~Valentines Day 2011~

Nick was in Brazil the week before Valentines Day, returning home right before the annual lovers holiday. I wanted to do some extra special things as a family to celebrate the special day since we were all very aware of how much we love each other and miss each other when we're gone. Sadly all our baby loves were super sad and coughing sick so we knew we would be spending the holiday weekend at home. I still wanted to do something special so I cracked open my chocolate cook books and found some yummy recipes to try. How do you turn those sad little sicky frowns upside down? Chocolate Heart Scones for breakfast! Yummmmm.

Then we spent ample times laying around, snuggling, and watching Veggie Tales. Alec and I also sat down together and made beautiful valentines for all of his classmates with valentine pencils, paper hearts, and tons of stamps and stickers from Grandma Shannon!

(Thanks for the Valentine supplies, Grandma! That package was so much fun! We spent some quality time making Valentines on more than one occasion. The kids loved it.)

I find that I tend to speak the Love Language of food. Okay, so food isn't really a love language, but it should be! I love making delicious food for my family, and am always looking for an opportunity to fancy things up. So on to our Valentines Dinner Menu....

(Knock-offs of the amazing food we would be eating at our favorite Italian restaurants)

(Notice the little hearts I tried to make with the powdered sugar?)

This chocolate cake was a huge success! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be to make, but it has to sit for at least a day in the fridge so you have to plan ahead. With homemade whipped cream and raspberry sauce. It's rich and delightful.

The next day we were still having a sick day at home, but it was brightened with a package from Grandma Lael!
(Thank you so much! You totally made our day and made us feel so loved.)

We may have been sick but we sure had fun and felt oh so loved.
Happy Lovers Day!