Anniversary Weekend

Chad and I have officially been married for one whole year! Boy, what a year it has been! Here are some of the highlights:

-Honeymooning at the North Shore in Minnesota. I loved being able to show Chad my happy place.

-Moving into and setting up our first apartment together.

-Finding out I was pregnant. And everything that comes with pregnancy...baby appointments, ultrasounds, hearing the heartbeat, feeling him move around, etc.

-Taking a marriage class together.

-Spending so much time with Chad's family.

-Attending a wonderful marriage retreat.

-Spending so many late nights playing games and watching movies.

-Staying up until 3am talking and snuggling in bed.

-Chad's promotion at work.

-Setting up house for the baby.

-Gaining deeper respect for one another as we saw how each other handled childbirth.

-Becoming parents to one beautiful baby boy.

There are so many other things that aren't really coming to mind. It has been an awesome year for us. Being young with one income, we've definitely had our struggles, but the Lord has really watched out for us. It has been so great for us to see His hand in all things. We've had our fair share of fights, but have learned so much from each one. We are each other's best friend. I couldn't ask for a better one. I can't believe how much my love for him has grown just this weekend!!! And with that, I will give you a recap of our anniversary weekend:

Saturday was our one year anniversary. Chad took the day off. We spent the day getting ready for our planned over-nighter Sunday night. We were getting really excited and did a lot of things to make sure it would be really special. That evening, we dropped Jarek off at my wonderful friend, Claire's, place and then headed to the Rexburg temple where we were sealed. We got there just in time to do sealings. It was so wonderful. We haven't done sealings since before I got pregnant. I'm getting teary eyed just thinking about the experience we had. What a wonderful way to celebrate our anniversary by kneeling across the altar from each other once again. And I'm pretty sure we were in the same sealing room! So wonderful!

After that, we picked up Jarek and ate dinner at Applebee's before we headed back to Idaho Falls. This is when things start to get interesting. I noticed as I was finishing my Oriental Chicken Salad that I was starting to feel queasy. Not a good sign. I was really not not feeling good when we went to bed. I woke up at 2:30am still feeling icky. I went to the bathroom and sure enough, I threw up! I got a little more sleep and then continued to spend the rest of the morning in the bathroom. So not fun! Luckily, I was done throwing up by about 10am but felt horrible the rest of the day. So, we couldn't head to Salt Lake! What a bummer! But, the hotel was kind enough to change our reservation for this coming Sunday. Hopefully nothing else happens so we don't have to cancel again.

Chad was so great all day long. I knew he was really bummed we couldn't go to Salt Lake but he didn't really let it show. He just concentrated on helping me feel better and making sure Jarek had everything he needed all day. I am so lucky! What a wonderful man I have! It really stunk being sick on our anniversary weekend but it really helped me appreciate just how awesome my husband. That's what an anniversary is all about!

Monday, we spent most of the day watching movies in bed. I was feeling a lot better but still had a sore tummy. By 2pm, Chad and I were both tired of being inside so we went for a drive, which was nice. While we were dating/engaged, we spent so much time in the car driving here and there which was a great opportunity to talk and get to know each other. We still love driving for that very reason. When we got back, we hurried to get things ready to have a former roommate of mine and her fiance over for dinner. We had a lot of fun with them. I am so happy for them! They are so great together and so fun! I'm excited to get together with them again!

And time for the pictures. We carved pumpkins with Lyndsi and Dustin last night. Chad and I have been so excited for it. We got a pumpkin for each of us and a little one for Jarek. We didn't get a picture of Lyndsi and Dustin's. Chad and I decided to choose really hard patterns and hadn't finished by the time they left! Anyways, here are our beautiful creations!

The whole family!

This is Chad's, the Headless Horseman. I think it turned out great!

This is mine, the hardest pattern in the book. Pretty ambitious for never going off a pattern before. I was really not happy with it until we lit it up. Now I think it looks great.

This is the other side of my pumpkin. After having a difficult time with the other one, I wanted to do an easier one to make me feel better.

And here's Jarek's! Jack, the Pumpkin King. I got really excited when Chad found the pattern online. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies!

So, as you read, our anniversary weekend had it ups and downs, but it really was a great weekend! I love my husband and I love my little man! I am so lucky to be the wife and mom to two such wonderful boys!