Big Night Out

McKay and I PAID a babysitter for the first time ever (shocking, I know!) McKay sent me on a scavenger hunt all over north Dallas to find out where we were going for our anniversary.

(in rush hour, mind you...I was on the edge of my seat as we crept forward in bumper to bumper traffic) Eventually, we arrived at our destination:

The Melting Pot!

I've been wanting to go for years now. I was so so excited.

So delicious. So full. I didn't feel hungry until two days later.

Go Go Go Joe!

When I was 13, my Grandma Sandi took me to a U of R productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I've been hooked ever since. Of course I wanted to share the amazing-ness of it all with everyone I knew. When our community theater put it on the next year, I dragged my sister Lauren to see it. Unfortunately, the talent in a community theater production didn't quite make the impression I wanted it to (she laughed through it like I laughed all through Twilight, in a this-is-so-bad-I-can't-believe-it way).

So when I fell in love with McKay, I naturally wanted him to see Joseph (both men being important to me), but I had learned my lesson. You can't build up the awesomeness of a Broadway level Joseph and then have your would-be convert see a high school drama class production. I bided my time, and nearly five years later, it paid off. The Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth put on Joseph, and since the lead female was Broadway's longest running Belle from Beauty and the Beast, it met my standards. We left the babies with Grandma and bottles and ventured out for our first date night since Jamie was born.

It. Was. Amazing.

The hall is HUGE.

One of the great things about the show it that it is a very silly show, so each production adds funny things. Our show had:

• Jacob giving Joseph a Wii


• Potiphar being Donald Trump


• The country hoedown dancers pausing to shout out "The stars at night are big and bright..."

I wish we had more pictures, but the old lady ushers were a bit Nazi about their no pictures policy. Still, we snuck a few.

Afterwards, some of the cast came out to meet the die hard fans. We thought about joining them, but as you can see, no one came out in costume, and we realized that our seats were so far in the back that we wouldn't recognize Joseph unless he was actually wearing his amazing technicolor dreamcoat. As we walked past them, I heard a few teenage girls giggling over Gad. I laughed, but then I remembered being quite smitten with Benjamin myself at the U of R production.

We had a great night out, and I am glad to report that McKay liked it. My only regret is that I did not buy this shirt, or even get a decent picture of it:

It says "I am handsome, I am smart, I'm a walking work of art."

Cruise!

Well, we're settled in here in Plano, Christmas is over, we're off from the cruise, and I (McKay) am officially in the job hunt. As most of you know, I just graduated from BYU in Advertising, and am now looking for market research or advertising work in Dallas. I would be remiss if I didn't put in a good plug here: IF YOU KNOW ANYONE IN THESE FIELDS IN THE DALLAS AREA, PLEASE LET ME KNOW :-)

Whew! That has been the story of my week, so I'll write about more fun things. We just got back from our cruise to Mexico. Whoo! Went to Progreso and Cozumel for a 5 day cruise in celebration of my graduating last month. Took a lot of pictures- here are some of the highlights.

Katie was afraid of crossing the gangplank.

Bye Galveston!

We did the elegant night, where we met the captain. He was a very odd man.

Managed not to starve.

Went to some great shows. When Katie managed to stay up late (ya know, past 7 or so), she even came with me! A full day on the boat is tiring when you're trying to grow a little baby in your tummy...

Got attacked by towel animals every day. This one kind of scared Katie.

We stopped first in Progreso, where we decided to go to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. I could have spent all day here. They were just spectacular. We climbed the ruins till we could climb no more (and because the bus was leaving).

Me playing on the Ballcourt. They had to get a 4-9 pound ball into that hoop using only their heads, hips, and shoulders. Good thing I didn't play for real- the losers (or one of them) would be executed.

These guys were all over the place.

I can't say enough about this place or show enough pictures. How well preserved these ruins are and how detailed they are is just amazing. I was suddenly incredibly jealous of the "Book of Mormon Cruise" my parents are on, exploring some more of these sites.

In Cozumel, we rented a little 3 wheel scooter that gave us access to the whole island. Don't we look hot?

First we found a quiet little beach and did some great snorkeling on the coral there.

Then we hit the road to check out some more beaches. The whole back side of the island is just quiet, white sandy beaches.

We found this great spot of "swiss cheese" volcano rock that formed all sorts of caves and coves. The effect was really cool when the waves crash against the rock.

The water was just gorgeous all the way around the island.

Back on the boat, we unfortunately crossed through a cold front the last day approaching Galveston. I couldn't resist capturing some of the waves as we cut through the choppy water. Than goodness for Dramamine!

It was a fun trip. Nice to get away for a little bit, but it was fun to come home to Tyler, who had probably just written us off altogether. BIG thanks to Marie and David and Mom and Dad for taking care of him while we were gone.

This is Sir Reginald Dwight.

He has E. coli.

His Salt Lake City concert for tomorrow night has been postponed...until FEBRUARY.

We will not be in the state to enjoy his crazy glasses then.

Boo.

PS: Would anyone be interested in two tickets for the Elton John & Billy Joel concert, now in February?

Presents and Sushi

McKay's birthday was packed this year, partly because I love him, and partly because his previous two birthdays were overshadowed and forgotten by (1) Tyler's birth and (2) Tyler first birthday, and I feel guilty about that. So this year was mammoth.

Presents included:

snorkeling gear

for our Christmas/Graduation present to ourselves. There's no picture of the actual present because I was too excited about the next one, which was...

an accordion!

Now, I know you're all thinking what a strange and random person I am. But remember:

• McKay has always been fascinated by accordions.


• For the first birthday of McKay's that we celebrated as married people, I got him an accordion rental for a month, and he loved it.


• Every time we go to Ottavio's, we have to get a picture of Keith, the accordion player who works there.


• And everytime he sees one for sale, he gets this wistful look in his eyes.
  

So it was fate when I saw this just before his birthday.

Tyler also loved it, and was desperate to push the buttons.

That night we went out for sushi:

I love when McKay's birthday rolls around because our very first date happened to be on his birthday in 2005. It always reminds me how lucky I am to be married to him, and how much I love him, and how glad I am that that he didn't run away when he found out how old I was.

I love you!

Date Night

McKay surprised me with a fully planned date-night this week. Babysitter included! He's amazing! He wouldn't tell me where we were going:

Me looking bewildered. McKay looking sneaky.

I'd never been before, but Trafalga is a fun little date center in Orem with things like mini-golf, go-karts, an arcade, a 4D movie theater, and a food bar.

We golfed.
I was very bad at it.

We drove Go-Karts.
I look like a maniac.

We ate
some really, really frozen Dippin' Dots.

We played in the arcade
We won 700 tickets and broke two games.

We used those tickets to buy Tyler a bunch of toy cars to make up for abandoning him for a few hours. He promptly chewed them to pieces. We spent a good part of the next day being attacked with car pieces, and being shouted at "Uh-oh! UH-OH!" which means put it back together, pronto. This may be his revenge.