Twelve years and counting...(and still kissing)

Twelve years ago yesterday there was a tornado in down town Salt Lake City. 

I will never forget that because three days later, I married my best friend in the Salt Lake City temple and now he is stuck with me forever!

Let me tell you a little bit about it.

Josh and I met on a really horrible blind date and I secretly hoped to never see his smug little mug ever again.  Thankfully fate worked against me and with a little bit of help from a good friend he managed to woo me and win me over with his charms.

We were engaged three months after we actually started dating (four months after our first nasty date) and married four months after that.  (P.S. I do NOT recommend this sort of speed dating/marrying to anyone, you should date someone long enough to really know them, but at the same time when it's right, it's right).

The aforementioned tornado did a bunch of damage downtown and even to the temple grounds (including ripping up a very old and very beautiful olive tree), but thankfully three days later Josh and I drove to the temple together early in the morning to be sealed.  Unfortunately, I left my temple recommend at home (which it completely like me and is the reason Josh keeps my recommend in his wallet to this day) so half way to the temple we had to turn around and book it back to my house.  Josh is apparently distantly related to Mario Andretti because we still made it on time (just barely). 

 

So, amid tornado clean up and Temple Square Plaza construction, Josh and I made eternal promises  and smooched and happily enjoyed the most incredible moments we'd ever expereienced.  It was really a beautiful day.

 Of course, not everything could be perfect.  Life is just not like that.

I don't usually grow out my fingernails because they get in the way when I play the piano(guess I could have had them professionally done, but that didn't occur to me at the time...I grew up a bit of a Tom-boy).  I decided my wedding was an appropriate cause to let my nails grow so I didn't cut them for a few weeks.  Then, the night before we got hitched, I broke the nail on my left pinkie finger (it would have to be the left hand).  Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?  Thankfully, I had enough sense not to call the whole thing off over that.

After our morning temple sealing (which was amazing, I am so grateful for the temple and for incredible family and friends not to mention a fabulous temple sealer), we headed back to our apartment to change for my cousin's baptism which was scheduled for that afternoon since all the family was already in town.  It worked out perfectly.  We finished that in time to get back in our fancy duds for our reception that evening.

The first thing we did after the reception was head to the car wash because Josh simply could not stand to leave any of this glop on his car any longer than he had to.  I had sort of wanted to drive around town toting the remnants of the "Yahoo, now we're married" mess, but Josh was not interested and I was too goo-goo eyed at the time to mind letting him have his way (that has now been adjusted...somewhat).

Since then, our family has grown.  Bryce joined us ten months after we got married.  His birth was pretty crazy (not to mention three weeks before his due date so we weren't quite ready for it) and involved a c-section and some near death moments, but we got through it and everything turned out beautifully.

 Aubrey met up with us a couple years later so we had one boy and one girl and figured another kid or two and our family would be full.

 When Parker joined the picture we both felt strongly that our family might just turn out to be a little bit bigger than we had originally planned.  Sometimes God has things in mind for you that are not what you intended, but once you decide to trust Him and give it a shot you are ETERNALLY grateful that He didn't just go with your idea. 

 So for twelve years we've stuck together (you would never know we were mad at each other in this picture, it had been a rotten morning and I had even accidentally hit Josh with a hairbrush in my frustration...seriously, it was an accident...really honey!).

 One by one six little sprites have made the trek from Heaven to join our clan and our family would not be right without any one of them.

Despite the struggles and trials we have faced (and will continue to face) we are still meandering through this life hand in hand (except when I'm grumpy) and it is a beautiful thing to get to spend every day with your very best friend. 

Thanks, Josh, for making my life better than I ever imagined.  I thank God every day that He didn't listen when I wished to never ever see you again.  He knew I would need you and that you could make me happier than any other person on the planet.  It doesn't seem like saying enough, but I love you.