The McGraths

Friday, January 31st—Steve and I had a “Chinese New Year” date night, which I planned (it’ll be his turn next time). We went over to Pei Wei for dinner and ordered some Chinese food. We then went home, got Nyles to bed, then made a heart origami. We then played a game kind of like Mad Lib. We were going to watch Kung Fu Panda after, but decided to watch some TV instead since it was later than we thought. It was fun having a planned date.

Nyles playing the chopsticks like drums

Sunday, February 2^nd—we had our monthly McGrath Family get together. We normally get together every month and have dinner and celebrate birthdays, but we got a little off from the Holidays. Steve and I decided to get us organized again and get things going. We organized the dinner (cooked up one of our hams) then after dinner we divvied up who would be in charge of what month for the rest of the year. Everyone really enjoys getting together so we just needed to get them organized for the year.

Nyles helping me blow out the candle at our family celebration

Nyles loves stuffed animals! He had to give it a hug (at Lake's house).

Friday, February 7^th—We had the couple over we home teach for dinner (Matt and Jenny Jenkins). I put a pork loin roast in the crockpot and we made burritos w/ the meat. Jenny is expecting so she got pretty tired shortly after, so they left and we just hung out for a bit. Her birthday is the same day as mine also, so I made chocolate cupcakes for her on our birthday, and Nyles/Steve enjoyed some as well of course ;)

I had a free RedRobin hamburger for my birthday so we went and had dinner there one night. We were also planning to go up to Idaho over that weekend so we could attend Riley’s baptism and Wade getting the Priesthood, but unfortunately the weather was horrible and the roads were bad, so we decided not to go. I had a free breakfast at IHOP as well, so since we were home we went there are Saturday and invite Dave/Joann to join us. Nyles was a little cranky by the time we got our food, so Steve ended up taking him home to nap while we finished our breakfast. We then went back to our place and visited a little while.

For my actual birthday on Monday the 10^th since we weren’t driving home from Idaho I decided to get my hair done. We found a deal on Groupon for highlights, conditioner and a cut. I went over in the afternoon while Steve stayed home w/ Nyles while he napped. After I got back Steve went to class a little while after to take a test. When he got back home we invited Dave/Joann over and had pizza together. After dinner we put Nyles down to bed then visited for a while. I can’t believe I’m finally 30 now! When I look back to what I’ve accomplished in my 30 years I feel pretty good about things and definitely hopeful and optimistic of the future as well!

Not the best pics of my hair, but you get the idea (yes Joann and Steve forced me to take pictures).

As I mentioned earlier, over Valentines/President’s weekend we went up to the cabin. It was a lot of fun, especially the sledding (in my opinion). Steve and I made Valentine Card’s for each other the night before going up to the cabin. It was fun to show our loves through words and not just by buying each other something.

Friday, February 21st—Rose came over after we put Nyles to bed so we could go celebrate (our anniversary and my birthday, both a little late but better late than never). We went and ate dinner at Texas Roadhouse. We haven’t eaten there since I was pregnant with Nyles. We obviously can’t eat there anytime Nyles is with us either, since they have peanuts EVERYWHERE! Steve got some ribs and I got a yummy chicken salad. After dinner we headed back to our hotel and hung out. We had a nice big King bed I couldn’t even kick Steve if I wanted;)

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast was actually good. We got to make our own waffles and they had a lot of other assortments of things: eggs, sausage, yogurt, cereal, juice, milk, etc. We were impressed w/ their assortment. After checking out we had planned to go to the temple and do a session. We were located right in between the Jordan River Temple and Draper and since we went to Draper the month before we decided to go to the JR Temple. Well, when we got there the parking lot was PACKED! We couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere! People were parked in every little area possible and people were still circling the parking lot like we were trying to find a spot to park. We called the temple and asked if anything “special” was going on and they said no, just that the Oquirrh Mountain and Bountiful Temples were both closed. They weren’t sure how long it would be for the wait so we decided we chance it and go to Draper. When we got there it was pretty busy too but not in comparison to the JR Temple. We were planning to do a session but since we were now short on time (since we were supposed to be back at 1pm for lunch w/ Rose and Pauline) we decided to do initiatories instead. The women’s side was busy, it was about 45 minutes before I got in, but Steve got right in of course. It was still a neat experience which gave me time to read the scriptures and ponder. As we were heading out of the temple, the front desk got a call from the JR Temple saying they were turning people away and sending them their way. Talked about a busy day and a "nice" problem to have I guess.

