13 Years

Last month, Tom and I celebrated out 13th wedding anniversary. Our anniversary happened to fall on the first day of Spring Break, so we planned on sleeping in. The kids stayed up late the night before, so we didn’t expect to hear from them before 8 am.

Imagine our surprise when Bradley and Karah came and woke us up, ready to serve us breakfast in bed.

Breakfast consisted of “Activia” yogurt…for their aging parents….toast, almonds,a banana and juice.

The little sweeties had set their alarm clocks to wake up early the first day of their Spring Break. They let Bryce sleep in because they understood it wouldn’t really be a “gift” to us…waking up a 4 year old, after he had endured a late night of Spring Break celebration.

(it appears that Bradley has a glass eye. Don’t be alarmed. This is IPhone photography at it’s finest).

The sweetest part was the card they made for us.

How could we ever forget that day?

We were both so touched by their sweet, thoughtful, hearts.

It’s so fun to celebrate our love, commitment, and friendship – as a couple… but I have to say it is a whole lot sweeter when you have children that celebrate that love with you and really “get” what a special day it is.

It reminded me that our anniversary is not just about celebrating the day we were married…but it is about celebrating the birth of our eternal family.

Nothing brings me greater joy than knowing our children understand the importance of our marriage and the covenants we made with each other and Heavenly Father, 13 years ago.

We are so blessed to have each other and our sweet, little bear cubs.

You know the famous quote, “The Best gift a father can give to his children is to love their mother" – and it goes both ways….The best gift a Mother can give her children is to love their father.

There are many things we can do better as parents….many. However, I WILL say that one thing we feel we have succeeded at is loving each other well. Our children don’t doubt the level of love and respect we have for each other and they see us laughing, joking, and acting a fool more often than they probably care to. What means more to us than anything, is that they have the security of knowing that we are committed to each other…to them…and to our Heavenly Father….and I hope that makes up for the areas we need to improve on.

Thank you, little bear cubs, for making it such a special and memorable day.