10 Years

May was a crazy month. The day after Ramona's baptism, as soon as all of our company left, Paula started throwing up. And she didn't stop for several hours. A couple of days later, Ramona and I caught the virus. Poor Ramona had to stay home and miss her class field trip. Next week, it was Forest's turn to get sick, and the final installment of illness fell upon Mika a few days after. She started throwing up early on the morning of our 10th anniversary. As an added surprise, it snowed that day. It's definitely the latest I've ever seen snow in Colorado. Our backyard looked like this in the middle of May:

We spent a good portion of the morning caring for/cleaning up Mika, still trying to recover from our family's two-week battle with the stomach virus. Forest and I canceled our plans to do sealings together in the temple, which was disappointing, but at least we still surprised each other with some anniversary gifts.

Forest went to work for the afternoon, then returned home at dinnertime with roses and chocolate. Although there was no celebratory feast, and few would describe the mood in the house as romantic (the words sleep-deprived and vomit-infused are probably more accurate), it was still our anniversary and we were together.

If there is one thing I have learned from 10 years of marriage, it is that ups and downs are inevitable. You can't change the bumpy terrain of life's roads. But you can hold on to one another through the journey, love each other, and share the joys and sorrows. And you can feel grateful that you don't have to clean up ALL the vomit by yourself.