Four years, and still trucking!

On August 14, we celebrated our 4th anniversary. As it happened to be on a Thursday night, which is when we have Bible Study at our house, I didn't expect to do anything until that weekend. Well, I came home from meeting with my friend in Temple, to Chris being at home (at 3:30 in the afternoon). He hasn't been really busy at work, so that wasn't too surprising. I put John down to sleep, and then sat down to rehash the afternoon with him. He kept trying to offer me water, and finally I noticed what he was doing. In front of him on the bar was a humongous bouquet of flowers with a note on them, which said: "Surprise! Happy Anniversary! Be ready to go around 4ish to have a great dinner! I love you so much. You are the greatest wife in the world!!!" I got all schoolgirl giddy and nervous! I hadn't expected anything (well, except for a "Happy Anniversary" as he left for work on Thursday, indicating he had remembered it!) b/c we hadn't even talked about it.
Our first three anniversaries were a bit rough. On our 1st anniversary, I was recovering from emergency surgery, and we decided to start a Bible Study that evening with our former church in San Antonio. Our 2nd anniversary we attempted to do something special & fun by going to a bed and breakfast in Tyler for 3 days. We found out earlier that week that Chris's aunt had passed away, and he was asked to be the pall bearer at her funeral, August 14th! I knew we needed to be there for his mom and family, so there was no thought of saying no. I'm so thankful we were there, and we still were able to go to the bed and breakfast, it just put a little damper on my mood that evening. I have to process through things before I can switch gears and change emotions. The rest of the time was wonderful though! Our 3rd anniversary, John was 16 days old, and decided that day to scream the entire day. I was exhausted by the time Chris came home for work, so he made me dinner. I hadn't thought about anything but going to sleep, but we got a phone call from our neighbor to see how things were going, and she found out it was our anniversary, so she and her daughter came and held John for 30 minutes and made us go grab ice cream!! Being away from John was hard, but those 30 minutes were so precious! As I look back at what I wrote, I realize, that our anniversaries haven't been horrible, just out of the ordinary. We still found time for each other in the midst of each circumstance, and we were able to love and bless people as a married couple in each circumstance, which is what we are all about.
So, to have a romantic dinner with my husband was something special. Chris had arranged for our dear friend Laura to watch John while we went out. He had initially planned on going to Pignetti's (a fancy Italian restaurant) but happened to call to see if we needed reservations and found out they were closed for remodeling, so we tried out the Shilo Inn restaurant. It was perfect. We were the only ones there for most of the meal. The servers treated us like royalty. The food was spectacular, and the atmosphere was comfortable. Before our meal came out, Chris said he had to go find the bathroom, and left me. Well, instead of using the restroom, he came back with a gift. He had splurged and bought us a new camera so that we wouldn't be missing good pictures. Our old camera generally will snap the picture after the subject (most of the time John) has moved, and good pics are few and far between. I was in shock. I felt so blessed. I felt bad that I hadn't done more for him. I had gotten him a card, but couldn't find anything that was just perfect for him. It turns out that the camera has been more a gift to him, than to me, as he has become an expert at taking pictures with it!!! Here are some he took from that night. I made them into a chronology of our life:
It started out just me trying to figure out where God wanted me in the world.

Then along came Chris. We met at the perfect time in our lives. We both joke that if we had met at any other time we wouldn't have gotten married. He showed me Christ's love in action, both in his love for me and for other people, and continues to do so.

Three days after we returned from our honeymoon, we inherited Tess. A dear friend of mine had committed to going overseas as a missionary for 2 years, and needed someone to watch her cat. Well, she ended up marrying a missionary, and is serving the Lord long term overseas. So, Tess officially became ours! She was so much fun and kept us entertained for hours every night.

Three months into our marriage, Chris felt God calling him back into the military. He had told me when we met and married that he had no desire to go back in the military. As much as I didn't like it, primarily b/c it kept me away from my desires to go overseas as a missionary, I have come to love the military, the soldiers and their families. I love how we were able to make some dear friends in our ministry to single soldiers down in San Antonio, and I love that we have broadened that ministry to those in our neighborhood, church, & Chris's company. God has opened my eyes that the military is a huge mission field.

In December 2006, we decided to get a dog. Chris had been wanting one for a long time, and I finally conceded. My main concern was Tess. I didn't want her to change, but after watching a neighbor's dog down the street for a couple of weeks, and Tess doing fine with her, we decided to go ahead and get Kebap. We got him as an 8 week old, flea ridden puppy, and he has grown into part of our family.

Three days after we got Kebap, we learned we were pregnant with this little man. He has been the joy and delight of our lives this past year!


Now, we have another one on the way!

And, even our dog has friends!!! :o)


We are so richly blessed!