8 Years

If you can't tell how on top of things I am right now, we celebrated 8 years of marriage last week!  This year looked totally different  than most anniversaries do.  Leading up to our anniversary we had ideas of a nice dinner and maybe a night at a hotel away from the kids and while our night was indeed spent at a hotel in a nice warm and sunny location away from the kids, it looked a bit different than we expected. 

Our day included a lot of this:

                                                                      Some of this:

                                         
                                                            A romantic dinner of this:

                                                             And a lot more of this:

I asked Peter if he ever imagined in a million years when he walked down the aisle with me 8 years ago that he might be spending his 8th anniversary in a hospital meeting his 4th child and he can safely say that no, he never predicted this one coming!  It was a long, exhausting, STRESSFUL day but there was certainly cause for celebration.  

Year 7 was a great year as Peter got a new and wonderful job and we welcomed our newest little bundle of love right at the tail end but it also had its difficulties.  I wouldn't say it was a "7 year itch" but for whatever reason the 7th year had new challenges as maybe there is something to be said for adjustments in marriages that come in the 7th year.  We still had a wonderful year and I couldn't imagine walking this road with anyone else.  We make one heck of a team!  As we move into year 8, our word for this year is "communication". For whatever reason, the longer we are married it is easier to make assumptions or be too busy to communicate.  So openly communicating with each other is of key importance.  Another priority is how we greet each other in the first couple minutes we are together whether in the morning or when Peter gets home from work.  Sometimes Peter has a frustrating day at work or I am busy and flustered from a day with the kids.  The way in which we greet each other truly does make a difference in how the next few hours go.  I know with just a few small changes this next year of marriage is going to be great!  Here's to another year!  It just keeps getting better!