Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is not a real holiday you say?  Well, give us an excuse to celebrate LOVE and we will take advantage of it.  (If we feel like it.)  This year we caught the Valentine's spirit and went with it. Something funny happens when you start a family of your own.  You would think with each new person your love would become more divided and sparse but it only grows!  We are over flowing with love (and little girl cuteness) over here so it seemed only right to share.  I started the Vday holiday by giving Dave a little gift and note each day from Feb 1 to Feb 14. We sent out Vday greetings instead of Christmas cards. Then, came the day of.  The girls helped make and deliver V-day treats (strawberry muddy buddies), flowers, and cards for the neighbors and dental office.

 Do you think they were excited about the delivery part?  :)

 Lizzie got an extra special Valentine's Day gift this year:  A new big girl bed!! Grandma made her a special quilt that matches her painting.  The specially designed little girl quilt has special meaning because I had a very similar quilt on my bed when I was about her age.  This is the modern version of it that I had for years and loved.  Daddy also bought each of the girls (and me) one beautiful rose of their favorite colors.  Lizzie-yellow.  Julie- pink. That Daddy (aka "Daddoo" as the girls sometimes call him) knows how to treat his girls well.

Next, we headed to a local nursing home to pass out  some Valentines that the girls made.  It was the perfect activity.  The old folks LOVED the girls and the girls LOVED going room to room introducing themselves, passing out cards, and wishing them "Happy Valentine's Day."  It was very reminiscent for me because I used to love my job at Manor Care Nursing Home working as an Activity Assistant.  Afterwards, we headed to the mall for some See's Chocolates, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, and the kids play zone.  

Later that night we got a babysitter. My hot date picked me up in a sleek black corvette convertible  AND he let me drive! (He made sure to let me know what a huge sacrifice this was.) We headed for downtown and ate at our favorite type of restaurant-Brazilian style Rodizio!  You can never go wrong with all you can eat, fresh off the grill, filet mignon; shrimp; sirloin; roasted cinnamon pineapple; bacon wrapped turkey; and an exotic cold salad bar.  Afterwards, we zoomed around town, hit up all our favorite spots including Sunny Side Beach, Dick's, Ballard, and the temple grounds.  I hate to admit this but we drove around town for so long that we decided we could squeeze in a bit more food so we stopped at my favorite dessert spot, BJ's, to split a pizookie.

This year we were VERY spoiled.  In years past we have kept things simple and had a great time.
Flowers, chocolates, sports cars, and fancy restaurants do not a Valentine's Day make.  LOVE, FAMILY, FRIENDS and SPENDING TIME together is the best! (Not that I'm complaining about being super pampered every once in a while)  :)