Date Nights

One of our goals for the new year (and hopefully forever!) is to go on a planned date each week.  We figured that sometimes that date would have to be after Nate goes to bed and at our own place or sometimes it'll be a family outing date.  So far we've been pretty good about it!  Last week Steve had a dinner thing with the firm he's working for this summer and he asked if he could bring me.  They said that it was more of an employee only event.  What?!  They can't take my boyfriend (aka. husband) away from me on Friday date night!  Well...I got over it after a few minutes.  It was earlier in the evening so Steve didn't come home too terribly late and we still enjoyed date time together.  

But I decided to take my other boyfriend on a date instead:

We went to McDonald's because I thought he might like chicken nuggets, french fries, chocolate milk, and a cool toy.  Well, he wasn't too into the food, but he LOVED the booths.  It was a huge McDonald's but was practically empty so I let him climb around and enjoy the sitting area as a "play place" since their real play place was outside in the snow.  I enjoyed drinking his chocolate milk for him and I have to say I did sneak a chicken nugget or two. We had a good time together and I felt satisfied that I had a date for that evening :)

The Friday before the last one was pretty fun. We went to the mall to exchange a Christmas item that didn't fit Steve.  We got a killer deal by the way.  We returned one thing and left with 3 things and only had to pay 3 more dollars.  JcPenny rocks.  

And then we left the mall with this beautiful dessert!

Can you see it? It's a Caramel Pecan Turtle cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!  We went home to make dinner and I'm pretty sure we ate the cheesecake while dinner was cooking...oops :)  It was divine. 

Well, I'm sure I'll have more reports of our adventurous date nights throughout the year.  Whether they be extravagant or simple, I love going on dates with Steve Merrill.  He's the caramel topping to my cheesecake, no he's the cream cheese to my cheesecake, no he's the whole cheesecake that makes me go, "WOW, life is good." :)  

The Boy Who Lost His Belly Button

Nate and I went to the library a few weeks ago and I let him pick whatever book off the shelf.  He, of course, just went for the first one he saw and didn't really care about the content.  Well, this young man chose

I took a quick flip through and thought it could be cute, kind of like a "Are You My Mother" type book where he asks everyone if they've seen his belly button.

Well, it's a rather strange book.  A quick summary to save you from checking the book out yourself out of desperate curiosity.  The boy wakes up and realizes he's missing his belly button.  So, naturally he goes to the jungle to look for it.  He asks a giraffe, gorilla, lion, and many other animals if they've seen his belly button.  They all say no but show him their own.  Then he realizes the crocodile is being very quiet, so he asks if he has one.  The croc smiles and shows him a pink belly button.  From here I will give you the actual text:

"What are you doing with my belly button?" shouted the little boy.

"I'm washing the fluff out for you," said the crocodile.

"Thanks," said the boy.  "Can I have it back now?"

"Certainly," smiled the crocodile, "Come and get it,"

So the boy took off his clothes....

He waded right into the swamp.

And...

he GRABBED it!

And that's how the story ends.

"I'm washing the fluff out for you"??????  That's weird.  

Anyways, Nate always wants me to read it to him, so I think I might go return it to the library tomorrow because every time I read it, I close the book and just don't know what to think.  Sorry to anyone who loves that story.  I do, however, sit there and wonder if animals actually do have belly buttons.  I've never noticed one on an animal before.  Do they?  Well, I googled it and if you are interested you can find your answer HERE.

27 Weeks

With Nate I was a bit obsessed with tracking my belly growth.  This second time around I haven't really taken any pictures and I feel like I went from small to huge in a matter of 2 weeks...  But here I am!  The doctor measured her at the 91st percentile yesterday. Oh dear.

Christmas Break: Washington

After our fun visit in Arizona we headed up to Washington.  This is the third year in a row we've seen both families over Christmas break....I kind of hope it stays that way forever because I LOVE being with Merrills and I LOVE being with Burrups.  I'm just praying that Steve's family will move to Richland or my parents will move to Mesa or maybe they can all move to Virginia.  Haha, wouldn't that be nice?

Anyways, our time in Washington was packed with fun action.  The day after we arrived, we met up with the Seattle group (Mike, Kirsten, and the boys, and Jon and Nicole who flew in to Seattle) at Great Wolf Lodge.  That place was awesome.  It decorated all Christmas-y and had an indoor water park.  Sadly, Nate wasn't feeling so hot so he didn't enjoy it as much as he would have, but the rest of us loved it!  We went on some rockin' water slides and enjoyed hotel.  

Oh, and just a side note...The first half of our trip doesn't have any pictures because I was taking the first picture of the trip and backed into a chair that made me fall on my bottom in front of a lot of people and smashed my camera.  Talk about embarrassing?  A pregnant lady in a swimming suit running into a chair and falling onto her camera.  If I only had that video....

We spent a day or so in Seattle afterwards, which was fun.  We did the underground tour that I've always wanted to do.  Did you know Seattle is built on top of another Seattle?  Yup!  We also went to the Seattle Science Center which brought me back to my childhood.  I used to think that place was the coolest place on earth...and I still think it's pretty cool.  Nate loved the mirrors, dinosaurs, and other exploration things.  

