IHOP and early Valentine's? Life couldn't be better.

Here's Elliott and I at one of our new favorite restaurants--IHOP! It's been on our list of places to go with each other for quite some time. The commercials on tv for the newest IHOP specials always tempted our stomachs--too bad they always came on during Wheel of Fortune and 11:00 shows on a Saturday night (very inconvenient times). I look a little pensive--maybe it's because I couldn't WAIT to eat as many pancakes as I could (four, by the way).

Hmmmm maybe it'll become OUR family tradition too! Not sure how, but I'm sure with our future big Mormon family of 12, the all-you-can-eat specials will come in handy (yeah right).

Valentine's Day came early for us this year. Not a problem since it came a little late last year! Elliott proposed to me on February 15, 2008-- the day AFTER Valentine's Day. He made me a book (the red one) off of shutterfly.com that was full of memories and pictures from when we were still dating. Unfortunately, the company lost it in the mail and ruined Elliott's plans to propose. Being the heroic, assertive man he is, he called shutterfly and demanded (in a very nice and civil way) that they make him another book and get it to him ASAP! They did and it was there the next day when he gave it to me. I had no clue I would be getting such an amazing book (much less a proposal). It was the best Valentine's Day present anyone could have gotten--but it got better. As I got to the last page, there was a picture of him holding an engagement ring with the caption: "Will you marry me?!" next to it was a poem he wrote for me. In a few short words I nearly died. It was overwhelmingly beautiful and absolutely perfect. This year he made me a "sequel" to capture our first year of marriage. Again, fantastic. He warned me that I might not be getting a book EVERY year but we'll see about that ;)

















Oh-- as for my gift to Elliott? I got him a cookie-making kit. Yeah, that's right.