Jonny and I celebrated our sixteenth anniversary last week with a long walk at beautiful Caledon (with the kids), and dinner out (without the kids). We are clearly far better at spending time outdoors than we are dining out. We were late getting back from Caledon and didn’t manage to get out the door until an hour and a half after our friend who was watching the kids arrived. When we reached the restaurant where we had planned to eat, we discovered that it was live music night and it was really loud. So we tried choice number two, next door. It was closed for a private event. It was around 9 p.m. at this point and I was so hungry and exhausted that I just wanted to go home. I wasn’t a very fun date. We ended up eating burgers, fries, and milkshakes at a high end burger joint. I felt like a going-out failure but Jonny just laughed. “This is way more ‘us,’ he said. I guess so. We just aren’t fancy night out people. We finished our shakes and drove home, planning for a redo soon. We need to aim for an afternoon date next time. I think that would be more our speed.
16 years. It feels like an accomplishment, but honestly, it makes us feel old. We kept trying to remember the details of the day we got married (we eloped in the N. Georgia mtns.), and they are getting awfully fuzzy! I’m sure we were laughing at ourselves then, just as we do now.
(Trying to get that perfect dorky anniversary shot. Larkspur was our photographer.)
p.s. Job’s sweater is here.
Richard says
Happy Anniversary! Congratulations on your blessed 16 years together and thank you as always for sharing the occaision and the photos with all of us out here in blog-land. My parents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary this June 19th. Best wishes for you and Jonny to do the very same.
P.S. – Job’s sweater is a work of art.
Sandra Davidson says
Beautiful pictures what a lovely walk. Congratulations on your anniversary. Any date is fun when you can get away just the two of you. When you get too your fifty as we will next year ,then things are fussy and even going out for a burger is fun. Blessings for many more happy years. Sandra
Melissa says
Happy anniversary. A date night that ends at the burger joint is good. Especially if you enjoyed it. After all my husband and I sometime have a hot date to the post office. If you feel that your losing your memories of your wedding write them down some where. The wonderful, the troubles that you laugh at now, all of it. This has helped me keep my wedding fresh in my mind after 14 years.
Jessica says
Happy anniversary! My husband and I celebrated our 16th this October 1st…we also eloped (after knowing each other a mere six weeks!)…six years ago we became Catholic converts and are now country living, happy parents of a little brood, and homeschooling, too. Love your blog, your insight into faith and family, and your gorgeous photography!
Jean G. Woodhouse says
Happy Anniversary. You two are a handsome couple and have a beautiful family.
Nancy M says
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!!!
Heather says
happy anniversary!
Sheliah says
Happy Anniversary and best wishes for many more! Don and I have 46 years married and time really has flown by! Love seeing pics of you and your family.
Betsy says
HaPpY aNnIvErSaRy! Beautiful pictures of a beautiful family. We gave up on a fancy date night years ago. We’re not fancy people. Red Robin burgers or Olive Garden is about as fancy as we get even now that the kids are grown and gone. 16 years-you’re spring chicks. We’re at 36! Congratulations you two.
Blessings,
Betsy
Kerry says
Happy Anniversary!
Heidi! says
Happy Anniversary! You have created a wonderful life in those 16 years. My husband & I just celebrated our 30th and honestly it went by so fast. We STILL don’t get date night right! Looks like Job is a climber! Good luck! 🙂
Monique says
happy anniversary! I personally think going out to eat is highly overrated…the stress about what to wear, who will babysit…my hubby and I have “date night” every Sunday night….we feed the kids, they are off to bed , and we enjoy a yummy dinner just with the two of us at home, watching a favorite show or movie. Great way to start the week.
Anyway, great photos as always, and I especially love the first one of you two!
Sylvia says
It sounds like the perfect anniversary celebration. Congratulations on 16 years of marriage!
Mrs. Mallard says
Happy Anniversary! 16 years is awesome!
Corinne says
Happy! Happy! Anniversary to you and your hubby!
I just love it that you celebrated your anniversary with your
children! How wonderful is that! I can’t get over how big Job is and it
appears he’s walking and climbing….he’s so adorable… love his expressions!
Here’s cheers to a cheap dinner date!!!
Corinne
Jenny says
The high end burger joint sound just about right. One of my most favorite dates happened after the birth of our fifth baby. We drove to Sonic, hoping the baby would fall asleep on the drive and stay asleep–no such luck. So we enjoyed our burgers and shakes while I nursed the newborn.
Jennifer says
Happy Anniversary! Hubby and I are not fancy date night people either. My favorite date with him is to grab lunch from noodles or chipotle and go to the park. We have a table where we always sit and then we walk there. Easy and cheap and so it can happen more often.
Shelley says
Congratulations! Love that you celebrated the day outdoors with the blessings of your marriage.
Your anniversary dinner sounds perfect to me. Isn’t having fun and enjoying being together even when things don’t turn out as planned a sign of a good marriage?
