8 Wonderful Years

November 2, 2002 was the day Ova and I became eternal.  We only dated for 3 months before getting married.....and we're still going strong 8 years later!  I actually can't believe it's been that long already, seems like time has flown right by.  We've had our arguments and disagreements and fights throughout the years, but we've learned over the years how to compromise and sacrifice for each other and how we are in our marrige right now is perfect, and I wouldn't change anything.  We're NOT perfect in any way at all, but we ARE perfect for each other!!  :)

I'm a very sentimental, emotional person and I LOVE surprises.....especially giving them.  I try constantly to do little things for Ova, just to make him smile....whether it be sneaking a peice of candy in his lunch box or writing a little love note and sticking it in his pocket....I'm cheesy like that and I think he's finally gotten used to it....hahaha  Well, the same thing goes for his birthday or our anniversary....I always try to think of some ways to surprise him.  Several times in our marriage he's said "Wow babe, I never thought I'd ever do this"  so that's kinda been my goal to do things that he would probably never do.  I told him not to make any plans for the weekend of our anniversary, because I was planning something.  He already knows not to ask me cause I WILL NOT fold and tell my secret!  That weekend rolled around and we got ready to head out, we went and got a rental car and checked into our hotel.  I didn't plan specifics like where we were gonna eat or anything like that so he asked if he could surprise me on that part.....he took me to the Roof for dinner.  It had been a little over 8 years since I'd been there....the last time was when he proposed to me.  It was beautiful there.  The food was delicious and the view was absolutely amazing.  Every year we have our "anniversary talk" which is just where we reflect on the positives from the past year and goals we want to accomplish or have each other work on for the coming year.  We had a good talk.  We always do.  We both ate too much.....the food was just so delicious!  After dinner we sat on the bench of the temple square pond and talked some more.....such a peaceful and beautiful place.....I love spending time with him!

The next morning we woke up at 5am because we had to get ready for my surprise which started at 7am sharp.  He kept asking me questions trying to figure out what we were doing....but I didn't break..... we got in the car and drove to a hotel in park city.... that is where we were gonna meet the guy that was taking us on our surprise..... we were going to ride in a

Hot Air Balloon

I actually got really lucky because as I was trying to decide what to do, I was talking to one of my friends at work.  She told me about this company in Park City that gives balloon rides, her friends were the owners, and I got a discount.  I'm a little scared of heights so it took me a L-O-N-G time to finally decide that that's what we were going to do.  The morning we were driving to Park City, I had butterflies....it was hitting me that we were going to be thousands of feet in the air in a basket hanging from a balloon....I'd never really thought of it before.  I had butterflies but I couldn't talk to Ova about it because he didn't know what we were doing.  Some of the butterflies came from hoping he would like my surprise....hahaha!  We got to the hotel and the balloon pilot came in and all he said was "you better go to the bathroom cause you won't have access to one once we leave"  Ova looked at me all confused.  That's when I broke him the news.....he was super excited, and I was so happy!  We got in their van (the basket to the balloon being pulled by a trailer) and drove to this remote location which would be our launch spot.  I thought it was so awesome that we got to be a part of the whole thing.....we got to help set up and inflate the balloon, ride (of course) and help deflate and pack the balloon.  It was an amazing experience!  We got up to 5000 feet in the air, so high that we could see Salt Lake from where we were at in Park City.   I was expecting there to be a lot of turbulance, but honestly it was smooth from start to finish.  While we were flying around the pilot was telling us fun facts about hot air ballooning.... facts like:  we were just flying in a huge bbq'er because the fire into the balloon came from propane tanks, you can't steer a balloon you can only control whether it goes up and down so in order to move you have to find the level where the current is.  It was so interesting to see how you drive a balloon....during the flight, we went way up, then way down then we hung out in the middle...the wind current kept changing, but the pilot was excellent and always knew where to go so that we could cover the whole Park City Valley.  It was beautiful!  We got to see the sun rise over the mountain which was below us and it went all the way above our heads.  It was very peaceful and absolutely beautiful!  Ova leaned over to me while we were in the balloon and said "Wow babe, thank you so much, I never thought I'd do this".....  :)

The wicker basket we rode in

Ova helping with the set up, getting the balloon inflated

And we're off....

Started at the foot of the PC mountain, and flew way above it!

Watching the sunrise was B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L

Views from the basket of the balloon

I thought this was cool....from the air it looked like a big splat...but it was actually tracks from a bunch of animals...going to the water hole.

Our shadow...

Back on the ground

After we got out of the balloon, the pilot did a little ceremony with us.  He gave us a toast and they gave us all champagne (orange juice for us non-drinkers)  It was such an awesome experience!

There were a couple other couples who rode with us, including this cute elderly couple.  It was so cute to see them together.  They were in their 70's and they were so cute telling us how they like to be adventurous and do as many things they can while they still can.  She was old and frail and had to be lifted into and out of the basket, but they were so cute together.  Ova and I just smiled watching them with each other.  How they looked and smiled at each other.  You could see their love in the way the acted.  I hope that we are still like that 40 years from now.

The whole surprise balloon adventure was over by 1030a.m.  We were both tired from waking up so early so we went back to the hotel and slept until like 3 in the afternoon.  We didn't have any specific plans so we decided to go and pick up our kids so they could spend the last night in the hotel with us.... never fails, we always end up letting our kids crash our weekend getaways!  haha  It's all good though, there's nothing better than family time!  So here's how we ended our anniversary trip: swimming, eating & spending family time at the hotel.  I LOVE MY LITTLE FAMILY!

We were playing around at the hotel trying to get a family picture.....let's just say it's impossible to get all the kids looking and smiling at the same time.....this was the best we could get...haha!