Our 9th Anniversary

NINE…WHOLE…YEARS! Whoa! We are getting up there, folks! {Now, I know we aren’t really getting “up there” but nine years is still quite a long while!}

I’ve said it before, and I have no doubt I will say it again, but time is such a weird thing. I feel like I can hardly remember life before Mark and our little family. It almost feels like a different life entirely. And yet, the last nine years feel like they have flown by in a blink.

We were so lucky because Mark had our anniversary off from work – so the kids and I played hookie from school and we drove up to Pinedale! We have been promising the kids a sledding trip up to Pinedale since New Years and so this was a long time coming {and honestly, I was SO relieved they had snow!}.

We got our gear, the kids watched 101 Dalmations as we drove, and Mark and I had an interesting talk on our drive up. We both got really reflective and at first it felt pretty negative. We got talking about the last nine years of our life and for some reason we got going on a fairly lengthy list of regrets. Things we wished we had done differently. Things we should have done. Things we shouldn’t have done.

It felt kind of discouraging.

BUT {and this is important because we were feeling pretty down after a couple minutes – not exactly the lovey dovey mood you want on your anniversary} I realized something.

After a couple minutes we stopped our conversation, and in a hope to distract ourselves, I began reading aloud from Saints {Mark and I have been reading a chapter every night to prepare for the upcoming General Conference – more on that later!}. We were reading about Joseph and Emma as they completed the translation of the Book of Mormon, the Church being organized, and as it grew, so did the persecution and hardships.

I have no doubt that Joseph and Emma’s life turned out very differently from what they thought it would on the day they married. They struggled in countless ways. More ways than I can imagine.

And so does every single couple out there.

Our trials are different and our lives are always twisting and turning in ways we don’t expect, so that we can learn something.

So even though our conversation seemed like a pretty bad downer at first, I am actually glad we had it. Because I think {I HOPE!} we have learned something from the last nine years. And the even better thing is, we have struggled and made it through those hard times together. And I think that’s a big part of what marriage is all about.

Alright now… let’s move on to the FUN!

We’ve only ever driven through Pinedale and so I didn’t really know what to expect from the “sledding hill” I found online there. But we found it and it WORKED! It was smooth and icy which made getting on your sled a little dicey but you sure flew on down!

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We all had a blast! Well…maybe not Lydie. It was her nap time and I think she found the whole thing pretty overrated. Maybe next year she will understand!

We found our way back home, showered and relaxed, and then went out for an anniversary dinner. And, of course, we had to stop and pick up our Limeade {it’s what started it all for Mark and I!}.

Now, I know I said I was done with the deep stuff. But maybe just a wee bit more.

I am grateful every day that I get to spend forever with Mark. We work together and help one another. One of my favorite things about us is that we are a team. We’ve never said “____ is your job and ____ is mine.” Of course, we have different strengths and different responsibilities but I feel like we approach them united and I feel like that has made a huge difference for us.

We’ve made mistakes and I have no doubt we will make more. But I believe in us. I know that as long as we keep our Father in Heaven in our marriage we can move forward and He can refine us as a couple and as individuals.

Nine years down. Forever to go.