Look how cute my nephew is!

{photos by Aynn Thurman Photography. See more here.}

Success!

After eight years of marriage, I finally took a turn planning the anniversary celebrations! Way to go me. :)

So since we have been living out in Erda (near Tooele) in my Grandma's house for the past several months, I figured it would be fitting to find something local to do. I thought about what is unique to the Tooele valley. The Great Salt Lake came to mind, and instantly I had a plan!

I remembered my Grandma telling me about how she used to take trips with friends to the Black Rock while growing up. Back then the water in the lake was higher and Black Rock was a popular swimming and beach destination. Now the water has receded and nobody swims there anymore, but the rock is easy to climb and offers a great panoramic view of the Great Salt Lake.

So that's where we went!

First we stopped for some takeout from a local pizza parlor.

Then we had a little trouble actually getting to Black Rock. You can see it easily from the freeway, but it is not easy to see how to actually get there! But as we drove by we could see cars right by the rock, so we knew there must be a way!

{at the "View Area" we stopped at during our search for Black Rock}

Then we figured out how to get there and drove over to Black Rock to have a little picnic on the beach.

We shared a chicken alfredo calzone, ceasar salad, Italian sodas, and cheesecake with strawberry topping. Yum!

The weather was threatening to rain, and it did start to sprinkle a little while we were eating.

{rainbow over Black Rock}

But it cleared up just in time for the sunset!

Rob is leaning his head so far forward because we took a photo before this one but his head was too far back, so in this photo he is overcompensating and leaning too far forward! We did get a third photo after this one with his head at a normal angle, but I like the playfulness of this photo better. :)

We are on top of Black Rock in this photo, but it is kind of hard to tell.

So there you have it! I finally planned an anniversary! Ok, so it was really simple and not anywhere as elaborate or thought out as some of the anniversary adventures Rob has planned, but it was still a great evening. Now I'm off the hook for another eight years, right Rob?!

- - - - - - - - - - 

p.s. ... If anybody feels the desire to duplicate this evening, it might be helpful to know how to get to Black Rock so you don't have to waste a half-hour searching like we did! It's really easy. You just take the Saltair exit from I-80 W, then follow the signs toward the Great Salt Lake Marina, but before making the final right turn to go into the marina, continue onto a gravel road that goes straight ahead toward Black Rock. There are no signs, so it's kinda tricky. Just follow the gravel path for a little ways until you reach Black Rock. Off-road vehicle not required. We made the drive in our little two-door coupe. Happy Sunsetting!

8 years

That's how long we've been married. Long time! And yet not really that long.

Wedding Day, May 17, 2003

We've had some fun anniversary celebrations over the years, but looking back, it seems we have only done fun stuff every other year. And the years we did do fun stuff, Rob planned it all. Perhaps he was waiting for me to plan something on the other years? Well, I didn't. Oops! 

Anyway, here's a rundown of how we have celebrated in years past.

1st Anniversary: weekend getaway in Park City.

There were moose statues everywhere in Park City at the time.

Oh, and just so you know, Park City is dead in May! Not much was going on, and most of the shops and restaurants were closed! But we had fun anyway.

 

2nd Anniversary.......we probably went out to dinner or something. Probably at Ottavio's in Provo (which apparently closed a few years ago. Sadness!). We were still students at the time. I do remember Rob gave me a cotton artist canvas (because I had taken a few oil-painting classes at BYU, and because the traditional second wedding anniversary gift is cotton, and Rob's all traditional like that.) I think I gave him a t-shirt. LAME!

3rd Anniversary: Awesome downtown mo-ped adventure, 

Hike to Ensign Peak at sunset,

And dinner at a great downtown sushi restaurant. Oh, and Rob gave me a leather necklace. I gave him a leather belt and wallet. Again, Rob wanted to do the whole traditional gift thing (although I think that was the last year we did "traditional" gifts).

4th Anniversary: Dinner at Takashi again. Other than that, I seriously don't remember.

5th Anniversary: Rob pulled out another play from his book of How To Be an Awesome Husband (he doesn't really have a book like that; it's all in his head!) and planned a surprise trip to NYC! 

We had a glorious time in the Big Apple.

{More on our NYC trip here and here.}

Oh, and I was experimenting with dark hair at the time and was so glad when my natural color finally returned!

6th Anniversary: Our firstborn (and so far only) child was 5 months old at the time, and we had recently relocated to a new residence. I'll have to ask Rob if he remembers how we celebrated! (p.s. ... he doesn't. That makes two of us!)

a photo of our family from a California trip two weeks before our anniversary.

7th Anniversary: Dinner at Market Street Broiler (I'm pretty sure a gift-card covered the tab!) 

We sat outside and admired the lovely wood bench that framed the seating area, saying we'd love to have something like that in the backyard of our hypothetical house someday.

And now it's time for our 8th Anniversary. I guess maybe I should plan something for once! Kinda late to be thinking of anniversary plans......how unromantic am I?! Well, I'll let you know how it goes. :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ROB! Thanks for eight great years, and many more to come!

Zoo

Our desk is a real mess right now

Which is why I thought it was a strange place for Sara to choose to take a nap.
 

In her defense, she was only pretending.

Imaginary Friends?

Sara has a good imagination and loves to pretend, but sometimes I have no idea where the stuff she says comes from. Two recent examples with a similar theme:

While playing outside with the cat: "Boots is afraid of monsters. And the mermaids."

While playing outside with Daddy and going on adventures in the yard, "Kingdoms! Prince, mermaids, monsters.... Where are my peoples?"

Not sure what to make of it, but I too would like to know where her peoples are. Please let me know if you find them.

What happens when you leave a two-year-old alone with a giant bowl of popcorn?

You can probably guess.

If not, here's a visual for you.

She wears it as a hat of course! Isn't that what you would do?!