Anniversary Adventures

3 years! Wow, what a fun ride we've had. This year's anniversary celebration extended over two days. On our actual anniversary, we spent all day sending each other mushy love notes, and for dinner, Ryan BBQ'd up some of his famous, DELICIOUS steaks....in the snow. I didn't have to babysit Joel that day, so Lilly and I went out shopping during the day. Once she was in bed that night, Ryan and I just took it easy in bed. We popped in Red 2 (not really a fan), and then talked for most of the night. All-in-all, it was a very relaxed, enjoyable day. Here is a cute blurb from Ryan's love note...

"Thank you for Lilly. She is magic and wonder. She is you. She is me. I suspect that even if I thank you every day for the rest of my life, I will never be able to adequately express my gratitude to you for helping me to become a father to such a beautiful child."

And, because I know someone is thinking it, what did we get each other for the traditional anniversary gifts? Well, this year was leather. Bleh, too hard! I ended up getting Ryan a pair of shoes that he really wanted. Trust me, I spent what felt like weeks looking around online for something geeky and leather, but apparently the combo just doesn't exist. Ryan just decided to forget the leather, and got me a custom puzzle of the picture from the date where we had our first kiss. He also got me a fondue pot, since we were going to be celebrating at The Melting Pot. I guess I'm okay with diverting from tradition. Ha!

The actual partying happened last night. Ryan's friends treated us to a dinner at The Melting Pot (secretly Ryan's favorite restaurant). After a day of blizzarding, we ended up deciding not to cancel our plans due to snow, and took off for downtown around 4:45. We dropped Lilly off with Grandma Gimpy, with but one rule...NO teaching her ANYTHING. Ha! Lilly had fun taking a sink bath, reading grandma books, and snuggling. 

Before dinner, we hurried to take our traditional anniversary picture in front of the temple. I look forward to having 50 of these pictures to look at...how we'll signify what year we're on after the 10th, I don't know, but we'll figure something out. Dinner was amazing. Thankfully, the slow-eating nature of the meal allowed me to take it slow and enjoy each course. We started with bacon cheddar fondue, then Caesar salads, then the entree of lots-o-yummy meats and shrimp, and then, after a 10 minute cool-down period, we ended the meal with chocolate, peanut butter fondue. I'll admit, I just gave up with dipping anything into it, and opted for eating it right out of the pot with a spoon. Suffice it to say, I left with chocolate covering every surface of my clothes, and a slightly burned tongue. Oh well, it was totally worth it. 

When I think back onto the last 3 years with Ryan, leading up to our wedding day, and the bliss that followed, a giant smile pops on my face. We've been through a lot, good and bad, but here we are, completely happy, with a perfect little girl, ready for what the future can bring us. 

Okay, side story. While Lilly and I were out shopping that day at The Quilted Bear, I let her out of the cart so that she could walk with me. I was holding onto the front of the cart, steering it while she pushed it like a mad woman. Suddenly, I looked behind me when I noticed that the cart wasn't moving quite as easily, to find that Lilly had darted off to play in one of the booths with stuffed animals. She proceeded to gather up as many Beanie Babies as she could fit into her arms, walked over to the cart, and dumped them in. She's recently discovered that putting items into the cart, means mommy will buy them. I about died! It was HILARIOUS! Despite having put about 6 of them into the cart, she insisted on walking around the store with 3 in her arms. When it came time to leave, of course I had to buy her one, but getting her to give up the other 8 was like trying to get me to let go of a Diet Coke. As you can imagine, I ended up with a flat-on-the floor tantrum-throwing baby who screamed "doggy!!" as I made her leave the store. 

On her way to deposit them into the cart.

Oh, the fun we're going to have with this. Family, expect monthly fondue parties!!

What I love about this puzzle, aside from the fact that I was surprised that Ryan got so creative with his gift, was that it was a legit 300 piece puzzle. Usually you get one that's all of 12 pieces and no fun. Yay for Ryan!

She hasn't had a sink bath since she was tiny. 

You had me at "bacon"

Being creepy...

They brought out veggies, bread, and apples for dipping into the cheese fondue. Ryan thought the idea of dipping an apple into cheese sounded disgusting, so this is me, showing him that it is delicious. 

Awkwardly laughing as the waitress walked up right as we were taking the picture.

There's a lot of down-time between each course, so we occupied ourselves by taking dorky pictures

Scolding me for, what I assume was something stupid. :P

Nanny-size portions! I made Ryan eat my shrimp and beef, since I filled up too quickly.

Meat coma....

What's that?! Dessert! Suddenly I have enough room!

I'm not joking when I say that I just started eating it with a spoon. 

Year 1 (Pregnant), Year 2 (100 lbs heavier), Year 3 (100 lbs lighter, and Ryan's bald)