July 29, 2012 - One year later...

Emily and Soren set their wedding date for August 3rd, just one week after our anniversary. Brad's sweet cousin Kelsey got married in Colorado on July 28th, just one day before our anniversary. Since I needed to be in Utah for wedding prep and festivities early, we decided Brad should go to Kelsey's wedding with his family and then drive to Utah with them. That meant we would not be together on our first anniversary. I figured that would be okay... we didn't HAVE to celebrate our anniversary on the exact date, right?

It turns out I was super bummed all day on our anniversary. Although Brad did send a beautiful bouquet of flowers to let me know he wished he was with me, I was still secretly hoping to open the door and find him standing there. I knew that wasn't possible. And I knew it was worth it for him to be at Kelsey's wedding spending time with his family. Still...

The only thing that really cheered me up that day was the wedding dress photo shoot. Trish, Emily, and I put on our dresses and headed to the park. Soren was on dress patrol (keeping Emily's dress clean since she still had to wear it to the wedding) and Bryn was our amazing photographer. My sisters are my dearest and sweetest friends and I loved the symbolic representation of welcoming Emily into this next chapter of life. It also was super fun to put on my dress one more time and twirl around basking in that feeling of being a princess all over again. It lifted my melancholy and reminded me that although we were apart for the day, Brad and I have eternity together.

It was a very sweet moment when Brad finally showed up a few days later and we were able to have a moment of celebration just for us. The kitchen was cluttered with shrapnel from wedding prep, kid's uneaten lunches, and vacationers homeless belongings. In the midst of it Brad cut the top of our wedding cake with all the family (and our sweet Erika) gathered around, then we toasted each other and our first year together. My favorite part of the video of the toast was when I told Brad the only thing that cheered me up on our anniversary was getting dressed up in my wedding dress. Libby says (while wrapped in a towel fresh from the bath), "The only thing that makes me happy is drinking out of these cups!" (We were drinking out of plastic champagne cups). Priceless.

When all was said and done, it was an amazing anniversary, and I'm so grateful for my sweet Brad and all that he is to me everyday, not just on those special ones.

The video

This was what Brad was busy doing over our anniversary (besides going to a wedding): river rafting, ziplining, and indoor skydiving. Never a dull moment with the Cottles if Papa Cottle has anything to say about it.