Saturday, December 26th: Allen rubbed my feet, despite my coronavirus, while we watched The Professor and the Madman, a TRUE story about the creation of the Oxford English dictionary. I enjoyed the movie and the company, in spite of my raging sickness.
Saturday, December 19th: Ugly Sweater / White Elephant party at the Tormans! Meg knows how to throw a fun, lively party that also manages to be relaxed and comfortable. What a great night with friends . . . and I came home with bath bombs, so it was perfect! (Allen borrowed Brian's costume from our CAUSWE party, and it was a big hit).
Wednesday, December 15th: Pocatello date! We made one final trip to the city to get ready for Christmas. Finances are pretty tight this year, but we have noticed so many increased opportunities to earn money in the past few weeks, and know they have come from our Father in Heaven. We are excited to spend Christmas with all of our kids at home.
Saturday, December 12th: This was a pretty unique date--we drove out to Grace and recorded our song "Who is This Babe?" at the Gem Valley Performing Arts Center for the Community Christmas concert. I always love singing with Allen . . . and I totally take his guitar-playing skills for granted.
Friday, December 4th: Group date with all my siblings and parents at the CAUSWE (Coon's Annual Ugly Sweater/White Elephant) Party. It was super loud and super fun. Then, on Saturday, December 5th, we went hot-tubbing with Ali and Brian at Sharla and Rich's house. It was delightful, and I loved finally seeing where Sharla lives. She had her house so beautifully decorated for Christmas and was the perfect hostess as always. Also, I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed a hot tub in my life.
Friday, November 27th: We had a leftover feast with our neighbor, DeAnn (read: we just made a whole new feast, with one leftover pie). Then Allen and I watched a movie that night before he left to Kathryn's for the weekend.
Saturday, November 21st: Date hike! Two and a half miles up Ninety Percent Ridge; then burgers and tots at Quik Stop, one of our favorite standbys. The weather is so glorious!
Thursday, November 19th: Date night AT THE MOVIES! What?! 60% of our enjoyment was just being in a theater, and the other 40% was because we loved the movie: The Honest Thief, with Liam Neeson.
Friday, November 13th: Friday the thirteenth means NO DATE this week ;). We'll have to have two next week.
Thursday, November 5th: This whole week was one big date! The kids went to to school, and Allen and I stayed home and worked on our garage and greenhouse and house together. It was sunny and beautiful--the prettiest, warmest week of November I can ever recall. And we were both pretty happy and relieved about the national election results, as well.
Thursday, October 29th: Coronavirus date! I drove Allen to the hospital to get tested for COVID and comforted him after the pain and shock of that nostril-swab. We masked up and hand sanitized and carefully voted at the courthouse while we waited for the test results: positive.
Was it the most romantic date of the year? Probably not. The most memorable? For sure.
Friday, October 24th: Pocatello date! Allen worked extra hours so he could come home early on Friday afternoon. We left for Pocatello at 2 and had fun shopping at Winco, Lowe’s, Walmart, Ross, and, of course, the D.I. Also, we ate at Café Rio, which means that it was my turn to choose. We got home around 10 and it was a true date night, because I stayed up for a movie. I forgot how good the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood is. It was a lovely evening, all around.
Saturday, October 17th: Double date with Josh and Meg! We went to Cooper's in Garden City and had the most delicious prime rib and shrimp! Then we stayed the night at Josh and Meg's Bear Lake cabin and watched a Halloween movie, Skeleton Key. It was such a great date and an even better weekend.
Friday, October 9th: I grilled amazing steaks for dinner--we haven't treated ourselves to beef in ages and it tasted so good.. Then we went on a wood-cutting date, which is one of my favorite things to do. I knew where some aspens were down, and Allen didn't have to move the trees at all--he could just cut off a log and then move down and cut another. We loaded the truck in record time, and enjoyed the last week of temperatures in the 70s every day. Then we came home and I made cookies for us to eat while we watched Judy. It was an amazing performance by Renee Zellweger. And heartbreaking.
