14 years of BLISS

This past weekend, Aaron and I celebrated our fourteenth wedding anniversary. What a wonderful man I have. Aaron planned a secret anniversary date for us (he is the romantic one) and luckily, we had lots of helpers because my mother-in -law, sister, and parents came down to run our huge garage sale and babysit the kids. The garage sale went great thanks to the expertise of Grandma Lynn. Brady really got into it and he made a great banker.

So after working the garage sale for half the day, Aaron took me on our secret date. I was expecting something along the lines of a nice dinner and a massage at a spa. We hit the end of our road and instead of turning left to head to Soldotna, he turned right towards Homer (about 1 1/2 hours away). Surprise #1. We enjoyed a gorgeous, sunny drive to Homer where we were able to talk without any interruptions, a real rareity. Once we got there, we had a few minutes to kill, so we went for a quick stroll on the beach; windy, but nice. Oh, I forgot to mention that when I got in the car, there was a nice card sitting on my seat. Aaron had also given me about 3 other cards the previous few days to say how much he loved me and to celebrate our temple sealing on May 8th. Okay, back to the beach. After we left the beach, he took me to dinner at one of his new favorite restaurants that I hadn't been to yet called Cups. It is very eclectic, but awesome food. I got a yummy pasta with all sorts of seafood in it (clams, shrimp, scallops, salmon, and halibut).

On the way to dinner, we passed the local, very small movie theater and all that was playing was the new Narnia movie. I got to thinking that we might be going to see that for some reason, so I asked Aaron if we were. He played it up saying that he was so predictable, and acted bummed that I figured out his surprise. At the end of dinner , I wanted to order a fancy dessert, and normally, he doesn't object, but he kept saying how full he was and that we should get dessert later. I suggested that we go to the end of the Homer spit to a great restaurant called Land's End for dessert at the end of the night. He was much obliged to do this new plan. Anyway, after dinner he wanted to go "look at the beach" again, so I new we weren't going to the movies. We drove into a residential area on the beach so I got to thinking, "great, what piece of real estate are we the proud, new owners of now?" We drove past a beautiful house called the Homer Inn and Spa, and I immediately new that we were getting massages, okay so Aaron is a little predictable, but I am not complaining!!

We were pampered with a 2 1/2 hour session starting with a foot soak and scrub, a hot towel body wrap where you are basically mummified in hot towels for 25 minutes (heavenly) and then an hour massage with hot stones. It was AWESOME! We were in a cozy little cabin, where we listened to the waves breaking off shore and the sea breezes rustling the trees outside as all our stress was massaged away, at least for a little while.

After the spa, I was anxious to get home to the kids, so I figured a quick dessert and then home. Aaron got a creme'brule and I got a rich chocolate cake of course. Before our dessert arrived, Aaron excused himself the "bathroom" where I thought he might have fallen in because he was gone for at least ten minutes, but I entertained myself by eavesdropping on a conversation of two crazy women sitting behind me, very entertaining. After he finally got back, we were enjoying dessert and Aaron kept saying he wanted to walk on the beach before we left. At his point, it was really windy, drizzling, and getting late. I said I didn't want to, but he was persistent. At the spa, I read through a little book about heart stones (hearts shaped like rocks), so I said we could quickly walk to the end of the building where I could look for some heart stones to remember our trip. It was freezing, but I found a few great heart stones, and as we wrapped around the building Aaron said to put the rocks down on the ground so he could go get the car. I didn't get it, and then I realized we were standing at the back entrance to the hotel, and I said "We are not staying here are we?" I knew better, but I had told Aaron previously that I didn't to leave the baby over night, so I really thought we were headed home. Nope. Once Aaron opened the door to the room, I figured out where he had been for those ten long minutes. He had placed pink rose petals all over the floor, the bed, and had another nice card waiting for me, the third of the night. He hasn't done the rose petal thing since he proposed to me, so it was very sweet.

I just love my sweet husband. The next morning, we got going around 11:00 am, and we headed out for a late breakfast. (I had another card waiting on my seat in the car). I have always heard about an excellent pizza place called Fat Olives, so I wanted to try it and luckily it had just opened for the day. The food was awesome and we will definately be going there again. We brought pizza home for all the family waiting for us back at the garage sale. Of course there were many more surprises in store for our "anniversary week", but I just wanted to share how lucky I am to have found Aaron at such a young age so we can enjoy a long, happy marriage together.

We were just babies when we got married, 17 and 19, and I am sure many people had their doubts, but I knew then, and I know now that Aaron was who the Lord chose for me before we were born. We were meant to be together and I am so grateful to have him as my husband and best friend. I love you babe!!

Sorry, for such a sappy, long post with no pictures. We forgot the digital so we bought a disposable camera and I haven't gotten the pics developed yet. :)

First camping trip of the year

This past weekend we took our first family camping trip to Deep Creek. We love going there to watch the kids play on the beach, the eagles soar through the trees, and the gorgeous midnight sunsets. We went with our friends, the Brewsters, Hansens, Ponds, and Masseys. Between everyone, there where 12 kids, 4 dogs, four 4 wheelers, and 1 boat. Needless to say, everyone had someone to play with. Dave brought down his daughter, Elle's new kiddie 4 wheeler. It was a big hit with all the kids, and I will send Dave the bill when we have to buy some for our kids. All the dads got to go fishing on Saturday for some halibut where they had a great time even though the fishing is a little slow this early in the season. We ended up with 5 good eating size fish and some sunburns. It was so nice to just sit by the fire and talk and do nothing. Alaskan summers are why Alaskans tolerate the winters, and I am so excited to get out play as much as we can this summer. Love to you all.

Kids are the best

Happy Mother's Day all!! Just when I was starting to run out of things to post about, I happen to look at my camera (we were going to soccer jamborees and were planning on taking some pictures) and I find these little beauties:

Of course, Chloee's face is filthy, looks like from some chocolate pudding and Doritos she also got into. Man, I really should pay more attention to my children, especially when it's too quiet. Chloee is my sneakier child, but always good for a laugh.

What a great Mother's Day weekend we had. My parents and Aaron's parents along with our two nieces, Addie and Sydney came down Saturday to catch Brady and Jaron's last soccer games for the season. Both boys did great and it was great to have their huge cheering section at the game with all the family. After Brady's games, the team had a party at Pizza Hut where they got their medals, made disgusting concoctions of various sodas, and had an all around great time.
Jaron's team finished much improved from the beginning of the season, but with the talent we started with, we could only go up. The kids did really well, and I am glad to say that our coaching days are over, for now. We finished the weekend with a great brunch with all the family. After brunch we took a drive out to our new lake lot (many of you might not know that we bought some lake property, but you do now). Aaron's parents hadn't seen our property yet, and it was on the way back to Anchorage, so we all went down to check it out. The ice is totally gone now, and the property is just what we have been looking for for the last couple of years. The only down side is it is not in our current Soldotna ward boundaries, but the Sterling ward is full of great people too. We hope to build and be moved in the next few years. More news to come on the exciting lake stuff, but here are some pics that don't do it justice.

This post is huge, I guess that's what happens when you don't post for a while. I just want to remind you all how much we love and appreciate you in our lives, especially you, Mom. You know I love you always!! Happy Mother's Day!!