Our Valentine's Day Getaway

I've been working hard to get the housework and laundry back in order since returning from the valley late Sunday night, but I thought I'd take a few minutes to blog about our trip...

We've been missing The Sanders' like crazy, since they moved over to the valley last fall. So you can imagine how excited we were to go visit them in their brand new townhome for Valentine's Day. As we pulled into their driveway, we heard a loud "TJ!!!" coming from a very impatient little girl in the backseat. The boys were so excited to see us, and we were overjoyed to see them! Vicki & Jordan's new home is beautiful and we couldn't be happier for the newly weds!

Friday, we spent the evening hanging out with the kids while Vicki & Jordan went out on their date. We enjoyed giving the kids treats and letting them stay up WAY past their bedtime as favorite Auntie & Uncle's always do!

Saturday, Vicki and I made a big breakfast for everyone and it was great for us to get a chance to catch up while the kids played together.

Sissie & her cousin Avery:

Big TJ & Little TJ


Valentines!!


Then we all headed to Portland to do a little shopping @ the Loyd Center. Vicki was on a mission to find her favorite Ralph Lauren Body Wash, Trav needed a shirt to wear to the show and Avery needed a new pair of tennis shoes. Here are some super cute mall pics:

Chicken Nugget Face!!


The Boys scored some Pirate Booty!


Our Little Shopper taking a break:


Auntie Vicki's Glasses:



Shopping with Auntie & Daddy:



After shopping we parted ways, Alyssa went back home with Auntie Vicki, Uncle Jordan and the boys while Trav and I headed to Eugene to catch Louis C.K.'s "Hilarious" Show.

On our way to the show


We found the McDonald Theatre, and because 'somebody' forgot the tickets (He thought I had 'em and of course I assumed he had grabbed them!!) we had to go to will call to pick up "new" tickets.





Trav and I had a blast walking around downtown Eugene before the show. We found this cool little vintage store having a 50% off sale and Trav scored an awesome new pea coat. We sat and enjoyed Jamaican Jerk Pizza and a couple Red Stripes at a neat little hippie bar next to the theatre.



The doors opened at 7 and show began at 8. After a few drinks in the lounge we found our AMAZING seats and waited for Louie to come on stage... As always nature called at the most inopportune time (5 minutes before the show was about to start!) so I hauled butt to the ladies room where I was discouraged to find a long line of ladies, none of whom wanted to miss the start of the show, I tapped my heel impatiently on the hard floor... Finally, I made my way through the line! 'Sweet, only 7:58, I still have time,' I thought to myself. As I hurried out, a seemingly intoxicated woman peaks her head in and yells, "COME ON LADIES, LET'S PEEEEEEEE!!!" It was quite the comical start to the most hilarious show ever!

I ran back to my seat just in time for the opening act. She was pretty funny, a little eccentric and somewhat annoying towards the end, but to be fair, I was probably just being a little biased, it was Louis C.K.'s "Hilarious" show afterall. And it was indeed HILARIOUS!! He had us laughing so hard our faces hurt! I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. His new stuff is just as funny, witty and brutally honest as his older jokes and we were, to say the least, very impressed!

It had been announced, (by Louie himself) that he would be signing autographs in the lobby at the end of the show, so of course I ran to the lobby CD in hand, determined to meet my favorite comedian! Trav and I stood next to the dude selling CD's and waited. A few minutes go by, I turn around and there he is, standing right freaking next to me, LOUIS C.K.!!! I was so star struck I didn't even know what to say! I don't really remember saying anything other than, "Oh my gosh, it's YOU!! it's Louis C.K.!! Oh. My. Gosh!!!" He was so cool! He autographed our CD and tickets, took pics with us and yours truly was the first fan who got to meet him!! Okay, I'm still pretty much on cloud nine over this. What can I say other than, it was AWESOME!! Hands down, Best Valentine's Day Ever!!

Silliness

We got some new snow over the past couple days and I've been fighting this cold all week. So I figured, better just stay inside today and find stuff to keep us occupied in the comfort of are warm home. . .

so, here's what we did:

Another beautiful day up @ the Mountain.

Well, Ash & I headed up to the mountain again on Saturday. It was awesome! It was another beautiful day up there, not as warm & a few inches of powder that we didn't have last time, which was great!

Ash is progressing really well! She didn't even have her butt sticking out the whole way down the hill this time. ;) I am also beginning to challenge myself again. I didn't hit a jump though. I ended up getting a lot of courage and then started talking to this kid who was also about to take a run at the 'baby terrain park'. Well long story short, he went ahead of me and I got to watch him totally wreck himself on the landing. OUCH! So when it was my turn, I ended up chickening out and bypassing the jumps. :( I know, I suck!

I did hit up Pine Martin and it was awesome, at first. It was like I had the entire run to myself. I was even able to go through the trees and find some untouched powder, then w/out noticing I merged into a black diamond run. I hit some pretty bad moguls going a little too fast and then caught my edge, big time! I had a brief make-out session w/the snow and got a little shook up.

But all in all it was an awesome day. Ash & I even stuck around for some live music and a beer at the Lodge. It was so nice to chill and reflect on the amazing day. Then Trav was kind enough to fire up the grill for us when we got home. We had some messy chili cheese dogs and a long soak in the hot tub, was the perfect ending to a great day on the Mountain!

My Extreme Hubby

Getting some air


Riding Backwards

The View:






Memories:

Our new Tuesday routine: 'Family Fun Story Time' followed by a picnic @ the park

Alyssa Belle & I decided to get out of the house for a bit today, so we headed to the library for 'Family Fun Story Time'. We've been wanting to go for a while now and I'm so glad that we did, it was great! Alyssa was the youngest of only 5-6 other children there, who looked to be around 3-4 yrs. old. We sang songs like "Bend your body, Touch your toes, Straighten up, & Touch your Nose..." It was so cute to see Alyssa start to really get into it. Then the story teller read 3 short picture books about elephants. We finished up with "If Your Happy & You Know It" Alyssa was given a stamp on each hand, which she was very proud to show off to all the other kids! :) They had markers set out and handouts for the kids to color. Alyssa and I stuck around for a while so she could color and socialize. I checked out the books I had on hold, then we headed to the park for a picnic. It must've been close to 60 degrees outside, which is bad for snowmobiling/snowboarding but great for Lyss and I to get out and play! We had a wonderful day and when we got home I was stoked to lay Alyssa down for a nice long nap. Now, I can't decide if I should get started on the dishes or curl up in the chair and read my book! :)

Weekend @ Grandpa's House.

Here are a few poor quality camera-phone pics from over the weekend. (Sorry my camera's on the fritz again) Alyssa had a blast with Grandpa & her aunts and uncles as always. She LOVES being the center of attention!!
About 10 minutes after we got there, my brother Brandon came out of the room with his arms crossed, "Anna, Nicole's not sharing Alyssa!" "Um Brandon, She's not a toy," I reminded him. "I know, but.. she won't share her!" he pouted. It was too cute!