Anniversary Inn Weekend

Tadd and I agreed not to give gifts this year, after I had already purchased one or two gifts for him (go figure), so to assure that he didn't feel too bad about not buying me anything I booked us a two night stay at the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake the weekend before Christmas. I couldn't keep it a secret for longer than a week, since Tadd started to complain that we don't get to spend much time together. After hearing that, I just blurted it out!

We left Provo around noon on Friday and hit IKEA on the way, since neither of us had ever been and we needed to pick up a gift card! It was really fun walking around; that place is huge! I've never really had the chance to decorate a home, so I haven't even figured out what my style is yet! Thank goodness for the showroom, I'll definitely be visiting there when we get an apartment of our own!

After IKEA we headed up to Tadd's physical therapy appointment up by the U. They spent an hour and a half on his pinky finger, imagine that! I mastered a few extra levels on my phone playing the game Brick Breaker, which is my new obsession. After his doc appointment we went to Chili's to fill me up, I was about to die! Chili's has kind of become "our" restaurant, as it was where we went on our first date, and also the place we've gone for anniversaries, birthdays and such.

I was bound and determined to find Nordstrom Rack in Sugarhouse, so we headed over there after eating. It was a total let down, since I had expected one million pairs of Sevens to sift through, but sadly there were practically none. I ended up leaving with a pair of $15 Vans, which made it somewhat worthwhile, while Tadd left empty handed.

By the time we'd finished at the rack, it was time to go check into our room! I had booked us two different rooms, Neptune's Cave for Friday night and Jungle Safari for Saturday night! I was so super excited to check in and see the rooms, but was disappointed with the first room. It was really small, and freezing cold!!! We had to turn the heater on full blast, and leave for a few hours to try and warm it up. We walked around Temple Square for a little bit, and took pictures by the only good trees. We didn't see a lot of lights this year, it was a little disappointing!

In front of the tree in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

The red tree on Temple Square

Can you even see me? I'm kinda hidden and little.

Can you tell by my face how cold it was? The weather sculpted me into an ugly face, and then froze it there!

The next day Tadd and I switched rooms to the Jungle Safari! I'm really glad I booked that one for the second night, since it was much nicer.

Yup, you guessed it! Tadd is taking a bath! We didn't use the shower because I was afraid of it! It came shooting out of the elephants trunk in four different places!

I woke up Sunday morning and was bored while I waited for Tadd to wake up so I took this picture of the view above our bed.

This is also a view from our bed. The TV was set really high up on the wall above a straw shack!

My favorite picture of the trip, Tadd wrestling the alligator!

After settling into our room we got ready for the day and headed to Gateway. I did a little shopping at Forever 21, which is HUGE, and then we ate at Z Tejas. If anyone would ever like a recommendation of what to eat there, go with the Jerk Chicken Salad. It was incredible!

Heading over to Gateway!

It has been determined that I eat roughly triple of what Tadd eats. I had a ton of cornbread as an appetizer, all of my salad, plus dessert, and he only had some cornbread, and about half of his burger. There is something seriously wrong with that.

That night we relaxed a little in our room and watched Ultimate Fighting and Bull Riding. My amazing husband resisted the urge to watch the BYU vs. UCLA game to spend some time with his wife. On top of that, he didn't have anyone to yell with. :)

After some R&R we visited the Clark Planitarium! It brought back memories of junior high when we used to visit it as the Hansen Planitarium!

Once again, driving over to Gateway on our date! I have an obsession with taking pictures of us driving with my camera phone. I think I have to confirm that my hair, make up and outfit are satisfactory.

Here is Tadd predicting the weather!

We learned lots and lots about our earth and planets! I was just fascinated!

We had such a good time, and would both agree it was the best Christmas we've had since we've been married. Of course, neither Tadd nor I obeyed the rule of no gifts, but we certainly toned it down a lot, and made our weekend stay our big gift!