Bryce Canyon

I met Brad in October of 2010, and on July 29th we celebrated 5 years of marriage. I can't imagine a greater adventure than the time we've spent together. Brad is the most gentle and kind soul I've ever known, and has treated me like his princess from the moment we met. I'd say we came as close as one can to love-at-first-sight, which was important because otherwise our unlikely beginning would have never begun.

We started our 5 year celebration downtown SLC with dinner and a stay at the Little America (of course we had to get in at least one night that didn't include dirt and rocks and sleeping on an air mattress). It was a lovely night, and we got to sneak back to my parents the next morning for some Devin love while we packed up the car for the real adventure.

Brad got the "romance package" which included delicious chocolates and a rose.

Oh and rose petals on the bed. :)

Brad and I settled on camping for our anniversary, and this trip never could have happened without my amazing parents! My dad pulled out all of his gear and packed most of the car for us, and my mom made the most DELICIOUS tinfoil dinners and helped gather the rest of the food needed! Oh, and of course they generously shared a vehicle with us for the week. Did I mention they also took on an extra child for 3 days?

Bryce Canyon seemed like a fitting destination based on some upcoming changes in our living situation (we're not moving back to Utah just in case you're wondering), and we ended up spending time in Red Rock Canyon and Escalante as well. We met people along our journey from Florida, Switzerland, Germany, New Jersey, Virginia, and more as we explored, reminding me that I never fully appreciated all my home state had to offer while living there.

Brad and I haven't camped together for at least a couple of years and it was awesome to enjoy a few days outside of cell range (for the most part) with just the two of us. We rode horses, hiked, gazed at billions of stars (you could ACTUALLY see the Milky way!!), cooked over a campfire, and did a semi-okay job setting up our tent.

I hope it doesn't take us another 5 years to celebrate in style (or whatever you call spending time in the hot, dusty, desert), but in truth I feel like every day I celebrate the blessing of having my best friend and love of my life by my side. I can't wait for an eternity of anniversaries!

Nightlinger and Blue Duck

Thankfully they didn't tell me until over halfway through that
Nightlinger used to be a "buckin' horse".

A view of Escalante

Brad the Breakfast Guy

We had some tent issues... one was not getting the poles quite even
(this was after it blew over and we had to put it back up)

We also discovered the front zippers of the tent didn't zip. This was fine until we thought
an animal got into the tent the first night and couldn't sleep. We decided to remedy the situation for night #2. 

Clearly our solution worked wonders.