ragamuffin beauties: June 2010

My parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary May 29th.

40 years! Wow, I just have to absorb that, because God has been so good to us. Being from such a large family we have learned to adjust to the ebb and flow of life as God molds our choices into blessing after blessing. As a military family, my Mom was the lone ranger many a stretch of time over the years. I think of the years Randy worked nights and I have to gain a little perspective on how many nights stretched into days, into weeks, into months for my Mom...caring for eight not two children. How my Dad as the sole provider wasn't away from every morsel of comfort from his wife, family, and home worrying how to feed not four mouths, but ten. I remember our house in Greenville, Texas. The four older boys shared one room..spanning Junior High to preschool with a set of bunk beds. Jackie and I lucky enough to have our own room, even if it also housed the hallway leading from the kitchen to the only full bathroom. And Mom and Dad trying their best to get some privacy with a crib at the foot of their bed for the twins. I remember our TWO matching brown station wagons that Mom and Dad carted us to school, church, soccer, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts...you get the picture. We have traveled the United States stopping at one Air Force Base after another, never growing tired of the stares that accompanied our brood going out in public. We have experienced success and failure, each time having at least nine other sets of hands to pray with, wipe tears, and hold. I guess I say all that, because although the Anniversary is my parents to celebrate, it's the birth of my family that really makes my heart swell. I am so proud to be a part of this group of misfits I call my family...no other family would do!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I love you both dearly!