(l to r: Joel, Dan, Jessica, me, Molly, Ray, Sarah, Jeremy and Ruth)This was our entire blended family, 10 years ago today. Joel, (my son) was 17; Dan, (Ray's son) was 16; Jessica, (my daughter) was 18; Molly (my daughter) was 3 1/2; Sarah, (his daughter) was 19; Jeremy, (my son) was 21 and Ruth, (his daughter) was almost 14.
A lot of things have changed for this family in the decade we've been together. We now have 2 sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law and 3 grandsons. Jeremy had recently been married, (just a few weeks prior to our wedding), but that marriage unfortunately ended in divorce. He is the father of our oldest grandson Alex, who was born in January of 2003. Grandson #2, Christian was born to Jessica in October of 2004. Sarah married the love of her life, Brad on May 21, 2005. Dan married TeriAnna in the fall of 2006 and their son, Hayden was born just before Christmas of 2007. Ruth married her husband, Dan in August of 2008, and sadly, they lost a baby in Ruth's 5th month of pregnancy. It was another grandson, named Jeramiah. Oh, and do you see that cute little flower girl in the picture between us? The one that barely comes up to my waist? Yeah. That's my baby girl...at age 13 she now stands just a 1/2" shy of 6 ft!! For reference, that's about as tall as Jeremy was, (and still is, I presume), in the picture.
Jeremy and Alex are still living in the Phoenix, Arizona area, and Sarah and Brad make their home in northern Minnesota. Jessica and Christian are currently living here with us, and Joel lives in the town I grew up in, which is about an hour west of here in central MN. Dan, TerriAnna and Hayden are MUCH farther west, in the Portland, OR area, and Ruth and Dan live about an hour toward the SE of us, near the Twin Cities.
Ten years may not seem like that great of an accomplishment to most people, but considering it was the second time around for both of us, (he was widowed, I was divorced), and the fact that we were in our forties, I think we're doing quite well. We've decided to celebrate our decade of togetherness, with a short "getaway." I think we're long overdue for one. We can't afford to do a real vacation, so we're just going to drive north about 2 hours, and stay in a jacuzzi suite at a moderately priced hotel. We plan to enjoy an anniversary dinner on the way there, and then go for a nice drive after we leave the hotel on Friday. The Fall colors should be about at their peak where we'll be about that time, so it should make for a lovely day. The weather tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, with a high of 68 degrees. It was even warmer than that on our wedding day, and to my recollection there have only been one or two anniversaries that were NOT absolutely gorgeous days. I think we picked a pretty good date. I will definitely take pictures (of the scenery) and post them here for all to see.
In the past ten years, we've definitely had more "poorer" than "richer," but fortunately, we've also had a lot more "health than sickness" as well. And for the most part, we've enjoyed much more "better" than "worse" times too. We intend to be together "until death do us part," and as long as we keep trusting in God, who put us together, I'm positive we will do just that. Happy Anniversary, Honey!!
Happy anniversary!
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