My Anniversary Surprise

Life has been ridiculously crazy since school started in September! I have had a relaxing weekend so far though, so I'm putting the extra time to use by finally writing my last post about the summer. L and I's anniversary is August 16 and he cooked up a big surprise for me! I was hoping that he was planning something fun, but really didn't have any ideas until the weekend before. I accidentally stumbled upon a packed duffle bag stuffed in one of the closets and knew something was up. Then, Loren's sister Sherilyn showed up at our apartment on Friday afternoon. She lives in New York, so this wasn't a casual visit. Loren finished working and then told me to get in the car. We said goodbye to Sherilyn and Sophie and started driving. I still had no idea what was going on. We drove and drove until we got to New Hampshire, finally arriving at Pawtuckaway State Park! We were going camping!
If you're not an outdoor type this probably doesn't sound fun to you, but let me explain. Loren and I had our first kiss on a ward camp out in Vermont and since we don't own camping gear, we don't ever have the chance to do it. Plus, Sophie was safe at home with Sherilyn so we got some time to ourselves under the stars. It turns out that Loren had rented a tent and bought sleeping bags and chairs for us to use. (He did this when I thought he was helping someone move! He's a convincing liar) We got everything set up and started a fire, made s'mores and sat back and relaxed. Loren even brought his laptop so we could finish watching Season 1 of Castle, one of my favorite tv shows.
The next day we had leftover pizza for breakfast, went on a beautiful hike and stopped by the lake. Then we drove back home to our beautiful daughter, who probably didn't miss us at all - thanks Sherilyn! I am so blessed to have a husband who would plan an adventure like this, just for me. Yes, we are busy and stressed out, but I wouldn't trade it in for something different. I'm so happy to be married to Loren and grateful that we have Sophie in our family too. I love you, Loren!
We didn't take very many pictures, but here are a few we did capture.