5th Anniversary

I can't wait until I get my camera USB cable back. My dad mailed it to me this past week and I should have it by Monday. Blogging is just more fun when you have pictures to add to it. But I need to get back into the blog of things, so here goes.

Toby and I celebrated 5 crazy years of marriage on August 1st. Yes it has only been 5 years, however sometimes it feels like 20 because so much has happened in our short life together. But through the ups and downs, I look back and know that I married the right person at the right time and he is my absolute best friend. We have our problems and differences, but he is such a great father and is my soul mate. I love him with all my heart!

I have been asking Toby for weeks what he wanted to do for our anniversary. He kept shrugging his shoulders and would say "I dunno, maybe we'll go to dinner or something". Time was getting closer and I guess I started being a pest about it. Well about a week before I started to get the idea that he DID in fact have something planned, but was being very secretive about it. On Monday morning I walked out into the kitchen and found a beautiful envelope on the fridge. In a pretty font it said:

"An invitation for Mrs. Vanessa ******* On this day the 30th of July, 2007".

Inside was gorgeous stationary with red roses on it and at the top it said

"Vanessa's 5th Wedding Anniversary Itinerary Celebrating her Marriage on August 1st, 2002.....prepared with love by: Your husband, Toby ******".

Anyway, it was all spelled out for me. I knew that Tobywas taking July 31 off from work, but didn't know why. He was sending me to a day spa! And not just any day spa, it was the same day spa where he proposed to me. That is another story in itself and I'll share that sometime. So this spa holds very special significance for us.

To make a long story short, I started my day (the eve of our anniversary) out at the spa getting the works. It was awesome!!! I didn't want to leave at the end of the day, but it was worth leaving to spend time with my sweetheart. Toby had it set up for my little sister (thank you Leighann!) to come up from BYU to stay with the kids that night while we went back to the same Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in when we got married. But before that we went to a REALLY yummy steak restaurant downtown. Waaaaaay good steak. It's always fun to get a little dressed up for dinner every once in a while! At dinner he gave me another gift. Actually it was an IOU for something he ordered but hadn't gotten yet. BEAUTIFUL diamond earings. I can't wait to get the real thing delivered! The picture was breath-taking.

Then it was off to the B&B. We stayed at The Inn on the Hill which is the gorgeous old mansion right behind Temple Square. So beautiful! Toby picked out a room that had a private balcony that looked right at the Salt Lake Temple. So we got to sit out there on a perfect night and sip sparkling cider (you know, Mormon champagne) and look at the Temple and the bustling city. It was so peaceful and serene!

It was so nice to get to sleep in at the B&B. No kids, no cartoons blarring, nothing but my aching bladder to wake me up! They sent a really great breakfast up to our room and again we got to eat out on the balcony. So perfect! At 9:40 a.m. we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple and it was a race to see who could say "Happy Anniversary!" at that exact moment. Toby beat me.