Perfect Weekend

What a weekend. I wish we could do that every Fri-Sun! Friday was a great day because I actually showered, got dressed, did my hair and make up and then texted Danny around 4:45 and asked him if he wanted to be spontaneous. He was having a rough day at work so I got a "yes". YESSSSSSSSSS. He's not Captain Spontaneity so I was excited. I threw caution to the wind and texted "let's go downtown and stay in a hotel." I held my breath.

"Sure". 

Excuse me? Who are you and what have you done with Danny's phone? 

Dah well. I was going with it. I finished getting dinner ready to take over to Shannon who is recovering from surgery and swung by G&A's to pick up Cole and Caleb. Cole went straight home from school with Nate and Erin has been SO sweet to want to watch Caleb a couple hours almost every day last week! It's been awesome to run errands and take my time showering without worrying about the babe.

We got home and Danny was on the computer looking for a cheap hotel room. Since it was SO last minute we got an awesome price at the Homewood Suites downtown. {It may also have something to do with the fact that it's pretty close to Pioneer Park but we didn't mind}. We packed in a whirlwind, loaded everything into the car, dropped off dinner in West Valley and were off! I don't think we've ever done anything so fast. Cole was so full of questions: where are we going, is there a pool, what is the name of the hotel, why are we doing this. It was kind of fun to just answer "I don't know" to pretty much everything. Nothing was planned and it was awesome. We were close to the Old Spaghetti Factory. How convenient...one of our faves. Bam. Decision made.

OSF makes me seriously happy. Mizzithra, pesto, sourdough bread...*drool*

We pulled up to the Hotel a little before 8:00 and settled in. The pool was outside but it was too cold to play in...but who needs a pool? Angie put it best last night when she said that even just watching TV in a hotel room is fun because YOU'RE IN A HOTEL ROOM. Not at home doing dishes, scrubbing toilets or folding mounds of laundry. You're hanging out with just your family and it's awesome.

***

We had an awesome complimentary breakfast and hung out at the hotel until the last minute. Check out time was at noon so dangit, we were going to stay until noon. We watched "Flip or Flop" while Caleb napped and I painted my toenails. Priorities.

Cole really wanted to go to City Creek. Even if you don't spend a dime, City Creek is interesting. And great for people-watching. We ended up eating lunch at Chick-Fil-A/Chinese and buying a couple of apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for our Moms. They also had a free photo booth set up for Mother's Day, compliments of the University Healthcare.

 Then we headed over to Temple Square because Temple Square just never gets old.

Cole: What's with the pool and the cows? {While looking at the baptismal font in the mini Temple}

Temple Square was out-of-control beautiful. While trying to take a family selfie, a kind woman offered to take our picture. Strollers aren't really conducive to selfies anyway. 

There were too many gorgeous flowers and photo opps to keep Caleb in the stroller. Especially because I had spiked his hair and he was as handsome as ever.

My guys. Easy on them matching the flowers perfectly.

Danny had Caleb in laughing fits and it was so fun to watch. He knows how to really get him going.

We took 500 pictures of the temple and all the flowers. Cole was getting bored and wanted to leave so I let him use my phone to take pictures. Suddenly he wanted to take pictures of everything and he wasn't anxious to go anywhere. The sun was coming out, it was warming up and it was the perfect day.

These are a couple by Cole:

I really love this one.

And a couple by Danny:

Seriously...

After leaving Temple Square, we went over Deseret Book and spent $1.00 on the Conference edition of the Ensign. I know you get them free online but I like highlighting and marking them up. I'm old school that way.

It was nearing 4:30 so we decided to head for home. When we got here Scott and fam were visiting so we got to see them for a bit. After dinner, Danny went to run a few errands and took Cole with him. I got Caleb in bed and relaxed. I kept telling Danny that I didn't want anything for Mother's Day except to not have to clean the kitchen all day :) After hearing a funny skit by Jim Gaffigan I've decided I don't want flowers anymore on "the usual" holidays like Valentines, Birthdays, and Mother's Day, etc. I LOVE getting flowers but it's more meaningful when it's spontaneous and not expected. Danny kept saying if he wanted to get me flowers, he'd get me flowers. I was positive I was getting flowers. Before coming to bed, Danny cleaned the kitchen which was a beast of a mess. Bless that man.

***

We have 9:00 church which isn't great for breakfast in bed but I honestly didn't have any expectations for that. Sunday mornings are crazy around here. I rolled out of bed at 7:00 and started doing my hair. We are never on time to church. Seriously. We still weren't on time but this time it's because my lovely boys made me french toast and gave me some awesome gifts. I took the time to sit down and enjoy breakfast which is probably why we were late. Dah well. At least we're consistent.

 Danny went to Charming Charlies and got me a necklace/earring combo to go with my new green capris that I scored at Savers for $7. What a guy. I've also been in need of a new iPhone case and I love what he picked out. He knows me well :)

Cole picked out "Women and the Priesthood" by Sheri Dew {I'm sure Danny helped} which I am SO excited to read. I love anything by Sheri Dew. They both gave me sweet cards too which I loved. Danny said Cole was so funny about insisting that they go to Walmart to get the card he wanted to get me. He wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Once Danny saw the card, he understood why. It's as big as he is and I especially love what he did to the inside.

I love that he gave me an activity to do.

The Primary did a great little medley of songs and I think for the first time I didn't break down in tears. I just smiled and giggled at all the kids waving to their moms and standing there staring off into space instead of singing. Cole didn't know the songs very well so he made a few funny faces at me and then did some spacing out. It was still sweet. Danny had to teach Primary and Cole wasn't feel very good so I took the boys home and managed to get in a 2 hour nap (yesssss).

My parents had lots of visitors so we got to visit with them too. Later that night we had dinner at Greg and Angie's with the Whites. It was a lot of stuff jammed into the day and I was exhausted at bedtime. I squeezed in my 30 minutes of yoga, officially signed us up for our 5K and collapsed into bed. I didn't have to clean the kitchen all day so the day was a huge success.

Nearly the perfect weekend. The only downside to a weekend like that is when you wake up Monday morning and realize it's all over. But still--it was worth it and TOTALLY made up for our 10 year anniversary "fiasco" as Danny put it :)

After church my Mom and I tried taking some pictures but to be honest they were all total bombs. The ones Cole took were blurry and the selfies were all...weird for various reasons. This is probably the best one we got.

I feel so blessed to have the husband I have and the little boys that I do. I know I'm not a perfect Mom. I have many flaws but I'm doing my best and they know that I love them. I think in the end that is what really matters.

Mother's Day 2014