Must've Done Something Right!

Today is our 6th anniversary.

It's another anniversary apart (courtesy of the Army) because Peter has drill this weekend, which puts the record at 3 out of 6 anniversaries that we've been able to celebrate together. Which is sadly on the high end of average for some military couples. But for all the moments we've had to be apart, we've had so many more that we've been blessed enough to experience together. We've shared six beautiful years of a life we get to call our very own, full of little and big struggles and great and small joys, a life in which we've been SO lucky to have grown so much together...and grown in number. And the more I see the reality of marriage in the world around us, the more I understand what an incredible and unique gift it is that we have in our own marriage. I couldn't be blessed with a more caring, faithful, hard-working, and hilarious best friend, who is the same yet so much more to our kids. I don't know what I did to deserve him, but clearly, I must've done something right (especially since he's put up with my taste in music for [far more than] six years!!!). So with the help of Relient K, I've put together a little collection of some of those moments:

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Also, despite a perfectly-timed drill schedule, we're lucky enough for Peter's unit to be fairly close so he gets to come home at night. And last night, he even got out early enough for us to meet for an impromptu anniversary dinner with kids in tow!

We went to the local hibachi steakhouse, or "fire restaurant," as the kids call it (they even made some great allergy-friendly meals for Ethan and me, hooray!) and had fun celebrating with some cooking entertainment.

While we at the little park outside the restaurant waiting for our table, Marie said that some day when she was married she wanted to have a fun date night, too. (To which Peter replied "better not be too fun!"). She and Erik pretended that they were the mom and dad and it was their anniversary for awhile, then became amateur phone photographers trying to capture the happy couple:

Marie's attempt: ("wait! Daddy's head isn't in it all the way!")

Erik's attempt: ("where'd the rest of it go?")
He did much better on his second attempt, pictured above!

And so very happy we are, indeed. Happy Anniversary to you, my love--I'm so thankful for the last six years and look forward to a fabulous 60+ more!