Somewhere Old, Somewhere New (9-21-11)

Jeff's brother and his new wife live up in Logan, not too far from us. Jeff's week off was the perfect time to make a visit up to see their apartment.

Oh...and maybe we also had them watch Eli so we could visit the Logan temple. We'd never been to the Logan temple before and I love going to new temples. I have a dream to one day make a gallery wall in our house of all the temples we've been to. It's always fun to add a new one to the list.

We enjoyed our session and I was pleased to see Jeff even agreed to suffer through a mini photo-shoot after.

I'm so used to getting my picture taken with Jeff or Eli that I always feel and look very uncomfortable posing by myself.

I think it's the hands on the hips, but this picture of Jeff reminds me of him posing in pictures on his mission. Maybe I should have gone on a mission to cure my awkward loner poses.

I was a little disappointed to see the Logan temple isn't white, but it still proved to be beautiful.

We got back to a dance party in Bryan and Celeste's apartment. Eli seriously cried when he saw us. He had way too much fun with his uncle and aunt. And he may or may not have torn apart their house in the meantime. Thanks again, guys!

As we passed Chuck-A-Rama on the way into town, Jeff's taste buds were set. It had been less than a week since our last trip to Chuck-A-Rama, but Jeff still wanted more.

 I'm not one to make the same mistake twice. I made sure to get my mac and cheese this time around.

Bryan High - His smokin' hot wife, Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, Amen. (That's all Bryan wanted me to write, but I feel the need to elaborate. Bryan showed me this video at the restaurant and I didn't realize until I was halfway done with it how loud it was and that everyone in our section of the restaurant was staring at us. Anyway, the rest of the night we were quoting the Nascar prayer.)
Bryan Low - He had to balance doing homework and playing with Eli.

Celeste High - Watching Eli and Bryan go down the slide at the park together. The static from the slide made their hair poof out on the way down.
Celeste Low - Her apartment was dirty and her visiting teacher dropped by while she was watching Eli.

Sarah High - Bryan asked me what my high lows were as we were saying goodbye. I would have forgotten to ask them theirs and it's rare for someone to ask me my high lows first so that made my whole night.
Sarah Low - ...Bad mom award over here... I forgot to change/check Eli's diaper the whole night and I walked out of Chuck-A-Rama with a very wet baby.

Jeff High - Going to the Logan temple for the first time.
Jeff Low - He ate too much at Chuck-A-Rama

Flooded Family Dinner Date (9-17-11)

My "date" is really the kickoff of a weeklong date. Me and Jeff. Living it up while he's off work. Spending every second together in marital bliss. Okay, so he may already be sick of me but he wasn't when we went down to Draper to meet up with his sister, mom and dad.

And we finally got those Krispy Kremes we'd been craving on the way down. Heaven.

Off to a good start with this date.

I only felt like a little bit of a fatty after realizing we had picked up doughnuts on our way to Chuck-A-Rama.

When Eli got squirmy, Grandma was to the rescue! She has the touch.

Laura ventured out alone with all four kids! I have a hard enough time leaving the house with one baby.

After our bellies were full, we went over to Laura's to visit for a while.

And of course to hold new Baby Coleman. Cutie!

Eli had the time of his life playing downstairs with the big kids and staying up way past his bedtime. When Kaelynn came running upstairs telling me Eli was in her dollhouse, I knew it was sure to be a Kodak moment. I was glad I brought my camera after I found Eli being a life-sized Ken.

Thanks for providing me a date night Excell Family!

Jeff High - Chuck-A-Rama was the most high class Chuck-A-Rama we've ever been to. The food was surprisingly good.

Jeff Low - It rained the whole time we were eating and by the time we got out to the car, our front tires were half under the water and our rear tires were completely sunk. Jeff had to wade through calf-high water/sewage to get Eli in the car.

Sarah High - Seeing Coleman's cute train room. I should have taken a picture of it. Laura got an old book from D.I. and cut out some vintagey looking trains from it to hang in frames on the wall. Such a great idea for decorating on a budget! I already told her I'd probably be copying her idea.

Sarah Low - I forgot to get Mac and Cheese at Chuck-A-Rama. I weirdly love the Mac and Cheese at places like that.

