5th Anniversary Weekend

Jarad and I just had our 5 year wedding anniversary.  In many ways, I feel like it has flown by and in other ways, I feel like we've been together forever.  We trade off years for who is responsible for planning the anniversary celebrations.  This was Jarad's year and he did an AMAZING job and we had the MOST WONDERFUL weekend.

 My first surprise was 5 dozen roses at home.

Then we packed up and hit the road.  Jarad hadn't told me where we were going so we drove and drove up the interstate and I would guess and Jarad wouldn't tell me where we were going.  Finally, we arrived...in VAIL!

Jarad made reservations for the weekend at a beautiful lodge and it was a gorgeous room.

 This was our bedroom...

 The kitchen...fully stocked with dishes, etc. mind you...

 The living room- comfy couches and a fireplace.

 Another surprise for me when we got there- more roses and a bottle of wine-a gift from the lodge for our anniversary (which we traded for sparkling cider).

 We had a gorgeous view from our balcony- Vail was gorgeous all over- it was almost like we were transplated to a different world because of the old architecture and being surrounded by nature.

 We walked around Vail Villiage and took in the sights. In the middle of the villiage was this cool fountain. (P.S. Can you see the cobblestone streets?!)

 Our first evening, Jarad took me to a very FANCY resturant for dinner.  The food was amazing, the company even better and we enjoyed talking about the adventures of the past five years.

 The resturant was extraordinary and brought us extra special things to help us celebrate- including these sweet chocolate words along with our delectable peaches n' cream dessert (possibly one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten!).

The next day, we went back into the villiage and had breakfast at a crepery. YUM!

 Berries, nutella and chocolate crepe- YUMMY!

Then we went over to Lionhead's Villiage (other side of Vail) and explored.

 It was a little bit drizzly but we were still loving just spending time together.

 Jarad even met Einstein!

Because Vail was so beautiful, Jarad couldn't help himself...

 and took some spectacular pictures of the beauty we were surrounded by.

 Thankfully, the rain let up for a while- here we are!

And we decided to ride the gondola up to the top of the mountain.

 Once at the top, we headed out on a hike and the rain started back up just a bit.

 And Jarad was happy to see some fog.

 Wet and chilly, but loving the beauty around us and just being together. With Jarad back in school, we have limited time together during the weeks, so it was fantastic to spend a whole weekend together with no distractions.

 During our hike, Jarad ran up a huge hill to get his perfect picture and fell in a little hole and got soaked!

The rain didn't really let up once we got back, but we ventured out anyway.

 We did a little shopping (Jar got a beanie to keep his head warm and we got a magnet from Vail- tradition for wherever we go).

It also happened to be Oktoberfest while we were there, we we enjoyed some German tunes, people watching and some fresh-roasted corn.

 DIG IN!

What I call the packing peanuts sculpture.



 

 Another sculpture that Jarad thought was cool.

 Can I tell you how much fun we had?! And how much I L.o.V.e him?!

 Sunday morning, we went to check out the villiage farmer's market.

 And had the most amazing donuts for breakfast.

We were sad to leave the lodge, Vail and end our dazzling weekend celebration. But I have to thank Jarad for an astounding weekend and thank him even more for being a phenomenal husband and best friend. I love you babe!