It's been a Decade!?

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole end of a decade business. These last ten years have gone by in the blink of an eye. I thought it would be fun to recap this last decade in our lives like I did the year of 2009. I'm just going to write down some of the highlights from each year and share a couple pictures. Hope you enjoy my little walk back in time.

1999

I was just a junior in high school and Ben was a sophomore. I have vague memories of passing him in the hall one day and he totally smiled at me and I thought, "Man, he's a cute kid" LOL. This was also the year my little brother was born. Yes, he is 16 years younger than me and completely changed our family dynamic, but we wouldn't trade him for anything.

2000

This was a great year for me. Probably the best summer of my life. I worked as a lifeguard for the city and was tan and blonde. It was also during that summer at the end of July, while at a stake dance, with some help from some awesome girls, I arranged a date with this amazing guy. That amazing guy was Ben! We started dating and went out every weekend and when school started I convinced him to rearrange his schedule so he could take choir with me. Our bond grew tighter later that year, as I helped him cope with the loss of his Grandma Jensen. I only wish I had had the chance to meet that amazing lady.

2001

Ben and I went to prom, where he was the Junior class Prom Prince. I graduated in June and spent the summer dating Ben. I went to CCSN in the fall and Ben started his Senior year in high school, singing in the highest choir and excelling in guitar.

2002

I guess you could say that this is the year that forever shaped our future. Ben graduated in June and we continued to spend as much time together as possible. In the fall, we found out I was pregnant. I struggle often with the memories from back then. I often wish Ben would have served a mission, but like his brother said, Ben had a different calling and our path was meant to be different, hard but different. We were married at my parents' house on November 29th.

2003

Ben and I lived with my parents and both worked. We bought our first car in May and Ben still drives it today. On June 10th, the most awe inspiring event happened, Stryder J Brown was born. He was sent to us to help us get back on track and I loved him even more than I thought I could. Then on December 6th, we were sealed together as a family for time and all eternity in the Las Vegas Temple.

2004

We started out the year pretty rough. I had become a stay at home mommy and Ben was struggling at work and ended up moving around a bit. We had been living with Ben's sister and then moved into my mom's dining room. Seriously! Our bed was in the dining room. We decided we needed a change of scenery and moved north to live with his other sister in Lehi, Utah. We eventually moved farther north to Murray and lived with Ben's brother. On November 15th, my princess was born in American Fork, Utah. Shelby Rae was a ray of sunshine for us during that cold Utah winter. That Thanksgiving, only a week after Shelby was born we traveled to Vegas. The drive home was the worst trip on history, taking us 12 hours to make a normally 6 hour drive. By December, Ben's brother had moved out and for the first time in our marriage, we lived by ourselves.

2005

We were just enjoying our time to together as a family of 4. Times got hard and in May, one year after we moved north, we moved south again. We moved into Ben's parents house and made the family room into one great big room for us. I know, first a dining room, now a family room LOL. Ben took his youngest sister to prom and I had a blast getting to know all the teenage kids that often hung out at our house. I miss those days! Lots of family pictures were taken that year too.

2006

Now to be honest this whole year is a bit of a blur for me. So many life altering events happened. On June 20th, Soren Robert became a member of our family. My dad got sick and got a blood clot due to his IV. I was home from the hospital 2 days when I noticed a weird twinge of pain in my left leg. I brushed it off and dealt with the ever increasing pain for 4 weeks, before my mom made me go to a doctor. I too was diagnosed with a blood clot. Mine however, was huge, from the top of my calf to my groin and easily could have taken my life at any point. I was on bed rest for two weeks and readjusting my life. It was during this time that my Grammy Day passed away. It was a bit of a shock to all of us and hit my dad pretty hard. I miss her, especially around the holidays. In September, my sister got married to one of Ben's best friends from school. The rest of the year went by without anything else really hitting my memories.

2007

I spent the year just enjoying my family, grateful to still be with them. The kids continued to grow and things got easier with them. In September, we moved into our first very own place. It was just a rental but only ours just the same. I had a closet!! That Christmas, my parents took us to Disneyland. It was probably one of the best trips ever even with the boys getting sick the first night. I feel so grateful that I have been able to share one of my loves, Disneyland, with my kids several times over the course of this last decade.

2008

Ben finally found a job he enjoys going to and excelled in CAD. I still stayed home and took the kids to the pool and park all summer long. Ben's sister's often came over for movie nights and I loved it! I miss those days too! We rescued our furry cat Pippen that summer too. In September, again after only one year, we moved back into Ben's parents house. This time we got actual bedrooms. I welcomed a new change with Stryder starting Kindergarten and life just kept on going.

* This is a post edit and I'm ashamed that I failed to mention that this was the year we lost one of Ben's heroes, his Grandpa Jensen. He passed away on November 17th and we were blessed to be able to spend about 10 days up in Utah being with family and celebrating Thanksgiving even though it was extremely difficult without Grandpa. We will always feel the whole he left in our lives.

*Post Edit number 2...Apparently 2009 completely blocked all of 2008 cause I keep forgetting things. My little sister Lauren got married this year. It has been weird and fun having all of us girls married with families of our own now.

2009

This year will be forever remembered as the year we lost Grandma Waters. Keep reading my next post for a full highlight of 2009.

As I went through these pictures and went through the memories, I can't believe how fast time has flown by. I look forward to what the next ten years holds for me and my family. I hope you all have a great New Year!