Last week Thursday, Reese and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Normally, 10 years is a great milestone, but for me it felt like a huge accomplishment. Our marriage started out with Reese just finishing Marine Corps boot camp and me grieving the death of my mom just 2 months earlier. We were just 19 and we started out with some big "things" and it didn't stop there. We got married June 2, 2001 during peace time. Then came September 11th, we had no idea what that meant for Reese, for us. We went through an 11 month deployment to Japan and another 7 month deployment to Iraq while I was pregnant with Lane. From there we moved to Sumas, WA for three years before Reese went into the Navy. I must say that our marriage has been given many challenges. Being in the military is hard, the divorce rate is huge, especially in Reese's line of work. We have been separated a good part of the last 10 years. We joke that that is the reason we are still married :) We went through another deployment last year while I was pregnant with Estelle.
We have been blessed with three wonderful children. But the loss of Case has been so hard on us, on our family. We will forever be missing a part of our family.
I wanted to post pictures of us over the years. Mainly for me to have them all in one place, but also because I am proud to have reached this 10 year accomplishment together. The odds have been against us, but we have made it through and plan to continue.
2003 was the year I got a digital camera, so the rest of the pictures start there :)
Twenty Nine Palms, June 2003
Joshua Tree National Park June 2003
Old Town San Diego, January 2004
Welcoming Reese home from Iraq, September 2004
A trip to San Diego for a Marine Corps memorial service April 2006. This was the trip that got Reese thinking about the Navy.
Alaska 2006
Alaska 2007
San Diego, after finishing Hell Week, April 2008
San Diego, July 4, 2008
Graduation 2009, pregnant with Case
December 2009
Welcoming Reese home from Iraq again, pregnant with Estelle, September 2010
April 2011
5 comments:
This post makes me cry!! We love you guys!! OHHHH, I wish we could be sitting at a hotel pool somewhere, or a sister hotel pool :) visiting with you guys! I pray God will greatly bless your marriage. You are brave, you have stepped out of your comfort zone many times, you have been forced to carry on in the most difficult circumstances. I was going to head over to my blog for a post, but nothing is going to compare to this. You guys are inspiring and so darn cute!
Natasha,
Congrats on 10 years and quite a 10 years it has been for the 2 of you! I think of you and your family often. You amaze me how strong you can be though you may not feel like it at times.
Courtney (Axelson) Stacy
Whether you see 10 years as a milestone or accomplishment, it is quite the feat in itself. Happy Anniversary to two one of my most favorite couples, I will pray with Michele that God will greatly bless your marriage. Thank you for sharing all of those pictures too, you both look so young...but Reese especially, he went from boy to man in those 10 years! You are such good people.
Such a precious photo journal. I really enjoyed going back in time, so to speak, and seeing these happy moments, witnessing your love for each other and all you have gone through. Really heart warming, poignant, and meaningful. You always inspire me to be a better person and to live with purpose. I thank God for you and your family.
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