5th Anniversary

April 12th is Chase and my wedding anniversary!  I can easily remember this date because we share the date with my older brother.  We decided to be married on his b-day while he was out serving a mission in Brazil...what a great sister I am.  He didn't get homesick at all. ;)  So you see, I don't easily forget this date, but Chase.....well, Chase just isn't very good with dates, so I used that to my advantage this year.

Chase has been busy with school and such so if I didn't bring up our anniversary I knew he wouldn't remember, that is of course if his parents didn't remind him.  And sure enough they didn't, but ONLY  because I asked them kindly to not remind their son about our special day...:) is that rude?

So they agreed and didn't ever bring it up.  I, for the record, accidentally scheduled a little party for Sailor and her friends on this day, so I do admit that I was reminded of our anniversary a week prior as I was typing out the little party invitations.  Regardless, I wanted Chase to remember on his own if it was going to be brought up in advance.  And now that the party was scheduled on our day, I knew WITHOUT a DOUBT it would slip his mind.

I started planning out the little surprise he'd wake up to Friday morning.

That morning I had 6 balloons out in the living room, but that wasn't anything new because I had gotten the balloons the day before, which he saw and assumed they were for the Sailor's party.  As I was walking out of the house for my morning workout I brought to him the first balloon.  Attached to it was a note that kinda read something like this:

"Good Morning.  I love you!  It’s been cinco years since we decided to ride on this journey of life together.  Yeah, Chase, it’s our Anniversary….TODAY. Did you forget??  I thought maybe that would happen. ;)  I’m at the gym, so once you’re ready meet me out in the dining room for a quick breakfast…we may be reunited with an old friend!"

The "old friend" was this little guy.  Darth Vader...but blue...(could not find one store that sells black balloons). Over 5 years ago when we were dating we went out for a breakfast date where a balloon maker made us a Darth Vader. ---thank you, Nate, for creating this masterpiece for me--- On this particular date years ago, I remember thinking Chase was incredible-- so genuine, fun, laid-back, and someone I wanted to marry.  

That was the theme of the day-  notes that described memories or moments from the last 5 years that impressed me or reminded me why I am really grateful for him.

After he read each note I included an activity that we would be doing that day.

1st was a little breakfast date at home.
2nd was our family "birthday" picnic at the temple
  -We started this tradition a couple years ago.  Because driving an hour away is not very convenient, we have been coming to the temple that's right up the road, which is under construction.  We picnic beside it with our pizza and cookie cake, which was the first meal Chase and I had together as husband and wife.  For obvious reasons, we picnic at the temple to help remind us, but especially the kids, how important our temple marriage is. Because we chose to be married in the temple we are sealed for time and all eternity as all as we are keeping our covenants. That is what we should be striving for, to be an eternal family. :)

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Too bad we will be gone before this temple is completed--it would've been incredibly close!

Sailor was excited to be singing "Happy Birthday" to our family. As I sit here and type this, I realize we should really fix that phrase to be a little more appropriate...

"birthday..."? :s

After our little lunch picnic, we headed home for naps and a little preparation time for Sailor's "Fancy Nancy" party.  Having this party on our anniversary actually turned out great because I stayed and spent time with Sailor and Chase took Seryn to the pool for some one-on-one time.  This was our 3rd activity of the day--to spend some one-on-one time with a child.  I know for a fact Seryn had a lot more fun with daddy at her favorite location than she would've had trying to follow me around at the apartment.  And Sailor told me multiple times how fun her party was and that she should have a "new 'Fancy Nancy' party.  Both Chase and I really enjoyed this time with our children.

Right after the party, we grabbed a little dinner for the kids, took them to a sitter, and rushed off to our dinner date!  Some alone time at last!  This was the next activity on the agenda.  I choose this place because we both enjoy BBQ and we had been wanting to try it out for several months now.  This location was a bit of a drive but worth it since we got to dine with sharks.  The tables are set up next to a big shark tank so it was a fun atmosphere.  Then outside there was a pond full of flamingos.  This date was very special to me because we were phone-free, got out our pens and paper, wrote out our future plans and goals, and discussed topics that we don't always  get to chat about when we are surrounded by our little kidlets--who enjoy interrupting us..all. the. time.  I couldn't have described a more nerdy, unromantic date, but it seriously was what we needed.

Once we started for home I let Chase read his last note and learn that we had a morning date the following morning.  This time I was going to let him choose the activity.  So 10 am we dropped the kids off one more time and we went to the pool and laid out for a while.  This was the best idea ever.

We then went to a local optometry office and checked out some glasses at their optical, which was a great time as well.  And to top off a wonderful weekend, we went to Cold Stone for lunch--by far our favorite spot to have lunc...I mean dessert! :)

We've had such a great and blessed 5 years; each year has been so different and unique. We've (I've) had (emotional,mostly hormonal) ups and downs, but our marriage (Chase and his patience) is what has held us together. Thank you, Chase, for your love and compassion!  I love you so much!