Valentines Getaway!

Valentines this year was such a blast! Adam and I got away with friends and new friends up at Becca's Cabin on their family's ranch. Our hosts were great and we enjoyed every moment of it. Here are a few things we did.

 Snowmobiling! It was our first time doing this and we had a blast!

The boys went out on an extreme snowmobiling adventure while the girls relaxed with a chick-flick. They encountered neck-high deep snow, crashing into trees and rolling down mountain sides...Yikes!

Horseback Riding! This was pretty safe. My friend assured me I was in good hands and I had no doubts. The horse was gentle and well trained.  It was a great ride and I can't wait to do it again!  

I rode on Tommy, such a sweetheart. 

FOOD GALORE!

After the girls came back from riding, the boys had the most amazing dinner prepared for us! We had the most delicious steak, that for the first time, I did not want A1 sauce. We also had shrimp shish kabobs and green beans with sliced bacon and pine nuts. Oh my word, it was amazing. 

They followed up dinner with Cheesecake Factory Oreo cheesecake. Happy post Valentines Dinner! Thank you Adam for proposing this idea, and thank you to the guys that cooked it, one of them was an excellent chef that pulled it all together with the help of the others. ( I encouraged Adam to learn all he could so he could cook this for me again :)

We spent each night GAMING IT UP! Battle of the Sexes, The resistance: Avalon, Settlers of Catan and Telestrations brought us together...and our competitive sides out... 

EXPLORING!

 After Church we went on a tour of my friend's ranch. It is rich in history and the sites are breath taking. The ranch is about 6500 acres with lots to see. 

After the tour Adam and I jumped on the razr so we can go around and take pictures and visit the horses again. I love being out there, I could have explored all day. 

We fell in love with Becca's dogs, here's one of them. They followed us every time we would leave the cabin. They are as loyal as dogs come. We are SO tempted to get this mix breed.

So glad Adam brought his fleece. I don't have any outdoor cold weather clothes that fit me. 33 weeks today!!!

Horses are so majestic. 

We headed out Monday morning. Here's the crew! Kelly's (in the green) husband was missing because he had a conference call at the moment. Thanks for a great weekend and great memories guys and gals. And thank you Becca and Trev for having us. 

Back to the real world!

I'm grateful...

     I am so grateful for the blessings we receive. I've just felt an outpouring of my Heavenly father's love and mercy lately. A few things have happened in the last couple of weeks where I have seen God's hand in our life. The first has to do with our monetary needs. I started filing our taxes for 2013 and came across a startling realization. Our company had not been withholding any federal and state taxes for 2013. So, I was expecting a little bit of a refund this year, but that's not the case. We OWE the government thousands of dollars.

We're going to be okay, thanks to Dave Ramsey we saved for an emergency, but not expecting it to be this kind of emergency. It was still a big hit to our finances and very disappointing.

But, God takes care of his children. A week later, Adam comes home to tell me about a position that opened up at work. The head of the department reached out to him personally and asked if he would apply. Today, the official offer was presented and in the end, it was about as much of an increase in pay/bonus that we would've paid before any credits are applied to our tax return.   We are so grateful!

Lately I've been in need of something for my spiritual growth. Something where I can share what I know. I was thinking primary, because that has always been my favorite callings. I think children are so fun to teach! But they had so many people called to serve in the Primary already and I'm about to have a baby so I didn't dwell on it too much. Last night I met with a member of the bishopric and sure enough, they asked me to serve in the primary! I was pretty excited. It's just what I've been praying for. Those children have a lot to teach me!

One last thing. Recently I mentioned the Life Leadership program that we stumbled into. I love the things we are learning. Last week I called Adam on his way home from class and suggested we go out for ice cream, but he had a lot of homework to do and he had to pack for his drill weekend. I kinda hinted again..ICE CREAM, I didn't want to just come out and say it because I didn't want him to feel burdened or obligated or appear needy. But, he wasn't really getting it. After getting off the phone, I kinda teared up a bit, I'm pregnant, this happens on occasion lol. 

In walks Adam 20 minutes later with a box of ice cream. He explained "I got it! You were trying to signal to me you wanted Ice cream!" He had just been listening to a marriage CD from the Life Leadership program where The founder and his wife talk about signals/communication etc. How awesome right? We have talked about these things before but, sometimes you forget. Listening to these CD's and reading daily helps us remember these vital things.  

 Now, the best way to show gratitude is to serve others :)