Happy Anniversary!!!

Where did the last 23 years go? And how did they manage to fly by so quickly. It seems like only yesterday I remember looking into his eyes for the first time and realizing that my life had been forever changed. It seems strange that I had grown up hearing there was no such thing as love at first sight... yet the first time I saw him, I saw my future in an instant, and felt like I knew him completely. Looking into his eyes, I felt like I saw his very soul, and he mine. It was one of those odd moments when time stands still, and the world around us fades into the background. I remember turning over my engagement ring with one thought... I would never be whole if he wasn't part of my life. I saw the man I knew he was supposed to become. He told me the other night that the first time he saw me it was like a warmth wrapped around him that he had never felt before. That is a great way to describe it. We felt from the beginning that we had always been meant to be. That forever before and forever after had finally found each other in that moment in the grocery store in Delta, Utah. I saw the great man that he would become. I knew that I would never be the person I was supposed to be if he wasn't by my side. I looked at him and knew that I would not be complete without him. He hired me that night, and the next few weeks were everything I knew they would be. He was instantly my best friend. I knew that he saw my soul, and I his. Like we had been waiting forever for that instant. It was like we recognized each other from another life, a world before... and I dreamed from that moment of having his babies and being by his side forever. I am in awe of the greatness inside of him. I think there were times that he doubted who he was. Sometimes it even seems that the devil was on his shoulder making him fear that he was not the great man I knew he was... and yet I look at him today and have to catch my breath. There is so much goodness in him. So much gentleness. I have watched him time after time as we have had our children, and still it makes me tear up thinking of him holding our babies for the first time. He never puts himself first... everything he does is for us. I have often heard people complain that children somehow lessened their marriages, caused some type of divide. It has been just the opposite with us. Each child we created just added so much more... and yet, when all of the kids are gone, that light that has burned since the moment we met will be shining brighter than before... we have walked through every circumstance, holding hands and laughing when we should be crying. He is the first person I want to share any news with... happy, sad, bad, good... he is like breathing to me. Forever isn't long enough to be with him. Heaven wouldn't be heaven without this beautiful family we have created.... and I am so grateful that we have forever! I thought I knew what love was 23 years ago, yet with each child added, each year that goes by makes me realize that I didn't know the beginning of the depth of love I would feel for him. Our love was just a bud, like the miniature roses he gave me that first Easter... and through the trials, the tears and the joys of our lives together our love continues to blossom and grow more beautiful every day. My heart still beats a little faster when I see it's him on the phone, or when he pulls into the driveway at night. I am so grateful that on that night, so many years ago, we were blessed with the gift of recognizing our forever and I look forward to all the forevers to come! Happy Anniversary Thayne... I love you always!