September 8, 2001
OKC Temple
Our Sealing Day
Our Most Important Day
5 months pregnant with Howie
(Sorry this is out of order, I forgot to add it and I'm not going back to change it)
Let's take a stroll down memory lane.
Keep the volume on, I have some special love songs on my playlist.
WARNING: Picture overload ahead!
January 2000
We had just recently met, maybe a week or so prior. As you can tell by the photo, I was totally diggin' Howard, and he wasn't so much. He's all red faced and shy.
March 2000
Provo, UT
Dating and officially in LOVE
Memorial Day 2000
Sundance, Utah
I said YES!
June 17, 2000
My favorite wedding picture!
Our Honeymoon
San Jacinto, CA
June 22, 2000
We went to a water park that day, it was also Howard's birthday.
We spent a week in So. Cal at our good friends house.
We were too poor to do anything big.
Newleyweds
October 2000
Oconomowoc, WI
Basic Training Graduation
June 11, 2001
San Antonio, TX
I was about 8 weeks pregnant with Howie
June 2002
Nauvoo Temple Open House
Our little family
Memorial Day Weekend 2003
North of Spokane, WA
Camping trip with the Gardner and Stutzman Families
I was 8 months pregnant with Erin
September 2004
Leavenworth, WA
Howard had recently returned from Iraq and this was our first trip away without any children. We were away for 2 days and 1 night and we stayed in the honeymoon suite.
Way better than our first honeymoon.
It was so AMAZING that it deserved 2 pictures!
At dinner in Leavenworth, WA
It's a quaint little Bavarian town
LOVE IT!
June 2005
Chatan, Okinawa
This is what happens when a 3 year old finds the camera.
Howard and I were cuddling on the floor and the kids found us.
Our computer crashed in 2007, so we have a lack of pictures.
Fall 2006
Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan
I think I was 8 months pregnant with Jack here.
My only "thin" pregnancy, thanks to the braces.
Here a 4 year old (Howie) is the photographer.
September 2007
Mesa, AZ
This was when we thought we were going to loose my Dad the first time.
The Red Cross had us in California within 24 hours of my Dad getting sick.
Once it was clear that he was pulling through, we took a quick weekend trip over to see Howard's family in Arizona.
June 2008
Okinawa, Japan
I was 5 weeks pregnant with Luke.
I actually learned I was pregnant on our 8th anniversary.
What a special day!
March 2008, (sorry it's out of order)
Our second trip without any kids...6 days in Tokyo!
Here we are at Tokyo Disney Sea.
We weren't poor anymore and really lived it up!
Can I say AMAZINGLY AMAZING?!!!!
Well, it was!
Feb 10, 2009
Okinawa, Japan
Howard's such a wonderful Father!
I was just grateful that this alien baby was not possessing my body anymore.
November 2009
Oklahoma City, OK
Our first home that we purchased
April 30, 2010
OKC Airport
Saying goodbye at the USO before Howard left for Afghanistan
Here are some family stats:
Dated 3 months
Engaged 3 weeks
Married 10 years!
2 babies born in Spokane, WA (2002, 2003)
2 babies born in Okinawa, Japan (2006, 2009)
Lived in
Provo, UT
Oconomowoc, WI
Wichita Falls, TX
Spokane, WA
Okinawa, Japan
Oklahoma City, OK
Deployed
Iraq 2004 (3 1/2 months)
Afghanistan 2010 (6 months)
School Separations
Basic Training 2001 (7 weeks)
7 Level School 2006 (4 weeks)
Cross-Training 2009 (4 months)
The fine print: Yes, we fell madly in love right away...Yes, we married FAST...Yes, we are happy...BUT, we have not always been. Our 7th year was HARD for us, but divorce is NOT in our vocabulary. Our marriage is stronger and we are happier now than we ever have been before!
LIFE IS GOOD!
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing this wonderful journey of the 1st 10 years! Phillip and I celebrated (are still celebrating :O) our 31st anniversary this month.
I especially appreciated your disclaimer that there have been some HARD times but that divorce is not an option. We too have been through those rough patches, some of them as long as hot dry deserts, and it has taken a lot of work. But oh how sweet life is now!
Work hard, Love hard, Play hard, AND GO WORTHILY TO CHURCH. (every week!)
luv ya,
kim h
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