Our Tin Year Anniversary

No, that is not a typo.  As you may {or may not} know, the tenth anniversary is traditionally the "Tin Anniversary."  Silly me thought it was the "Diamond Anniversary" but apparently we'll have to wait 50 years to celebrate THAT!  This year we turned it into a family affair.  With our anniversary falling on a Monday and not having a babysitter lined up until Wednesday night we decided that we'd just celebrate at home.  (Having stayed up almost the whole night before with Jane and her asthma flare-up was also a slight factor in not wanting to go out and doing anything else.)

After taking Jane to the doctor in the morning I had some time to kill before her albuterol prescription was ready for pick-up and since a gourmet cupcake shop was just around the corner I decided to pick up some treats to share with the kids as part of our Family Home Evening/Wedding Anniversary Extravaganza.  

Left to right -- Pistachio Blossom, Berry Berry Tart, Chocolate Thunder, Bee Sting.  Not pictured -- Twisted Pink Velvet.  Laura and I sampled that one a little earlier in the day.  :)

Nap time was spent wrapping up my gifts for Scott and packaging them oh-so-strategically.  In case you can't read the box, the concept I went with for his gifts was "Something Useful, Something Sentimental, and Something Extravagant."  It is our tenth anniversary after all.  And I do like to go big or go home.  Hahahaha.  Hawaii was obviously out of the question this year -- bringing along a nursing baby hardly spells fun -- so we're taking a little rain check and can hopefully make it there next year for a second honeymoon.

Once Scott got home we ate a gourmet dinner of Baked Potatoes -- which no one even likes apparently, and then while I finally got to shower for the day Scott wrapped all of his presents for me.  Little Lover Boy was put to bed and then the fun and games began.  The cupcakes were consumed first {mostly because the little ones could hold out no longer} and then in a first -- which I think will become a tradition -- I brought out my wedding dress and let all the girls have turns trying it on.  I figured it would be nice to get some additional use out of it and since there's no way I can fit in it I let the girls have some fun instead.  It was a hit.

Chocolate Thunder was the biggest hit amongst the kids in case you were wondering.  Scott and I are a bit partial to the Bee Sting -- a lemon cupcake with lemon curd filling and a honey lemon cream cheese frosting.  Mmmmmmm.

This picture melts my heart.  Grace looks so happy and Sophie was just as ecstatic to be holding up the train in the background.

Sophie wanted a shot with the Mother of the Bride.  Hahahaha.

Oh this crazy girl!

I love her.

And then came Present Time!  I love that Scott created a "concept" for his gifts as well.  His theme, you ask?  Well, he chose gifts to represent "The Past, Present, Future, and Forever."  Up first?  The past.  To Kill a Mockingbird, as you may recall, was the very first gift he ever gave me.  For this anniversary he got me a leather bound fancy edition with the following written on the fly leaf -- "Jessica, Still looking for something classy enough for you...  Love, Scott."  Definitely a keeper, that one.  Not pictured are the pens and post-it notes he got me for his other "Past" present.  {His first Christmas present to me was a big plastic bin with school supplies.}  I like school supplies.

"The Present" was represented with a family of Willow Tree Statues.  Included amongst the children are "Brothers," a "Thoughtful One," a "Joyful One," and a "Spirited One."  I'll let you decided which one belongs to which.  Hahaha.  And as much as I love these Willow Tree figures, I think I'm going to agree with Scott in saying that perhaps it's time to declare a moratorium on buying anymore.   We're running out of shelf space.

For the "Future," Scott went with a bit of an inside joke.  Although the joke's on him because I actually am really excited about these books and intend to put them to good use.  Because -- little known fact -- when I get an idea in my head I kind of run with it.  Okay, so maybe that's pretty well known amongst the people who really know me, but my most current obsession is that I really think we're going to go to Brazil next.  Hahahahaha.  We've wanted to do an ex-pat assignment (essentially it means we live in a foreign country while still remaining American citizens) for a while now, and about a month ago when Scott was naming off some of the countries where P&G has positions he mentioned Brazil and for whatever reason it hit me like a lightning bolt.  How awesome would THAT be??  So, now I'm trying to convince Scott -- and the kids -- that Brazil is the most logical next step for our family.  Hahahahahahaha.  It's okay.  You can laugh.  It is a bit insane sounding.  And let's just say that not everyone is quite on board with the idea.  Yet.  Hahahahaha.

{Tangent -- Rosetta Stone is EXPENSIVE.  I've already looked into it to start learning Portuguese and it is most definitely cost-prohibitive at this point.  Maybe once we actually get a JOB in Brazil, that will be a different story.}

"Forever" is so fittingly represented with a picture of the Salt Lake Temple -- the place where it all began.  We already have another framed picture from this artist and have always wanted to get another so Scott went ahead and pulled the trigger with THIS one.  It hasn't arrived yet, but I can't wait to find the perfect spot to put it.

Definitely a keeper, that one!  Once my present opening was complete I could hardly wait for Scott to open his.  Packaged within this large moving box were his 3 gifts layered in between lots and lots of crumpled cushioning.

Gift number one was in a striped tin -- for our Tin Anniversary.  Get it?  Get it?  Hahaha.  Inside was Something Useful -- a "gift card" for lawn service this summer.  Scott's allergies have been TERRIBLE this year and since he is slightly allergic to grass, I thought he could use a break from having to mow it this year.  There are quite a few entrepeneuring boys in our neighborhood who I figured would be happy to earn a little more money.  And next year, if  Ethan can take over for them, then Scott will never have to cut the grass again!

Gift number two is Something Sentimental.  The very first REAL present I got Scott involved a picture of him hitting a golf ball off the top of Mt. Timpanogas.  For Valentine's Day while we were engaged, I blew this picture up to poster size with the thought that we'd frame it and hang it up in our future house.   Well, that didn't happen.  That rolled up poster came with us to Oregon and then back to Provo and never made it into a frame.  Instead it became increasingly crumpled, ragged, and ripped and eventually we chucked it.  So, for our anniversary I decided to resurrect that picture once more and whipped up a painting of it and put it in a frame.  I do have to say it turned out a lot better than I was expecting when I first sat down to do it.  Especially since I knocked it out in a single afternoon during nap time.  Not too shabby, eh?

I used "gouache" paint, in case you were wondering, and it was a bit tricky to use.  I don't know if I like it.  It's kind of like watercolor only a bit thicker and more opaque.  

His FINAL gift -- the Extravagant One -- was something that I knew he had wanted for a LONG time. And since there's hardly ever anything materialistic that Scott wants, there was no way I wasn't going to go for it.  Here he is with his brand new iPad.  He was very happy.  I was pretty sure that's what he was hoping for and I was right.  As usual.  Hahahaha.

And there you have it.  I'd like to say that the kids went right to bed and stayed asleep after all the present-opening was over, but we're talking about OUR kids here, so you know that wasn't the case.  There was fighting amongst Ethan and Sophie for a good 20 minutes or so before Sophie had to go down to get a breathing treatment of her own when Jane was done.  Grace is scared of going to bed alone these days, so I went and laid down with her in my bed until she was asleep and then JANE -- who was hopped up on goofballs last night -- didn't go to bed until after 11 o'clock.  Which was WAY too late to start the new "Footloose" which I had redbox-ed JUST for the occasion.  Oh well.  There's always next year.  Hahahaha.

30 April 2012