Thanks to John’s sweet mom and step-dad, who were visiting from out-of-state, and who for some reason agreed to stay with our kids overnight without bribery, John and I were able to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary without kids in Salt Lake City.

Let me just tell you what it means to have a night away without kids:

1. You can eat your dinner peacefully without having to feed other mouths. You can also carry on conversation without being interrupted.

2. You can do things that you can’t do with kids, like get a massage.

3. You can hold hands with your sweetheart because your hands aren’t occupied by your toddler’s or holding a baby.

4. You can sleep in.

5. You can sleep in.

6. Did I mention, you can sleep in?

At one point while walking the streets of Salt Lake City I turned to John and said that it feels like it did when we were first married–wonderfully carefree. No one to worry about except ourselves and each other.

Kids are priceless; breaks from parenthood are, too.

We took time to get a massage. Wonderful.

And–bonus–the massage place was right next to this treasure that I never knew was in Salt Lake:

The London Market.

I practically broke John’s arm, dragging him inside.

Oh, the wonder! Hobnobs! McVities! Cadbury chocolate! Clotted cream!

Things I haven’t seen since I lived in England on study abroad nine years ago. John graciously let me browse and come away with a package of McVities digestive biscuits and a mint Aero bar.

Then we walked outside and lo, and behold, right next door is this:

Elizabeth’s Bakery and Tea Shop

I mean, how could you not love this place? Just look at this:

And this:

Real English biscuits (cookies) and scones (biscuits)! Pasty’s and shepherd’s pie!

I was in heaven.

But we didn’t eat anything here, because next on our agenda was The Melting Pot.

Since we had never eaten there before we opted for their Big Night Out feast, which is basically a sampler of everything they offer.

First course: Cheese fondue.

John let me pick the type of cheese, so I went with the Wisconsin variety. We ate it with apples, veggies, and bread.

Second course: Salad.

Very tasty, but I didn’t bother snapping a picture. We both thought the cheese fondue and salad together would be meal enough. But there was more.

Third course: Meat entree.

They brought us a platter of uncooked meat, some veggies, and a pot of hot vegetable broth. We speared the meat and let each piece cook in the pot for about 2 minutes. There were seven dipping sauces to choose from. Overall, it was tasty. My favorite was the ravioli.

Last, and best, was the fourth course: Chocolate fondue.

We selected the classic fondue, milk chocolate and chunky peanut butter. We rated each dipping item. Our #1 pick was the cheesecake, followed by the pound cake, brownie, and marshmallows. Easily the best part of the meal. But don’t even think about how many calories it might have been.

After our food settled we went back to our hotel and swam in the pool. We asked for a room on a high floor looking south. When 10 o’clock came we could see fireworks all over southern Salt Lake valley. We sat in the dark and watched.

Morning came and I didn’t have to get up for anyone else. I opened my eyes, decided to go back to sleep, and I could. I won’t get to do that again for a long, long time.

Happy nine years to us!

Have I ever mentioned how I’m scared of heights? Actually, it’s more like a fear of falling. Even watching actors in movies come perilously close to a cliff edge makes me nervous. And flying in airplanes? Well, I’m becoming braver the older I get, but I still get butterflies.

So last weekend John and I went with friends to an indoor rock climbing place. It was our first time. We rented harnesses and got a lesson in belaying. This was a new concept to me. You work in a team of two. One person knots the rope to their harness. This rope goes all the way up to the top of the climbing wall, loops around a metal bar, and falls back down and is hooked to a special pulley on the other person’s harness. So you’re both attached to the same rope. As the climber climbs, the other person belays. This means he controls the amount of slack in the rope and acts as an anchor. If the climber lets go, he won’t fall far. The belayer ensures the safety of the climber.

But the climber has to trust the belayer. We started on the easy walls, where the grips are large and easy to grip. But the higher I got the more I found myself calling down to John, “You still got me?”

And he always did. I enjoyed the physical challenge of climbing. But I couldn’t stop myself from feeling afraid the higher I went. My friend Alicia gave some good advice after her first climb of the night (she’s also a little afraid of heights). She said, “I was as scared as heck, but I just kept going. I knew if I didn’t push through it, I would never make it.”

So that’s what I did. Pushed through the fear. And it was awesome to hit the high metal bar and realize I made it all the way. And once you reach the top you can sit back in your harness and let your partner release the rope and guide you back down to the ground. It’s like you’re flying.

