Manning Family Restaurant

(Rebecca thought she was curtsying here.)


I found an old Family Fun Kit that I bought a few years ago on Monday morning, and thought it would be fun to use some of the stuff to have a family restaurant as part of our FHE activity. First, Becca and I made a hat to wear. Rebecca made a sign that said "Manning Family Restaurant". I cleaned off the chalkboard, and Aaron wrote the menu on it and we set it next to the entrance to the kitchen. I prepared most of the food, with a little help from Aaron. Rebecca and Anson mostly set the table by themselves. Aaron acted as host and sat us at the table, and I acted as the server and got everyone their food. We had a fun time pretending to be at a restaurant, and we even wrote on the tablecloth! It had fun games and ideas to talk about while you wait/eat. We played tic tac toe, drew faces, and told an add on story - where one person starts, and the next person adds on, and the next one adds on even more. The story that ended up being told was about a little girl whose mother died (Rebecca started this one!), but she had a rose from her mother. It went on from there. Check out the behind the scenes footage of the Manning Family Restaurant!

I love Dates!

On Friday, Aaron took me out on a very special date! He surprised me the day before by telling me we were going to see My Fair Lady at Gammage and that we were going to get all dressed up to go. I borrowed my little sister's formal dress (I wanted to wear something new, and I wasn't too interested in wearing anything I had), got a babysitter, and we were off! I couldn't figure out anything to do with my hair, so it just ended up straight. We went to the Chart House restaurant in Scottsdale for dinner first. It is on a lake, and we had the perfect view from the window. There were cute little cottontail rabbits, ducks, and other birds on the shore to watch. We were definitely the most dressed up, but that was half the fun! Aaron had the Chilean Sea Bass (or something like that), and I had the Marsala Chicken (I wasn't in a seafood mood, unfortunately since this was a seafood restaurant!). We finished off with their signature dessert, the molten lava chocolate cake. YUM! Then we headed off to the theater. We made it to ASU right as the show was starting, so we quickly picked up our tickets at Will Call and found our seats. We had a great time watching the show. I LOVE musicals!!! We had so much fun on this date talking, and eating, and watching a wonderful show. I have the best husband EVER!



We forgot to bring the camera, so we had the babysitter take pictures when we got home.

Memories

Story Time...So, my friends did this on their blogs and I thought it was cute... so here we go.Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2.Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Sleepless Nights

The last few weeks I have been really concerned about emergency preparation. It is on my mind ALL the time. I can't fall asleep because my mind is always thinking about what I need to do to prepare for emergencies. Needless to say, I am now majorly sleep deprived. Luckily my kids have been very cooperative in the nap department lately so I can at least function somewhat normally with the nap.

The 2 main reasons I am concerned about Emergency Preparedness are 1. My new calling as Food Storage and Canning Specialist, and 2. Gas Prices.

1. All the sleepless nights began right after I received my new calling. Coincidence? I think not!

2. Gas Prices - As gas goes up, everything else will too. Anything that needs to be trucked in (most notably, food) will be way more expensive. It is obviously already moving that direction. Also, in the midst of the food prices going up, people will also be having to pay more just to get to work, therefore having less money to pay for the expensive food as well as extras! People will need to make more money to make ends meet, but the employers will be unable to pay any more. Everything is going to get more expensive.

Daddy and the Kids

Aaron took Rebecca to the Itty Bitty Fishing Clinic yesterday morning. It is a class offered by the Parks and Rec department. They didn't catch anything, but they learned about how to get the pole ready, they got a snack, and they had a fun time together! Afterwards, they took a look around the park. They played on the playground, checked out the golf course at the park, and made echos with their voices. Aaron made an appointment for Rebecca and him to go back today to go golfing. They went this morning at 6am. Rebecca got to drive the golf cart and learned how to swing a golf club.


We were a little afraid that Anson would start feeling left out with Rebecca having all the fun, so Aaron took him out last night while I took the girls to Enrichment with me. They went to the Airport first and Anson got to go inside a few of the planes. Then they headed over to McDonalds to play on the playground and share a McFlurry. Next stop was Blockbuster where they rented Bob the Builder. They stopped off at Fry's to get a free cookie and a few groceries. Then they were off to the post office to drop off some letters and finished off the evening at the gas station. Anson had a great time!

Too Funny!

The other day, Aaron's co-worker, Mike, was at our house. After working in the office awhile, Aaron brought Mike out to look at the speakers he bought us for Christmas. Then he asked Mike if he wanted to sing Karaoke. Mike said he only sings Karaoke when he drinks. Rebecca heard him say this, so she ran to the kitchen, got a cup out, and filled it with water! She ran over to Aaron with it and whispered in his ear, "I got a drink for Mike so he can sing Karaoke!"

Aaron

Aaron is a very social person. He seems to genuinely care about everybody. Sometimes it drives me crazy. Like when we are walking down the hall at church and he starts talking to someone. It is not just "Hi!" and "Bye!" It is a long conversation. I am a very impatient person, so I am ready to go long before he is. Even though it drives me crazy, it is also something that I really admire about him. Sometimes I wish that I could be more like him in this respect.

Aaron is really good about taking me out on dates. In fact, if I don't get my one on one time with him, I get a little crabby (ok, a lot crabby). These are pictures of when Aaron took me to Rockin' R Ranch about a week before Katie was born, and to Singin' in the Rain at Hale Center Theater about a month and a half after she was born. The flash reflected a screen on the other wall.

This is a picture of us at a mexican restaurant in Phoenix. We went out to lunch with Aaron's family to celebrate Margaret's, Christina's, and James' birthdays.

Aaron is the best dad and husband. He comes home after a long day of work or missionary service (he is the ward mission leader) and just wants to play with the kids and spend time with me. He takes Rebecca on special daddy daughter dates (after she fills up her nice jar with rocks), wrestles with Anson, cuddles Katie, and helps me pick up the house. He is the best swing pusher, my little pony player, and chapter book reader. We are so lucky to have Aaron.

Kathryn

Kathryn is our little cutie. She is very good natured, though she doesn't smile as much as Anson did. You can definately tell she is a girl by her delicate little features like her nose and mouth. She is already off the charts for her height (like Rebecca was).

Daddy's little girl. Kathryn tends to be pretty comfy with Aaron. She likes to sleep and cuddle with him.

Aaron and I took Katie to Las Vegas with us last week to go to a Barry Manilow concert. It didn't work out as expected when we found out that the baby couldn't go in because it was too loud for her. Joseph and Christina (Aaron's sister and her husband) came down from Cedar City on Thursday though, so that made it all worth it. I couldn't resist posting the picture of Uncle Joseph and Kathryn. They look so cute! The other picture is Joseph, Christina, and Katie.