I married the right guy, part 2

The next surprise from my cute hubby came a few weeks later, in the form of an elaborately planned date night. I was told that we'd be going snow-shoeing, but that was all the intel I was allowed. We went with Jake's friend Nate and his girl Tessa. We started out for mile and a half trail up Cottonwood canyon in the early evening. We really bundled up to protect against the negetive-degree temperatures. The boys thought ahead and even brought us headlamps to light our way in the dark. After about an hour of trudging through the snow, we were just short of the ridgeline when the boys decided that they needed a potty break. They left to find a more secluded spot and after almost 15 minutes, Tessa and I decided to follow them. I never would have guessed what they were up to! When we crested the ridge, the terrain leveled off and we were in a little fairy-tale. A fire was blazing, a christmas tree was shining, and candles were lit. We made our way to the fire to warm up, where the boys had hot chocolate heating up in a tea kettle.

Then they said that we needed to go check out the christmas tree. they had actually brought up battery-powered lights! Under the tree were perfectly wrapped gifts for us.

We opened them up and were a bit confused - they had given us ice skates?!

Then they revealed that the christmas tree was actually sitting on a small frozen lake, and the shoveled path around it was an ice rink!

candle-lit path around the ice rink

We skated the night away on our own private ice rink in the woods, and toasted to the new year with sparkling cider. To get us and all the gear down the mountain, the boys had brought sleds. So we loaded them up and sped down in a caravan.

Jake and Nate had put so much work into this date! I found out later that they had hiked up to the spot twice before to get all the gear up and get things ready. They shoveled the area for the fire, a 25 ft path to the lake and the ice rink around the tree. And trees don't grow in water, so they had hacked down a pine tree and dragged it over there.
Shoveling snow the day before

skating rink during the day before they lugged the tree over to it

Needless to say, I felt really special. Love this boy of mine!