Sunday, September 15, 2013

12 years! And Counting!

Yesterday, Chris, the neighbor boy, came over and as he checked out out our temporary decorations, I hear Sam say, "Hey Chris, did you know that tomorrow is our family's anniversary?"  And with a weird look and half laugh, the conversation turned to the trampoline (faster than my sisters and I change subjects....that is saying something).

2 weeks ago as we sat down to plan out the budget, I pulled out my calendar to assess upcoming expenditures, and just as soon as Back TO SCHOOL spending stops, the Anniversaries and Birthdays start.  Joy.  To say the least, the budget was taxed, when budgets are taxed, creativity takes over.    So I started to think....

TODAY is our anniversary!  Yeah!  12 years of WHIRLWIND!  In a rare quiet moment I started to think about what has happened.  12 years ago, in a dress, I would never fit into today, I got married in the Idaho Falls Temple.  Surrounded by ALL of my family and meeting some of Jared's family (for the first time), the day was GREAT!

  And from there things get a little blurry...I remember LOTS of morning sickness!  5 deliveries, a couple of moves!  Lots of life changes.  Losing my dad and then Jared's dad....and all of a sudden, Ally is 10, on the verge of middle school, Daniel is almost 3, there are no more diapers in our house (YEAH!!!!!) and I am wondering HOW on earth I survived?   And better yet, LOVED what has become of us?

As my mind wove it's way down our path (and I am not going to lie, some of the path is clouded over with mists of "I have no idea what happened here, I was too tired to digest it")  I came to a realization!  It might have started out with Jared and I looking much younger, (and did I mention the dress size).  But it certainly didn't end there!  2 quickly has turned to 7!  And as I KNOW with all of my heart, that our little family is bound together FOREVER through temple covenants.  I realized that it was the PERFECT day to celebrate, the day the JARED and KATHRYN BOLTON family began....Our family's anniversary!

So what did I do, I cooked, all of our restaurant favorites!  Olive GArden salad and Breadsticks, Chili's chips and salsa and honey chipotle chicken fingers....and more!

It was a great night, and I think a tradition worth keeping!