Dating

I wanted to write a quick not about the fun things Nanette and I have been up to these days. We have taken a renewing approaching to our marriage to make things more exciting and refreshing. What we are doing is "dating" each other again. Just like in the old days when we did everything we possibly could to win each other over. Frankly, it's actually been really fun.

So last Saturday, Nanette and I with the boys went on a date. Nanette planned everything and did a lot of work to make our date fun and relaxing. We first went to Arby's. I know nothing too exciting (maybe to you that is reading this) but I have been wanting to go there for the past few weeks. So Nanette paid for the meal and even filled my drink out of the fountain before I had a chance, which was cool. She then drove us to the Ogden River Parkway and took a nice walk along the river. Afterward, the boys went to bed and the best part our date happened, we played games. So what was exciting about playing games? Well Nanette made strips of paper with differing options within three categories. The categories included what we would wear, games we would play, and unusual places in the house to play these games. So for example we played Speed in our pajamas on the stairs. This actually makes for an interesting game. In the end, we did four different variations of games.

I just want to ensure that Nanette knows that I had a great time with her last night on our date. It was really fun. I appreciated every moment. I love you and thanks for an awesome time.

Picture of us at Katie's Wedding taken by our cool cousin, Suzy Carlson

Family Night with Raptors

So we actually didn't play with real dinosaurs. If they weren't extinct, Raptors would be one of the lowest on my list of dinosaurs to play with... but anyways... we went to an Ogden Raptors baseball game. They are a minor league pro team. The best part about the game was that it was free. Tracy called us up Tuesday night and said that they had gotten a bunch of free tickets. When we got to the game we realized that the only section we could sit in was on the far right and directly in the path of the sun's blaze. We sat there for a few minutes, but it was so hot, that the boys' cheeks were bright red. We decided to upgrade for only $3.00 a piece and we were able to sit in chairs and out of the sun's way. A bunch of people came with us including: Chris' mom, Paul (Chris' step-dad), Tracy, Tyler, and Breckston, Shanna, Calton (Chris' step-nephew?), Tavin (Chris' step-nephew), and Zac (Chris' step-brother). I forgot my camera and so the only pictures that I have are from my cell phone. They are kind of blurry, but I guess they will have to do.

Ethan... with a very flushed face

Ethan had so much fun running up and down the aisles and as long as we kept food in Logan's mouth, he was happy. Lori (Ethan's grandma) was even able to get a ball for Ethan, by asking one of the players. He was so excited. He loves balls! The Raptors won 11-3. It was fun to watch and so nice to relax and spend time with family. I love summer and being outdoors!

-Chris---and----Nanette-

Logan- so smiley!

Onto other news- Logan climbed up a stair on Sunday. I am so proud of him. He can also pretty much crawl now and he tries to pull himself up on everything. He is getting so big. I am so proud of both of my boys and love them so much!

Festivus of the Fourth!

We had a really enjoyable 4th of July on Friday. This is the first year in a while that I haven't had to work and so it was fun just to play. First we went over to Chris' dad's house and had a BBQ and Ethan played and swam in a little pool and went on the slip n' side. He is getting so brave and I am proud of him. Chris' dad lives right across from Lorin Farr Park in Ogden, which is where they have all of the Hot Rockin' 4th festivities. There were people everywhere. It was crazy. Chris' dad, Bob, helped build a car for the demolition derby and his friend, Mark, was going to drive the car, so we headed over to that. Ethan really loved the cars, but Logan got scared because of how noisy they were. Mark did really good for being a rookie.

After a while of that, we left and headed up to Smithfield to hang out with my family. It was dark when we got there, and so we immediately started doing fireworks. Katie and Aaron came from Wyoming and brought the fireworks. Now I know what you are thinking... but we behaved and they only brought legal fireworks. Well, at least that's what we thought. I am not going to confess to anything more, but I will say that it was the coolest (and maybe scariest) home made fireworks show that we have been to. After the fireworks we went on the back deck and laid on our air mattresses and watched a movie on a projector screen (that my cool dad set up!) and then we slept under the stars. It was so awesome, because we used to do that when we were little!

Chris and cutie Logi .... and me and Ethan in the pool

Tyler, Tracy, and Breckston... and Jason even let me take his picture!

Here is a video of Ethan on the slip n' slide. He is such a big boy!

A car on fire... awesome! As long as no one is hurt of course.

The whole gang waiting for the show.

Dad and Aaron lighting to fireworksKatie and Logan... his eyes were so wide the whole time.

Caleb, Ethan, and Naomi. Ethan loved the fireworks. He kept saying, "Pretty!"

My mom looked down and they were holding hands. How sweet is that?

Ethan finally fell asleep around 1 am. He doesn't like to miss anything!

Well, there was our holiday in a nutshell. I hope that every one had a fun day!