Fall Sibling Weekend #2

The third weekend of October must be consistently good timing because now two years in a row, Sarah and Peter have visited us in Barcelona on the same weekend. Both years we have been able to celebrate our mom's birthday together and had a lovely 70 degree weekend! We have tossed around the idea of doing something really remarkable during our time together here, but we always end up getting so carried away in conversation and just love exploring the city, eating our way through the day, and catching up on lots of missed conversation! Amidst all the chatting, we did remember to snap a few photos to remember the weekend. Here are some pictures to show the overview of our weekend together.

So happy to be reunited

Had to get some bicings and cycle around town a bit

Lucky for us, Barcelona's Mercat de Mercats was happening this weekend.

Birthday Skyping with mom.

Night time wanderings.

Ended the weekend with a lovely Sunday brunch.

As always, we are so grateful to have family in Europe and that weekends together are possible. It is something that we will never take for granted. Come back soon, guys!

Anniversary in the Black Forest

For our second anniversary, we wanted to go somewhere to celebrate that reminded us of our wedding. We chose to get married in the Fall because it is both of our favorite season, and we loved planning a Fall wedding. Although Barcelona cools down a bit in the Fall, it does not get nearly as colorful or cool as either of us would like. Since we both love Germany, we thought it would be the perfect place to celebrate our anniversary. We have spent time in many parts of Germany, but never in the Black Forest. We have heard it is legendary in the Fall, so we just had to go! For two people who love Fall as much as we do, this trip was pure paradise!

We rented an old farmhouse that could not have been more perfect for us.  First of all, google maps could not find exactly it - this was the first sign to us that it was exactly the kind of place we wanted to stay. Inside the house everything was rustic and handmade, with a spiral wooden staircase, fireplace, and even an old piano. The yard contained a well, a tree house, apple trees, and a firepit. It was our dream place to spend an Autumn weekend, and we did not want to leave!

When we weren't in our cozy farmhouse, we were outside soaking in as many colorful leaves as we could. The large region considered the Black Forest contains countless quaint villages with beautiful German architecture. Beyond the beautiful villages there were endless trails, on which we experienced perhaps the most vivid colors of any Fall we've experienced yet!

We spent time reflecting on our two years of marriage  and both laughing and tearing up while watching our wedding videos. As we reminisced about our wedding, we were once again filled with gratitude for those involved in our wedding day, as well as those who have been involved in our marriage ever since. It feels like yesterday that so many people pulled together to help make our wedding so incredible, and we are still every bit as grateful. But October 5th, 2013 was only the beginning. The day we began our marriage commitment we started a journey on which we have already learned so much. We are thankful for those who have supported us through changes and given us advice, input, or examples of the kind of marriage we strive to have. Our relationship is far from perfect, but as it is continually being shaped, we are learning much about one another and about what it means to love. We can both easily say that because of the commitment we made to each other we are better people now than when we exchanged vows two years ago. We hope that no matter what high or low our marriage survives, that can always be said.

Here's to many more years of love, adventure, and gorgeously colorful Autumns!