Twenty-four years and counting

Twenty-four years ago I married my sweetheart, a man that I had only known for sixty-six days .... and forty-nine of those days we lived fours hours apart. Some people thought we were crazy, a few worried that we were headed for disaster, and a couple secretly placed bets on whether or not the marriage would last. Hopefully by now everyone knows that this is the real thing, a union pre-destined by God and blessed beyond measured.


 We only gave our families one weeks notice for the impending nuptials. Dale's parents were visiting from Ohio and we knew we wanted his dad to perform the ceremony. We decided it needed to be this trip because we had no idea when they would be back down here and we didn't want to wait!
 Obviously I was focusing on my happy husband and not that someone was taking my photograph. Otherwise, I would have been making a goofy face. I hate having my picture taken.
 Don't we look happy?! I bet we were really looking at each other and saying "what a crazy pose, will they ever stop with the cameras?"

 We are gathered together before God and our witnesses .... Maid of Honor and Best Man. Frances was my best friend and roommate in college and afterwards. Ken was a friend that Dale made after moving to Atlanta. His bestest buddies, Sam and David, weren't invited to the wedding because .... well, we only had a week's notice!
 Here we are with the obligatory cutting of the cake photo. While every wedding must have a cake, what I really wanted for our reception were those cheese wafers. Man I love those things and you usually only get them at weddings, why is that?

The top layer of the cake was saved, to be brought out for our first anniversary. Imagine our dismay when we took it out of the freezer and it turned to mush. Thankfully the marriage has survived much better!
 We vowed to civilized when it came to feeding the cake.
 No face smashes allowed here, though that was a pretty big piece there, bub.
 We opened gifts. I learned real quick that it is a Frazier tradition that after each gift is opened you have to have your picture taken holding the item up for show. For the record, I hate this tradition! The gift was a much needed cookbook. I can't remember who gave it to us but obviously they knew me well and that I needed all the help I could get. I still pull that thing out regularly, so if you are the gifter .... thanks so much!
 Here's a shot of us with our parents. How come I'm the only one who looks halfway happy in this shot? And wow! Look at the size of those glasses being worn. Thank goodness that style is no longer the fashion.
 Dale, surrounded by the women of his life. Good luck buddy!
 My family. It looks like whoever (whomever? where's my English major husband when I need him?) took this photo was laying on the ground - no, there was no alcohol involved at this event.
 Dale's family minus the Connecticut branch. Look how wittle the nieces and nephews are. Rebecca actually had the chicken pox and for the most part was quarantined from the rest of the guests.

So there you have it. The beginning of twenty-four years and counting.


We been through a lot - four homes, two kids, six cats, two dogs, two churches, six jobs, two job losses, several years of pre-school, four years of public school, ten years of homeschool, six automobiles, numerous additions :) and subtractions :( of extended family members, countless friends, and unending blesses from above. And through it all, we are still going strong and looking forward to the years to come.

And for the record - my mother was so afraid when we announced that we were getting married in a week's time, that people would gossip. No worries, nine months later the joke was on them - we had a speedy marriage because we couldn't wait to start our lives together...and since then, there's been NO regrets!