34 years ago today...

Doug and I officially began our life together thirtyfour years ago today.  We stood at the altar in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple and made our marriage covenants, surrounded by family that I'd never even met and today adore and cherish.  We'd known each other for two years, written each other for 18 months, actually dated each other in person for 9 weeks and had been engaged for seven more. We had no clue where the road ahead would lead us.  (This photo was taken the first week that I moved to Utah "to get to know each other.  We're still doing that.)  Today, thirtyfour trivial facts about Doug and I together...

1. We've loved and raised/are raising six beautiful children through thick and thin, good times and bad.
2. We've been blessed with three wonderful grandchildren in our lives
3. We have three other beautiful grandchildren who were adopted by wonderful parents, who allow us to see tidbits of their lives, as well.
4. We've lived in sixteen different homes, eleven towns and four states.
5. We've owned four pick-ups, four vans and nine cars.
6. We've had fifteen dogs, seven cats and three fish.
7. We've owned five televisions, four stereos, three iPods, six computers and one laptop.
8. We have snowmobiled, cross-country skied, parasailed, biked, hiked, four-wheeled, swam, snorkled, scubadived, slid alpine slides, jet-skied, water-skied, snow-skied, snowshoed and ridden horses.
9. We've traveled from Mexico to Canada, LA to DC, Miami to Portland.
10. We've been to the Idaho Falls, Salt Lake City, Logan, Ogden, St. George, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, Provo and Bountiful LDS Temples.
11. We've been to Disneyland and Disneyworld, the Washington Monument and the Redwood Forest, Nauvoo, Illinois and, Kirtland, Ohio (two prominent LDS historical sights), the Grand Canyon and the Golden Gate Bridge.
12. We've been to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Texas and Utah together.
13. We've seen Oprah, Arsenio Hall, Morgan Freeman, Maya Angelou, Donny Osmond, Collin Raye, Martina McBride and William DeVane.
14. We've gone through five living room sets and four dining room sets.
15. We met while Doug was serving an LDS mission in South Florida in 1975 and I was a wild teenage girl.
16. The first time that Doug said he loved me, he said, "I love Sophia" in his Donald Duck voice.
17. We slept in the Marriot Hotel in Salt Lake City Utah on it's very first night of opening in about 1980.
18. We are both the oldest children in our families.  (He is the oldest of six.  I'm the oldest of two.)
19. We are both lovers of fruit trees and have planted four cherry trees, three plum trees, a peach tree and an Asian pear tree in our back yard.  We have also planted grapevines and strawberries.
20. One priority on our bucket list is to fly to NYC and while there, tour over the city in a helicopter.
21. We've painted and/or wallpapered over 100 rooms.
22. We've recarpeted three homes, repainted two homes and resided one.
23. We've owned one in-ground pool, three above-ground pools and one season pass to a local pool.
24. We both are winter people... we love a great blizzard... the more snow the better!
25. With the exception of our recent hushpuppy obsession, we eat very healthily... we eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, homemade wholewheat breads, much less meat than recipes call for and most of our food is prepared from scratch.  (This makes GranolaMan smile.)
26. We turn off the TV (the Dish) from May to September.
27. We read books aloud to each other and our children.
28. We celebrated our marriage with a three and a half week long honeymoon across the country, seeing both oceans in the same day and then driving from Miami to Utah.
29. We bought a waterbed on the morning that we got home from our honeymoon and slept on it until nine years ago when we bought our first real mattress.  Doug sleeps with all of the blankets on his side of the bed.  I prefer just keeping my feet covered with the sheet.  It works.
30. I gave Doug a haircut on the Monday after our honeymoon.  It was the only haircut I've ever given him.   
31. We love new age music, country music and the oldies.  The Eagles are our favorite from the 70s, Windham Hill from the 80s, Garth Brooks from the 90s and this last decade, we played it all!  "Our" song in the 70's was "Miracles" by Jefferson Starship.  In the 80's, it was "Happy to Be Stuck with You", in the 90's, "Unanswered Prayers by Garth Brooks".  For the last decade, it's been "Blessed" by Martina McBride.
32. Our favorite movies are Man from Snowy River, Princess Bride, French Kiss, Sleepless in Seattle and the Mission Impossibles. (I typed these movies and then asked Doug.  He said the same movies.)
33. We love eachother and are best friends.  We don't argue, we discuss.  We kiss each other everytime one of us leaves the other and we always say "I love you, goodbye", even if it's just to run next door. We laugh together... at ourselves, at everything possible...as much as possible.
34. We both love the gospel of Jesus Christ and aspire to  live and follow His exemplary life, which is undoubtedly the best commonality that we share.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABE!  Je t'aime! 

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.

Comments

[Pamela K.]

Happy Anniversary! :-) Times flies, doesn't it? Isn't wonderful to have someone that knows you like no one else and to go through both good and bad times together? Love how God designed marriage. Congratulations!