The BIG 5

Thank you all for your wonderful anniversary wishes! Many have been anticipating the details of our big night out on the town celebrating our BIG 5 years together...so, here ya go. :)

We sorted through tons of great ideas, and in the end we decided that Brandon would take half the time and I would take half the time. He said he wanted to plan dinner so it would take up most of his time. :) Tricky guy!

Dinner was at our favorite Mexican place here, Nuevo Acapulco. A tasty carne asada, warm tortillas, beans and rice filled my plate. Yummmm.....while we were waiting to eat we talked about and wrote down our top memories from our years of marriage. We happened to be sitting by the place where they store the high chairs. I did a happy dance each time a server came and took one to someone's table, mainly because it wasn't coming to MY table. It isn't that we don't love our kids...we do. We just also happen to love eating a meal without crayons accompanying us, or special cups with lids, or cutting and sharing our meal with every little person at the table. :)

Perfect meal...perfect company...perfect chance to practice Spanish. :) Our server didn't speak much english and I think she caught on that WE spoke Spanish, so that is all she spoke with us. It was pretty funny...



After that, Brandon took us on a trip to the mall. We wandered into the photography store and looked at coveted equipment, wandered the halls and ended up browsing a bookstore for the perfect read. I think we will stick with the library, but it was fun to get some good ideas for books we can read together.

Then came my turn. Initially, I had planned to stop and get dessert to go and then head to the beach and watch the sunset together. But we were both pretty stuffed still and the sun was going down quickly so we skipped the stop and went straight to the sandy shore.

Once at the beach, we set my camera up on a rock (sounds secure, right??) and I got to test out my new camera remote. SO COOL. Instead of using the self timer and then running to get in place, you just push a button on a itty bitty remote and say "CHEESE". THAT was fun to play with...

After taking way too many cheesy pictures of us, we walked on the beach and took in all the beauty around us (including a few dead fish. Yuck)

Brandon had to skip some rocks, of course....
(this pic below was taken with my little handy dandy remote!)

It was just so fun to be together...to have no place in particular to be, nobody else to take care of but each other, and no time limit.

Of course, I have to give an extra special shoutout and thanks to our friends Dina and Josh who babysat for us. Jenna has talked non-stop about them and can't wait for them to "come play" again. :) As lame as it sounds, we were home by 9:20 p.m...perfectly content with our fun evening out.

It was so fun to drive and talk, sit and enjoy each other's company, laugh and reminisce over memories from the past. 5 years seems TOO short to have been able to do, enjoy and overcome as much as we have. We have definitely been through some tough times, and rejoiced in some wonderful moments.

I am so grateful for Brandon...for the husband and father he is. Brandon was a great man when I met him. Even greater when I married him. I really didn't think he could get much better, but somehow he has proven me wrong.

Thank you Brandon for your patience, acceptance and love. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, dedication, and compassion. Thank you for countless times of watching the kids, staying up with me all night when I couldn't sleep, getting up with the kids so I COULD sleep, and taking the garbage to the curb every Tuesday night. Thank you for cleaning up my lost lunch when I was pregnant, for singing me to sleep, and for countless love letters. Thank you for making me a better person...and putting up with me when I am not. Thank you for going to school, being willing to work and provide, and showing our family the value of sacrifice and determination. Thank you for being willing to drive a mini-van, for watching chick flicks with me, and always being HAPPY when I go shopping for myself.

Most of all, thank you for loving me--through 5 car purchases, 4 moves, 3 pregnancies (and births), 2 states, and 1 lifetime.

I love you always...to eternity and beyond.

(p.s. this is from the pre-digital era and a scanner just doesn't do the actual picture justice...though, Brandon DID have a nice tan and made me look like a snowman bleached bride.)