Thirty-Five Years ago...

May 21, 1988...35 years ago, we walked out of the Mesa, Arizona Temple - sealed for Time and All Eternity... Thirty-five years ago we took our first steps into our "Happily Ever After". 

Oh, what a journey it's been! So many tales to tell, so many memories flood my mind. I hardly know where to start. Honestly, my heart is SO full. Almost too full for words. So I'll keep it simple. 

I have been blessed with a forever-love, a good-good man, a marriage that has exceeded my wildest dreams, and happiness in that marriage that fills my heart to overflowing. God has been incredibly good to us. He is the author of our story, the finisher of our faith, hopes, and dreams. Kevin and I have been amazingly blessed in these last 35 years. 

So, because I haven't got the words to describe this incredible journey, I'll let the following pictures speak for me. Here we are, in no particular order and with no ado whatsoever.....  This is us...

Kevin and Annette...

Waiting for "Happily Ever After"

Last time I blogged, I wrote about after "Happily Ever After". Because of events in the lives of friends of mine, today I want to write about waiting for "Happily Ever After".

Let's begin this story with "Once Upon a Time", because so many of the best stories start that way...

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Ken Harris. Kenny was raised in a good and loving home by parents who loved the Lord and taught their children to do the same. Around the time Kenny was 21 years-old, our paths crossed and we became good friends. Over the years things changed, we moved on with our lives, but always stayed in touch and our friendship endured.

In a different place, there lived a beautiful, effervescent woman named Sonja Nelson. Sonja was also born to good and loving parents who taught her to love the Lord and keep His commandments.

Ken and Sonja each lived their lives, unknown to each other. Both served missions and served faithfully in the Church. Both went to school and had careers that they loved. Both longed to find "the one" and receive the blessing of marriage. Both longed for it, but neither found it...

Years passed...not one or two...not even five or ten. Decades passed and the dream of Temple marriage only seemed to get farther and farther out of reach. Now, don't think that Sonja and Ken were miserable. They had moments of sorrow and loneliness, but both remained steadfast and filled with faith. Honestly, effervescent is truly a word that described Sonja - and it still does! 😊

Call it fate, call it serendipity... I call it Divine Intervention. Life and circumstances brought Ken to Utah for a change in his job. That is where it all began, because Sonja was also here in Utah and working at the same place. That was it...Ken  and Sonja met... It makes me think of the Brady Bunch song. "...One day when the lady met this fellow - and they knew that it was much more than a hunch".

Love spoke and two hearts that had at times despaired, now beat in time with each other. "Whirlwind" is a word that could be used to describe their courtship. lol ...and just like that, they were engaged!!   💍

Oh, what a joyous day their wedding day was. I don't think there was a dry eye during the beautiful ceremony. If my heart was overflowing with joy for my friends, I can only imagine how theirs felt!

With this joy in their hearts, Sonja and Ken took their first steps into their "Happily Ever After".  

Continuing the manner in which they had both lived before marriage, Ken and Sonja continued being faithful to their covenants and serving the Lord. Starting a family became a new dream for them. As with many longed-for blessings, this one did not come without cost. The joy they felt in each other was tempered with the loss of several pregnancies. They too, "were newlyweds and now had to learn to go through grief and sorrow together..." *Happy Acres blog 'After...Happily Ever After...' May 21, 2018*  

Still they held on to their faith, and each other and did their best to endure it well.  Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: "Moreover, we find that sorrow can actually enlarge the mind and heart in order to 'give place,' to expanded space for later joy." The Apostle Paul wrote: "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness." *Hebrew 12:11*

And so it was with our dearest friends, Ken and Sonja Harris. 

On August 16, 2018, just in time to give Kenny the birthday gift of his life; Sonja gave birth to a beautiful baby boy whom they named James. How could two hearts stretch to hold all the love that filled them on that miraculous day????

I look at my wonderful friends and give thanks for the miracles and blessings in their lives. I look deeper and see the love of a concerned Heavenly Father who led each of them through their faith-filled lives and blessed them so abundantly for that faith. As I watch Ken and Sonja begin this adventure we call parenthood, I am grateful for their example of "enduring well". 

When you spend time with this new little family, their joy is palpable! The love and happiness they exude is contagious!!!  When you look at the Harris family, you see that God DOES answer prayers and miracles still happen!!! 

So, Ken, Sonja, and Baby-James....congratulations!!!  We wish you love, joy, and every good thing.

  

...And may you all live "Happily Ever After"!!!!!

Who'd have thought.....

...39 years ago at that Homecomimg football game...

...when I met you, that I was meeting my future husband and the love of my life? I certainly didn't. I just knew you were a nice young man who became one of my best friends for the next ten years.

I never imagined that our becoming friends would lead us here...

...on a very warm day in May... Oh, how happy you made me!!!

Our wedding day was everything I ever dreamed it would be. 

Honestly, it was the happiest day of my life - up to that point in my life. Everyday since has been better because I got to spend them with you.

Who'd have thought all those years ago, when the story of 'us' was so fresh and new, that this journey we call life would have unfolded as it did?

We've had great happiness and intense sorrow. We've had some scary moments, but most of all we've been able to find joy in our journey. Never once has the love diminished.

Who'd have thought we'd end up where we are today? Long ago, I told you "whither thou goest...I will go". That is still true today. Long ago you were told that if you married me, you'd never be bored...and you say you never have - I promise you never will. lol 

Wherever life takes us, however the rest of our story unfolds, we'll have a wonderful tale to tell because we stuck together, loved each other and made our "happily ever after" come true. Whatever happens, remember "I love you more!!!"

I am a firm believer in...

...happily ever after! I believe "Happily Ever After" can happen to anyone. It can become your reality if you choose to live that way. My own "Happily Ever After" began in earnest 27 years ago, today.

That was the day I went here:

...and married him for time and all eternity:

Up to that point in my life, it was the happiest day of my life!

I can honestly say that every day since has just been better and better. That's not to say that there haven't been some REALLY difficult times that tested our faith, commitment, and devotion to each other. But we always worked together to get through them. For us, the key was keeping our Heavenly Father as our partner in every part of our lives. ...and it's worked for us.

Marrying Kevin was the best choice I could have made. He's my soul-mate, my confidant, my partner in crime, my shoulder to cry on, my knight in shining armor, and my very best friend. 

Twenty-seven years ago, we took our first steps into our own "Happily Ever After" and have never regretted it. Now we stand looking out into the rest of our "Happily Ever After" and realize the best is yet to come.

Happy Anniversary, my dearest Kevin. I love you with all of my heart!