Happy 43rd Anniversary, Mom and Dad

43 years ago (as of July 30th), this was my parent's family:

14 years later, their family looked like this:

And today, 43 years later, here's my parent's family. There are 43 of us (counting a baby coming in a few months). Click to make the photo bigger if you want.

(For some reason no one quite understood, my dad was determined that we should take our family photo this year in front of an old house that's near the church we attend in Dingle, ID. It's a cool old house that we used to think was haunted when we were little kids. But just so you know, the backdrop has no real significance so no need to wonder...But thanks to Shawni and Saydi's skills as professional photographers we got some pretty good photos in the end.) 

Here's how Jared and I started out almost 14 years ago:

Fast forward 14 years and here's our family today.



I wonder what we'll look like in another 29 years as we reach our 43rd anniversary.

I realize more every year how amazing my parents are as I take on each new parenting challenge and life challenge of my own. I'm so grateful for all that they taught me about parenting through their examples. Jared and I are working and trying and changing and growing and trying some more. I hope and pray that we're building a foundation for our kids and our posterity that is strong and can lead to the great relationships and support and happiness Jared and I both enjoy from our birth families.

I won't even venture to guess how many people might be in a photo taken of our family when we reach 43 years of marriage. But I hope they'll like each other enough to actually be together so they could be in such a photo. I hope they'll pray for each other and take care of each other and find joy in being together. And I dearly hope that everyone in that photo will feel deeply loved and understood and appreciated by me and Jared.