Our All-Day Date on Tuesday

We started out by going to the Temple. They have been doing construction on the front grounds of the Provo Temple, and now it is finished --and it's gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous. Fountains, walkways, flowers, and it's fabulous. There was a wedding party there taking pictures and my first thought was this --"Ah! They did this to up the chances of women choosing this Temple to get married in" --which really would not be a bad idea...

We were the Witness Couple (ummm...for those that are not LDS, ask me personally what this means...) and that was very special, since we haven't been for a really long time. It was a great session, and not too crowded.

We grabbed some Subway and then headed up Provo Canyon to Aspen Grove. After changing our clothes, we hiked towards Stewart Falls. However, since DH is an avid hiker and knows the area really well (side bar --I know the area really well, too! I've hiked Stewart Falls a total of 37 times now....) we found the side trail that takes you up to "upper" Stewart Falls. It was a crazy, slightly bush-whacking, uphill forever trail, but the end result was amazing. We ate our lunch right underneath (okay, a little to the side) of this amazing waterfall. It was better than the shade (DH's comment) to be in the spray of the water and it was so peaceful just being together. We didn't say too much on the hike (it was hard enough to hike!), except, of course, for my witty diatribes. :) But we didn't have to say anything to each other. It was just so nice being together.

After the long hike, we hiked into Aspen Grove Family Camp (where we both worked years ago for a couple of years) to get some ice cream. We ran into a couple of familiar faces and had some great BYU ice cream (no point counting that day!!!!).

Once we decided that showering was the best option, we headed home to shower and change. We then left our very reliable babysitter, again, and went to see "X-Men 3". It was pretty good! And it was an amazingly nice feeling to be in a movie theater. It has literally been YEARS since we've seen a movie in the theater. So nice. So nice!

Ottavio's Italian Restaurant was our last stop. Although I was conscious and very aware that the entire menu had ONE thing on it that I could probably eat, I chose instead to focus on portions. I asked for the box before I started eating my dinner, and it sure made a difference! As soon as that contented feeling came over me --WHOOSH! --into the box the rest of the meal went. It was a nice meal --and the hostess gave us a nice, private booth at the back.

And that was pretty much it. Not too exciting to some, I'm sure, but what a wonderful day! It was so calm and just peaceful --restful --content. To be with the love of my life for one whole day without any interruptions was something that we both greatly needed and deserved.

What was even better was that we didn't "discuss" anything. Not our marriage, not work, not callings, and only our children (just a little bit). This made the date so much better. We weren't trying to "fix" anything.

I highly recommend this type of thing to every married couple with small children. Take an ENTIRE day (during the week is best because then traffic, crowds, etc. will not be a problem) and just do things together that you would have done together when you were dating or before kids. It doesn't have to happen very often, but even just once a year is a start! I'm thinking this is going to start to be something of a tradition for us...

P.S. Women, this day was not my husband's idea. He LOVED the day, but it was my idea. So don't wait around for your husband's to think about it! You can plan something that he'll love just as much as you will ---GO FOR IT! :)