Happy Mother's Day (A Week Late!)

So, I have good reason for posting this late...we were gone for Mother's Day weekend and then my very busy schedule has prevented me from blogging about our adventures until now. Oh who am I kidding, since graduation I don't do much of anything so I really have no excuses but I thought I should probably still pay tribute to Shaunelle and the wonderful mother that she is!

This year, I decided to surprise Shaunelle with a trip. She has been super busy with the end of year stuff at her school and I thought that she could probably use a break. I picked her up right after work on Friday and we drove to St. George where we stayed in my Aunt and Uncle's amazing "condo"... well that's what they call it at least but it is probably bigger than most people's house! For our blog's sake, however, we will just refer to it as "condo" from here on out, sound good? Anyway, we arrived Friday evening and, to our surprise, our friends Shea, Erin, and Calvin from the ward happened to show up shortly after us (actually it wasn't much of a surprise at all, just trying to boost your image of me...but really she knew all along). After a quick tour of the "condo" we got right down to business and had a romantic moonlit Polish sausage dinner on the back patio where Shea and I got to use the coveted outdoor kitchen complete with built-in gas grill. After dinner we wrestled the kids to bed and stayed up late (midnight!) watching a movie. For those of you without kids, this is truly a feat...Shaunelle and I are usually in bed by 10:00 at the latest every night!

The next day we all awoke to 90+ degree weather. Shea and I shot some hoops at the neighborhood basketball hoop while Shaunelle and Erin "caught up" (this is code for talked and talked). It was fun even though we couldn't figure out how to raise the hoop so we practiced our dunking skills on the 5 1/2 foot rim. After lunch, we walked over to the park where Jaimason and Calvin played on this cool little water pad, we played Frisbee and football, and enjoyed the nice warm weather. Once the heat became too much for us, we retired to the "condo" and decided to go out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. Now may I say that this was a superb decision and my stomach was well pleased with me after a delicious dinner...so for any of you on the fence just go there and you will be delightfully satisfied! By the time we had finished eating peanuts and bread, we were all too full for dinner, but since when does that stop anyone? We had a great time and when the ladies decided to go shopping, Shea and I decided to haul ourselves, now sluggish with slow cooked meat, back to the "condo" to catch the end of the NBA playoff game that was on that night. After again wrestling the little ones to bed, we enjoyed some quality time with the Wii and then played some good ol' Dice Delight for Family Night (great game by the way).

The next morning, Shea and I decided to make breakfast for Shaunelle and Erin. We made a heaping pile of french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, and, since we had no hash browns, a bag of french fries (I know what you're thinking...ingenious right?!). Needless to say, the ladies were very impressed and more than willing to partake of our feast. After loading the cars and cleaning up, we topped off the relaxing trip with a stroll around the St. George temple.

And now...time to brag! Shaunelle truly is a wonderful mother and wife to our small family. She has been such a great mother, in fact, that she won the National Mother of the Year Award! I was able to find a link to the TV clip so check it out: http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=qLi4tVB.j1ku9fM2CcBkEDE0MjUwNzM1&referred_by=16758588-ze.zQnx. She has sacrificed so much for us, especially lately as she has held down the fort while I have been so busy with school. She is so good with Jaimason and he is turning out to be a great kid because of what she does. So, thank you Shaunelle for all you do! I hope you enjoyed yourself and got some much needed relaxation!