A brief, illustrated look into our lives over the past few months.
Valentine's Day. Nothing really worked out like it was supposed to, but we still had a great time! (The restaurant I wanted to take Taber to, Texas Roadhouse, had a 2 1/2 hour wait - I couldn't believe people would actually waste that much time just waiting to eat. We ended up at Logan's Steakhouse after checking at two other steakhouses on the same road, both with horrendous waits. The meal was delicious and we had a fraction of the wait. I also wanted to take Taber ice skating, but again, it was packed and they were turning people away.)
Daddy/daughter date. The girls had a ball. Ever since they went on their date, the girls have been asking to go to another "dance party." They now equate the stake center with F-U-N. We went to stake conference a couple of weeks ago and the girls thought we were taking them to a dance party.
Circus time! We took the girls to their (and my) very first circus. It was kind of painful because once you got in the door, everything required cash - the elephant rides, the pony rides, the cotton candy and popcorn, the face painting, the light-up gadgets. You name it, it cost cash money. Getting in was just the beginning. So, there we were, early, without dinner, trying to get the girls to understand why they couldn't ride the ponies while all the other little kids around them were. I don't know, we just don't carry cash on us. Lesson learned. My favorite part of the show was the amazing acrobatics. The girls' favorite part? The blow-up Dora doll daddy found at a vendor that actually accepted debit cards. Isabelle's least favorite part? CLOWNS!
My mom, sister and I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Melissa. She has two boys and is so excited for the arrival of her first daughter, Annabelle. It was hard not to get excited about it all, too. The whole affair was pink - all the guests dressed in pink, there were pink balloons, pink streamers, pink candles, pink roses, pink candy, pink lemonade, and pink onesies hanging on a clothesline. The walls were just a bonus. It was so girly and oh-so-fun!
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Spring Break
We had a really hard time trying to decide where we would go for Spring Break. This has not been a dilemma we have had to face for many years (BYU doesn't offer its students a Spring Break). Taber had a week off of school and with no job (yet), we didn't have any strings keeping us here. We dreamt of driving out to visit family in Idaho to help celebrate a graduation and we also dreamt of driving to Florida to visit family and play in the ocean and lay on the beach. And then we came back down, out of the clouds. Realizing we should probably be as frugal as possible given our current circumstances, we opted for closer to home, like really close. Like Oklahoma City. Surprisingly, there was a lot to do and see and we ended up having a fabulous time. We spent one day at the zoo (along with rest of the state of Oklahoma - it was incredibly crowded) and a science museum. The next day we toured downtown OKC - my little family indulged me and agreed to go to the botanical gardens with me. Loved it! We also went to the national memorial. Very touching. We got to ride around town in a trolley and eat lunch at an actual eat-in Sonic (Sonic's headquarters are in OKC). We strolled along the river in Bricktown. We swam in our hotel's pool every night to satisfy the girls' aquatic cravings. We visited the largest Wal-Mart in all of Oklahoma, a fact the hotel receptionist seemed proud to pass on. It seemed like a mini-town inside, reminding me of the movie/book "Where the Heart Is." We drove by the temple to show the girls that they really do exist outside of Utah. We ate dinner in our hotel room to save a couple of bucks, introducing the girls to the fine dining experience of Kid Cuisine. We had an awesome time and it left us wanting to go back again, to rent bikes to ride along the river, to take a river cruise, to enjoy all that our new state has to offer. It's fun being a tourist in your own backyard.
Eating our picnic in our hotel
The Wal-Mart city block
At the zoo
At the botanical gardens......In Bricktown
At the Oklahoma City Memorial