We then made it back to Richland to enjoy Christmas in our lovely home.  Can I just say I LOVE MY HOUSE.  I get all giddy inside every time I come home just by being there.  

Christmas day was full of opening presents, playing with presents, Tingey family breakfast, and skyping with Laurel. It was so wonderful :)

Nate LOVED opening presents and Santa brought him some pretty cool toys.

Here we are skyping with Laurel. We all squeezed on the couch and loved every moment of it.

Nate LOVED being with everyone.  He followed Tanner and Austin around and loved the attention from Uncle Chischin (that what the kids call him).

He loved playing with Aunt Nicole too.  She could get him to laugh so hard!  He's playing peek a boo with her here :)

I love this picture...Nicole is a natural with kids :) I think she's the favorite Aunt of all 3 kids. What a cute Mommy she's going to be!  

The boys playing with their new toys

There was no snow and I was praying for some!  Lo and behold...a White Christmas!  It snowed around noon on Christmas day and the next day we played in the backyard.  Nate liked it way more than I thought he would.  He thought it was so fun to wear gloves and eat snow.

I'm not sure what they were doing...some kind of mass wrestling match in the snow.  Boys.

I love this picture because you know Christian is up to something ....

Cute, right?! Made for each other.

These boys are the stars of the Burrup Christmas story, they kept us laughing the entire time.

We all had waldo outfits for our Christmas pj's this year and Nate LOVED the hat and glasses.  We did a picture scavenger hunt in the mall and actually got stopped by security because we were all wearing waldo outfits.  It was super fun and people shopping at the mall thought it was fun to see a family of waldos.

We also got to witness Christian's Eagle Court of Honor.  What a good kid he is.  We are proud of him.  I swear the whole room was trying to photo bomb every picture I tried to take...so sorry I don't have any good pictures.

The trip was also full of game playing (not as much as Jon wanted, but we did manage to play a few :)).  And I have to report that I won a game of Settler's of Catan, which is a Christmas miracle in itself.  The boys watched a lot of the cartoon Avatar: the Last Airbender.  Why?  None of us women know.  We went to the club and exercised/swam/played racquetball several times.  The boys had a snowboarding trip and Steve learned quickly!  It was his first time and he loved it.  We played games at the church a couple of times with both Burrup and Tingey cousins. We made gingerbread houses, ate sushi, ate WAY too much junk food, watched a cheesy Christmas movie on netflix, and had so much fun.  For New Year's Eve we had our annual Bunko/white elephant party.  It turned out great and was another first for Steve.  I love Bunko.  Steve and I went away with a Doo-rag, sparkly star sunglasses and a party hat.  We had a blast. 

Overall, our Christmas break was a success :)  We had tons of fun and most of all enjoyed just being together with family.  We are so blessed to have such incredible families!  

I'm already excited for Christmas break 2013 :) 

Christmas break: Arizona

Christmas started early for us!  Nate and I flew out to Arizona with Nikki, Hallie, and Annie on the 10th of December. We left Dave and Steve for a few days so they could finish up work/finals.  It was fun to be with the family and help get ready for Mel's wedding.  Steve, Dave, and the Provo boys met us in Mesa Thursday and the wedding festivities began!  But before I report on the beautiful bride and groom, I have some fun pictures from us playing at home :)

These three LOVED hanging out with Grandma.  We loved the nice  AZ weather and the kids had a blast.

Merrill cousins!

Nate became a full out walker while in Mesa.  

I love my boy.

He loved his Aunt Jenni lovin'

And his Aunt Em lovin' :)  

The wedding stuff began with the dinner the night before.  I ate the most tasty pot roast I've ever eaten in my life.  And it was no wimpy serving...half my plate was meat.  It was so good!

Stan's family created a beautiful program, with slideshows and all, and it was fun to meet Stan's family.  Mel married into a good family I think :)

Aww...they're cute right?

The brothers sang a song to Mel and Stan, clever words written by Mom Merrill herself.  It was a hit!

I always like seeing these two reunite :)

The wedding itself was beautiful.  The spirit was definitely there and sealer said some powerful things.  I love going to sealings!  It's an incredible experience to witness a couple being married for Time and All Eternity!

I love this Amy girl!

The Newest family!  

I thought this was a cute view :)  Mother and bride :)

Classy

Merrills getting the jobs done

Nate and I had a blast dancing it up.

The wedding turned out great.  It was fun to be with everyone. 

One not so happy part of our trip was Dad's appendicitis.  Yep, appendicitis.  The day after the wedding he was admitted to the hospital and had his appendix removed.  Luckily it was AFTER the wedding :) We got to visit him in the hospital right before heading to the airport.

We headed out Monday afternoon, which came way too quickly.  We're so glad that the timing of the wedding worked out so perfectly for us to be able to come!  It was fun to be with the family, even though it was short.