16 Years Ago Today We Said "I Do!"

 Our wedding day on July 12, 1997
This is a plaque we have hanging in our home and I just love the prayer.

16 years ago today we made a covenant and said "I do!".

Together, hand in hand, we have shared so much since first meeting on the beach in 1992.

Today we celebrate our marriage of 16 years.

This wonderful journey has been filled with many memories, blessings, trials, and joyful tears.

With 5 blessings (#5 to be born soon!), I continue to love growing old with you!

Everyday with you is a gift and so much fun too!

Happy Anniversary to us!
I love you!

This photo of the church's ceiling is one of our favorites.

 The photographer captured this beautiful shot during our 

wedding ceremony.

On our way to the reception after our ceremony

 

Since my hubby and I met on the beach we had a beach themed wedding cake complete with realistic-looking and delicious candy seashells cascading down the cake. The cake was so beautiful! She also made the shells so realistic that some of our wedding guests would not bite into them because they thought they were real seashells!

A close-up photo of the candy shells on our cake. Thank you Nancy for your beautiful cake art!

On top of our cake was this cross uniting 2 wedding bands placed in the candy coral. This cross is now hanging in our home as a constant reminder of Who keeps our marriage and love strong.

Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor. If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up. So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? Where a lone man may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.  Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12

Above is a Marriage Prayer that was a wedding gift from one of our friends.  We have this prayer hanging in our bedroom and I love its simple, yet meaningful words.

It reads:  Lord, help us to remember when we first met and the love that grew between us.  To see the good within the other, and to solve our problems.  Help us to say the kind and loving things and to ask forgiveness of the other.  We put our marriage in your hands.  Amen.  ~N.V. Pearle

One tradition that we have done each year on our anniversary since our first anniversary is watch our video from our wedding. Now we did get married before the digital age so the color quality is...90ish, but the memories of our day continue to be with us each time we play our video. We did copy it onto a DVD to help make it last longer. 

 

It is a joy to now watch the video with our cupcakes as they ask why they weren't there to celebrate with us ;-) Each year we are not only reminded of our holy vows we took in front of our Lord, family, and friends, but we also get to see friends and loved ones that are no longer with us here on earth. You know I still get "butterflies" and filled with excitement just before I watch the part of the video where I'm about to meet my true love at the altar and begin our lives as husband and wife!