our 15th anniversary

We returned from our Mexico/L.A. mission trip on Sunday, June 16th, and after a couple days of rest, Terry and I went away for our 15th anniversary. We were pretty low after the mission trip due to exhaustion and also just the shock of not being around the team for the first time after two solid weeks of constant companionship. We were lonely and missed our mission trip family. I wasn't sure I was up for leaving home yet, but months before Terry had reserved the cabin that we stayed at on our wedding night, and it ended up being very restful. It was a wonderful time away, thanks to our families for taking the kids yet again.

I brought our wedding album and we remade my very favorite photos that we took of each other once we got to the cabin.

 First we went to Culvers and got lunch...sort of. Cheese curds.

Then we went back to our favorite wedding photo spot to reenact photos once more, the tree across from the old church. We had done the same thing the year before.

Again just like last year Terry awkwardly put his nose in my eye (remaking a cringy wedding photo).

Some silliness.

Smiles.

Our cabin!

Once we were inside we went to work remaking those wedding day pics. 

What's funny about this is Terry lost that Tungsten ring just a couple weeks after this on the tubing trip. It lasted just over 15 years.

We went for a short drive while we awaited our dinner reservation. We hadn't been up to this spot on Iron Mountain Road since our 2016 staycation. 

Prime rib and salmon. A friend saw us enter and paid for our food! So so generous.

There was a thunderstorm that night and it was just magical sitting in the hot tub while it poured and flashed all around us. The following morning we went to Colonial House for breakfast and then back home. I *love* their caramel rolls. I can never get mine to taste like theirs.

Once back at home we watched our wedding video. There's so much that makes us cringe, but it's still precious. 

Mr. and Mrs. Terry Biers!

Taking off for the cabin. 

Fun to see that old trusty, rusty Malibu that we sold to our friends just a couple months before. 

The day after our wedding we went back into town to say hello to all of the out of town family who were having a picnic (why did we do that when we had just been married for goodness sake?!). Shari interviewed Terry when we first got there and it just blew our minds to see how much different Terry looked and sounded. Shari interviewed me too but it's my blog and I don't have to include it. Man, it made us cringe. Still fun though. Thankful to the Lord for how He's grown us up. 

Our 14th anniversary & other things that happened during VBS

Tuesday, June 19, our 14th anniversary fell smack dab in the middle of VBS. It always falls smack dab in some sort of church and/or youth group activity. Maybe we should've considered that when we picked the date...if we had known the future...but we didn't. So, we did what we could since we couldn't go out that night. We went out for a date afternoon. Noah is old enough now that he can watch the rest of the kids (with Evie's help), sort of... We went out to eat, got ice cream, and then remade our one and only favorite picture from our wedding, this one: 

Bam! 14 years later in front of that same tree.

Rewind to lunch at Tally's. We just stared into each others eyes like this. 

Yeah, we're boring like that.

DROOL. 

Then we drove over to Armadillos and indulged in some yumminess.

From there we went to the old church, which is now owned by the YMCA, and walked across the street to the tree that is in front of what used to be a funeral home but now is a day care center. I had looked through our wedding pictures before going out so we remade some of the other ones we had taken. Terry's cousin in law was our photographer and had us do some silly things. At one point Terry was supposed to be kissing my cheek but ended up putting his nose in my eye. You can tell in the picture that I'm trying not to laugh. 

So of course we had to remake that one too. HA!

Nope. This is how you kiss a cheek. See how simple it is?!

Not like this.

"Gah! I did it again!"

We took a ton of selfies and I'm including them because it's my blog and I think they're hilarious. Terry goes crazy every once in a while. Sometimes it makes me laugh.

More faces, still laughing.

I think he's contemplating putting his nose in my eye again.

That's a genuine laugh.

Oh so silly. That's how you kiss a cheek and not put your nose in your wife's eye.

Trying to get away from the goof.

Okay, lets try this for real.

Closer, but goofiness is encroaching. 

He's eyeing my eye.

Stay away from my eye!

"Um, not sure I can do that."

Oh my goodness, who did I marry? 

Hey, there's the one we've been trying to capture. It only took about 30 selfies.

And there's the beautiful big cottonwood tree.  

Here's a blast from the past. Everyone looks so much younger, except my dad. My dad looks the exact same.

"We just got married in dis church."

Dude. I was really really thin. I'd have to quit eating forever to get that skinny again. That's what happens when you have FOUR kids!

Look at how young Pastor Dave was! 

This is one of my favorite pictures that my sister took. NOM. GULP. 

We had an early afternoon wedding and left everyone hungry for dinner but we didn't care. We just wanted to get out of there. Off we go! Oh, plus that's the same car we still have and even drove on our date! The trusty, rusty Malibu! 

We took some better photos once we got to our cabin. 

He's got the ring! 

Such nice pictures with just our simple camera. 

I do like this one shot from when my dad was giving me away. Terry's crying like crazy and you can see a whole bunch of people in the pews. 

Anyway, happy anniversary to us! 

Back to the rest of the week that happened during VBS. We had one night with a crazy beautiful sunset that caused me to pull over in the gap to take a picture of it. 

We got home and I booked it outside to try to catch some shots of it. This was from the back yard. 

Then I climbed the hill behind our house for this one. 

I scared the deer but they just watched me. 

We've had so much more rain that usual that the grass was as tall as my waist! 

 Pretty bee or bug. 

Noah and Evie got new glasses just in February, but a couple months ago Evie broke her frames while playing with a big yoga ball at her cousin's house. It bounced off the wall into her face I think. That black tape on her left was holding it together for weeks and weeks. 

It was like this without the tape. 

Thankfully they found some glasses that fit her lenses and we only had to pay $6 to replace them since they were still under warrantee. Perfect! 

That same day we went to Scheels to exchange my anniversary gift, a Padogonia trucker hat Terry had got me. I was taking selfies to try to decide which one to get and the kids were pretty bored. Noah entertained himself with my spare hats. Ha!

I ended up choosing the purple one. I love it and wear it all the time.