No Distance Between Friends

I am so blessed to have met and developed friendships in each of the places we have lived.  It's funny how, as you get older, you realize who your true lifelong friends are and weed out the not so serious ones.  You really come face to face with the reality that friendships are not just about proximity to one another, but about intentional connection.  True friendships are worth it and when you are intentional,  there is simply no distance or life circumstance that can change the friendship.

Traci is one of those lifelong "no distance" type of friends.  She and her wonderful hubby Tyler came out a couple of weekends ago for a quick trip.  It was glorious even though it was short.  It was especially wonderful to meet their precious little girl, Audrey.  

Last time I saw her she was snuggled up tight in her Momma's tummy.  Oh it was so wonderful to hold her in the flesh.  She is so precious, and such a testament to God's great love for us.  She brings such life.

We spent the majority of the weekend soaking up every moment with them.  I had the privilege of capturing some family pictures and it did my heart good to see them through my lens. 

Audrey is such a keeper and such a sweet spirited little lady.  Tyler and Traci introduced us to "Pete the Cat" books and Lily is now completely hooked.  We have the button book and she walks around all of the time now singing "My button, My button, still have my belly button."  Tyler is a phenomenal father and an even better friend.  Lily just loved him and still talks about the "boy with no hair" (sorry Tyler!).

  

Traci and I got to take a beautiful trail walk on Saturday afternoon.  It was wonderful and I found myself wishing that the trail was a bit longer and that home was just a little further away.  I treasure her and miss having conversations face to face.  She is most assuredly a friend that feels my cup.  It was wonderful.

Yes, we are separated by several miles and a few states, and although we rarely stand this close to one another, our friendship continues to grow.  There is just no distance between friends like that.

Bee's Birthday Bash!

We celebrated Evie Frances's first trip around the sun with a wonderful Birthday Party last weekend.  We had such a fun time and I was so blessed with how many people came over to celebrate the little Bee.

Evie had slept on her hair funny so I thought it the perfect time to attempt some pony tails.  She looked like a little bug and fit in precisely with the bee theme of the party.  I cannot get enough of this little girl these days.  She is just so stinking cute!

We were hoping to have her party at the local park, but got rained into our home.  It really worked out wonderfully well and our small house fit everyone snuggly.  Memaw outdid herself with the Bee's cupcakes.  What a special blessing complete with little fondant ladybugs and bumblebees.  Thanks Memaw!

It was so special to see all of the people that came out to celebrate her.  Traci, Tyler and Audrey happened to come for a visit over the weekend and were able to be at the party, but more on their visit some other time.  We had our neighbors come over and several church friends, and longtime friends.  It is so much fun to see all of the kiddos together.  There were a few moments where the house was filled with kid noises and everyone was wild in the living room.  Evie is the life of the party and held her own with the big kids.  She wanted to be on and over everything and everyone.

Evie with her favorite church volunteer, Tami!

Cake time was a hit and Evie was thrilled to dig into that perfectly decorated cupcake.  At first she wasn't completely sure what she was supposed to do with it, but managed to figure it out right quick.  MMMMM, Chocolate!  By the time she was finished she had become a two fisted eater and was covered in cupcake goodness.

All of the kiddos had a blast playing with each other and devouring the cupcakes.

Allison

Jack

Owen and his family

Caleb

Elijah

When cupcakes were finished Evie was thrilled with this new activity called open presents.  Oh the paper, oh the colors, oh the bags and bows!  She could not get to everything fast enough. She was in every bag and over every person throughout the entire experience.

She was just showered with toys and clothes, diapers and books.  I am just so blessed with how much people love my little Bee.  Evie's favorite present was the shovel packet.  She LOVED the different shovels and focused nearly all of her attention on those.  

The party was a HUGE success and such a wonderful time. Evie is 1 and has officially moved up to toddler status. What a cutie!

