Whitney & Ryan: Wedding Anniversary #6

Last weekend Ryan & I celebrated our 6th year of marriage. This year has seen highs and lows from a family perspective. We have battled some issues with extended family which has had an affect on many family dynamics. We welcomed our beautiful baby girl, Salem Lucille, just over 2 weeks prior to 11/11/17 which has been the sweetest gift. 6 years of marriage, 8 years together, 4 cities, 2 houses, 4 kids, and 1 angel baby. We have experienced a lot of love and life in these 6 years!

You might recall when we celebrated our first anniversary and the gift that kept on giving all year long. We had a great time on our monthly dates and continued to enjoy our passion for exploring. For year two, I combined cotton & china into a beautiful Thanksgiving week getaway up in Mont Tremblant, Canada. In year three, a traditional leather gift came in the form of a TUMI travel wallet while the modern crystal gift included a Thanksgiving dinner at The Crystal Hotel in Portland, OR. Year four brought "tropical" fruits & flowers together with a trip to Bermuda followed by an upgraded {appliance} TV for our bedroom. Our fifth year was about "wood" and "silver which included a bamboo sushi set for two, wine cork cuff links with the year 2011, and a trip to the Greenbrier.

This year I wanted to *again* stick with tradition and put a spin on the modern gift. Traditionally iron is the gift of choice for year #6. Iron is thought to indicate strength. Candy is the modern gift due to representing sweetness.

Ryan loves biking; mountain, trail rides, or cycling. I can remember as a kid in the summers we would take family bike rides around the neighborhood. Kendahl & I would ride our own bikes while mom & dad toted Shane & Taylor in little kid carriers behind their bikes. It was such a fun family time that I thought what better way to incorporate "iron" into a gift. *Bikes have some pieces made from iron in them so I got creative here ;) * With Adelaide riding her bike and Aspen hot on the trail, I figured spring will be a great time for Brighton & Salem to hitch rides with mom & dad! So we have two new shiny casual, cruisin' bikes and two baby carriers to boot!

 


For candy,I had a box of personalized M&M's made with sayings like: 11/11/11, Happy Anniversary, I love you, & Year 6. We are also going to make a pit stop at Schimpff's Confectionery in Indiana on the way to your annual Thanksgiving trip! It is one of the oldest, family-owned candy businesses in the United States. It boasts a 1950's soda fountain, a confectionery, a candy museum, and a candy demonstration area. I can't wait for the kids to see what it was like in the olden days!

I truly love following the traditional and modern celebrations of each year. I hope when we look back on all of the years we can enjoy the way we celebrated as well as the special moments of each passing year!