Scott's 32nd Birthday

Scott's birthday was 3 days after I got home from Paris. I got him a lot of things while I was on my trip but I knew it would be kinda crazy to get everything ready so soon after my trip. Fortunately, I wasn't  jet lagged and I had gotten some things done before I left. 

The kids loved helping me get things ready for Scott's special day. Milo was my baking buddy. 

Olive spent time making him cute cards and posters that she hung up around the house. It was the sweetest thing to watch her think of things to put on each one and how to make them special. She has a heart of gold and definitely deeply loves that dad of her. 

I'm always so happy when we have a day to celebrate Scott because he so deserves it. He is such a kind, generous, loving, thoughtful, funny, and just all around awesome person that I'm glad when we have days to tell him how great he is and how much we love him. We tried to make it a special day and I think he really liked everything. 

See Olive's handy work? Cute right?

Happy Birthday Scott! We were all so excited to celebrate!

Scott requested one of his favorite meals, Chicken Divan with salad, bread, and mangos. 

Here are his pile of presents. 

I got him this cool mug and pin from the catacombs. 

Milo gave him new golf balls which were a hit. 

 The kids were pretty excited about the caramels I brought home from Paris. 

I also got him the Hunchback of Notre Dame from Shakespeare Books. 

And I found him this cool jacket, some new shoes, and a few other clothes while in Paris. 

 Happy 32! On his Mayonnaise Cake. 

Something else he got just in time for his birthday was a new "smart" watch that can take pictures like this one he demonstrated for me while on our date to one of our favorite places Stella's.

Yeah we are cute! After dinner we went to another Scott favorite, a new Wes Anderson movie! It was a great night and I think he had a great birthday weekend because the celebrating wasn't over!

While I Was Away

As I would assume is normal, I was really stressed about being away from my family for almost two weeks. It was a lot of logistics and tons of preparation for me to make it all work out. I knew Scott could handle it all and he was so willing and wonderful about making this whole trip happen. But I was still stressed. I couldn't have done it without the help of Becca, she watched my kids on school days and took Olive to and from school. And my wonderful friends helped me as well with watching the kids. I am so lucky to have so much support! The saving grace in my mind was that Scott wouldn't be on his own with them for 14 days straight. Since our trip was the week Spring Break he was able to take some days off and go to St George for some of the time. It gave me so much relief knowing he would be with his family having fun and having people for the kids to play with. It couldn't have been better! 

Every once in awhile Scott would send me a picture of the fun they were having and I loved getting updates. I love this picture of these cute matching cousins at breakfast. 

While in St George they went to a place Olive calls "Crystal Cave" which was a really cool place that you could collect your own crystals. 

The kids had a blast hammering their jewels out of the rock walls. Olive still talks about it!

Then they apparently spent hours afterwards cleaning and preparing all of their crystals. It looked like tons of fun. 

I also got some pictures of Milo's antics. 

And Olive and Scott had a late night movie sleepover downstairs and Olive absolutely loved it. They watched Tooth Fairy and Olive told me all about it. Special time with daddy is the best!

Poor Scott had to try and entertain both kids on his own during conference. One the bright side at least he didn't have to try and handle Sacrament meeting on his own :) Scott did such an amazing job and I'm so grateful that I have such a great husband that made this trip of a life time actually possible. I couldn't have done this without him and he never batted an eye at the kinda crazy part of it all. He's amazing and the kids had such a blast!

Paris: the Goods

As I said before I brought home tons and tons of souvenirs. A lot of them were for my kids. I just couldn't help myself!

They each got a book. 

And Paris shirts. I also got them both shoes and Olive a dress for Easter. 

I got them these Parisian action figures. I especially like the King Louis IX. 

Here are some of the things I got myself. A cute table runner from the fabric district that says "Made in France",  a little tin house of Monet's house, a handmade cast iron bird, a cook book, Chanel perfume, an cute ceramic plaque from the Puce, and a blue glass bottle.  

Scarves of course! I bought scarves for most upcoming gifts that were coming up like birthdays and mothers day.

I got the Hunchback of Norte Dame for Scott and Les Miserables for me from Shakespeare books. 

I brought home Fleur del Sol and chocolate and soaps for my friends.

I also brought home lots of chocolate for Scott and me! The plate is a replica from the Musee de O'rsay and I saved my Laduree boxes. 

One of our favorite tv shows ended while I was in Paris and Scott waited to watch it with me when I got home. He is such a sweetie. But I made it up to him and brought him Laduree cookies home for some tv watching treats. 

Pairs Day 10: Le Train Blue

As a special treat we got to go out to a really nice French restaurant on our last night in Paris. I thought it was the perfect way to cap off our amazing trip. We reminised about our favorite things and laughed at some of our craziest adventures. It was a perfect, lovely evening. 

 

We wanted some authentic French cuisine and on the fabulous recommendation of Kelly we went to Le Train Blue inside the Gare Lyon train station. It is a turn of the century restaurant that is so authentic. 

Here is the view of the station from the door of the restaurant. I don't know why I love that in France so many cool things are in train stations. 

The inside was just as charming as I had expected. It was ornate and perfect. 

Our sweet waiter took a picture for us. 

One of the highlights for my mom was getting to try some of the French cuisine she had wanted. In one meal she had foie gras, escargot, and steak tartar. They were the biggest snails I have ever seen! I tried a bite of each of her foods but definitely enjoyed my lamb and potatoes more. 

Escargot. When in France right?!

Here is my face while eating it. In my opinion, escargot tastes like dirt and earth. But my mom loved it. 

This was our handsome waiter who is slicing my meat off of a giant leg of lamb. It was pretty surprising to see but very delicious. Afterwards we ordered desserts and left stuffed. It was such a perfect night.