Our Love Story Part 7

We were engaged!  In short order we chose June 19th, 2004 as the date and I began the countdown to the day.  Who knew that 6 months could be so long!  Although committed to each other, I was still determined to keep that first kiss on the lips for our wedding day.  Bob was so gracious.  He kissed my cheek, my nose, my forehead, my hand.  It was hard, but he chivalrously did it.

I have to honestly say that our engagement months were not entirely blissful.  Planning a wedding is just plain difficult and frustrating.  I cried a lot during our relationship, but I could have filled an ocean with the tears spilled during our engagement.  It wasn't necessarily a direct result of something or someone, it was a mix of things.  Wishing the purity battle was easier, wishing weddings were easier, wondering what it will be like to leave all I knew and move in with this man I loved.  Some of it was fear of the unknown, most of it was anxiety, but none of it was uncertainty.  I was certain, Bob was my ONE.

June arrived, even though I was sure it would never get here, and before I knew it, it was our wedding day.  All of my hoping and dreaming was about to become a reality.  It was time.

I have to say, I was nervous about that first kiss.  What if I looked silly?  Is there a way to do it right? Its funny now.  Our ceremony was all things wonderful, Daddy gave me away, I gave my purity ring to Bob, we wrote our own vows, lit our unity candle to a duet dance by my cousins and exchanged our rings.  Finally, the moment had come.  All of my tears, letters, promises and hopes were about to be realized.

Our Pastor pronounced us and once given the okay, Bob just grabbed me and kissed me good.

It was perfect.  New and exciting and everything I had waited for.  He carried me up the aisle and into our forever.  Everything about our wedding was special and fun, new and exciting right down to the moment Bob's best buddy Mike Jenkins toasted my bridesmaids, a speech he is still well known for.  It was a fun day, a perfect celebration of all that I, that we, had waited for.  I was a married woman.

Now 10 years later, we have lived a lot of life.  Our love is now walking in the flesh of two breathtakingly beautiful little girls and our life is very full.

We have had many ups and many downs. Its truly been a wild ride so far.  Although those young days of love are over, our love story continues, and just gets deeper and richer with time.  I love him, he loves me. I would still choose him, every day, all over again.   There is no one else I would want to go through life with.  He is God's best, given to me, and I am eternally grateful.

Bob and I are living proof that if you let Him, God can write a truly beautiful love story.

Our Love Story Part 6

At this point in the story, if you are still hanging with me, there is probably a very curious part of you that is ready to know what in the world is up with the hair.  Well if it makes you feel any better, at this point in our story even I was wondering what was up with the hair.  As our relationship progressed, every time I would ask him if he was going to ever cut it again, he would reply vaguely, "Someday." My clean cut Father was "curious" to be sure.

In November following his accident, we had a talk about when we might consider getting engaged. The reality was that we were poor and young and affording a ring might as well have been impossible.  I felt frustrated because, lets face it, when you know you are committed to someone, the purity battle becomes MONUMENTALLY difficult.  As Christmas ebbed closer we decided to split the holiday visiting his family in Illinois and my family in Colorado.  With every quiet moment or trip to a special place I hoped that magically he had found a ring and was going to propose.  Illinois passed with nothing.  We headed to Colorado following Christmas day for a few days in the mountains with them.

Little did I know that Bob's Mom had given him a diamond of hers back in November and that part of the trip to Illinois was to pick up the ring that Bob's Dad was having redone for me.  To this day I am amazed Bob held it until he could ask Daddy for my hand.  Such a good guy.

I had a busy day on December 29th.  I was scheduled to work at my part time REI job and so I left Bob up in the mountains and worked until 5 or so.  I got to Mom and Dad's around 6, and changed into the most god awful comfy clothes possible (I laugh at my own self in theses pictures).  There we all were, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Bob and I when he said he had something special for me.  He got up from the table and filled a box with water.

