Happy 11th Wedding Anniversary, Sweetheart!

Wow! Exactly 11 years ago today, my husband & I exchanged our wedding vows... vows that we wrote together & our minister asked if he could use in his example book in the future. :) Our ceremony wasn't extravagant, but it was perfect for us & truly a worship experience.

A lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge since we got married on July 19, 1997... three children here on earth, three babies in heaven, lots of financial ups & downs, responsibilities at church, responsibilities at our firefly's schools, etc. It's easy to get caught up in all the craziness of life sometimes, but no matter how aggravated & infuriated I get at him at times.. I still love him with all my heart and we've stuck together through thick & thin.. even when the storms have been raging all around us.

We met when I was a bridesmaid & he was a groomsman for our mutual friends.. the first time we saw each other was the night of the rehearsal--Thursday, July 11, 1996. I thought that he was funny & kinda cute and was happy to hear that he was the groomsman that I was supposed to walk arm-in-arm with during the ceremony. The next evening at the wedding, we were supposed to walk in first to "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".. well, the person that was "in-charge" of the music messed up big time & he ended up playing the "Wedding March" as we walked up the aisle together. ;) He ended up giving me a ride home from the reception and we went on our first date on July 18, 1996-- the night before I was leaving on a Mission Trip to Memphis, TN with the church I grew up at in Kansas. We started dating seriously after that & knew by that September that we were going to get married. He gave me my engagement ring on November 7, 1996 and we went to Mesa, AZ to meet his Dad, step-Mom & his Grandma over Thanksgiving that year. I was so glad that we went over the holiday to see everyone, because his Grandma passed away around Christmas that same year. Our wedding date is pretty special, too.. not just because it's our wedding date, but because it would have been my Grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary.

Oh the memories! Sorry for the trip down memory lane.. just pondering where we've been & what God may have in store for us in the future. As is my tradition.. I will be hauling our wedding album out this evening to look back through all of the pictures from our day and thinking about all the funny little anecdotes from that day, too. We are all going to dinner at Amarillo Tex's Steakhouse this evening with my family to celebrate.

So.. Happy 11th Wedding Anniversary, Sweetheart!