Our 12th Anniversary

Well, we tried to have a celebration on our anniversary on the exact day of our anniversary (March 22) - it was Sunday so we really couldn't go out to a restaurant, but Don went all out and made a delicious feast - except I was terribly sick that day and couldn't really enjoy it :(

But luckily, we had planned a trip to celebrate our anniversary later in April. We realized it is good for us to get away at least once a year & just enjoy time together as a couple. This year we decided to take a trip to Texas mid April for a week.

Don & I first met in the MTC. I went in the MTC two months before him. Our groups overlapped a week. Normally the ASL groups don't overlap. However, his group came in a week early. We didn't have any classes together. I remember meeting their group and briefly talking to him and asking him if he knew any sign language. He said "nada, zip, zilch". That was the extent of our conversation. Years later, I looked back in my missionary journal to see if I had mentioned him & looked for any pictures I might have taken of his group. I didn't have any. Obviously, I wasn't thinking about marriage or dating then since I was on a mission and even if I had been, I wouldn't have thought to date these young missionary boys who were 3+ years younger than me.

Anyways, how we really actually met "met" was at a reception three years later in Phoenix. I was living in Mesa and just got a job working at PDSD (Phoenix Day School for the Deaf) and my dear companion, Stacy Morris came down to a wedding with her finance who was the best man. She asked me to come to the reception with her, so she would not be alone, since her finance would be sitting at the table with the wedding party as he was the best man. Don came down for that wedding also, since he had taught and baptized the bride to be. I talked briefly with Don & exchanged addresses as he wanted to keep in touch. I didn't think anything of it - since he lived so far away, I just thought he wanted to keep in touch with fellow ASL returned missionaries. However, he tells me that he knew he was going to marry me and came back home after the trip and told his family, he met the girl he wanted to marry.

So we started writing.... then in May, Don came down to AZ to visit with some of his friends and invited me along. We continued writing. A few weeks later, a friend of mine was trying to get a group together to bike across Iowa during the summer. I thought it would be fun and loved to exercise. I knew Don liked to bike too, so I invited him to join our group. Then we started calling each other daily to plan & just to talk. Well, the bike trip plans fell through - so then we all decided to take a trip up to Utah for the Cedar City Shakespeare festival. Well, all of my friends got busy & the week trip became a weekend trip. But Don & I still wanted to spend the week together. So we planned to stay at my Grandma/pa's home in Orem and then meet my friends on the weekend in Cedar City. Well, we never found my friends in Cedar City (honestly, we tried), but we had the most spectacular week together. It was like a dream come true. By the end of the week we knew we were going to get married (even though it wasn't official for another 2 months). Don proposed to me in Sept 29 at the Manti Temple. We were married 6 months later on March 22, 1997 in the Manti Temple.

What a wonderful 12 years we have had together. Don is the love of my life and my best friend. I don't know what I would do without him. I am so lucky to have him & I love him more than words can describe.

Here are some photos from that wonderful day: