4 years!

This past Wednesday, June 23, Scott and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. Since we still don't have a lot of extra cash (and based on our career choices, we probably never will, but that's a whole other blog entry...) we decided to go down to Salt Lake and stay the night in a hotel.

We paid about $60 on hotels.com after researching the prices, and all the reviews, and we settled on a hotel near the airport. All in all, it wasn't a bad place to stay, despite the hotel pool being right there in the lobby (hindering our plans to swim...) and the toilet running, but the bed was comfy and it was just nice to get away.

After checking in, we decided to go over to The Gateway Mall, where we saw the new Karate Kid movie. It was really good! We both really liked it. We then wandered around the mall to do some shopping. We had $25 each to buy presents for each other, but Scott came up with the cutest idea! We went into the Build A Bear workshop where we created a bear together, and called it our Anniversibear! It's SO cute!! And we decided to make it an annual tradition! It was so much fun picking out the clothes and everything together. Then Scott took me to Victoria's Secret, where he allowed me to stock up on all the body washes and lotions I love! He is such a sweet husband!

We then had dinner at Z'Tejas. We've heard a lot about the place, but we'd never been there. We were thoroughly impressed!! Not only were the prices totally decent, but it was some of the best food we've had in a long time! It is a Southwestern Grill and everything we ate had so much flavor! It was fantastic!! Overall, it was a really great anniversary.

The next day, Scott's little sister, Laura, arrived home from her mission! She went to the Georgia Atlanta North mission. I can't believe how quickly the past 18 months went! We got up in the morning on the 24th, had our free breakfast at the hotel (which was awesome), and then headed over to the airport to meet Scott's parents and sister Becca, and wait for Laura's arrival. It was SO fun to see her come down the stairs with the other missionaries returning honorably. It took me back to the day I got home.

We took her to a nice lunch at The Olive Garden, and then she asked if we could go to the Salt Lake Temple, so she could go through the temple one last time as a missionary. Scott, Scott's mom Kathy, Laura and I went through a beautiful session at the temple. I LOVE being in the Salt Lake temple - seeing all the amazing detail and ornate decorations that the pioneers worked so hard to create. Being there fills my heart with such gratitude and appreciation for them. That temple has a very special spirit about it.

We then went with Laura to be released. It also reminded me of the day I got home - and the strange feeling when you get released. I am so proud of Laura and what a great missionary she was. I know she will always reflect on the lessons she learned there, and she will be forever grateful for the time she took to serve the Lord. I know I am forever grateful for the experiences I had as a missionary.

This was such a fantastic week! And it didn't hurt that we both had three days off work! It will be tough to go back to work tomorrow, and settle back into daily life. But these are the times in our lives that make all the difference.