Anniversary Time

The boys got out early for Thanksgiving break.  Mom and Dad wanted to watch the boys so that David and I could have some alone time.  So David and I celebrated our anniversary a month early. It worked out perfectly because originally we wanted to ask Dad and Mom if they could take the boys for a few days after Christmas so that we could spend our anniversary in Branson.  But then we found out that Mom is having surgery this month and I really didn't want her to have to watch all those boys while she was healing and hungry (her diet has to change for a little while after the surgery).  So instead, we celebrated our anniversary in Oklahoma City doing some things that I wanted to make sure that David and I got to do while living here but knew the boys wouldn't be interested in.

 David still had to work but was able to get off an hour earlier for the 2 days.  It gave us enough time to get to The Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum before it closed.  I  had been to it twice before but that was when I was single and David hadn't been there yet.  I knew that Hyrum would not be able to handle a place like this.  It would have really made him sad and I have no doubt he would have cried.  I think Levi would have reverently went through it.  But I really think it would have bothered Brigham.  He wouldn't have shown it the same way as Hyrum but Brigham has a real problem with injustices.  And Ruger, yeah, that would have been a real bad idea.

 So David and I quietly went through the museum and then walked the grounds afterward.

 If you ask people my age what their first memory of something publicly sad or heartbreaking; something where they remember exactly where they were when it happened, what I usually hear is the Challenger explosion.  I can see why. They would have been around 8 or 10 and most kids were in school when it happened.  Because a school teacher was aboard, they were watching it on T.V.  It was a big deal.  And they watched it explode.  

But I don't remember that.

My first memory of something public like that happening was this Oklahoma City bombing.  I was in Mr. Bowles' biology class.  I was sitting across from Matt Freede.  I remember looking over at him and being afraid.  His sister was in the capital that day.  She was doing this intern like thing and all I could think about was what Matt must be feeling.  Knowing his sister was in that same city as the bombing and knowing it was in a state building...a building like the Murrah building that had just been ripped apart.  

Thank goodness, she turned out not to be in that same building.

David and I left feeling grateful to live in a country that came together to rally around Oklahoma.  And to be living in this state again where people pull together in times of need.

After we left, we went a few streets over and saw some amazing lights on local businesses and restaurants.  It was a nice walk and ended up finding a great Mexican restaurant called Cultivar.  It was healthy Mexican food and  a fun atmosphere. 

The next night David and I stayed home while I tried to remake what I had eaten at the Cultivar Mexican Kitchen the night before.  I think I got pretty close :)

Almost 16 years later and I'm still super grateful the Lord sent David and I  to cross each other's paths.  Those paths would soon come together completely.  I'm truly grateful for our marriage.  All that we have learned together.  It would have been so hard to learn the things that I have, alone.  I'm so grateful that my Father in Heaven knows me well enough to know that I needed David all these years to get me through my life experiences.