End of Buzzy Season

The date started at Costa Vida. Eli and I had been sick all week and Costa Vida was the only thing that sounded good. Excited something actually did sound good, I informed Jeff of his dinner plans for us. I was disappointed after I got my food and realized it didn't look that great in person. I choked down an enchilada while Eli enjoyed my scraps.

Note: At Costa Vida we had a beardy and a make-uped, hair-did, smiling, happy Sarah.

After coming home, Jeff told me he had had it with his busy season beard. A beard is now traditional for busy season. I guess he doesn't want to waste his precious sleep time on shaving in the morning. But since busy season is finally winding down (!!!!), Jeff proclaimed he was going to leave the ranks of mountain man and enter the status of baby-face.

But what happened to me? I had a threatening encounter with a very intrusive bee and a shower was the only thing that could ensure I was bee free. So much for getting all dolled up for the date.

So after we re-got ready, we played an exciting game of Yahtzee! We were happy to find Eli has no problem sleeping through the clanking of dice.

One of my favorite parts of the night happened right after Jeff rolled a full house. He seems to get full houses all the time. So I said, "Dang! I have such a hard time getting a full house!" Then I rolled the die and got this beauty first try:

Bada bing bada boom -- first Yahtzee of the night! That Yahtzee won me the first game.

At the end of our second game, I was going for sixes and I was not having any luck. I ended up taking a twelve on them. Then Jeff said he was going to take a "0" on his Yahtzee space and I freaked because I forgot I could do that. So my last roll, I was banking on the Yahtzee. Let's just say I'm happy I didn't take that "0" after all!

I won the second game, too! Here's what Jeff did for 15 minutes after the game. He added, re-added and tried to figure out how he lost that second game. He was sure he had it in the bag, but that last roll saved me.

Sarah High - My last-ditch Yahtzee payoff.
Sarah Low - Need I remind you?

Jeff High - He gave me a few games to choose from and he was glad I chose Yahtzee since we haven't played it in forever.
Jeff Low - Losing to me. Twice.

A Double Date (9-3-11)

Jeff wanted to take advantage of my parents' satellite to watch the first BYU game this season. I took advantage of being in Bountiful and scheduled to meet up with one of my high school friends for lunch and call it a double date!

Melissa and her husband Kyle had just moved into a new apartment. We took a tour of their cute home and then we were off to Apollo Burger. Many people don't know this, but Apollo Burger is mildly  famous for their Root Beer and French Fries. And by mildly famous I really just mean Melissa loves their Root Beer and French Fries.

Melissa and I talked about her new job as a teacher while Jeff and Kyle kept an eye on the Utah State game.

And we did have a little fifth wheel. Who was kind of crazy because we attempted a booster seat instead of a high chair. Which quickly proved to be a mistake. But we couldn't find a high chair at the time. And it was only as we were leaving we realized there had been a high chair about six feet away from us the entire time. Oh well. My arms needed the workout after all those delicious fries I ate.

Jeff had a mini panic attack after I got up to refill my drink and sat back down on the end, leaving Jeff squished between me and Eli. He chose to remove himself from the table and finish his meal with plenty of elbow room. Again, this problem could have been prevented if only we had found that high chair a half an hour earlier.

We said goodbye to Kyle and Melissa (U of U fans) to watch the BYU game.

The picture below is for my brother Jacob. Jacob just got unlimited texting for the first time in his 30-something year life and he feels he has a lot of catching up to do. For the past three weeks, the whole family has been getting bombarded by Jacob texts. Including Jeff. So I figured Jacob would appreciate seeing the effort Jeff put into keeping their communication lines connected throughout the game.

Melissa High - Being the first double date on Excelladaters.
Kyle High - As Jeff was trying to get to Apollo Burger, he turned into the wrong parking lot. We could see our destination, but a curb blocked our route. Jeff didn't see this as a problem and plowed right over the curb. It only scratched the bottom of the car a little.

Jeff must have been feeling adventurous (or reckless?) because again on the way out we jumped another curb. And then again as we were parking to drop our double date off. Kyle enjoyed Jeff's...sense of adventure.

Jeff High - Finally eating at Apollo Burger because he's wanted to go there for a while.
Jeff Low - His moment of claustrophobia.

Sarah High - Hearing about Melissa's first week of teaching and seeing pictures of her classroom.
Sarah Low - The high chair we could have had.