Happy 1st DECADE anniversary to US!

Can it possibly be that Ian and I have been married now for 10 whole years? June 17, 2000 was such a great day. A day that we chose to spend the rest of our lives together and have never looked back. Here are some highlights of the last 10 years together...

June 17, 2001 found Ian deployed for the first time on the USS David R Ray and me alone in Washington State for the first time in my life. It was a year of growing up for sure. Ian left May 10th and it was on our actual anniversary that he happened to be in his first port and was able to call me. That was the best gift I could have received to hear his voice after over a month of not being able to hear it.

June 17, 2002 found us living in Santee, CA (hear San Diego) after Ian returned from his deployment we then moved to VA for four months before finally heading to our new home of San Diego. We went out for dinner on our anniversary and I was miserable with a "flu". Two days later we found out that "flu" was none other than our first little baby just starting to cook.

June 17, 2003 found Ian gone again but headed home to San Diego via the Panama Canal from Mississippi where he had been waiting for ship to be finished being built. He had left in November of the previous year but had been home to take care of me when I got a blood clot at 8 months pregnant and then again when our first baby Jacob was born. I was finishing up a long stay with my parents getting ready to bring Jacob back here to San Diego to meet Daddy. Finally!

June 17, 2004 found us pregnant AGAIN! What a surprise this pregnancy was. My sister was staying with us so she watched Jacob and we got to eat at the Melting Pot (a favorite!) for our anniversary.

June 17, 2005 found us a family of five. Ian was deployed yet again having left 3 weeks after baby number 2, Nathan joined our family. This year was a hard one on both Ian and I but we found the strength to keep eachother uplifted from afar and made it through. We were both dreaming of SHORE DUTY!

June 17, 2006, Ian was gone yet again. This time to Japan for four months before heading back to move us to our new duty station of Great Lakes, Ilinois. He left just about a week before our anniversary so I believe an email chat was our way of celebrating.

June 17, 2007 found us really enjoying our new home in Glenview, Illinois. It also found us at a new place in life as we had begun going to church and were trying to decide if we wanted to be baptized or not and join the church. Ian made huge changes in his life in just a few short months and we were closer than ever. It is amazing how you can think things are good but add prayer and some spirituality to your relationship and how much more you can grow together and individually.

June 17, 2008 found us yet again waiting for another little one to join our family. Our Shore Duty baby! Ian was busy working nights and I even started working a small part time job to supplement income. We were very busy but happy and excited for the rest of the year. We were looking forward to going to the Temple for the first time and being sealed together as a family. The next few months following our anniversary were some very special times for our family.

June 17, 2009 found us with THREE little boys. Owen joined our family November of the previous year. It also found us with new orders to move back to San Diego which involved a lot of mixed emotions at leaving what had really become our real home. Life had changed so much since we got to Illinois. The boys had changed so much with Jacob ready to enter into the first grade. We could not be prouder of our little family.

Today. Today finds us happy. Happy with our little family and happy with eachother. We definitely have some goals and struggles we are trying to acheive and overcome but overall we are pretty proud of where we are and how we have evolved.

Happy Anniversary Ian! I love you.