Anniversary Weekend

This last weekend Kevin and I celebrated our One Year Wedding Anniversary. It is so crazy that a year has already flown by and as we looked back on the last year it was easy for both of us to agree....

Best Year EVER!

We planned a simple weekend getaway for our anniversary to Salt Lake City (let me tell you that mountain between American Fork and Salt Lake really separates us and makes it feel like a whole different state).

Friday after work we picked up a pizza and headed to our favorite little Inn. Kevin found an amazing deal on rooms that are normally $300 each and so we booked two nights at the Anniversary Inn on 5th South. 

We stayed at the Anniversary Inn last December for my birthday and fell so in love with the themed rooms and the killer breakfast in bed.

Friday night we stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson Room. Our tree was in a bed! It was such a fun way to start our weekend and celebrate our special day.

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning, St. Patrick's Day, we were able to sleep in until nine when breakfast was delivered. When Kev woke up he remembered it was St. Patrick's Day and said. "Looks like O'Malley didn't make it to the hotel room!"

 Now, before I continue with the story, apparently I need to explain who O'Malley is since not everybody knows him. O'Malley was the little leprechaun that came to our home while I was growing up every year on St. Patrick's Day looking for his gold. I remember as a child (and even until I was a Sr. in High School) waking up every March 17th, to a messy home thanks to little O'Malley. He would sneak in our house during the night and flip chairs over and place things in spots they didn't belong in search for his gold. He would turn our milk green which made our pancakes green and would always leave behind little St. Patrick's day notes and presents for us kids. Every year we would construct these creative little traps to try and capture O'Malley and every year he was able to escape. (I think we all secretly didn't mind though because that always gave us something to look forward to the next year). 

Anyways, a few weeks ago I was thinking ahead and remembered it would be St. Patrick's Day during our weekend getaway and brought up the whole O'Malley thing and to my SHOCK, my husband had never heard of him. I tried to explain how magical it was to have O'Malley come to your house and Kevin just kept saying "that's a Shelley thing". 

I knew I wanted him to have an  O'Malley experience and with our son on his way I knew this was my chance to try out my O'Malley skills.

So, now to continue with the story; after Kevin had mentioned that he thought O'Malley hadn't found us at our hotel I replied "How do you know he didn't come?" With a quick turn of his head to try and read my face (that was trying so hard to be serious and not smile) to see what I was up to he said; "Wait, He did?" The look on Kevin's face as he peered over our bed in the tree down to the floor below to see if O'Malley had come was priceless. It was just how I remembered our faces as children as we would be woken up by our parents on St. Patrick's Day morning and were told that O'Malley had visited us!

I told Kevin he better go down stairs and check it out. Kevin didn't stop smiling the whole time as he found O'Malley's tracks, little notes, the mess he made and finally the presents he left behind. 

Point of story: O'Malley found us (even on vacation) and Kevin loved it! 

 

 

 

 

Saturday afternoon the weather seemed to be playing tricks on us so we made the decision to go out and about early in case it started to rain. We were right and as soon as we got back to the hotel around 3 it began to rain.

We started our Saturday at the Hogle Zoo. It was so much fun and the animals were awesome. Kevin kept saying over and over how fun it will be to bring our kids there someday and as we walked around the park every little boy we saw who was taking in the wonders of the zoo made us smile! 

 

 

 

 

 Saturday evening Kevin spoiled me with a romantic dinner to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It was such a fun and unique dining experience. The greeters welcomed us as Mr. and Mrs. Ford and I swear EVERY employee knew we were celebrating our anniversary. When we got to our table it was decorated with fresh rose petals, a tiny candle and little Happy Anniversary note from the restaurant.

The food was wonderful and the setting was romantic.What more could a girl ask for?

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night we stayed in the Mysteries of Egypt room and that was very cool also. The way the rooms are decorated really makes it seem like you actually are in a tree house or in Egypt and not just in a hotel room in Salt Lake.

 

Sunday, our actual anniversary was also lovely. We were able to sleep in again (we love sleeping in) and had our final breakfast in bed with an added Cinnamon roll each to make the morning special. We lounged around until about 11:30 since checkout wasn't until noon (which we love also) and then headed back to good old American Fork just in time for church! 

It was such an amazing anniversary weekend. We were so grateful for the time we were able to just be with each other. It is crazy to think it's the first and last anniversary we will have without little ones so we absolutely took advantage of the one on one time.

I am so grateful for my incredible husband. This last year truly has been the best year of our lives and I just know it is only going to get better. Kevin is such a wonderful husband and my best friend. I cannot imagine life without him and I just know he is going to make an incredible father. I am so blessed to have found him and to have been able to have an amazing first year and cannot wait for our eternity!

We hope you all had a lovely weekend as well.

Here is baby Bump at Week 23 on our 1 Year Anniversary

Any St. Patrick' Day traditions you and your family have? We'd love to hear them.

Oh, and Happy First Day of Spring! Cannot tell you how happy this makes The Ford family!