Ten Years

How has it been 10 years since Paul and I became husband and wife? Ten years since we started on this crazy, wild adventure of adulthood, parenthood, and life all at once? We were so young...barely out of college and with so much hope for the future. We had no idea what life was going to throw at us or where we would be when a decade passed us by, but here we are and things are even better than we could have imagined. We have four beautiful children that drive us crazy but also make our lives so incredibly rich and meaningful. We live in a simple yet beautiful home near the mountains of Colorado, a place Paul always dreamed about moving his family and, finally, right before our marriage turned 10, we made that happen. Despite my fears about the move, I have fallen in love with the mountains, the sunshine, and the never-ending list of outdoor activities and adventures! We are older, grayer, more tired. Our dreams for our family have become more focused and simple. We are more serious about our relationship with God and becoming detached from temporal things. And, we are more in love than ever before because our love runs deeper than it did when we said our vows on a Saturday in August back in 2008.

Mere words cannot help but fail to describe what this man means to me. He holds my heart, my soul, my everything. And he has given me everything...his heart, his soul, his children.

Being the old, decrepit individuals we have become, we did not plan anything outrageous or sentimental for the day. We had a simple dinner, sans all kids - including the baby! - at a sushi joint. I ate way too many maki rolls and discovered that I really do not like Toro, a supposedly, coveted, prime cut of fatty tuna. Blech! Then, we went home and put the kids to bed. And then fell asleep ourselves. I told you we are old.

BUT there is more! In honor of our anniversary, we wanted to climb a challenging mountain peak. We couldn't wander too terribly far from our home, so no 14er for us, but we decided to hike Bear Peak near Boulder instead. We had heard from the online reviews of the trail that it is quite a challenging, steep, and rocky hike. We got a sitter for Lucy and brought Daniel to carry on our backs because he's a little young yet to leave for the 4-5 hours the hike would require of us. Of course, we also brought Peyton with us.

The trail was gorgeous and honestly not nearly as challenging as the reviews led us to believe. Everyone warned us that the last mile to the summit was a bit technical with the loose rock and steep inclines. It really wasn't bad. I even fed Daniel as we hiked up. The biggest challenge was keeping Daniel warm. On the ground when we started up, it was pretty muggy, warm, and nearly 80 degrees. When we got up to the ridge line shortly before the summit, suddenly the wind picked up and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees. It felt great to Paul and I because we were heating up from the exercise, but poor Daniel was chattering his toothless gums together. Paul, being the good father that he is, resorted to removing his own shirt and wrapping Daniel up tightly in it. Daniel immediately calmed down but Paul was left feeling very self conscious at his naked, hairy chest exposed for all the other hikers to see. He wouldn't stop worrying about what a freak everyone else we passed must have thought him to be. "I'm just trying to be a good father!" he wanted to explain. Instead, he did his normal sheepish grin and head nod, "Hey...how you doing? I'm just enjoying a hike in freezing temperatures...without a shirt."

The final rock scramble to the very, tippy top was a bit too risky to do with Daniel, so we took turns climbing up and taking in the GORGEOUS 360 degree views. All of Denver and Boulder stretched in front of us on one side, with views of the vast mountain ranges, snow-topped 14ers, and the continental divide expanded behind us. Breathtaking. The perfect activity to experience together for our anniversary.

I will climb any mountaintop with you, Paul! Even if you are shirtless and hairy!

Remember how I said we were old? After the hike, Paul had a bit of trouble climbing up and down the stairs for a couple of days. I told him that for our 11th anniversary, I'm going to have to get him one of those chair lifts for our staircase.

Happy Anniversary, my love!