why I love my husband

He makes the bed every morning (unless I am still sleeping in it when he leaves for work). I didn't think he had time this morning, but after he left, I went upstairs and found the bed made. How delightful!

fun project

Matt's nephew, Ike, turns five years old today! We sent off a (late) letter with a surprise game inside:

We made a memory card game with 20 two-by-two-inch cards on which we drew pictures, letters, and numbers relevant to Ike and his birthday. For instance, he loves cowboy boots. (See my attempt at matching cowboy boots above.) Matt helped include more "educational" cards with the number 5 (for how old Ike turned), the letters M and T (for Ike's siblings), and the number 17 (for Ike's birthday). 

Unfortunately, our markers bled through, so this morning I cut up some "Happy Birthday" paper and attached it to the back of the cards. (Ike is definitely smart enough to figure out how to game the system by noticing bleed-through marks.) I'm just hoping the paper is random enough that he doesn't start memorizing patterns that go together.

All in all, it was a very fun project--and made us more excited for the arrival of our own little boy.

growing grass

Thanks to Sandra, Matt's cousin, we got to grow some grass. As a table-top decoration. 

Here are the seeds,

here is the growing grass,

and here is the result.
We did give the grass a trim to keep things tidy. (Although I kind of like the modern-art statement of controlled chaos.)

second anniversary

Tuesday was our second anniversary (and my grandma's birthday, who celebrated her 85 years by starting a mission in the Family and Church History mission in Salt Lake). Matt bought me this GORGEOUS bouquet of long-stemmed roses to commemorate our two years. The piano was the most fitting furniture for this exquisite decoration.

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to celebrate that day because I had my first-ever pinewood derby (in which I lost all my heats).

We did celebrate yesterday by going to the temple, eating out afterwards, and then watching an amazing set of tennis at the U.S. Open in which Soderling gave Federer a run for his money. And we continued the celebration today by finding out that our baby, due on January 22, is a healthy boy.