December 20th

Eight years ago today, Curtis proposed. Even though we had been dating for just over a year, this what I think of as the beginning of "us". In ten days, we will celebrate our seven year wedding anniversary. The past eight years have been packed with life changing events, some good, some bad. But as Curtis once told me in an e-mail "Sure we have our moments of turmoil, but we have many more moments of grace."

Here's a look back at where we were in our lives on December 20th.

1999 Curtis proposed, using a ring made from his grandma's engagement ring. It was remade for me to match his grandam's wedding band (which I wear) using diamonds from him mom's ring. His Grandma's name was Elizabeth, his Mom's name was Carol. For those of you who don't know, Elizabeth's full name is Elizabeth Carol, named for two very special women.

2000 Only ten days away from getting married!

2001 A very bittersweet time for us. We spend, what we knew would be, our last Christmas with Curtis' mom.

2002 Curtis graduated from A&M on December 20th. When we got engaged, Curtis and I were both still in school. Curtis promised my parents that we would both finish. And we did!

2003 After a very scary first trimester in my pregnancy with Elizabeth, we were beginning the second trimester, and looking forward to becoming parents. We had been told earlier in the pregnancy that we only had a 50% chance of carrying the baby to full term.

2004 Probably our most uneventful time. We celebrated Elizabeth's first Christmas, and that's about it.

2005 I was seven months pregnant with Micah, and Curtis had lost his job earlier that month due to his severe sleep apnea. This was a very scary time for us, as we waited and trusted God to meet all our needs. And of course, He did!

2006 We had just found out we were having another baby boy! I was dealing with post partum depression, and our life just seemed a little crazy.

And now, 2007, we will be getting ready to head to Austin for Benjamin's helmet fitting. It's been quite a year, but as always, God has been so good to us, and we are so thankful that he saw fit to bless us with each other. We are thankful for the good times that he has blessed us with, and the hard times that have strengthen our love for Him and each other.