Saying goodbye...never easy

I said goodbye to a dear friend today. Sunday early evening, I received word that my friend Steve had lost his battle with cancer. I sat here watching the Superbowl with tears in my eyes, trying to stay composed. (I've mentioned him in previous post)

He's been battling cancer for a few years, and I've had the privilege of being friends with him and his wife, and teaching 3 of their children in church. I have loved this family for 6 years now. Its hard to imagine that he is really gone, and will only have his smile and hugs in my memory for now.

It was difficult today at his funeral, sitting kiddy corner from his family. His oldest daughter kept looking back at me and kept trying to smile, but all I saw were tears poor thing, I just wanted to reach out and hug her.

It was a very draining day, however it was a nice service. Lots of fun memories were shared, and many laughs. Steve will be truly missed by many people.



Steven M. Mott 1973 ~ 2010 MAGNA- Steven Matthew Mott passed away peacefully February 7, 2010 in Magna, Utah.He was born August 4, 1973 in Denver, Colorado to Paul and Marie Walsh Mott. He married Jennifer Blundell September 14, 1996 in Bountiful, Utah; their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake LDS Temple May 14, 2005. Steve was a loving husband, father, son, and brother, and he truly cherished his children. He loved spending time with his family, especially trips to Southern California and the ocean. He will be greatly missed by us all. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer; children, Dylan, Desiree, Aimee, and Emilee; parents, Paul and Marie; 10 brothers; three sisters; and many nieces and nephews.

He LOVES it

so the package arrived at our house today, and I was not home when he got here, so I didnt get to see his reaction (darn it). I got a text message as I was getting closer to home that he was crying, and that he loved the gift.
He has spent most of the evening either telling people about it, or raving to me about how awesome this gift was and how he's never gotten anything as amazing as this.

He was excited about many of the dates listed on the brochure. He is telling me that I should totally market this as a business or at least a hobby. He was convinced that it was a real business, and even thought for a minute about how mad I was going to be to find out some girl enrolled him in this "club" then once it was opened, he discovered that the some girl was me, and that I did all this for him.

I'm so glad that he liked it, I was really worried that he wouldnt like it as much as I wanted him to.

Breakfast date

Dennys was having their annual free breakfast this morning before our day started..... so we went to breakfast. (sorry, no pictures)

on another note: his "date of the month" should be showing up here today or tomorrow, and I'm excited to see what he says about it.

Date of the month club gift

okay, thought I would post pictures of the finished and completed product before I stuck it in the mail tomorrow to mail to our house. I'm so excited for him to see it. I hope it goes over as well as it does in my head.

Its going to be presented in a nice folder



inside will be the brochures I made





and then there is also the Date card, on which he will tell me what dates and staycations he wants to do..... also February's dates are already planned for him, and there is a flier and a gift card for those dates in the folder.

Don's gift

I got an idea after reading a friends blog.. which took me to another blog, and finally landed me on yet another blog. It was this last blog that really got me thinking, and got me excited to mix the ideas from that first two blogs with the last ones.

so my idea is going something like this....
http://loveactually-blogboutique.blogspot.com/2010/01/date-of-month-club-digital-kit.html

My goal is 2 dates per month minimum. He will get to choose what those dates are and which months. (with the exception of February- I've chosen those already)
I'm getting mine put together now. See the pictures below of my final project.
first I got all my ideas together on paper, and on the computer (including an idea of cost)
then I started typing it up into a brochure style. typing up his "membership letter" which will explain what he gets to choose from.
I've included a page with each month labeled, then he will write what dates or "staycation" he wants to do. (he can choose 4- 1 per quarter)
my staycations include:
*B&B (I'll create a B& B right here at home)
*Camping (I'll set up the tent trailer outside, and we'll cook and everything outside)
*Mountian adventure (drive up to the mountains, see the leaves change, or picnic or hike)
*Utah State Fair (pretty self explanatory)
*Vegas (this again will be at home. I have a couples only casino kit (dice, cards, and rules to play some steamy vegas games) we'll have a fancy dinner, rent a vegas movie like 21, or honeymoon in vegas, or maybe a vegas style "show"
*lava hot springs (one of our favorite getaways, and its close enough to make this a real overnight outting)

all of this will be boxed and sent through the mail (yes, I'm having this sent) the business (return adderss) will be "date of the month club" po box 143
I love you, Utah 84047
I cant wait for him to get this package in the mail and see what kind of fun dates we will be going on this year.








http://www.simplymodernmom.com/2010/01/project-52-date-nights-announcement/

another great site

check out this site..... I've added a button to my blog.... (its over there on the left)
TONS and TONS and TONS of fun ideas to get the romance back in your relationship without the cost.

Fun Valentines or other gift idea

My Mix of Six: Husband Gift Idea
I was told about a fun gift idea from a friends blog....
This allows you to give your Husband/boyfriend a gift that you yourself can benefit from too. a full year of dates. Takes the guess work out of the situation for the guys, and you both get a great night out.
You dont have to spend tons of money on these, just have fun together.

you basically put a date idea into an envelope for each month of the year. The above blog, has gift cards and other things in her envelopes... My friend Summer has created really adorable cards, with love poems and quotes with her "date" idea.

some ideas I have started to put together are: dinner theater tickets, symphony tickets, dinner and a movie, picnics in the mountains, overnight camping trips, free concert series in town, game nights at home...etc... I cant wait to get the finishing touches all put together and give this to Don.