15 years?!

Yes, it's true- Tim and I have been married for 15 years.

To celebrate, we ate dinner at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Midway (Tarahumara- go there and order the cheesecake chimichanga- I'm still drooling over the memory) and spent the night at the Johnson Mill bed and breakfast. Everything was wonderful, and it was good to get away and remember we're still in love!

There was hoarfrost covering everything in the morning- it was gorgeous!
This is the antenna on our car. Cool, huh?

As a look back on these last 15 years, here are 15 moments in our lives together that stand out as being important.

1- December 17, 1994- the big day! The most important thing about the whole day was where it happened- in the Oakland Temple. That meant that we started off right. We planned to be together forever. Pretty bold, if you think about it- I mean, we'd really only known each other for a few months, and we were planning to spend eternity together? But we each had spiritual confirmation that it was right. And it was.

2- Our first child. Rebekah's birth was absolutely amazing. Who knew we could pull off something like that? Wow. And then we somehow survived while Tim was working graveyards and going to school full-time, and I was working from my computer at home, with Rebekah on a pillow on my lap.

3- Moving and getting a real job. Manila was Tim's first job offer. He took it. Sounds kinda dumb now, but boy are we glad we ended up there. 10 amazing years- and wonderful friends and memories.

4- Having surprise twins! Obviously, this is an event that sticks out in our minds. Pretty crazy. The whole thing was pretty hard on our marriage at the time, but hey- what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? And we're still here.

5- Ethan's birth. Four kids? No problem. Especially when you have a baby who hardly ever cries. I thought I was getting good at the whole parenthood thing!

6- Our own house! This was a really good thing to do- we bought land, picked a house, coordinated bank/builder/utility/whatever else I have conveniently forgotten- and it worked! I even uncovered a bank scam in the process!

7- Emma's birth- again, so easy! Wow, I was a good mom.

8- My brother Tom's death. This was a new one for us- and I found out both how terrible death can be, and how strong I am. It also introduced a new element into our lives for awhile- fear.

9- Annie's birth. This was the reality check. I don't know if it was my age, or the number of kids, or just Annie's personality, but I found out that I didn't know as much about parenthood as I thought. It is good that Tim is so patient with me, and so willing to help. I wouldn't want to try parenting without him!

10- I'm going to call this one "callings". Our various callings in the church (Primary chorister, pianist, president, nursery, and RS counselor and activity leader for me, EQ president, ward clerk, executive secretary, bishopric counselor, HP assistant for Tim), have been major learning experiences for both of us. Not just learning individually in our callings, but learning to support each other in them. It is a hard thing to be happy and willing to have your spouse gone at night or on Sunday while they work at the church, and you wrangle the kids (that totally goes both ways, since I am the RS activity leader now- at least one night a month I'm gone until late). I'm getting better at it, I think, and Tim is great.

11- Our experiences leading us to the Azores.

12- Living overseas. I loved the whole experience- except when I didn't. It was harder than I thought it would be to be far away from family and familiarity. We didn't really stay long enough for me to overcome all of my issues- I would like to be able to try again someday! What an adventure we had- and how amazing that we could do it together!

13- Moving back. Although our time in the Azores was cut shorter than I had planned, coming back was the right thing to do. In the process, I learned to trust my husband as the head of our family (well, most of the time- I'm still learning). He is a good man.

14- Grad school? This one was definitely a leap of faith. Going back to school full-time after 11 years of having a real job- not an easy decision. But again, we learned to rely on the Spirit, and to work together to succeed. I'm still trying to convince Tim that I'm not interfering when I bug him about working on his dissertation....

15- Living with my parents. Four adults and six children is a pretty good ratio- and splitting dinner and dishes duty has been wonderful! I am still amazed at my parents' willingness to take us in and help us thrive during this challenging time. This experience has also made me confront my pride problem- it's not easy to tell people that I'm 38, have 6 kids, and live with my parents. But this time will be over before long, and then I will miss it. I don't tell my parents often (or ever) how grateful I am for this sacrifice- but I am. Thank you.

So far, this has been a wonderful roller coaster ride. I'm excited to see what the next 15 years will bring!