Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 8th anniversary. It really is like the song says, "One of those things that gets sweeter with time."

Looking back it's fun to think where we were with each anniversary:

7 years (2008) - desperately hoping that Landon and Callie would start sleeping through the night on a continual basis. We were both tired, but so thrilled to have twins in our home. I remember making a pretty lasagna dinner for our anniversary and not getting to eat to much as both babies wanted to be held and Trevy wanted in on the action. I think James somehow ate with two kids on his lap!

6 years (2007) - we were in St. David celebrating the 3rd annual Brimhall Family Reunion. Jon had just returned from his mission and it was great to have him back and fun to see him try to get used to the new members of the family who had been born while he was gone. Perhaps my favorite part of all was sharing our little secret with James. We had found out 2 days prior that I was, in fact, pregnant again and "very pregnant" to quote the doctor "Let's hope it isn't twins." So glad he was wrong!

5 years (2006)- hmmm...oddly enough, pregnant then too! But much further along. We were finally expecting Brimhall Baby #1 after two early miscarriages. I think we even ordered Papa John's!

4 years (2005) - this one was a little bittersweet. Thrilling to be finished with dental school. James graduated at the beginning of the month so by our anniversary we were just living out of boxes in our little apartment on Scholls Ferry Road in Oregon. We were both very excited to have school done (especially since tuition was rapidly on the rise!) but we were both sad to say good-bye to all the dear sweet wonderful friends we made in Oregon. I personally loved being so close to so many things - waterfalls, mountains, beaches... So much to see, so much to do! For our anniversary, we opted to stay in (funny thing, I think we got pizza then too) and rented "Finding Neverland" and "Phantom of the Opera" and watched it on our bed on the little TV as that was pretty much the only place that wasn't covered in moving boxes.

3 years (2004) - I believe this was the year we ended up at Cucina! Cucina! an Italian restaurant by the Washington Square Mall. Alas, we were a little disappointed. It was pretty busy, took us a while to be served and the food wasn't terribly fabulous. But the company was great!

2 years (2003) - Honestly starting to strain the memory here but seeing as we were dirt poor at the time, we probably rented a movie and I tried making something special for dinner.

1 year (2002) - This one I do remember. Not the specifics, but we drove to the Newport Beach Aquarium and then up the coast a little and got our first taste of how "unbeachy" the coast was to us. The Oregon coast is generally pretty cold and windy. Such it was that day. Thus we took our pictures with a lighthouse and headed home. I think most of the aquarium animals felt the same way as not too many of them were out.

One fun tradition that James and I have had (although I think we missed it one year, probably 2007) is having Martinellis sparkling apple cider in champagne glasses. They were given to us by a good friend at our wedding and it has just been something fun for us.

It has always been flattering to have friends and family comment that they have never heard us argue. We have, but I will never forget the advice I received from our stake president when we went in for our interviews to be married and he told me that I should always talk to my husband before anyone else. And that has made a huge difference. If there is ever something to complain about (so rarely with someone so wonderful), it gets resolved much faster to talk to each other than other people. And that has been a motto for us and made the past 8 years truly "wedded bliss".

I love my husband and look forward to many many more years happily married to him.