stupid cupid

i am not a huge fan of valentine's day. it's not that i don't believe in love or blah, blah, blah.... and it's not because i never have a valentine (i have had one for the past 8 years). i don't scorn those who love the holiday. spread the joy and love i say, just don't ask me to join in.

do i really need to have a day spelled out for me when i should tell people that i love them and i am glad they are in my life? isn't that something i should be doing everyday?

nathan and i.... we've never been big valentine day celebrators. the only "big thing" we've done is the year after isaac was born, nate's parent's watched the boys while we bought filet minon and lobster tails and cooked them at home. i made baked potatoes, homemade horseradish and cheesecake for dessert. we sat in our little kitchen and ate by candlelight. the dinner was good and of course the company was excellent.

i remember making valentine cards for each person in my class when i was in elementary school and for the other kids in the neighborhood. i remember pain stakingly selecting each candy heart to go in the envelope. i had to be sure that an "i love you" or "kiss me" heart was not put in an inappropriate envelope. then we would go drop our cards on people's door steps, ring the door bell and run away. (i wonder if it ever occurred to us that as soon as they opened the card they would know who it was from...) anyway, it was fun.

so maybe i can make this holiday about my kids. we'll make the heart-shaped sugar cookies, and I will help them put together their valentine cards. i want them to have memories like i did.

so what is it that i am trying to say? i am going to try a little harder. not a lot harder, but a little harder. i changed my blog layout to be more valentine-friendly. i actually got a "happy valentine's day" thing to hang on my front door, i got valentine cards for the kids, and i even thought about getting out my heart-shaped cookie cutters. now if i could just get JEN to give me her yummy pink sugar cookie recipe, i'd be set. (jen, it's the one that you put the flavoring in...)

anyway, even though i may dislike the day, i love my valentine....

a few birthday pics..... a couple months later

some of my family and friends got together at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. it was yummy!

mmmm... quesadillas

the windy city

i just returned from a work trip to chicago. although we don't really get to see much of the sites, a couple of the girls and i did find a few minutes to check out some good food.

the first place we hit was Giordano's, which served us up a very yummy deep dished pizza. i think i ate over 3 pounds of cheese.

the second night, we went to Twin Anchors which is an out of the way bar. i had filet minon and the other girls had ribs. this place was awesome... great food and the atmosphere was incredible. they filmed the movie "return to me" in this bar.

jessica and jen at Giordano's

jen, me and jessica at twin anchors

i came home quite tired and had a very sick stomach, but it was fun.

tony, me, jen and jessica at a party.

mmm... chicken alfredo

tonight we ate chicken alfredo for dinner. costco sells a few pre-made dishes and this is one of the really good ones. I also really like their chicken pot pies.... yummy. i know, it is evil of me to buy pre-made meals for my family, but i don't really care. it's fast and they taste good.

fondue

thanks to my friend jen, i am now slightly obsessed with fondue. my mom gave me a fondue pot that she was given as a wedding present. the closest picture i could find is this:

i have since learned that this is a very early 70's vintage avocado green fondue pot. the differences between the one pictured and the one i have is that my stand is avocado green and is a little bulkier than the one pictured.

i told nathan that i would like another one for my birthday. something along these lines:

picnic - american fork canyon

Last night we went up American Fork Canyon to have a picnic with Shane and Roni and their kids. We roasted hot dogs and made smores. The kids had fun running around and throwing rocks. The river is really full and fast, so we had to keep the kids away.

Amelia and Wendy

Kiley and Shane

Nathan and Amelia

Roni and Marissa

Jared and Ethan

Kiley and Isaac