Year #2, Check

Well, we made it.  Eric and I.  Two years.
As far as I'm concerned, we may as well be given a shiny gold medal.
In celebration of this accomplishment, I'm gonna' write a few words here for Eric in honor of anniversary number two. 
I read an article from Time magazine a few weeks ago about a topic of interest in our lives:  "Remarriage.  Hope For a Better Life and a Willingness to Work Hard to That End."
It says:
Many people see remarriage as a fresh new chance at happiness with a partner whom they should have chosen in the first place.  But the statistics reveal that second or later marriages are much more likely to end in divorce. Why is this so?....For one thing, those who remarry often have unrealistic expectations. They are in love, and they don’t really understand that the replacement of a missing partner (due to divorce, desertion or death) doesn’t actually restore the family to its first-marriage status.  On the contrary, remarriage will present them with a number of unanticipated design issues such as children’s loyalty binds, the breakdown of parenting tasks and the uniting of disparate family cultures....Essentially, the remarried family’s unanticipated and difficult job is to leave behind many of their old assumptions about how a "real family"— i.e., a traditional first-marriage family — is supposed to operate and get to work on self-consciously planning, designing and building an entirely new kind of family structure that will meet their own unique requirements.
These words certainly touch upon some of the challenges we have to face together that have become increasingly difficult these past two years. 
Earlier this week we were once again reminded of these challenges.  After sitting in silence together for a moment we were both able to muster up the affirmation that in spite of these challenges, we were both in this for the long haul.  Then you said something like, "This is why we're tougher than the rest." 
Even though that statement "tougher than the rest" is radically untrue (everyone has their stories, after all), it has become a well-fit phrase for our little family.  Because truthfully, our paths continually prove to require undue strength from our sometimes weak and tired souls.  Working through the seemingly endless strands of sensitive issues can be grueling, to be sure.

We are all too aware of what these endless issues can be, so enough of that.  We've made it two years!--It's time to stop and think about all the wonderful good that has come from our meeting.
First of all, how nice it is to have someone that understands my pain as a result of similar life's circumstances.  That similarity has laid the foundation of our connection, but it isn't just about that.  We want much of the same things for our lives and how nice it is to share those life's visions with someone again.  We both want to continue on with our lives and family in as peaceful a way as possible.  We want our girls to be happy and successful and secure.  We both enjoy ending our days at each other's sides.  We've both grown stronger as individuals...even though I think we both thought we'd grown enough.

We've made some good memories so far.  Here are some of my faves....

From the beginning:

Taken outside the St. George temple, right before we got married.

Our honeymoon, livin' it up.

More honeymoon fun.

Taken at Nate and Andrea's when we were engaged.

Throwin' the girls on the bean bag...Their all-time favorite.

One of my favorite wedding pics of ours. 

This was such an awkward picture for us...We tried to get the photographer to see that these cheesy kinds of poses were just not us, but this one turned out cute, I think.

I loved my shoes when we got married.  Loved them. 

And then we started in on the real fun...

Dealing with the difficulties of three little kids in church. 

Throwing all those summer birthday parties.

Being with our babies at night.

Bundling them up. (Look at how much she's changed!)

"Putting up" with all the many but wonderful family outings.

Finding some time to relax at home.

More family outings (Farmington Parade, '12)

Giving the girls loves loves loves.

Getting kids to eat something besides treats.  :)

Dealing with our constant silly sister girls.  :)

Hosting family parties.  Turns out you're a pretty killer griller.  :)

Home improvement projects.  Turns out you're also quite the handyman.  Two kitchen backsplashes done in two years. 

And then all the fun outings and special times....



You and Scott running the Bear Lake half marathon.

When you made me my favorite treat for Mother's Day--Red Velvet cake.

Takin' you to U. games with the family.  (An effort to pull you away from the dark side. :) )

Goin' on hikes with the girls.

Pushing you into an entirely uncomfortable territory when I threw a surprise party for your 35th birthday. :)

Running races.

Enjoying ourselves a little Boondocks.

Celebrating milestones with the girls.  Ava's third birthday in this picture.  (Another picture of how much they've grown since we married.)

Seeing the joy amidst all the tears.  :)

Going to the Brigham City temple dedication with my mom and dad.

Going to the cabin. 

On this particular visit you helped stained the deck and you got a hole in your jeans.

The power of duct tape. :)

I was so glad to have you help.

Sledding with the girls!

Going boating with neighbors.

Cherry Hill fun!

Grandpa Jim's visits.  Love this pic.

Going on dates.....Not as often as I think we need them.  But here's proof that we have actually done so.  Our first anniversary--We went to the SLC temple and then Crown Burger.  Good date.

When you made me this book for my first Mother's Day with you guys.  It was the BEST.

Enjoying the girls' weekly soccer games. 

Yes, just look at the thrill in your face.

So far my favorite holiday with you has been Halloween. :) 

Four-wheeler rides at the cabin.  You were like a kid in a candy store in this shot.  :)

Spending time with your brother James and his wife Wendi.

Season passes at Lagoon.

More races with the girls.

And then those wonderful vacations....

in Bear Lake

at Girls Camp with you.  (If you want to call that a vacation.)

sunny St. George

lots of hikin'

And of course, Disneyland.  I still have pictures from that trip to post on the blog, but I think this one just might be my favorite snapshot from that trip.

Best ride at Disneyland.

Crazy girls and tired parents.

Some other good memories we've made together so far involve a lot of work.  You and I are a good homeowning team.  (Even though we still can't agree on what good hardware is for a basement.)  We bought our first house together in Spring of 2013 and we're definitely still at the beginning of the work we have ahead of us with this house.  But it's fun to see all we've done.  Just a few things so far....

A snapshot of the house when we bought it.

What it looks like now.

Pullin' out old trees.

Pullin' out carpet.

Diggin' fences.

And giving our girls what we really hoped for in getting this new house:  A backyard complete with a tramp.  Go us!

Eric, happy 2nd anniversary.  I know I'm posting this two months late.  Actually, almost three.  Nevertheless, you must know that I am grateful for these past two years.

I have hope that God will continually help us be "tougher than the rest" so that we can keep growing together.  I have hope that someday I will look upon these years and see in a much clearer way that we were indeed growing more and more together, one day at a time, in spite of our life's demands.  I have hope that even though we haven't "restored our family to first-marriage status," as the above mentioned article states, that we are finding a "place" so to speak, for our current marriage and family.

xoxoxoxo!!!