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| Woodcutting date! |
Thursday, October 1st: Date hike with Tormans and Smiths! Meg has been begging me to hike to Bailey Creek Spring and "tell ghost stories." I firmly told her that I will probably never be her "ghost stories" friend. So instead, she set up a hike-to-Bailey-Creek-Springs-and-tell-BIGFOOT-stories date with Jeremy and Brandi. We made a fire and cooked foil dinners (some people refer to them as "TV dinners").
It was super fun. And so beautiful. We live in the prettiest place! And have some pretty awesome friends.
Wednesday, September 30th: Lunch date! Allen came home for lunch and we picked up Mexican food, cookies, and sodas for some one-on-one time. Since school started, I go to bed so early and get up so early, so lunch dates are my new favorite.
Saturday, September 26th: Grocery shopping date at 5:30 AM! It was not our first choice of either venue or time . . . but we'll take what we can get, and we did have a nice time together. Plus, doughnuts.
Friday, September 18th: Lunch date! Allen had a SURPRISE DAY OFF today! All the designers got a day off to thank them for coming into work during COVID-19 quarantine while all the engineers got to work from home. We'll take it! He finished replacing the fuel pump in Truman's van, while Becca worked on winterizing the garden. An afternoon date at Subway (thanks to Cori) was the perfect pick-me-up for us to keep on working.
Friday, September 11th: No date this week--but we had a fun Labor Day weekend with Jena and Kathryn and her boys. Then Becca spent four days in Idaho Falls/Rexburg moving Truman to college, attending the Tiger/Grizz cross-country meet, pressing cider at Coonland, and throwing a surprise 40th birthday for Bonnie.
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| Truman's fuel pump went out TWO DAYS before he left to Rexburg. But Allen fixed it himself LIKE A BAW$$. |
Tuesday, September 1st: Pocatello date night! The grocery shopping part is no fun, but the going-out-to-eat-at-Winger's part is THE BEST!
Wednesday, August 26th: After a long hard day of work for both of us, we took an evening drive and got ice cream cones at the QuikStop. They have started to get skimpy on the scoops, so we might start buying our own waffle cones and a half-gallon. But, let's be honest, we won't stop going to the QuikStop for date night.
Friday, August 21st: No date this weekend, but we had a fun time with Katie and her kids.
Saturday, August 15th: Mountain bike date! We did a tough/fun 8 miles right from our house, including the gnarliest trail I have ever mountain biked on, right next to the train tracks. At one point, I hit a big, weed-choked hole and went off the seat--luckily I wasn't going fast enough to go over the handlebars.
Wednesday, August 5th through Saturday, August 8th: BACKPACKING DATE! The best vacation of the year, with the best guy. We actually haven't gone, just the two of us, for three years (since our trip to the Sawtooths in 2017), so it was time. We had four days on the trail to talk about all the things: our kids, our marriage, our trials, our family members. We were especially thinking and talking about and praying for Kathryn, who lost her husband, Boyd, to his battle with mental illness a week ago. It has been a tough and tender time for our whole family, but especially for Kathryn, and our hearts are with her and her boys.
We were unaware that while we were hiking, my dad suffered a heart attack, but our thoughts were with him much of the time, too--because The White Clouds are his favorite place on earth.
Looking back, I'm so glad we went. We had been planning all along to hike the Teton Crest Trail, but when I had called the GTNP backcountry office, they told me that a section of the trail still needed ice climbing equipment. The White Clouds is our default favorite backpacking destination, and we really had a much-needed "break" from everything--it was nice to reconnect while we were disconnected.
Then jump right back into real life.
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| Lonesome Lake! Our first time to visit this 10,435 elevation lake (second highest lake in Idaho) |
Friday, July 24th: Pioneer date drive! I have been wanting to show Allen "Cow Camp Road" ever since I did a bike ride there last Fall. It was such a beautiful night, and we saw a small gang of bull elk--five of them running together, a mere 15 miles from our house!
