On March 21st, Darren and I went to Luke Air Force Base to watch "the most diverse air show in America." It was really hot but super fun!! I went to this the first year I moved to Mesa but have not been back since (they only do it every other year). One of Darren's dreams is to someday get his pilot's license so when I saw that the air show was going to be this year, I got super excited to surprise him with this afternoon date. I was able to keep it a secret for a whole month! It was hard at times but I'm glad I did it. I wouldn't even tell him the morning of. I just kept telling him what he could and could not pack (would be searched by Air Force personnel) and then told him to drive northwest. His guess was that we were going to a Spring Training game. He even put our gloves and sunflower seeds in the back of the car "just in case." When we finally reached Glendale he openly admitted that he had no idea what we were doing. YES!!! Success! I love when I can pull off a good surprise. When he finally saw the sign for "Air Show", he got this big grin on his face (not too much unlike the Cheshire cat) and gave me a big kiss.

Some of the performances we were able to watch include the following:

Air Combat Command A-10
Boeing PT-17
The Horsemen P-51 Flight Team
ACC F-22 Raptor (very loud and very fast)
ACC Heritage Flight featuring P-40, F-22, and A-10
BO-105S Helicopter (a stunt helicopter. It actually flew upside down and did flips in the air. One of the coolest things we've ever seen)
And finally...The Thunderbirds!

Valentines Day 2009. Just another amazing day with my husband. The one thing that Darren dislikes about V-Day is the fact that some people use it as a reason to do something nice and sweet and like he says "these are things I should be doing everyday anyway."

The day started out with Darren reading me a poem that he had typed up and put on a big red heart made out of construction paper. Here's the poem: "How Do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight for the ends of being and ideal grace. I love thee to the level of every day's most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for right. I love thee purely, as they turn from praise. I love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose with my lost saints. I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose, I shall love thee better after death." It was soooo sweet! I think I even teared up a bit.

That afternoon, Darren took me to Sports Authority and told me to pick out any tennis racket I wanted. It was a great surprise! We've been playing pretty regularly and the racket I've been using, while funtional, is a little outdated and has lost some of it's spring. He said he had wanted to buy me flowers but thought I might like this instead. It was a perfect gift and lasts much longer. Thanks again babe! :)

Picture of Darren painting my toenails for V-Day. One of the many sweet things he did for me. I had been saying for a while that I needed to get a pedicure or just suck it up and paint them myself, so later that night he came walking in with a bottle of polish. He did such an amazing job!! I told him he'd just have to paint them for me from now on :)
The story goes something like this (Darren can revise it later): He walks into the store and looks for the isle where polish would be. He sees a display of them and picks one up to observe. About that time a lady walks by. He says, "excuse me." She says, "oh...I don't work here." He says, "um....I just have a question. Is there a polish for fingers and a polish for toes or will this just work on both?" She answers laughing softly, "no...there's only one kind. It will work for both." He replies almost sheepishly, "Thank you." I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. Haha...I have to laugh to myself while writing this. He had no idea to what lengths he would go to once married. Fingernail polish for V-Day, girls underwear for Christmas. What will it be next? ;o)

For dinner we went to a place called Rustler's Rooste. It's on top of a butte at the foothills of South Mountain, the same location that used to be used as a hideout for cattle rustlers. It was a fun place. It looks basically like a 2-story log cabin inside, log railing etc, except that it was built directly into the mountain so some of the walls are stone. The lights inside were kerosene looking lamps on top of old wagon wheels. The salad plates were old, bent up mining pans and the cups were wide-mouthed mason jars. It was way fun and we thought it would be a great place to bring family when they come into town. Above all the day was great and we had a great time spending it together.

 





So for date night (about 3 months ago), Darren surprised me with a trip on the newly finished Light Rail. We drove down to the Park & Ride and then boarded the rail headed for downtown Phoenix. (I think Darren's favorite part of the trip was when he noticed that the tracks ran right in front of the Sun Devil Stadium) :) Once we got downtown, we went to the Arizona Science Center. It was super fun! I had always wanted to go but had never taken the time to.

Another activity at the Science Center. Two people sit on opposite sides of the wall, make a pattern out of the blocks and then try to describe the pattern to the person on the opposite side to see if they can recreate it exactly. This exercise is supposed to show the difference in communication: spoken and interpreted. It was funny! I would say things like, "put the blue triangular block "on top of" the yellow rectangle". On my side it looked like this but on Darren's side he put the blue triangle "on top of" the rectangle. What I should have said but didn't think of at the time is put it "above" the rectangle. The first round was a little rough but we got it perfect on the second. Maybe they should send couples here for newlywed initiation :)

Darren's idea of "putting away the potatoes"

Us in our new hats

Kim told me Santa used to leave socks and underwear in her and her sisters' stockings, so when I saw a big bin of undies at Kohls I picked out the three cutest ones I could find. No, this isn't a normal occurrence for me,...if fact it's the first time I'd ever bought girls' undies ever. I was even a bit embarrassed for whatever reason at the register and tried to hide them under other stuff as I gave them to the cashier. :) I wasn't sure about the sizes but I think they were a big hit. Direct quote from Tiffany "Yeah right! My butt is not fitting in those!"

We went to Auberry, CA to spend Thanksgiving with Darren's grandparents, cousins and other family. We decided it would be fun to go through Sequoia National Park/Kings Canyon rather than sticking to the interstate. Here's a picture of us in front of some gorgeous yellow trees. We loved it! Living in Mesa we don't get to enjoy fall colors until mid to late January. This first one was taken in someone's front yard. Darren saw this short tree/bush with all the leaves lying around it and insisted that I kneel down in the middle of it. It was difficult to try and get a good smile while looking over my shoulder to watch for the owner.