Four years together.

On our 4th anniversary, Paul and I really wanted to do something special.  We've never been able to celebrate an anniversary the way we would like to because I've either been pregnant or just a few months postpartum.  

So here's what we did:

First the boys' beloved Auntie Melissa (or Aunt Wissa, as Hayden calls her) came over.  She was happy to stay with the boys so that we could get away.  Without her, none of his would have been possible!  She took great care of our little ones and they love her.  Well...Taylor's working on it, but Hayden has developed a special bond!  I told Hayden that day that mommy and daddy were going away for the night but he would stay with Auntie Melissa.  He was excited until I was packing up and getting ready to leave.  The boy actually glared at me!  He wouldn't give me a hug and kiss goodbye-I couldn't even bribe him with chocolate milk!  I felt bad and then I told myself NO!  You will come back a better person.  And you deserve this.  He won't even remember this trip when he's older.  Still...the glaring and silent treatment hurt!   

Our intended destination was the Lion's Gate Manor in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, but we had to make a few stops along the way.  First Stop:  Caramel Tree, Rigby, Idaho.  Their cake pops are AMAZING.  And only $1 each!  We got chocolate and raspberry cheesecake.  So good!  And it's right on Main Street so it wasn't hard to find.

One tip on eating the cakepops:  They come right out of the fridge so the chocolate is kind of hard.  Let them sit out at room temp for a few hours and they are delicious.  TRUST ME.  Paul had some issues trying to eat his in the car because it was fresh out of the fridge (crumbly).

We then drove on to Lava Hot Springs to our B&B and found a gorgeous little mansion.  We were greeted at the door by our hostess(Tammy)--an older woman with amazing hospitality!  We went over the house rules and felt right at home.  

The house has a great porch out back that showcases the beautiful views of the mountains.

There was a full kitchen that we could take use of, and Tammy gave us a little back story on the room we would be staying in.  We chose "The Phantom's Lair". She told us a little about The Phantom of the Opera and the opera house in France where the story takes place.  With that, she asked us to set down our luggage and go explore the lair.  She led us to a bookshelf and opened it for us!  We walked through a purple curtain down a spiral staircase into a dark almost cave-like room.  

...walking down the spiral staircase...

I stepped out onto what looked like a dock.  There was a black "lake" with flameless candles lit, and to my left was an amazing jetted tub.

Stepping onto the pier...

The jetted tub fills from the ceiling--Do you see the water?!?  This picture doesn't do it justice, but you can also see part of the mural in the background.

A floor to ceiling mural on the wall let us know that this was the basement of the opera house where the phantom's lair would have resided.  I stepped off of the pier and walked under the archway to our bedroom.  There was great, recreated, period furniture, as well as a full length mirror.  

You can just barely see the phantom in this picture.  He was hard to photograph!  The room was mood-lit so it was a bit on the dim side.  He actually showed up better when we turned the lights off, but then the camera would shoot because it wanted light.  TOUGH!

The Angel of Music ready to pull me through the mirror!  Ha ha.

Did I mention the Phantom himself appears in the mirror?!?  Yeah, motion sensor.  It was scary but after a while I got used to it.Next to that, a masterful king-size bed and a chandelier to light the room.  Surrounding the room were more flame-less candles and flowers.  I love those things!

A beautiful chandelier hung above our bed.  A lot of the furniture (not just in our bedroom but the whole house) was imported from European countries.

Roses on the buffet.

Off of our bedroom was a smaller surround sound theatre room.  There was a velvet rope crossing the entrance with a sign that read, "Box 5 Reserved" (as that was the box the phantom always requested), and it was lined with satin curtains.  Inside was a gorgeous, antique organ and TV which (you guessed it) The Phantom of the Opera!  Loved it!  Side note--How did I never realize that Gerard Butler is the Phantom?!?  Does anyone know he he did his own singing?  Just wondering!

I know I'm a nerd, I posed and made Paul take this picture of me.

We also had our own gorgeous bathroom and another (normal) entrance to our room that made transporting bags a cinch.  

Breakfast the next morning was served at 10am in the main dining room (which means I didn't have to rush myself getting ready!).  We literally woke up to the smell of bacon and ascended our spiral staircase to enter the dining room through the bookshelf.  Talk about making an entrance!  Breakfast was delicious and we got to meet two other couples about our age and situation from nearby towns.  I just can't tell you how much fun we had!

We took this picture 1,000 times but this is the best I could do!

After checking out we went down to Logan to pick up an axle for Paul.  We had some time to kill so we visited the Logan Temple-announced in 1876 and dedicated in 1884.  It's gorgeous.  I can't believe I had never seen it before!  Right as we were headed out of town I spotted a 7-11 and had to stop--It's been years since I've had a Slurpee!  I even took a picture of myself to commemorate the event!

They even had Pina Colada--my FAVE!

Overall, we had an amazing getaway!   We loved coming back to our children but our time away was priceless!