DMU Winter Gala

First of all I want to say that I have the best mom and mother-in-law in the world!  We were so excited to receive Valentines in the mail from Grandma Frost and Grandma Stewart.  Thanks so much for always thinking of us, we love getting your fun surprises in the mail.

I absolutely love these little jeans that Grandma sent, aren't they the cutest thing you've ever seen? 

Last night Colby and I went on a "hot date" to the DMU Winter Gala.  The Gala is an annual event put on by Des Moines University.  It is a fancy event held at the Conference center downtown, complete with fresh flowers, great food and a live band.  In short, it is the best time that $30,000 a year in tuition can buy.

 We started out the night by having our friends the Jolleys over for appetizers and sparkling apple juice.  After our "meal," we put the kids to bed and headed out for the night.  A huge "Thank You" to my wonderful friend Brittany for coming over to watch our kids so we could go to the dance and another "Thank You" to my kids for behaving for her.

You couldn't beat the live band, their sweet hats and the chick with the 80's hairstyle and long leather boots. This is not the best picture but I had to include it because they were one of the highlights of the night.

Colby and I posing for one of many pictures.

After a while, Colby thought he had taken enough pictures of us- so we started taking pictures of ourselves.  Me and Lisa Nance got this great self portrait after a few failed attempts.

Natali Jolley and I had a great time eating, socializing and trying to talk our husbands into dancing and introducing us to their "school friends."

Lisa, Heather and I getting ready to hit the dance floor.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the terrific food, the huge chocolate fountain, the beautiful flowers or the many girls in the too tight, too short dresses.  We had a great night, but will we make it to the Gala next year?  I don't know if they will admit anyone over 30, but we'll see.

I Heart February

Eight years ago today, I made the best decision I will ever make.  Colby and I were married in the Salt Lake temple.  

Eight years, three kids, six moves, two Bachelor's degrees, 3/4 of a doctorate degree, ten jobs, one dog, three dozen fish, one motorcycle, two mountain bikes, one truck, two cars and one mini-van later...

I couldn't be happier.  Happy Anniversary Babe.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a great Valentine's day.  I started out the day with a  5K race.

Brittany and I ran the Red Flannel Run, it was cold but we had a good time.

I came home to find the boys patiently waiting to open their Valentines.

They were excited to find new sunglasses and CHOCOLATE!

Our sweet little Abbi celebrated Valentine's day with her first cold.  She was still a pretty good baby!

We spent the evening with friends, pizza and more CHOCOLATE! What a perfect way to end a perfect day.   I hope you all had a great day as well.

Our week in review

This post is not thrilling, but for Grandparents who live too far away,  I like to post once a week. Here is a review of our last week of January. 

The Big Dig

As part of the Des Moines Winter games,  there was a "big dig" downtown.  We took the boys to the event, where they got to dig in big piles of snow for prizes.  It was a beautiful day and the boys had a blast.

Can you spy Carter?

Unfortunately my camera battery died right before the dig started,  but I did manage to get this cute pic with the Nance's girls.

Date Night

I realized recently that I am never in any pictures, so I took the camera on our date night last weekend and made everyone pose.

Jason and Colby deserve the "fathers of the year" award for pushing the strollers around the mall...

Then they saw Scheels and had to make a break for it, leaving the babies with their wives.

Tights

This week I also discovered how cute Abbi's little legs look in tights.

I just want to squeeze those chubby little thighs.

As we've read about in one of the boys' books,  Abbi has "A Bad Case of the Stripes."

Achilles Tendon Rupture

Last, but not least, Colby completed his case study presentation this week.  (which I was forbidden to attend because supposedly I  "wouldn't look like a student" with 3 kids with me.) I did get to see the practice run and it was great.  And honestly, one time viewing these slides was enough for me!