Our First Anniversary

We celebrated our first anniversary as a family and a couple this weekend . We started it off on Friday night, exchanging cards with the children and eating the top of our wedding cake. Paul was a little leary that it might taste old and frost-bitten, but it was actually preserved very well. I had wrapped it in several layers of plastic wrap, 2 layers of foil, then packed the box around it with plastic grocery bags, and finally taped the box shut. All of us agreed that it was as delicious a year later as it was the first time around. We finished the evening with a walk down memory lane as we looked at our wedding pictures together, recalling the fun and memorable moments we had shared.

This one was Haley's idea... she took the picture too :)

On Saturday, we began our day together as a family at the Annual Children's Festival at Hillcrest Park. The girls had lots of fun making crafts and playing games together.

Then at noon it was off to Jeanna's second swim meet where she won a first place ribbon with her team in the 200 free-style relay and a second place in girls' 100 IM. Good job, Jeanna! We are so proud of your hard work! We have a future olympian in training!

After the day's festivities, we took each girl to a different friend's house where they were staying for a sleep-over, as it was now our time... Time for "Romeo & Juliet" to enjoy each other...

Paul & I thoroughly enjoyed the next 24 hours alone as we made one memory after another, enjoying one another's company surrounded by beauty in a multitude of different settings. We started the evening off as I surprised Paul and drove him out to the Benson's Farmstead B & B, where we had reservations at the Garden Tower Suite. After a leisurely stroll through the grass and a few kisses out in the garden, we proceeded to eat dinner in Anacortes on the pier, where we watched the boats passing by on the water below.

Following our delicious dinner, we took a breath-taking walk over the Deception Pass bridge. (If you're afraid of heights, you don't want to do this!) It's a dizzying height - suspended 600 feet above the rushing waters of Deception Pass - scary yet beautiful all at the same time!

We then drove over to West Beach where we sat on a log in the cool evening air, cuddled in a sleeping bag to stay warm, talking and basking in the warmth of each others arms, as we watched the sun set over the ocean.

We took the long way back to our hideaway, driving through the country side and recalling events from the past year. After our arrival back at our Garden suite, we laid on our backs in the cool evening air counting the stars in the beautiful night sky. We lay there for a long time, talking and reveling in the beauty of our surroundings while bats swooped over our heads, cats made their way through the tall flowers and grass, and a combine hummed in the distant farm fields. As the grand finale of our evening, we shared a candlelight dessert fondu, toasting each other with pink champagne while soft music played in the background.

The next morning we awoke late to a beautiful clear sky and birds singing in the trees outside our room. Our hosts graciously served us a delicious gourmet breakfast in the garden, seated at a table under a beautiful shade tree. We sat and drank in the beauty around us as we watched the robins swooping down from the trees, skimming along the grass looking for their breakfast. The fragrance of the flowers and the quiet sounds of nature around us was refreshing as we read the Bible together and began Year Two with Him as the center.

After we checked out, we took our time as we drove up Chuckanut Drive, along the banks of beautiful Bellingham Bay to Old Fairhaven, part of Bellingham's historical district. We casually walked the streets together, hand in hand, poking our heads into quaint little shops chatting and enjoying our last couple of hours uninterrupted. We stopped and ate lunch at a little Mexican cafe, Dos Padres, before heading back south towards home.

What a beautiful weekend we shared together - a good balance of family and fun with the children, and then romantic and intimate time alone as husband and wife. We are so blessed and overwhelmed by the goodness of God and our love for each other. We are looking forward to many more beautiful anniversaries - Romeo & Juliet with our 3 princesses together forever...!