I Love Valentine's Day...

My Valentine was extra sweet to me this year. Dave and I were full of so much love that our celebration lasted almost the whole week!

I am known for never waiting until the actually holiday to give Dave his gifts. That said I started off Wednesday morning by sending Dave on a Valentine's Treasure Hunt. He was able to figure out my cheesy clues and met me at the end at Cracker Barrel for a delicious breakfast:)

We Left Thursday for a little getaway to Ruidoso, New Mexico. Dave planned the whole trip (I was so impressed), but deep down this was an act of love on my part to go. Dave wanted to go skiing and he convinced me to try out the sport... 

 

I survived, Dave was very patient and I wore enough layers for both of us!

I stuck to the bunny hill with all of the 3 year olds zooming past me.

 Dave is a pro. He would call me from the top of the mountain and wave his pole at me as I sat and watched in awe.

The view was beautiful! It was hard to think that 2 hours away it was 60 degrees!

This is what Dave wore under his ski clothes? A true Idaho boy...wearing shorts in the snow:)

Note his sweet socks as well and he thinks I have weird fashion taste!

We walked around the little town and had a lot of fun. 

 We headed home both sore and tired Friday night and Dave told me to hurry up and change into something nice...

I thought we were going out to eat, but was so SURPRISED to walk around the corner and see this! Yes, my Valentine took me to Riverdance! It was an amazing show and I absolutely loved it.

 

It really was an act of love. We went home and wanted to try out all of the sweet dance moves we saw!

The weekend ended on Valentine's Day with a traditional fondue dinner.

We hope everyone had a special Valentine's Day and we love and miss everyone!

Oh and by the way we snacked on these little guys all week!

Chocolate dipped gummy bears. Still need to work out the kinks but really fun to make!

Our Attempt at Being Cultured...

Dave and I have been trying to support each other's interests. I went shooting with Dave and so he took me to a museum! I was so happy:) We went to the El Paso Museum of History. They had a Di Vinci Machines exhibit there on loan from Italy. They took his sketches and made large models out of them. Most of them were hands on which was a lot of  fun!

We took our friend's the Andersen's. Here is Dave and their little boy Reve putting together a bridge.

This is probably the closest I will get to Florence, Italy for a long time!

I wanted Dave to dip me, but this is what I had to settle for:)

My favorite painting.

Dave just picked one so I would be happy.

We are learning to really like El Paso and everything it has to offer.Not to mention we are really enjoying the 60 degree weather!

Time Consuming Craft...

Dave worked 3 nights in a row this week and I needed something to keep me busy. I look at all these crafty blogs and want to make everything they do! I then realize I don't have the patience for it and settle for something smaller:) I mostly took this idea from The Idea Room. After cutting what felt like a 1000 circles and using almost all my fabric this is what I came up with!

A giant ball! Ha ha Dave wasn't too impressed, but if you knew that it took me about 5 hours you need to be impressed that I finished!

 

I had wanted to make three to put in a bowl, but settled for just one hanging:)

Not to bad, huh!

Happy Crafting days!

Who Knew...

Dave and I were driving around trying to explore El Paso and came across something that almost brought me to tears!

A Cincinnati street! I was so happy to see a landmark to remind me of home. It was so random and the street was literally only a block long, but it was still there!

One of the only businesses on the street was a bar called Cincinnati! Although it was a bar it still makes me smile. Who knew that all the way down in El Paso I would still be connected to my favorite place!

On a side note here is a list of things that are going on with us:

• I got a new calling to teach the gospel essentials class. I am terrified, but I think I will learn a lot!
• I am finally done with all my traveling and am actually trying to get a job...No luck yet, but I am working hard on finding one.
• Dave passed his ACLS(Acute Critical Life Support) certification to help him get ready to apply for grad schools.
• We are addicted to the show 24. We are only on season 3 and the thought that there are 8 seasons total makes me crazy!
• I have enjoyed not having any homework after 8 straight semesters of it! It has given me a chance to catch up on my crafty ideas I have had brewing.

We miss family and friends more than ever it seems like and are very grateful for cells phones and the internet!

OH and p.s. Dave has the next 6 days off!! Nothing is planned, but who doesn't enjoy some quality bonding!

Basketball & Surprises ...

Dave's dad came into town on business and along with him came the BYU basketball team. He was able to get us court side tickets! I had never been to a basketball game or sat so close so it was an awesome night. Despite all of the booing from UTEP we held strong and BYU won!

Don't mind Dave's choice of displaying his manhood and freedom from BYU-I no facial hair rules. 

This past weekend I pulled the ultimate surprise and flew to Houston to see my friend before she left on her mission. She had NO idea so the trip was a success!

We were able to go to the Houston Temple even though she did make me get up at 6:)

 

It was a great weekend and I enjoyed seeing Houston. Good luck Megan as you serve on Temple Square!

 

Home for the Holidays...

The day after Christmas I was able to go home for 10 whole days! I realized that I hadn't been home in almost 2 years so I had many Cincinnati favorites to fit in! Here is the trip in replay...

This sweet thing was blessed and I was happy to be able to be there to witness it. She was the most loved one out of the whole trip!

The proud parents!

The very proud grandparents!

Ella's second favorite aunt:)

We played a lot of games. Quality family bonding!

We rode on a little ferry across the Ohio River to a town called Augusta.

We stopped and had a famous Marshmallow Coke. Don't say gross until you have tried it!

The Cincinnati Zoo Festival of Lights. No, Jonathan is not packing on the holiday pounds that is little Ella in his coat:) 

My ULTIMATE favorite place to eat when home! I am easy to please!

We had a wild New Year's eve party!

The man of the house himself.

Dave was able to get off work an fly in for a few days to meet the little peanut. Needless to say he also fell in love with her!

We went to a little coming out party for Ella. 

 

Is he really a dad? Never a straight face!

 

The party girl. Isn't she just so stinking cute!

You can never get enough of her!

For some reason Ella always found the ceiling more exciting.

We went to the Khrone Conservatory. 

  An indoor rain forest! It was very pretty.

A trip would not be complete without Skyline Chili.

We saw Avatar in 3D. Amazing movie and the 3D was pretty fun too!

We had an amazing time going home. It went way to fast, but we were happy to get to spend some time with my family.

 

Thanks Mom & Dad for a wonderful visit!

I just had to toss this one in here:)