Wednesday, July 15th: Allen's birthday double date! Boating with the Nielsens for our favorite birthday gift EVER! The four of us went out on the lake for lunch time and it was so much fun! (Perfect timing, too, because Mollie and I left the next day for a three-day mother/daughter backpacking trip.)
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| The hostests with the boatsest! |
Friday, July 10th: My birthday eve date! I got back from a lovely overnight trip to see Cori and Allen and I watched a movie and had CCCs.
Friday, July 3rd: Wedding singers date night! Yay for Jamie and Zach! And yay for our fabulous sound system that was used for singing, bluetoothing, guitars, piano, and emceeing!
Saturday, June 27th: No date this week, because we were at the RECOONION.
Saturday, June 20th: Fishing date. Unbelievably, this may well be out FIRST fishing date ever (I have always loved fishing, but Allen . . . well . . . always hasn't). I was inspired by my sister and her husband, and we headed to the Blackfoot Reservoir Dam to try our luck at catching some big ones. We didn't get one bite, but it was sure beautiful and fun. Homemade CCCs in the truck soothed our disappointment, and the sunset was spectacular! We also saw a small herd of elk on our way home. Caribou County in the summer is heaven on earth--there's no one I'd rather spend it with than Allen.
Thursday, June 11th: Ice cream and a movie (well, half of a movie). We drove to QuikStop to get ice cream cones, but there was such a big crowd that we just decided to go home and eat our own ice cream (Food Club Creamery Select Extreme Moose Tracks, thank you very much), then we watched the first half of The Vast of Night on Amazon Prime. It was so good! We were so tired! Maybe we'll finish the movie before our next date night.
Saturday, June 6th: I made a big family dinner and dessert to get us ready for Fast Sunday, then Allen and I went on a driving date up 8-mile canyon. We got a couple flat rocks for a new rock pathway I am making, then went on a mile-long hike (on a sweet new trail we've never been on) . . . THEN we put the truck in 4-wheel drive and headed up a gnarly, rutted road as far as we dared go. We were going to drive over the mountains to Montpelier . . . but finally decided to turn around, since we didn't have a map and wouldn't know which way to turn at any junction. It was cold and muddy and drizzly . . . and we had the best time. There are so many sad and horrible things happening in the world, but making time for each other keeps our focus on what is important, what makes a positive difference in our lives, and what we can control.
Saturday, May 23rd-Sunday May 31st: family trip to Arkansas!
Saturday, May 16th: Dinner AT AND IN A RESTAURANT. We ate out at El Toro for the first night that restaurants could re-open during quarantine. And then we got ice cream cones and went for a drive. It was perfect.
Friday, May 8th: Cruise Main Street for Ty! We made a donation at Soda Sip before dragging the highway in our Jaguar with so many people in support of our neighbor and friend, Tysen Hopkins, who was recently diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma. I have never seen our city so full of cars on any night of the week! It was a fun night, a great cause, and a very unique date!
Saturday, May 2nd: Tacos at Gonzales + gathering firewood (one of my favorite things to do: get free firewood during city clean-up week).
Saturday, April 18th: Date bike ride! 18 miles on our mountain bikes, which Allen cleaned/fixed/souped up earlier this week. We hustled at the end to make it to Quik Stop and order burgers before they closed. After ordering, we rode home, hopped in the car, and drove back to pick up our food. We ate at Kelly Park, talking and watching deer--it was such a great night!
Saturday, April 11th: We watched the most fascinating documentary while getting ready for a lovely Easter Sunday. It was called The Rainman Twins and I could not look away. I am so glad there are kind people in the world, looking out for others and showing love. And I am so glad for date night!
