10 years

Brian and I celebrated 10 years of marriage on Aug. 11! It feels like a real milestone, this hitting the decade mark. I will never claim to have a perfect marriage, because we are simply two imperfect people who love each other and are committed to each other and our family. Sometimes we make each other laugh, other times we make each other mad. At times there are tears of joy, other times tears of frustration. Above all, there have been many great memories and experiences that I am so glad we have shared. We enjoyed a quick but wonderful getaway, during which we discussed the past 10 years and some of the highlights, then speculated on what the next 10 will bring (Connor will be heading to college! Isabel will be almost dating! Lucas will be starting high school! Mason will be 11! Where will our careers have brought us? Where will we be living?). There is such comfort and joy in sharing this journey together. But enough of the sappy stuff.

Brian's mom graciously agreed to stay with the children (we've never left all 4 before!), and we are so grateful to her! By all reports the children were stellar and all had a great time. As did we...

We went to Breckenridge, and stayed at a cute little Inn, with lovely views-

We spent several lovely leisurely hours walking along the Blue River and around town-

Breck offers a FREE gondola ride from right in town up to the base of Peak 8, so we hopped on that and had a fun ride. At the top is a huge fun park -mostly geared toward children - but we had fun walking around. The huge snow piles continue to remind of the record snowfalls the mountains received this winter!
Views from the gondola-

A picturesque old building on main street-

The Blue River as it winds through town-

We had a gloriously wonderful dinner at Mi Casa (Best.Queso.Ever. And the tres leches cake was pretty sock-knockin' too), overlooking the river-

I had to show just how much I loved the place-

We went paddleboating on Dillon Reservoir, which was so relaxing, beautiful and just... ahhhh. Blissful. Brian and I both grew up with family cabins on lakes (his in the Colorado mountains, mine in the woods of Northern Minnesota), and we LOVE to be on the water. Some of our favorites past trip highlights include a whalewatching cruise in Alaska and taking a ferry across the Puget Sound in Washington. A dream is to someday have a cabin and a boat. One can dream.

Views from the paddleboat-

This is quite possibly my favorite boat name ever. EVER! I couldn't stop saying it (just ask Brian). You try. It's addicting.

We lunched at The Island Grill restaurant, overlooking the marina. We shared the blackened fish tacos - which were out of this world, and I do consider myself quite the connoisseur of fish tacos, with them being one of my all-time favorite foods), and the coconut shrimp with mango red chile dipping sauce - phenomenally good.
'
For our pirate-loving boys-

We shopped the outlet malls at Silverthorne for a bit, then stopped in Georgetown. I had read - on author Sandra Dallas' blog - about a new cupcake/cake shop that just opened in Georgetown, and ordered some anniversary cupcakes. When we went to pick them up, the owner had decided instead to make us a tiny wedding cake, filled with homemade raspberry filling. I was gleefully excited! Such a fun little something for our 10th.

The darling little shop isn't much bigger than a cupcake itself (totally stole that description from Ms. Dallas)-

Happy anniversary Brian! Thanks for marrying me. :) Love you!

Anniversary No. 9

Yesterday - Aug. 11 - Brian and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We headed to Boulder (did you know I have mad love for Boulder?) and dined at Pasta Jay's. Yum! It was a cozy place
with windows that opened up to a fun view of Pearl Street- (it is nearly empty because we ate early, but quickly filled up as we were leaving)
and amazing Italian food, including the pesto cheese bread-

Then we strolled the Pearl Street Mall - great people watching! - shopped, and had ice cream. Much fun.

Later that evening we slow danced to our first song from our reception, something we do every year.

Our gift was a new printer/scanner/copier, something we desperately needed. Our scanner died long ago, but we lived without it. When our printer went out, we had to take action. Since I haven't had a scanner in a while, I'm going to have lots of fun with it! My first scans: a few pics from our wedding day for your (my!) enjoyment. We were married in the Minnesota Temple. Wow, we look young. And Brian had A LOT more hair nine years ago.

8th Wedding Anniversary

On Tuesday, Aug. 11 Brian and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We couldn't get a sitter that night, so we went out as a family; we went paddleboating on a little lake, and then out to Cold Stone for ice cream.

On Friday evening we got a sitter and went out to a fun little Italian restaurant, and then spent the beautiful evening just walking, shopping and talking. I forgot my camera, but it was fun, low-key, relaxing and great evening.

Every year on our anniversary, Brian at some point in the day plays the song from our first dance at our reception, "Cowboy Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks (I used to be REALLY into the DC) and asks me to dance, and we slow dance to it. It's a fun tradition.

I seriously need to get some of our older photos scanned, but here are a few of us through the years-
Engagement:
Wedding, Aug. 11, 2001:
The Washington Coast, Oct. 2006:

A walk in the Minnesota snow, Christmas 2007:

Spring 2009:

Happy 8 years Brian! I love you.

7 year anniversary - recap and hike

Today is our 7-year wedding anniversary! We've had a great celebration weekend. On Saturday we got a sitter and headed to Boulder. We walked the always-entertaining Pearl Street Mall (an outdoor area with lots of shops, restaurants, and crazy, only-in-Boulder street performers). We ended up having dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I hadn't been there in a while, and opted for the fish tacos, which were divinely delicious. Fish tacos are one of my favorite foods, and they did not disappoint! After dinner we walked around, shopped, and got an ice cream. After the sun set, we drove up a road outside of Boulder (past Chataqua for those who are Boulder-savvy) and parked at an overlook (no, not that kind of parked), and then sat on a bench overlooking all of Boulder Valley. It was so beautiful, peaceful and quiet. And don't you think it's a gift in and of itself anytime you come home to a quiet home full of sleeping children?

Then this morning we took the kiddos on a family hike outside of Lyons, another fave location. We are a hiking family, and the kids are terrific hikers. Connor is a seasoned hiker and always does great, but I was a slight bit worried about Isabel, as Lucas has now taken over the backpack. She really did great. I carried her a couple of times (or as she says, "I wanna carry you!" - I wish she could sometimes), but otherwise she did great. The area we hiked has tons of signs posted about mountain lions and rattlesnakes, and I get a bit paranoid. Clearly Isabel caught on, because everytime she heard a noise she'd say, "Shhh! Everyone be quiet. Do you hear a rattle?" We ended up with a fun, snake-free adventure.

A brief look back to the beginning. An engagement photo:


And our wedding day:

Pictures from the hike. I love how Lucas is just hangin' in the backpack before we got going.

My favorite people in the whole world:
Pardon my sans-makeup-and-fixed-hair trail look:
The troopers:
Connor my handsome outdoor boy:
We rewarded the kids with a little cool-off in the river:

What a fun couple of days!

Thanks, Brian, for 7 years of ups, downs, laughter, tears, triumphs, failures, adventures, challenges, children, friendship and memories. I love you.