Fantasy Dates

I know it has been a really long time since I have written anything that doesn't have to do with our little Tace on this blog (since the first post).  The fact of the matter is that these past 8 months of our lives have revolved around Tace, learning to cope, and figuring out how to move forward without our little angel here.  However, there have been a few other things going on in our lives and I want to take a minute to share this fun idea that we have started.

Fantasy Dates.  They are great!  Bri got the idea off of a post he saw on facebook and we decided to implement it in our marriage.  So, once a month we go on a "Fantasy Date" and we take turns planning it every other month.  The rules:  when it is your month to plan the date, you plan something YOU want to do and take no consideration for your spouse's likes or dislikes.  Then the next month they plan something THEY want to do.  Sometimes it will end up being something that you both really enjoy, other times it may not.  It has been a ton of fun though because it has given us the opportunity to do different, fun things that we might not have done before.  And....it allows you to gain an interest, or perhaps a tolerance, for things that your spouse really enjoys.

So, here are our last 4 months of Fantasy Dates!!

April Fantasy Date (Heather)--UVU Ballroom Dance Concert

This is actually an old pic, but we forgot to take one while there!

May Fantasy Date (Brian)--Eating at a Sushi Restaurant

  

I did try it....not a huge fan sushi :)

And Bri loves it!

June Fantasy Date (Heather)--Racquetball

Bri plays racquetball all the time and is really good!
But, we have never played together (because I am not so good),
So for this Fantasy Date we played racquetball! 

It's a good thing he loves me otherwise this date may have been
fairly embarrassing for me.  Haha.  

July Fantasy Date (Brian)--ReAL Soccer Game!

ReAL Salt Lake vs. New York Red Bulls

I had so much fun with this awesome guy!

And we had incredible seats!! (Thank you Tanner and Kristyn Smedley for the tickets!)
The yellow box in the top right corner is surrounding us.  We had a great view!

And more to come as we continue on with our Fantasy Dates!

Giving Back

This Thursday, July 24, marks 8 months since we met our sweet little Tace.  His first birthday will be here in 4 more months.  For the past several months I've been thinking of different things I want to do to celebrate Tace on that day.  I want to establish some family traditions that will take place every year on or around his birthday that will remind us of him.

One tradition I want to start is making and donating items to the hospital for other still-births or premie infant deaths.  I know that the items we received from the hospital when we lost Tace meant so much to us and they are items that we treasure now.  I was so grateful to have a tiny outfit to dress him in and a small blanket to wrap him in.  The items given to us were made and donated to the hospital, and now I want to return the favor of providing something for others that meant so much to us during this trial.  These are the items that were given to us in the hospital:

Each year I want to donate either some blankets, some gowns, some remembrance boxes, or a combination of these items.  This year I have decided to make some little blanket/wraps for extremely tiny babies like our little Tace. Eventually I would love to learn to crochet so I can donate afgahns like the beautiful white one we received.  However, the blankets I am making and donating this year are little flannel ones.  

Here are the pictures of the first one I made.  I'm hoping to donate between 4 and 10 this year.

There is a little pocket to slide their feet into...

Then you wrap the edges and tie it closed.

The second one I made has a minky inside.

I am excited about this tradition that we are going to start and that it will give us a way to serve and give back to others as we celebrate Tace and the great example he is to us.