Anniversary

Seven years!! My how time flies. I thought it would be fun to go back and recap what has happened over the past seven years. I'll start with 2001.

2001- John and I were married Sept. 1st. We were married in Salt Lake and then drove back to Michigan. I was starting my second year of law school and John had a good job at the USPFO for the National Guard.

2002- We were still living in Michigan. A couple of weeks before our anniversary we were able to take a trip to Maine. We enjoyed the drive and had a good time. At that time I was also about three months pregnant with Amber. Earlier in the summer we had driven to Wisconsin where my brother was married. We brought my younger sister and brother back to Michigan with us. It was fun to have them for the week they were here. We flew back to Utah with them on July 4th.

2003- We had just moved to Utah. I had finished my classes and needed to do an externship for the next three months. Amber was about 6 months old at that time. Earlier in the year we had found a house close to my parents for a good price. It was a crazy year. John had found a National Guard unit to be transferred to. Unfortunately, this is also the year we found out John would be deployed. We had only been in Utah for a few short months when we knew for sure he would be deployed.

2004- This was a busy year. John was deployed at the beginning of January to Afghanistan. Amber turned one in February. I took the bar in February. At Easter time I took Amber to Michigan. I was doing volunteer work during the summer until I got a job. John surprised my by getting leave to come home a few months earlier than planned. He was actually home for our anniversary. It was nice to have him home for a short time!

2005- A lot happened this year too. My mom passed away in January, John came home for good in March, Cynthia came to visit for a while, and Emma was born in May. Wow, just in the first six months of the year. We celebrated our four year anniversary, but it felt like we had just started over again. John had been gone for so long and we had a lot of adjustments to make when he came home. Amber had a lot of adjustments to make with babysitters. At the beginning of the year she was with Bonnie. Then John was home. Then Cynthia was here, then I was home after having Emma. Then the girls were with Maegen, then they were with Jaime.

2006- Wow, five years! We actually had a very slow year, so to speak. Not much excitement this year. Although we did lose a ready babysitter. My sister went to college so we lost our last minute babysitter! Amber turned three and started going to the Boys and Girls club this year. It was nice to have the extra time in the car with her before going to work. Emma was with Andrea, just a few houses away. It was nice to have the babysitter close to home. Drop off and pick up were way easy!

2007- You know, sometimes we do things without knowing what the end result is going to be, or how things are really going to turn out. This is the year I quit my job on faith and prayer. At the time I really wasn't sure how it was going to work, but both John and I felt it was the best thing for us at the time. I knew I could work at home, and I had options. Timothy joined us in October, just in time for Halloween. At Christmastime we drove to Michigan to visit John's family. It was a good trip. The kids were amazing. They fought very little.
I started bringing in more work towards the end of the year.

2008- This year so far has been crazy. Amber turned five, Emma turned 3. John and I have been married for seven years! So far we have had a good year. We've been busy, but we've also had fun. John enjoys his job, I've been involved with a couple of HOA's, and the kids are growing up! Amber started Kindergarten, and Emma started preschool.

Looking back at the years, it looks like we have a lot to celebrate. Although we've had our trials, we have had a good life together. We are so blessed. Hooray for seven years, when some predicted we would last for not more than two!