11 years

This past weekend Brandon and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. Eleven! We were just 19 years old when we got married and the girls were three and a half months old. My sister stood at my side holding Baylee and Brandon's dad stood at his side holding Caylee. Our pastor performed our short and sweet ceremony in front of just our immediate family on his wedding anniversary. It always meant the world to me that he took the time for us on his special day. My brother held the video camera to capture the exchange of vows, but we later discovered he never hit record. That's ok. It's forever recorded in my mind. The tears and the laughs. I remember after the ceremony was finished we tried to pay our pastor $100 (with money my dad had given us) and he told us to keep it and use it on diapers. We left the girls with my parents for the weekend and headed to Tulsa for our "honeymoon" (provided, again, by my dad). Outback, Embassy Suites, the Rosie O'Donnell magazine, breakfast buffet...all sweet memories even if I was sick with a nasty cold, couldn't taste a thing and was forced to wear my glasses because contacts irritated my eyes too much. So many wonderful memories from that weekend. Not in a million years could we have imagined where life would lead us. We were just like any other young couple getting married in that all we knew was we wanted to be together forever. The only exception was we already had our family established.

We spent our anniversary celebrating as a family. I made a yummy breakfast and then we headed out for the day. We took advantage of the sales tax free weekend and did a little back to school shopping that morning before the crowds got crazy. Then we headed to Myrtle Beach for Dolly Parton's Pirate Voyage that evening. It's like her Dixie Stampede show, but pirate themed. And it's so much better! Goodness, I loved it. Then again, I love pirates! ;) The girls even admitted they might like it more than Dixie. And that's saying a lot for the horse lovers they are. We didn't leave Myrtle Beach until almost 11 and as the time struck midnight, ending our anniversary, Brandon had Matthew West's song "When I say I Do" playing. I love him. A lot. He's my boy. He's my favorite.

To get the party started I made one of Brandon's favorite breakfasts, breakfast casserole. We hadn't had it in forever. I paired it with our "eat your greens smoothie" hoping to balance it out. Ha! ;)

B and his girls before the show. 

Snapping a family pic is hard. Lol!

When B picked up the tickets the lady looked at our seats and said "Oh! You have GREAT seats!". Well, she was right! Front row and center! Not sure how that happened, but we sure didn't complain! 

B & B

C & C

The "stage" was a giant pool with boats on each end. I think B said the pool was 15 feet deep. It has to be because they were diving, jumping, and swinging into the water from super high places. So fun!

The floor in front of us had a strip of floor that was like a gymnastic mat. The pirates did all kinds of flips and tumbling passes. And it was right in front of us! Loved it! They also had a sea lion, Salty, that came right in front of us. So stinking cute!

After the show with all our loot! I. Love. Pirates!

This is Myrtle Beach's new SkyWheel. It's right on the water. I wanted to ride this thing so bad, but Caylee was hesitant. And if everyone wasn't on board I didn't want to fight for a parking spot, maneuver through the crowded boardwalk, and then wait in line. We already had a two hour drive back home so we just drove by and snapped a pic. 

Apparently, to Baylee, anniversaries are exhausting! ;)

Happy anniversary to us!