Happy Anniversary

A big happy anniversary to Clinton. It was 17 years ago today that we walked down that aisle to the sounds of the Alleluia chorus- which we thought was a humorous touch to our wedding.
We were married in New Zealand, 3 months after we met. Since a wedding has to be a public event in New Zealand and anyone should be allowed to go by law, we were married in the stake center by the stake president on Saturday, September 7th (which was the first day of Spring in New Zealand) and then drove to the North Island over the weekend and were sealed in the Hamilton, New Zealand temple on Tuesday, Sept 10th. So we were married twice!

We've had an incredible 17 years. During that time, we've lived in lots of different places, New Zealand, Virginia, California, Hawaii, Germany and now Washington. We've also had the chance to visit many cool places like London, Paris, Geneva, Vienna, Austria, Poland, Berlin, Czechoslovakia and of course the coolest... Utah! LOL We have fantastic memories to look back on and so many friends who have made the journey fun and entertaining. One time I had to give a talk at church and I mentioned that we had moved about 15 times and had owned about 14 cars (and two motorcycles!) and we weren't very committed to our homes or our cars. But, I said we were very committed to something, and that was the church. Anytime we move somewhere, the first thing we do is find our ward and start attending. Our kids never have to wonder what we will be doing on Sunday- it's always church. I feel very blessed to have married someone who feels the same way I do about the gospel and is an excellent priesthood holder for our family. We have the same eternal goals.

Clint is a great dad as well. Zach likes to argue that Clint always beats up on him with his "cop moves", but I think he likes their wrestling sessions... since he's always the one to start them!
We could have had 5 more kids and Clint would have been happy with that. He's the first one to have any and all of the kids in the neighborhood come over and play at our house. It doesn't phase him at all. He likes to watch movies with them and take them to the park. He's more of a "player" with them than I am.

He's also a great husband. He is supportive in whatever I do. In fact, this past 3 weeks he's been super helpful by cleaning the house and (sometimes) making dinner as I feel so incredibly busy with trying to get a classroom going. Some days I'm at school, then off to Young Womens and he's always helpful and home with the kids (wrestling and watching movies!)

So- after 17 great years... I am looking forward to what the next 17 will bring as our kids move into their teen years, go on missions and get married. It's a new phase of life, but I know we'll have a great time together- playing golf and whatever else we can get ourselves into!