16 years!!!

Celebrating 16 years with this amazing man! 17 years in June I met him.  We met at a bar in Alaska.  He kept starring and I kept starring back - but he never would make the move so I basically told him to come here.  I had NEVER made the first move with a guy - I am so thankfully that I decided to with him.

 Our first picture together back in 2002.

When we first started dating he only had his motorcycle so during the summer and early fall this is how we got around, he even bought me my own helmet.  Once it was too cold for the bike we relied on my truck to get us around.

Our first Halloween together.

 We were married May 24th 2003, in the church I grew up in, surrounded by my family and friends I had known my entire life, his Army brothers and what family that could fly in from his side.

 Who knew that life would bring us 4 moves with the military, 2 great quirky kids, 1 army family that included 3 couples 5 kids in 3 separate states and has memories of all the guys stationed together in Alaska and all of us wives dated our husbands at the same time, 1 army family that we live near includes 4 couples 12 kids and the guys currently work together and we have all decided to buy houses and plant roots in this area. BOTH of these families or Ohana, as we call them, we hold DEAR to our hearts.

 This was the day we found out I was pregnant with Kennedie.  We went on a hike to McHugh Creek in Alaska.  On our hike Tim carved our names in a fallen tree.  I wonder if it's still there!

 This was about a month before we left Alaska and the military moved us to Washington State.

I love that he has an explorers heart like mine and loves to travel.  He is usually down to go just about anywhere I suggest.  Now that we have a camper it's SO easy to just pick up and go explore this great country we live!

 We have been through so much in our 16 years of marriage to include 2 tours of duty to Iraq, many months missed because of training.  But in the end we created a great life, with great kids, with a great school, and a great army made family.

I can't wait to see what the next 16 years holds for us.

Grayton State Park

Grayton State Park Beach

I wish I would have gotten more pictures of this great beach!  We didn't camp here but we visited while we were staying at Twin Lakes Resort Campground in August.  The park is free admission and LOTS of room for everyone.  We didn't feel like everyone was on top of us.  When we went it was cooler and had been raining the days before, so the water was cool.

The 13 year old taking a break from boogie boarding.

He loves to be buried!

This park had a smaller parking lot was small, we got there around 10 and it was almost full (on a Saturday morning).  There is a building with showers outside to rinse off, bathrooms, and some trash and recycling bins.

This is how two Alaskan born girls hang out in the sun! Under the shade!

Overall this was a great beach and we will return as it is a quick 3 hour trip from our house!