Feelin' the Love

We had a great Valentine's Day at our house, despite the kids having colds. The boys woke up this morning to find their presents: Madagascar 2 DVD, cards, and little stuffed guys that would giggle and say "I love you"

Ben and I had already exchanged our gifts earlier. He had flowers delivered to me at the house on Thursday so I would be surprised. He had been teasing me that the car was my Valentine's present, and that he would put a flower in my car on Valentine's Day. Instead, I got a whole bouquet!

I had told him that I wanted to get him a new alarm clock, with a dock for the ipod. He found one while he was out, so I told him to get it for his Valentine's Day gift. I also surprised him with a DVD and his favorite candybars.

We spent most of Saturday just hanging out in our jammies and watching movies. I would much rather stay home and take a nap than get all dressed up to go out and eat with all the other people who made the same plan. The boys got a surprise visit from thier Nanny who brought them some Valentine's gifts. She had gotten the boys each a red bicycle helmet, and a balloon, as well as some heart donuts and chocolate milk. Christopher really enjoyed the donuts, so we just let him go to town with it and gave him a bath afterwards. B loves helmets, and despite the snow, kept asking us if he could go outside and ride his bike. He wore his helmet off and on for the rest of the afternoon.

After a great afternoon nap, I started to make a special dinner for my boys. Ben loves empanadas, so we had to have those for dinner. Each year for Valentine's I make a red velvet cake. This year was no different, and B chose to add a "special" decoration of red sprinkles. Needless to say, we all went to bed stuffed and happy. I am so grateful to have such great guys in my life!

Discovery Gateway

So this Thursday night we made a quick trip down to SLC to get some things touched up on the car. We dropped the Subaru at the dealership and squished into the Mirage so we would have a vehicle to use for Friday.

Friday, after spending a lazy morning at my Dad's house, we headed up to The Gateway to kill some time while we waited for the dealership to finish up the car. We decided to take the kids to Discovery Gateway, which is also the Children's Museum. This place was great! There was so much for the kids to do and discover. We spent at least two hours there, and the kids didn't even do all the activities.

The favorite, by far, was the giant Beehive. It was filled with tons of ballpit balls that the kids could drop in tubes, crank up on pulleys, shoot up in tubes of air and more! After that, we headed to Kids Town where it was a replica of a little town, just kid sized. There was a play house, a farm, a grocery store, a construction site, a rock-climbing wall, and a water play area. Christopher absolutely loved the water play table, and was soaking wet by the time we left.

We headed upstairs after playing in the first level, to go out on the terrace where the kids could play in a real life-flight helicopter. There was a newsroom, with a green screen where you could practice giving a weather forcast. Ben had the most fun creating a track out of magnetic tubes stuck to the wall. He would build a course, and the boys would drop the ping-pong balls into it.

There were so many things to do at Discovery Gateway. I have to admit, the admission is pretty steep ($8.50 a person) but it was worth it, as you could really spend an entire day there.

After eating dinner at the food court, we headed to the dealership to pick up the Tribeca. It was so nice to be back in our "big" car, with the kids quietly watching a movie on the drive home. Hopefully, this will be the last time we all have to squeeze into a tiny car. I will leave that task to Ben's carpool :)

Sweet New Ride

As many of you well know, our beloved Subaru Legacy has decided it has had enough. Two days before Ben left for Pittsburgh, it died. While he was away, we had a friend check it out to see if it could be resurrected. During Ben's trip, he called me with some exciting news: he was getting a big raise, and the pay would be retroactive to October! It was such a blessing for us, and the timing confirmed to us that we needed to get a new vehicle.

Our friend was able to fix the car (a simple transmission flush did the job) so we could use it as a trade-in. After much online searching, we decided on the car for us. A 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca! We have loved having a Subaru, and we have always drooled over the Tribeca, but never thought we could afford one. We are so happy to have a new, dependable vehicle.

I am so extremely grateful for the financial blessings we received to help us out, and the timing, needless to say, was perfect. I am also so grateful for a husband who gets up every day at 5:00 a.m. to commute to work so he can provide for our family. Thanks Ben, for my great new car!

Take a look:

This car has an in-dash computer system with touch screen navigation. It also will play movies on it when the car is parked, and the engine is off.

Here is Christopher enjoying my favorite part of the car-the DVD player! It also has wireless headphones and a remote. The kids get in the car and request movies. They don't yell, hit, or fight with each other any more, which makes driving so much nicer for me!

This car is 7 passenger, so we can flip up the back row seats when we need to toss a few more kids along for the ride. Christopher and B love the car as much as I do.

We were very happy to find that we can still fit both cars in the garage, with no problem!