The other nifty thing we did that night was try a new restaurant. We were going to Olive Garden, but it was packed with a 45-minute wait, and we only had 45 minutes to eat. So we walked across the parking lot to a Japanese place that we’d never tried. The hostess asked us if we were there for sushi or hibachi, which made me realize how uncultured we are, as I had no idea what hibachi was, but I knew I didn’t want sushi. So we said, “That other one.” And we were seated right away in front of a big steel grill.

Turns out that you order your food and the chef prepares it right in front of you, fresh. Call me nerdy, but I thought it was really fun. He did a little performing for us, setting things on fire and such, and tossing shrimp pieces into my mouth (I caught at least 50% of them). And the food! So good. John had NY steak and chicken, and I had filet mignon and chicken, and that it was so tender and flavorful. And did I mention fresh?

So I basically conquered the world that night.

Fear of heights? Check.

Ignorance of hibachi? Check.

Fun time had? Check.

Lately I have been grouchy. “Grouchy” is not a word I have often used to describe myself, but it is now. I attribute it to a consistent, annoying lack of sleep and trying to lose weight. Both those things together leave me emotionally drained, physically strained, impatient, discouraged, and certainly not my best.

I feel bad for John because he gets the brunt of my emotions every day. Poor guy. But he gave me some good advice: Count my blessings. (And “go to bed earlier.” Still working on that one.)

Last night I was hitting a wall of negative thoughts and feelings, had a headache and was tired, and was not at my best. I determined that instead of grouching about everything that seemed bad, I was going to count up the things that were good.

The first thing to make my list was John. He came upstairs as we were scrambling to get out the door for a family dinner and, while I was busy doing something else, asked what he could do to get Wesley ready to go. Blessing #1: John and his every-wonderfulness.

I can’t remember now everything that made the list that night, or what order they came in, but I know John made the list twice. I was at times grateful for a healthy body, good food, kids I love, and a bunch of small, almost trivial things. Taking a moment to recognize the good things I have made me less grouchy and more content with things as they are.

On a related note, lately I’ve been realizing what a treasure my kids are to me. It’s hit me more now that I have two of them. I always knew I loved Wesley, when we had just him, but multiplying one to two makes my awareness greater. They are so precious. I don’t have a lot of jewelry you could call costly; I think my kids are my gems.

What’s better than a swaddled baby?

Last night we went out for Halloween dinner with my sister and brother-in-law and a couple of friends at a buffet themed with pirates of the seven seas.

We made a new friend. (That’s a real person in there.) He was very scary.

And saw honest-to-goodness swash-buckling sword fighting.

And had some decent food with good friends.

They had lots of prizes to give away, but not a great turnout, so we all came away with something (a Ghirardelli chocolate gift box, in our case). We made s’mores by a fire on the deck, which was a nice break from the chilly mountain air. We had a good time.

On a completely different note, Wes is getting better all the time at repeating words and sounds. Here he is working on some animal names and sounds with one of his toys.

I’m not sure how I got started on this today, but I spent a few minutes re-reading journal entries around the time I met and started dating John. I was barely 20; he was 23.

It started with a sentence I wrote on August 10, 2001: “I have zero prospects for dating.”

Eight days later, on August 18, I realized John would be perfect . . . for my former roommate, Melissa. I helped arrange a group hike to get them together.

On August 19 John and I started talking. The next night we took a walk in the rain. I wrote that I was “still developing and defining my feelings” for him.

Then there was that group hike on August 23. I didn’t write much about it but I recall the day clearly: my former roommate and I spent the whole time catching up and chatting while John hiked a few strides behind us. Melissa and John didn’t hit it off at all. Darn.

The next day he asked me out.

So in 14 days I went from zero prospects in dating to an actual date with the guy I would marry. Not too shabby.

My journal entries are priceless accounts of the developing relationship. I can clearly see our foundation of friendship and trust growing into shy love, and then ripening into the forever kind of love.

I’m not trying to be overly nostalgic; I’m just grateful. Grateful we met and felt so happy together from the very start.

Sometimes we live every day with our best gift and forget how blessed we are to have it.

My favorite gift from John:

A special, very unhealthy but fast-to-make treat for breakfast, from “Recipes Old & New, Tried & True, from The City Beautiful Nauvoo”:

“Golden Puffs”

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

Stir with fork until mixed. Drop by teaspoon into hot oil and fry until golden brown. Roll in sugar and cinnamon. Eat warm.

Meanwhile Wes has been busy, helping with the present trimmings:

And his favorite new pastime, which involves cleaning out his room and dumping the contents over the railing at the top of the stairs. He must have run out of books after I took the video, because next he started emptying out his hamper of dirty clothes. Yes, every day I carry a big pile of stuff back upstairs.