Sixteen Years

 Yesterday (Dec 28) John and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary.

We drove into the city (as in Lethbridge;) and went bowling before eating out at Moxies.  

All that was nice and fun, but it was really great coming home to this:

I love everything about this sign.

I love that Jessica misspelled Anniversary.

I love that my kids worked together to make this day special for us.

I love that this banner is hung below a picture of our kids.

I just love it all!

I've thought often on the experiences that we have had over the past sixteen years.   Four kids, one miscarriage, a BRCA1 mutation, a preventative double mastectomy, hours and days and years of worry/anxiety, a diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis, jobs we've hated and then jobs we've loved, financial strain and then abundance, lost loved ones, answered prayers, family vacations, blessings upon blessings, happy memories,  and a multitude of seemingly ordinary days in between.   When I consider what we have gone through together, I feel as though we have run the gamut, and yet I also sense that we have barely scratched the surface of what we are meant to accomplish together. 
 We are each individually the product of what we experience,  yet I am convinced that our marriage is a product of each experience too.

I am so very grateful for the life John and I have created, and very excited for the life that we still want to create together.