisp Park City air, then hot tub and book reading in the morning. Everything was just perfect. A HUUUGE shoutout to Jenna who volunteered to take the older kids.)