Our Anniversary-7 Years

On Friday, Dave and I celebrated 7 years of marriage together.  I made him promise that we would do something "different" for our anniversary.  Pretty much every other year has been me at girls camp (3 times), me at Mary Kay Seminar (twice), or our first anniversary where we took our 3-week old baby to Nebraska and spent the night in a hotel room with him, Dave's sister and her 9-month old.  Very Romantic!  Anyway, so I vowed that this year would be different.  However, I didn't want to spend a ton of money either.  So, here is the run down of our activities. 

 My mom offered to take our boys for the entire night.  We have not had a night away from our boys (like all night long!) in probably 4 years.  It was time! 

I really wanted to go to the temple.  We have never been able to do this on our anniversary before, and it seemed so fitting. The temple grounds were all torn up, so we had to settle for a picture in our living room.  As a side note, I even chose to wear the very same dress I wore to our wedding luncheon.  

After the temple, we went out to dinner.  We don't do that very often, so for me, it is a real treat.   

 Next, we came back to Pocatello and changed and headed out to go mini golfing.  There is a great little place here that is outside and it was a beautiful night. 

 This is one of several fountains intermixed in the course. 

Let it be known that I WON the game.  I have never done that before, and I actually scored 5 holes in one.  I was pretty surprised myself.  Then we grabbed a Jamba and headed home.  It was blissful to come home to a quiet house and have just one night to not worry about kiddos.  (Thanks mom!) 

It has been a great seven years.  We have learned a lot, and I think we've come out on top.  Sure, a lot has changed.  Life is a lot more chaotic.  But we're happy.  In a nutshell, we've bought 3 homes, put Dave through school, had three children, 2 jobs, and lots of life lessons.  I'm looking forward to the next seven years. 

Seven things I love about Dave: (one for each year)
1. He works SO hard!
Many people don't know that Dave works 2 jobs so that I can be home with our boys.  And even while in school full-time, he worked 30+ hours each week.  I try to imagine what life would be like if he just came home from work and got to be home all night, but I may never know what that it like. 
2. He let's me (and encourages me) to do my own thing.
I know a lot of women who have hubby's that try to direct their lives.  They feel like they need their husbands permission to do things.  Dave and I discuss things, but he lets me do my own thing, and he supports me in my endeavors. 
3. He is a real dad.
I am blessed to have a man who is there for his kids.  There is no "babysitting".  It's called "parenting". 
4. He honors his priesthood. 
I appreciate that I can always call on Dave when I need a blessing.  He is a good spiritual leader. 
5.  He loves me just the way I am.
I know that I am not always fun to be with, and sometimes I pick on Dave when I am having a bad day, but somehow, he always loves me, even on my worst days.  He is quick to forgive and always looks for the good in me. 
6. He is very handy. 
Dave can build, fix, and figure out most anything.  He has done so many projects around our home and we have done many together.  He fixes what goes wrong, and I know he enjoys learning new things.  If he doesn't know how to fix it, he'll find out. 
7. We make a good team.
We really do!  Together, we just work well.  We accomplish a lot when we work together, and we usually have the same vision and can get the job done. 
 I love you, Dave.  Thanks for seven great years together!