5 Year Anniversary

On June 29th it was our 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I honestly can't believe that it has been that long. It's amazing to see how much has changed in our lives since then. We bought a house, got Indiana, I graduated college, I quit teaching, we became parents, Brad has a new job, we have different cars, all the callings we've had in church, we have a 2-year old, Brad's in his 30's, my hair has been blonde, brown and everywhere in between, and so much more. With how much has changed it's crazy to think about what will be different 5 years from now.

This year Brad was in charge of our anniversary. Our first year we had just bought a house so didn't do anything big. The 2nd year I surprised him and we stayed downtown at Little America, which is where we stayed after we got married. The 3rd year I was a week 1/2 away from having Cooper and just ready for him to arrive so again we didn't do anything big. Last year I surprised Brad with a helicopter ride. So this year was Brad's turn. He did really well. He came home from work with flowers and a sweet card. He was even thoughtful enough and picked the same flowers from our wedding with the right colors and all.

Next he surprised me with this beauty. The picture doesn't even do it justice. We have talked about for a few years getting me just a band to wear. My wedding ring has a band but we soldered it to my engagement ring so I can't wear them separately. When I was pregnant I wasn't able to wear my ring towards the end. So he wanted to get something that I could wear when my hand swells (my wedding ring is really thick) or if I just don't want to wear my big ring for certain occasions. I wasn't however expecting it at all. He did awesome picking it out all on his own. It fits my right hand perfectly so I can wear it all the time even with my wedding ring. I LOVE it!!! The baguette diamonds are gorgeous. I could have killed him with how much he spent on it but I'm not complaining now that I have it! :)

The weekend of our anniversary was a little stressful. I was planning Cooper's 2nd birthday as well as getting ready for girls camp. Also my parents were gone to Wendover for the Kenny Loggins concert so we wouldn't have had anyone to watch Cooper over night. I had so much to do because I was going to be gone for a week and then get home and the next day have his party. Yes I did it to myself but I just wasn't ready to put something else on my plate. So for our actual anniversary we went pretty low key. We went and saw Magic Mike and then ate dinner at Happy Sumo. We were totally lame and finished before 9:00 pm. It was still a fun night. Brad informed me of a couple options I had for our anniversary after camp and Coop's party. One of them was to go sky diving. What on earth made Brad think I would do this is beyond me. I am terrified of heights and you couldn't pay me to do this. I'll give him the creativity factor! We are planning a trip to Vegas in the next month or so and this is going to count for our anniversary.

I honestly love Brad more today than the day I married him. We have matured and grown closer. Seeing him with Cooper melts my heart every day. I couldn't imagine a better husband or father. He is perfect for us. I appreciate all the hard work he does to provide for our family that allows me to stay home with Cooper. Not only that but all the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Cooper that he does once he gets home. No other husband does as much as he does for us! I am a very lucky girl! I love you Brad. I hope the past 5 years of marriage and 7 1/2 together have been as great for you! Happy Anniversary!!!

4 Year Anniversary

Wednesday (June 29th) was our 4 year wedding anniversary. It is crazy to me that we have been married 4 years. Time has really flown by. Our first anniversary we had just moved into our house, 2nd year we went downtown and stayed at Little America (where we stayed for our honeymoon), 3rd year I was about ready to pop with Cooper and we were patiently awaiting his arrival, and then there is this year. We have an almost one year old and we are so content with our life.

Technically this was Brad's year to plan our anniversary because I surprised him with our 2nd year anniversary and since we didn't really do anything for our 1st since we had just bought our house and 2nd we were getting ready to have a baby. But I came across an idea that I didn't think he could top so I took over. Brad didn't mind one bit. He hates planning this kind of thing. But next year is all him :)

For our big anniversary surprise I planned for us to go on a helicopter ride. I came across a City Deals coupon and jumped right on it. I kept it a complete secret from Brad for over a month. But I was getting too excited so I told him the Thursday before our ride. He was glad because he wanted a little notice once he found out what we were doing. He was so surprised and excited to ride in a helicopter. He had tried figuring out the surprise but never even considered a helicopter ride.

We celebrated our anniversary last Saturday since our anniversary was in the middle of the week. We started out with dinner at The Garden at the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Then we headed up to Woods Cross for the helicopter ride. I had planned it for 8:00 pm so we could fly around sunset but still be able to have light to see. I got so nervous right before we took off. It was a lot smaller then I had expected. It was just a one row and a little 3 seater. They asked who wanted to sit on the edge and I volunteered. I figured I would be able to see better rather than having to look over Brad from the middle. There were no doors on the helicopter so I was practically hanging out. I had to scoot my butt so it was almost hanging over the edge so the pilot had room. There is a 400 pound weight limit for the 2 passengers so they weigh you before and everything just to make sure. We even got to wear the awesome headsets like you see on the tv shows or movies. Right as we took off the nervousness went away. It was actually quite relaxing and amazing. The views are incredible. A couple times he tipped the helicopter so I could look practically straight down and was kind of just hanging there. It was awesome! We started over City Creek, then over the Capitol, the edge of downtown Salt Lake, over Rice Eccles Stadium, Immigration canyon, the pipeline and back. It really was so cool!!!

After the helicopter ride we decided to go to a movie. We used to go to movies about every weekend but don't go very often anymore. I figured since Cooper was already in bed we might as well. (Thankfully he drinks milk out of bottle finally!!!) We went and saw Green Lantern. It was a fun movie. Then headed home. We were out way later then we have been in a long time. We were both dead tired!

On our real anniversary we didn't do much. Brad worked all day and I went to lunch with some friends. Brad surprised me with a bouquet of flowers when he got home. I was so surprised. He never buys flowers (he thinks I kill them really fast but I've tried telling him flowers die quick anyways). I made dinner and was supposed to go play in a water polo game but I didn't feel well so skipped the game. But we had to renew our temple recommends before Friday because Brad's cousin got married and our recommends expired on Thursday.....lame!!! So we spent a lot of the night getting that taken care of. It was cool however seeing a sealing the same week and the same place that we got married. It brought back a ton of memories! I would say we had a good, very memorable 4 year anniversary.

Brad and I in the helicopter

All the amazing views
(click on the pictures to make bigger)

My beautiful bouquet (it is still fully alive and pretty)
The bouquet was called "How We Grow".....so sentimental :)

Happy Anniversary Brad!!!! Thanks for an amazing 4 years!
I LOVE YOU!!!!