After we got out of the temple we came back and talked w/ Rose briefly then Rose and I went to meet Pauline at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch. Rose said Nyles was really good for her. She said he slept in until about 7:30am (usually it’s 6:45-7am). She also said he was a sweetheart and played so cutely for her. Apparently he wasn’t shy or afraid of her, which is excellent! He also went right down and took a nap. This makes us excited to know he’ll “behave” for others. I’ll have to admit though, not seeing Nyles’ cute little smiling face in the morning was killing me! I couldn’t wait to get home and see him!

Pauline had a table for us so we were able to sit down immediately and order our food. We ordered some yummy lettuce wraps then got a couple cheesecakes to share. The food was great and so was the cheesecake. I saved most of it for Steve and Nyles though. Pauline and Rose had gift cards so we got it free per say ;) We had a little time after lunch so we went back to my place and hung out for a while.

Sunday, February 23^rd—Nyles and I stayed home from church since neither of us were feeling very well. We had already committed weeks earlier to go to dinner so we figured we should keep it. We went over and visited w/ a couple who used to be in our branch, Ashley and James Dunkelberger (she was my 2^nd counselor). They moved to Idaho and now are back. Ironically they moved the day before Nyles was born. They bought a house in Murray now and almost have 3 boys. They have a 3 year old boy, 16 month old boy and another boy due this month. We had dinner then visited for a while. It was good to see them again.

Monday, February 24th—Since I had the past 2 Monday's off, but more importantly since I wasn't feeling well, I took it off. I didn't get much sleep during the night so Steve let me "sleep in" until 11am. Nyles got up at 7am then back to sleep at 8:30am and didn't get up until I got up, so Steve had time for himself. We also took at nap in the afternoon for a couple hours; it was so nice. In the afternoon I was feeling better so we went to a park and let Nyles play. He LOVES being OUTSIDE and likes the water because he thinks fish are in them. I wonder whose son he is?

Loves the swings

And the slide

And exploring....

Back to the swings

He doesn't look enthusiastic but he liked this too ;)

His favorite was the water since the thought there were fish in it

Trying to see over

Pointing at the "fish" in the water (I don't think any fish were actually in it though)

Wednesday, February 26^th—Steve took Nyles to the Hogle Zoo. It was the last day of free admissions and the weather was beautiful so why not? Well, of course everyone else thought the same thing, so it was REALLY crowded! Joann, Ryan and Lynsie also went. They got to see some animals but it wasn’t the best experience since it was so crowded. I guess we’ll have to go back again, next time when I can go. We also officially filed our taxes, can’t wait for our refund!

Nyles and Lynsie ready to go

Steve and Nyles

Steve/Nyles and Ryan/Lynsie at the Zoo

Look at the bears Grandma!

Love his cute little head ;)

Monkeys....

The crowd, yikes!

Precious ;)

Lynsie, Ryan and Joann

Joann, Nyles and Steve

Just relaxing w/ his dog (the one he got from our Hegerhorst White Elephant Exchange) He absolutely LOVES it, even if it only has one eye. Thanks to whoever gave it as a gift :)

Friday, February 28^th—we had Matt and Jenny over again. We ordered pizza together, put Nyles to bed, and then I helped them set up a budget. Jenny has been stressed about how things will work once she has the baby in August and isn’t working. I offered to go over their budget with them and offer suggestions. I told them I’m not the best but I’m more than willing to help. Jenny got tired after a little while but Matt was really interested in the budget we set up. We got it set up and then they left. They want to meet again to look for other ways to save them money.

Nyles trying to help Steve shave.

He thinks the tongue scrapper is a razor and likes to "help" Steve. So cute!

He's trying to shave his own face now....oh man not already ;)

Nyles has been loving playing in boxes and coloring on them w/ crayons

Nyles is officially 18 months old! I can't believe how fast he's growing! He is so active and loves to explore everything! He is such a joy to our lives! We are so blessed to have him in our family.

At Nyles' 18 month appointment the Pediatrician told Steve that he usually doesn't like the 18 month appointments since kids tend to have "stranger danger" and don't like him. Ironically shortly after he said that Nyles went over to the Dr and wanted to sit on his lap. Dr Erickson then opened his door and told all his staff and the other Drs that Nyles went and sat on his lap. He was so excited that an 18 month old warmed up to him! Here were his stats from his checkup: