5 years

yesterday marked 5 years of wedded bliss for my amazing husband and me. i write those words with a very sincere and thankful heart. according to our plan, we would be cooking up our first baby at this point in our marraige.

according to god's perfect plan, we are cooking up number three :)

this pic looks like more fun anyway :)

5 years seems both super fast for all we have been through with children, familial concerns, and life experiences, and relatively true to the fullness of life we have enjoyed together since that day we wed. i remember so clearly preparing for the wedding, walking down the sidewalk aisle into the waiting arms of my husband-to-be. i truly get the same feeling still whenever he drives in the yard from work. excitement, anticipation, adoration, and mostly gratitude that god would bless me so abundantly.

in anticipation of some date night action to commemorate this occasion, i had asked my mother in law to babysit the boys weeks in advance. since she said yes, i had been looking forward to some time alone with my husband. we opted to dine at crazy horse, utilizing a gift certificate given us by the zoet's for christmas. brad attempted lobster for the first time, while i stood by my fave:ribs and cherry coke with grenadine. after eating enough for a small nation, we journeyed to laketown to just be together. we climbed up the stairs, stopping every 5th step as i was having braxton hicks like they were going out of style, and found a hot spot in the sand way above the beach. here we talked. we chatted about our love that is ever growing, our anticipation for the years to come, and how we have seen god's faithfulness throughout our marriage. at that point, i still could not catch my breath as babe was hogging all room in my belly, and my supper was taking up the rest of it. so we climbed back down and retrieved the boys.

mom and dad lampen treated us all to a pontoon boat ride where brad caught some fish, maxer casted like crazy, and bear continually perched precariously close to the edge of the boat. it was a romantic night of festivity and love.