How We Celebrated...

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This is how Aaron and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner on the night of, and then...

Aaron took me down to St. George to stay for the weekend. We went mountain biking up in Snow Canyon. It was so much fun.

This is our fifth wedding anniversary, last year. This was the final anniversary that Aaron was here for. Aaron surprised me with a weekend down at Brian Head. We hiked a bit and mountain biked.

We got those matching swim suits at Old Navy a few months before that. We picked it out for Aaron Jr. and then Aaron said that he liked it so much, if they had one in his size, he would buy it. Well, we walked around the corner to the men's section and there they were. Enough said, right? This photo in the bottom right corner is one of my very favorite photos of Aaron and Aaron Jr.

Anyone who has ever been on a hike or just on a nature outing with Aaron knows how much he loves to catch pretty much anything that moves. He was always looking under rocks for lizards and he would usually catch at least one per outing. Here he is introducing Aaron Jr. to the exciting world of... whatever that is. He told me when he caught it, but now I can't remember. Anyone? Is it s horny toad or something like that?

One thing that I look back on now that Aaron is gone is that it was never a question as to whether or not Aaron Jr. would be coming with us that weekend. It was just understood that we would want him with us, so why not take him? That is how it always was. Every getaway we had in those two short years, Aaron Jr. came with us. Now that Aaron is gone, it is such a blessing that we got to have that many more memories as a FAMILY. What a blessing.


Here we are this year. Like I said in our wedding posting, I decided that this year should be busy doing things that would help me to feel like I was celebrating memories of Aaron and me. So, Aaron Jr. and I took Ode and we started out at the cemetery. We ate a picnic lunch there and enjoyed the sunshine.

After that, we drove past the Salt Lake Temple where we got married. (we would have walked around, but I couldn't leave Ode in the hot car and we didn't have a leash).

After that, we drove to American Fork Canyon. Aaron and I had some 'couple' photos taken there before the wedding. We had never been back to that spot where we had the photos taken, so this year, I thought it would be fun to try to find it and take Aaron Jr. and Ode there. I figured it would be a bit of a challenge to find the exact spot since it wasn't a place that was marked. I planned to spend as much time as I needed in order to find it. Well, once I started driving up the canyon, it only took about 15 minutes. I found it. I was so excited. So we got out of the car and we started exploring and taking photos.

In the anniversary posting, photos 4 and 5 were taken there.

Same spot as photo # 4. I had to reach around and take all of the photos myself, so I apologize for all of the extreme close ups.

We had a photos taken between these trees, but I didn't include it. Aaron Jr.'s shoes were forgotten on this trip, so he is wearing his Christmas slippers. He actually loved it.

Behind us is where photo # 5 was taken. The water was higher this year, so Aaron wouldn't have been able to stand on the one rock as easily as he was in that photo. I can't get over how cute Aaron Jr's smile is in this one.

Just a cute photo of Ode and Aaron Jr. Best friends.

Aaron Jr. wanted to take my photo, so here are the attempts. I had to move myself around trying to get in the view finder. :)

Here is my sweet boy and me. I thought these were so precious.

The most priceless thing that happened on our anniversary is a simple phrase said to me by Aaron Jr. I was putting his shoes on (slippers) to leave for the cemetery and he looked at me and said, "You're pretty."

I melted. He had never said that before. The thought crossed my mind right then and there that Aaron had prompted him to say that. At least that is my hope. Someone knew that I needed to hear something sweet like that on my anniversary.

That set the tone for the day... I know Aaron was with us that day. I went about the day just imagining Aaron there by my side. I can't imagine him being anywhere else. I would hope that he would be celebrating with us on the anniversary of the day that we started our eternal family. This is why I wanted to celebrate instead of sitting at home dwelling on the fact that he isn't here physically. I knew that Aaron would have wanted to do something special for me, so I thought of a way that I could celebrate that would bring back wonderful memories while creating new ones with Aaron Jr. at the same time. I did have those moments of heartache and loneliness and tears, but all in all, I had a good day. I think the anticipation of it was worse than the actual day itself.

What a wonderful day to celebrate... the day that Aaron and I were sealed together for eternity. I am so blessed.

I love you forever and always, Aaron... thank you.

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