A Lotta Love Goin' On Valentine's Weekend

Sarah and I started off the love weekend by fixing a heart dinner for our sweethearts on date night. She was the expert at cutting potato chips in the shape of a heart. Impressive!

Not pictured is the strawberry shortcake for dessert.  We hadn't really worked on making anything "hearty" in that dish--until Jeff pointed out the strawberries were sliced in the shape of hearts. Good for us! Theme carried throughout the entire meal!

Klarissa had a big surprise for her sweetheart when she made plans to fly Abe in to watch a BYU basketball game. They wanted to show Jimmer Fredette some love. Glen had bought tickets to the game three different times because we didn't know who was coming when, so we were not all sitting together. I loved being able to sit next to my Dad during the game.

The one thing we didn't love all that much was having to wait forever and a day to get seated at Brick Oven for a meal after the game. Sarah wanted nothing to do with the hour plus wait and so she and Jeff went to In-N-Out for a quick meal instead.

Sunday is always a family love day. Eating homemade ice cream is a treat we all love and playing games together is another lovely activity we enjoyed doing as well.

Eli and Caroline loved playing toys together.

We absolutely loved having Abe and Klarissa here for their short, one-night stand.  Then, before we knew it, we were kissing them good-bye and sending them off on their way to catch their flight back to San Francisco.

But, don't think the loving stopped when they left...

Sarah spent the better portion of her entire Valentine's Day working on a special surprise dinner for the love of her life. Not only did she cook and bake...

but she also transformed our basement into a little French restaurant--with Eli's company as he was playing in the toy car nearby.

Jeff and Sarah got all dressed up for the evening and enjoyed their romantic dinner together.

What could be more romantic than sitting with your beloved, enjoying a delicious meal while looking out the window at the sunset and a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower?

Well, we couldn't top that, so we walked across the street and joined with 11 other couples for our Empty Nesters dinner and games at the Stewart's home. Ahhhh, the difference between young love and old love.

It's all love, just the same!

Super Bowl Sunday Not So Super

We decided to break tradition and not eat meat, carrots, mashed potatoes and gravy for our Sunday dinner. After all--it was Super Bowl Sunday.

The guys thought hot wings sounded good. Bean dip and chips were added to the menu and we threw in celery sticks for good measure.

What a feast we had laid out for us.

For some reason, Eli seemed about as uninterested in the Super Bowl as I was. He and I chose other activities to keep us busy instead of watching the television.

Sure made me glad I didn't eat any of those hot wings when Jeff started complaining of heartburn and Glen told us his tummy was hurting. In fact, he was in so much discomfort that he was threatening to throw up. We know he's sick when that happens.

It's only happened twice in our 33 years of marriage (by the way--Happy Anniversary to us this week!!) and it happened again on Super Bowl Sunday. Glen actually threw up. He says it was the homemade ice cream that we had for dessert. Whatever the cause, the net result was something didn't agree with him and he was throwing up all night long.

I think Glen would probably have to say it was not his most favorite Super Bowl Sunday.

The Excell Family Has Come To Live

Jeff got a job at JD Clark and Company in Ogden and they are looking for a home to buy. In the meantime, this is where they are staying.

It worked out perfectly that the first month they are here just happened to be Sarah's birthday month.

She got to be one of the special ones with candles on a dessert at Mom's house. Dallas, Sarah and Austin might have been the birthday people, but Brooke thought she was the designated candle-blower-outer for everyone.  An honorable mention went out to Emma and Logan who also share Sarah's birthday.

Wes took care of blowing out the flame on the big #8 candle on top of the cupcakes.

I am remembering back 8 years ago when 4 of the girls in the family were all pregnant at the same time with the kids who are now turning 8 years old:  Natalie, Wes, Rachel and Thadeus.  Cute kids!!

Let's Hear a Big "Yee Haw!!!!"

A birthday calls for a celebration and Dallas chose Texas Roadhouse as the destination for his birthday celebration dinner. It was a good choice because it kept Brooke occupied cracking open peanut after peanut after peanut until our food arrived.

Bob and Kathryn came along and joined in the celebration.

I never get tired of seeing Brooke and Caroline's big eyes.

Dallas was happy to get his complimentary ice cream birthday treat.

The dessert made the birthday boy happy, but nothing makes me happier than when they bring over the birthday saddle and have everyone in the restaurant give a big "Yee Haw!!!"