Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day! Actually, I love all the holidays, but Valentines day was especially fun this year. Here's a recap of our fun...

Dinner Party
The Larsons hosted a Valentine's Day dinner party for a few friends. We had so much fun! Dinner was delicious! I was in charge of games, and I picked a few silly ones :)! First we had a 'Pairs Word Scramble' game. Bret and Suzanne dominated! Then we did an 'All Things Red' game. Those 2 were just to get us warmed up for the silly ones. Next we played the Candy Bar game. Each couple had to sit facing each other. They were given a candy bar that had to be unwrapped and eaten. The fastest couple won. Here's the kicker, you couldn't use your hands. It was a mouths only game :)!

Neal and Esther working on the word scramble.

Neil and Heather trying to get their candy bar open.

This picture cracks me up. It totally looks like Bret and Suzanne are playing the game, and Niel and Heather took a break to make out ;)!

Bret must have missed the part about opening the candy bar first. I think his competitive side kicked in, because he was eating it through the wrapper!

Me and Mark
Neal and Esther were the winners!

After that game, we played one called Stacks. It was so funny, and a little awkward :)! Everyone sits in a circle. When I read a statement that applies to you, you have to move a certain number of places to the right or left (move 4 places to the right if you have ever been pulled over). Some people move, and others don't, so you end up stacked on top of each other...hence the awkward part!

All stacked up!

gettin' cozy!

Thanks for the night of fun Larsons!

7 Days of Love
I did the 7 Days of Love for Mark's Valentine gift this year. It was really fun! I left him a note and a small gift each day for the 7 days leading up to Valentine's Day.

Day 1 was this 'I Love You Because' frame. We set it on our dresser, and when either of us feels like it, we can use the dry erase marker to write our 'I love you because' message on it for the other to find.

Day 2 was this 'Jar of Hearts'. When he got it there was only 2 hearts in the jar. The rest were hidden. Every time he found a heart, it was supposed to remind him that I love him. Eventually he will have a whole jar full of my love (sigh)! I was pretty funny with the hearts. He was in the shower, and his clothes were out on the counter. I put a heart at the bottom of his sock. I was busting up when he couldn't figure out why his foot wouldn't go all the way in his sock :)!

Day 3 was the 'Hint Box'. We each write down about 10 things we would like at any given time (some free, some inexpensive, and even a few big ones). Then if one of us feels like doing something nice for the other, we can just "take a hint" right from the box.

Day 4 was our fun night out with friends!

Day 5 may have been my favorite. It was called 'Tied to You'. Me and Bailey cracked ourselves up! Mark gets home from church about an hour after us. I taped this sign to the door coming in from the garage. He knew he was going to have to follow the string to find his surprise. What he didn't realize is that me and Bailey ran string EVERYWHERE through the house!

It's really hard to tell in the pictures, but there is string everywhere! I'm only showing pictures of a couple rooms, but it went through just about every room of the house :)!

Here's our bedroom. He was almost to the end by this point.

The string led him to the shower in our bathroom, where he found his note and surprises. He got a couple ties, pistachio nuts, and a white chocolate candy bar.

Day 6 was a Wild Wild West adventure. I left him a bunch of cowboy snacks and a note telling him that we had reservations in Jackson Hole to see the Bar J Wranglers on their opening night in May.

Day 7 was a silly Candy Graham that I made up. I left them through out the house so he would find them all in order before he went to work.

Valentine's Day
The kids found some candy and a stack of envelopes on the counter when they came down for breakfast in the morning.

There were 11 envelopes each. Each one gave a very small clue to what their present was. Here's what it said in each envelope:
1. Your Valentine adventure begins on...
2. Friday, March 30, 2012
3. at 8:00 pm
4. At the Jensen Grand Concert Hall
5. In Pocatello, Idaho
6. Center Section
7. Row Z
8. Seat 109/110
9. for....
10. Are you excited?

Their last envelope had Brian Regan tickets in it! They were pretty excited!

I had a present sitting in my spot too :)! There was a box of chocolates with a note on top. The note said he decided to go a little more traditional this year (but with a hitch). It told me that this was not just a normal box of chocolates, and said I had to follow the directions and I couldn't cheat.

I opened the box of chocolates, and the directions inside told me I had to pick a piece of candy without touching it first. Then I could pick it up, shut my eyes, and take a bite. I bit into a candy and found a small laminated piece of paper inside. It was a coupon for a romantic dinner prepared by him. All my chocolates have surprises inside! I was so excited that I wanted to eat them all right then, but decided it would be better to pace myself :)! One of two a day will be way more fun. I can't wait to see what's in them.

Funny thing about this...I thought he got online and ordered it. I assumed he could just type in what he wanted the coupons or messages to say, and that's how it showed up in the mail. The box of chocolates was sealed in plastic after all, and looked so professional. It wasn't until we were talking about it later that night that I found out he did it all himself! He burned a knife so it would be hot enough to melt a clean slit in the bottom of the chocolate, then put the message in, and smoothed it over. then he actually re wrapped the box of chocolates! How cool is that!?! I must say I was WAY impressed!

Happy Valentine's Day!