Saturday, April 4th: We picked up tacos and went to Octagon Springs park for a night away from the kids. All things considered, we are all getting along pretty well and enjoying each other. But I admit, it was lovely to just go out alone and eat a dinner I did not have to cook. We saw the geyser on our way home, and I thought the lighting was pretty cool.
Saturday, March 28th: Home date! Chocolate Chip cookies and the last episode of Picard, which we loved!
Saturday, March 21st: COVID-19: Bringing back the home date with a vengeance! Since I had a two-hour nap, I was wide awake at 10 PM, the time when I usually cannot complete a full sentence (if I am even still awake). The kids went to bed and we watched another episode of Picard on CBS All Access for our home date (we subscribed for a month just so we could watch this show and it has been worth it).
Also, Allen always rubs my feet and legs when we watch movies. Which basically makes me the luckiest wife on the planet.
Monday, March 9th: Meg's birthday date! She and I spent the day in Idaho Falls, meeting my fabulous sisters for lunch (and we picked up Mollie). Later that evening, we met Allen and Josh (and Layla) in Pocatello for Meg's favorite: Red Lobster. Then we all went to Emma (which I liked . . . but I think the Gwyneth Paltrow one is still just as good). It was such a great time, with one of my very favorite people. I love celebrating the day she was born!
Friday, March 6th: ALL the Coons game night! Seriously, at one point we had all nine couples (including my parents) at Eli and Savanah's house to play Code Names and share treats. It was loud and fun.
Friday, February 28th: Double date with the Tormans at El Toro. Josh and I weren't hungry . . . but it's weird how we ate anyway :). The perfect impromptu date with our friends (and bonus! Brigham babysat Gray!)
February 20th-22nd: Family "Date Night." It's not really date night if the kids are there--but it WAS a fun family vacation to Salt Lake City during the first (and hopefully the last) "Winter Break" that our school district had.
Friday, February 14th (Valentine's Day): Another game night with Smiths and Tormans (in addition to our family Valentine celebration). This time we played Code Names and another fun game called Skull King. The Smiths know their games!
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| I like how Josh is smashing Meg in this photo... |
January 28th- February 3rd: 20TH ANNIVERSARY TRIP TO COSTA RICA! Date night all week long! Read about it here.
Wednesday, January 22nd: Double date with Ali and Brian at Lava Hot Springs. It was the perfect FREEZING cold evening for a soak. I always love getting together with Ali and Brian--we had a fun time, and Ali joined in singing "Happy Birthday" to a total stranger :).
Friday, January 17th: Game night! Fun times with the Smiths and the Tormans. We played a SUPER fun game that we are going to have to own called Code Names. It was boys against girls, which means that laughter and trash-talk abounded. The boys won the first round, and the girls won the second--we better have another game night soon so we can compete in a tie-break.
Friday, January 10th: Temple Date! We drove to Idaho Falls to pick up our FIXED Jaguar. In total, we have spent about $1100 on that car, and it is running like a top--not bad to own a luxury car for the price of three car payments. We picked Brigham up in Pocatello on the way--he was at ISU watching a high school debate event for his speech class. Brigham went to the baptistry while Allen and I met Katie and Savanah to do initiatory work. Afterward, we all enjoyed prime rib and pie in the temple cafeteria. Then quick errands to the D.I., to Everett and Kailey's house, and to pick up groceries from Wal-Mart. It was a short, fast trip to Idaho Falls, but such a great night.
Thursday, January 9th: We went to one of the best movies I have ever seen: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Oh, it was so good--we both wiped tears from our eyes a few times. It's so great when our theater gets a movie that we want to see!
Friday, January 3rd: We started out the year right by staying up till midnight--not on New Year's Eve, but playing games with Jeremy and Brandi on the third day of the year. They taught us how to play a super fun strategy game called Splendor, and that dang Jeremy won both times. Hoping for many more game nights in 2020 so Jeremy can taste defeat! (And so we can love on their cute dog, Percy).
1 comment:
I need to get me one of those cool Bayer hats. . .
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