fourteen years

Fourteen years...wow, it seems like such a big number. It also seems like yesterday that I said "I do" to this man and started the journey of our lives. A journey of excitement, adventure, countless joys, passionate and unconditional love and mountaintop experiences with the births of three beautiful children with my best friend right by my side. A journey of sadness, tears, disappointments and the painful of loss of children through miscarriage, death & failed adoptions.

Our children watched our wedding video this year in it's entirety for the first time. They were glued to the screen...taking in every little detail. I even asked it they wanted me to fast forward through the sermon...they said no. It was sweet. We talked about marriage...what it means to make that commitment...how very important it is to choose that special person carefully along with God's help. We talked about what qualities are very important to look for when making that choice. We talked about the vows or promises a man and woman make on their wedding day.

And when I watched Kevin and I say our vows again, they meant so much more today after fourteen years than they did on that very first day we were married. "For better and for worse...richer and poorer...sickness and health." We've experienced all of those and that has brought us to where we are today...so much stronger and so much more in love. We took the whole day of our anniversary and went on an adventure. Starting off early with breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then off for a morning hike on some trails before it got too hot. What a fun day...just the two of us. Picking wild raspberries along the trail.

We also wanted to rent a paddle boat to take out on the lake. When we got to the rental place, they had kayaks which were new this year. They had some where two people could go together and they had individual ones as well. I've never been on a kayak before and of course when Kevin saw them, he was all eager and ready to try those instead of a boring ole' paddle boat. The double kayaks were already rented out, so the individual ones were the only ones available at the time. I'm usually an adventurous type of person...willing to try most anything. I wasn't sure I wanted to take one of these on by myself though....it was a little windy...I could just picture myself desperately trying to keep the thing under control with the wind blowing it half across the lake and then tipping it over and dumping myself into the lake.

Kevin persisted...I kept resisting until finally giving in. The instructor assured me that these types of kayaks were tip-proof. Ok, here we go.
Ok, I'm in...not so bad. I just need to figure out how to use this paddle thingy.
Ya, I can do this...not bad if I do say so myself.
Well, we had the BEST time out on the lake in our little yellow kayaks...exploring and talking and racing. :) That's another thing I love about Kevin. He has always been a great encourager...not taking no for an answer...motivating and pushing me to give it my all...to try and not give up. To push myself and become better. I appreciate that though not always at the time. It has made me into the person I am today...I am better because of him.
By the time we got back from our kayak adventure, it was really warming up. Time for a little swimming in the lake. How different it is to go swimming without little ones to keep track of...to just focus on each other...how very different...how very romantic.

After showers and freshening up a bit, we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant...The Cork. Waiting at our table when we arrived was a beautiful bouquet of fourteen flowers and a sweet little note from my man.We caught a movie after dinner too. What a full fun and adventurous day. It was also the day we shared our pregnancy with the world on Facebook. So exciting and humbling to share that day together and read all the kind words from friends and family all around the world.