Happy Anniversary!!!!

Chris and Judy


Mom and Me


Us with Chris' Mom


Me and the girls (by the way...that is a black veil on the back of their heads)


Chris and the guys

Us with Chris' grandparents


Leaving for our Honeymoon.


WOW!! I can't believe it....I REALLY can't believe it!!! Today is our 16th Wedding Anniversary!! Today is the day we became a family. Oh I just love it! (Can you tell I am a little excited!!). With every year I get more and more excited because it is a testament to God. You see, Chris and I got married when I was 18 and he was 19...BABIES!!! (I can say that now looking back since I am a mature 34 now). And I would have to say that if at our wedding you polled people and asked them if they thought we were going to make it....oh I bet at least 75% of the people would have said NO. People thought we were crazy. They thought our mothers were crazy for letting us get married so young (noticed I didn't say fathers...neither was there). In some ways looking back I can understand NOW how crazy we must have seemed...but you know what...it was right for us.

Chris and I both came from divorced homes. He hasn't seen his father since around 3 maybe 5...I just know he has no real memories of him. He grew up with a mom who did the best she could but he wasn't going to listen to. He lived in the city and he was street smart through and through. He skipped school so much in jr. high that the state stepped in. The choice was he either go and live with a family member or reform school. He went and live with his Uncle and Aunt at 15. Things weren't totally picture perfect there...but it got him to start straighten out.

My parents were married 23 years when they split...yup, 23! I was 11 when it happened. I went from living in a 2 parent middle-class home in a very small rural town to living with my mother, poor as a church mouse (I think at times the church mouse had more) in the city. This was my choice. I loved my Mom and I was NOT abandoning her then. Dad tried tempting me though...I wouldn't stand for it. We might not have had much, but she loved me and she loved the Lord. The first couple of years after the divorce were the toughest. As Dad drove around in a Porche, Mom and I were living in house at on time with no electric or running water. We moved in with a woman from church...basically a total stranger. She was a God sent. Things got better. Mom was even able to get a good job and send me to our church school for high school (except for $100 once my father paid, my mother paid for it). I was pretty good as a kid. Didn't get it really any trouble as a teen. I became at one point very active in teen group at church and became the little preacher of the group. I preached 2 times in for our church (when we did Teen-take over the service) of a few hundred, a few times at chapel at school and I believe I did something at teens itself once.

When Chris and I started dating (again) at 17 (I originally met him when I was 14. We did the 14 y.o.--your my boyfriend for about 2 weeks) people weren't exactly thrilled. They didn't understand it. But I did. I only started dating Chris because I knew he was the one. I know it sounds crazy, but at 17 I knew he was the one. We have been together ever since July 27, 1990. The church at one time even tried making us "take a break" from being together (they thought we were too serious for each other and blah-blah-blah). SSHHH....don't tell anyone, but we snuck around to see each other that month. My mother wasn't stupid though. She even has a very funny story to go with that, but I will save it for another day.

Chris joined the Marines (that is another story of God stepping in) as a way to provide for us. One of the best things he ever did. When I said good-bye to him that October day when he left for boot-camp I said good-bye to a boy. When he came back I was looking at a man. It put the disciple he lacked at a kid in him. He..no WE did 4 years in the Marines. We packed up 2 suited cases and moved to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina 3 months after we got married. Being that far from home was one of the best things for us just starting out and being so young. We only had each other and God.

So here we are....16 years later. Celebrating. Celebrating what God has done. We both believe that God brought the two of us together at such an early age to heal us and have us grow together (I am crying right now just thinking about all of it). Over these 16 years we have had our share of dips (not downs)and times of sadness (losing 2 pregnancies). I couldn't think of anyone else I would want to go through all of it with. Chris is truly my BEST-BEST Friend. I can ALWAYS go to him (even when I mess up really bad) and I know that he is going to love me through it. He is my all-in-all. We have grown together beautifully over these years. I believe that God has blessed us due to our faithfulness to each other and to him.

I hope you enjoy the pics I put up (I think you can click on them to make them bigger). Have a great day!!!

Toodles,
Judy