Christine says
Happy Anniversary!
bonnie says
Love your pics of the anniversary day and date!
Your love will far out way any date night event and will be much more fun. 🙂
A tree hugger – me too. I really like the collection of things gathered, my best thing to do. walking in nature and picking up things.
May you always remain each others best gift.
Love Bonnie
Linda says
Absolutely wonderful! Such beautiful and sweet family photos. I very much enjoyed them.
Marty says
How fun is that? We also celebrated our 16th anniversary this year! Happy happy Blessed Anniversary to you! Beautiful photos, thanks so much for sharing. Well done, Larkspur, for such a fun photo of your folks.
Cherrie says
Your commitment to each other is surely a light in the darkness of present day morals. I thank God for you and your lovely family, and thank you so much for posting pictures of your anniversary day. My dear husband and I continue a tradition of taking our children out for dinner on our anniversary because in the early days of our marriage (when we lived on a small farm), it was the one day of the year that we felt we should be able to afford a treat – burgers and fries at a drive-in! We’re not very much more fancy than that after 54 years together.
Fräulein Rucksack says
Fantastic. Those pictures. And those 16 years. Good luck for your second dinner out try.
Heather says
Beautiful photos of your beautiful family, Ginny! My husband and I celebrate 16 years next month. 🙂
Congratulations and many more!
Heather H says
Thank you for sharing all this beauty.
Happy Anniversary!
Melissa says
I think you should let slide a little dinner hiccup in the grand scheme of an amazingly gorgeous autumn day spent with your lovely family, celebrating your anniversary ~ it looks like perfection on this end, Ginny 🙂
Jennifer says
Happy anniversary to both of you! Here’s to many more.
LifeSheWrote says
Congratulations, happy anniversary, and to many more good years!
Barbara says
You guys look so young…16 years seems impossible. We’re coming up on 29 in November (I had to use a calculator to figure that out!) and the years are written across my face (and head — gray hair!).
And you eloped…I don’t think I knew that. We just had a big wedding planning weekend with my son and his fiancée and afterward she said she thinks she’d rather elope. She has simple needs, unlike other people involved — ahem (not me!). I’ll have to share your story. 😉
Barbara says
PS congratulations! And prayers for many, many more.
Nahuatl Vargas says
Congratulations, beautiful photos and family!
Yarikza Alexander says
What a sweet story! I love, love, love the pictures. I am all about family and I can tell you are the same way. Happy Anniversary!!!!
Wanda says
Oh and I interrupted your getting ready time! I’m sorry! But I enjoyed talking with you :)))))
Mary says
And now I’m craving a burger and shake 🙂 Happy anniversary!
Teresa says
You make me smile.
Congrats on your anniversary
Naomi says
Happy Anniversary! I always feel like each anniversary, for every marriage, is one more light in the dark. Beautiful walk, beautiful family. Two weeks ago we celebrated 9 years, and our celebration was to eat dinner together after the kids were in bed. So high end 🙂
Joyful says
Congratulations on 16 years! That is quite an accomplishment these days. I agree with Katerina, you are a really cool and beautiful family! I enjoy every visit here!
Susie Klein says
Lovely photos! I’ve been married 36!!! years and we quickly learned that we are not fancy-night-outers either. We also had a rule of not talking about the kids or work on our anniversary dates. Was way more difficult than we expected! Ha!
Susie
ellen kelley says
Oh happy day! There is so much love in all of these pictures. We marked 49yrs. the June. Gah!
Wishing you a wonderful week, Ginny.
This Little Blue Homestead says
What beautiful colors and happy family. Thanks for sharing such a special day!
Willemijn Maljaars says
Such a sweet picture of you two! Happy anniversary!
Kate says
Happy anniversary!
Betsy M says
Happy Anniversary! Love the photos of you two. God Bless you with many, many more happy years.
Lis says
Happy Anniversary!!!
Olivia says
These photos are just gorgeous. Truly, you are so gifted with a camera! Happy anniversary!
Stephinie says
oh, yeah! happy anniversary. we celebrate our (gulp) 17th in a few months. where does the time go? and LOOK at that walking baby! my, oh my. lovely pictures….. xo~
Tracey says
Happy 16 Ginny and Jonny. Mike and I celebrated 32 years this passed August so I’m feeling very old!
We aren’t fancy going out to dinner people either.
I love the last photo, Larkspur did a fantastic job.
Lisa G. says
Larkspur was your photographer? Great job! And, a happy anniversary to you.
Elizabeth says
yay! and God grant you many many more years! * You are not at all ‘old’!!!! With those young kids and how you and Johnny look yourselves, young indeed! 🙂 Lovely sweater for Job and lovely colour! * Well, dates at night perhaps are hard to do but you are together laughing and that is good! Will light a candle to God in celebration of your 16 years!
Katerina says
Happy anniversary! You are really cool beautiful family!!