As We prepare to celebrate our 29th wedding anniversary I thought I'd share a little bit about the We in our lives.
We met in December of 1979 when my parents purchased a restaurant in a small town on the Eastern Slopes of the High Sierra Mountains of California.
What happened to that size 4 body?
We spent the next several months getting to know each other as our lives became intertwined through work, play and many trips to Mono Inn for Teriyaki Steak and Mud Pie:)
We became engaged and then married on May 16, 1981.
We were married in the ghost town (now State Park) of Bodie, CA which my husband's family owned at one time.
We walked through many years of infertility, the ultimate removal of my womb and the death of my lifetime dream of having children. I cannot express the grief I experienced as a very young bride.
We opened our broken hearts to an angel sent by God ~ And the word adoption became our newest friend. This 21 month old cutie was the child we had longed for and God had chosen for us.
Andrew's 1st Christmas with us.
We again opened our hearts and along came this precious one ~ though we were told he would never live one year we knew in our hearts that he was to become part of our family. We would love him for whatever length of time God chose to lend him to us.
At 6 months old Matthew only weighed 10 pounds. He loved his big brother.
We had our boys dedicated to the Lord and we were both baptized on the same day.
We watched our boys grow through Birthdays, Holidays, T-ball, Baseball, 4-H, Football, Special Olympics, Fishing, Skiing, Vacations, Broken bones, Illnesses, Dedications, Graduations, Baptisms, Major injuries, Hospitalizations, Surgeries, Bad choices, Swim lessons, PT, OT, ST, IEP after IEP, and of course Horse lessons.
We have landed on our knees more than our feet, but that has kept us close to the Lord and each other.
We made it through one of the darkest, most difficult seasons in our lives when I was hospitalized for a month but came out stronger than ever.
Glad there are NO pictures of that season!
We left the beautiful wilderness of the High Sierra's for the heat of the Arizona deserts. Why? I am really not sure but here we are and we are blooming where God planted us.
Christmas Time one year.
Christmas Time the next year.
We have survived a failed business and the heartbreak of bankruptcy yet God has always supplied our every need and so much more.
We have laughed, cried, fought and made up more times than I care to remember. We have struggled and been victorious sometimes on the same day. We have played hard and loved even harder.
We have faced many losses including all of our grandparents, our dad's and numerous pets along with very some special friends. We have also lost jobs, friendships and church families throughout the years.
We have also added members to our family with the addition of Andrew's birth sister and her sweet family a few years ago. We added a daughter-in-love and a granddaughter, and soon another granddaughter will be here to hold.
We have walked through the diagnosis of a terminal illness when Mark received the news of End Stage Renal Failure. But God had a plan which included dialysis and a transplant. Did God know all those years before when he closed my womb that Andrew would be a perfect match for Mark? I Believe!
1 day post surgery for Mark and Andrew ~~~ December 2003
We are here today because this is what God has chosen. We live, We love, We laugh!
We are not perfect, yet somehow We work!
And now We are going to turn off all computers and enjoy each other's company, make new memories and take more pictures so We can do this again next year when We celebrate '30'
Considering 29 Years With Great Joy,
Cindy
This is such a nice little family picture. I love it!!
This little fellow showed up on our back patio the other day and has taken up residence. He is sweet as can be and LOVES to be pet. He is on that same chair every morning, waits for us to come out and pet him and then disappears until the next morning. I don't know where he lives but he sleeps at our house. OUTSIDE!!!