He brought it over and proceeded to wash my feet and dry them with his hair.  He told the the story of the woman who washed the Lords feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.  "Just as the woman did not deserve God's grace, Bethany, I don't deserve you.  I love you and want to spend the rest of my life loving you.  Will you marry me?" He had asked for my hand that day and my entire sweet family witnessed it all.  Without hesitation I said "YES!"

Unbeknownst to Bob he had done the one thing that I prayed my beloved would do without even knowing it.  He had washed my feet.  And his hair?  He knew he was serious about me from the start.  Not long after our first date he knew he wanted to marry me and chose to do something big about it.  No one knew why he grew out his hair.  It was a gesture of great commitment.......for me.

Let me tell you, when you let Him, God can write and unbelievable story.

Now about that first kiss.....

Our Love Story Part 5

October 4th 2003, a year after our first date, we decided to celebrate with a day of rock climbing.  Just the two of us.  We went up to Canyon Creek and picked the most remote quiet spot.  We had climbed all day.  Bob was the lead climber who set the routes for us (basically he would free climb, clip onto the rock then clip the rope in).  Its a dangerous job because even though I "belay" him at the bottom, he isn't top roped.  If he would climb past his last clip in spot, I couldn't stop him until he fell past his last clip.

I should have told him no, after all I was exhausted, but when he asked if we could do one more climb I said yes.  At about 25 feet off of the ground he clipped into the rock.  He climbed to about 30 feet and hit a tough spot in the climb.  He knew it was a potential fall spot so he called down.  "Hold on"  I said and then broke the biggest rule of belaying, I took my hand off of my brake rope.  It was twisted.  I was uncomfortable and I needed to reposition. He didn't hear me.  In a second all I remember was the sound of the rope rushing through my harness....he had gone for a tough grab and had missed.  Instinctually I reached out and grabbed the burning rope with all my strength. I gripped and burned my hands but I stopped it.   Where was Bob?  I looked to my left and he was unconscious, dangling at the end of the rope, a mere foot from the ground.

I was in shock,  as I gently set him down and moved towards him he began to convulse and I saw the rock covered in blood....so much blood.  Bob had hit his head on the rock on the way down.  I got to him, scooped his head and chest into my arms and held his lifeless body.  All I remember thinking was that if this was his final time he was not going to be alone.  I held him covered in blood and screamed up on that mountain, "God, please, please don't let him die!  Lord please, please save him.  Don't take him from me." For a solid minute I did not know if he was going to live or if he was going to die.  I have never felt so afraid.  To find my love only to loose him so foolishly.  Lord it just couldn't be.

He gasped and came to.  He knew who he was.  He knew where he was, he remembered what happened.  He had a huge gash in his head and was loosing blood and we were up on the side of a mountain.....with no phone signal.  What were we going to do?  As I watched him lying there trying to evaluate himself after I had inadvertently dropped him off the side of a mountain, I had this sinking feeling that our relationship was over.  He would never trust me again.  How could he?  But I couldn't think about that.  I started praying again, "Lord how are we going to get off of this mountain?"  I looked and looked and way off in the distance below us I saw 2 hikers.  To this day I believe they were God ordained and quite possibly angels. We had seen NO ONE all day. I yelled at them and they heard me.  When they reached us Bob was hanging onto consciousness, but barely.  Now this is where it gets goose bumpy.  The first hiker was an EMT.  Not only was he able to assess Bob, but radioed for an ambulance and was able to help get Bob down the mountain. He was also a seasoned climber and was able to retrieve all the gear.

The ambulance rushed Bob down to the hospital with me following close behind.  I walked into the hospital looking like a victim myself.  I had not realized how covered in blood I was.   My hands were blistered from the rope. I didn't care.  The waiting felt like forever.  I felt as though I was living the final moments of a once beautiful relationship. "No way will he forgive me for this."  After more than 6 hours in the hospital and 11 staples we went home (Another God thing.....they didn't have to cut his long hair through this either....trust me, you are about to find out about all that).  My roommates and I let Bob stay in our apartment off campus because someone had to wake him up every two hours and watch for concussion symptoms.  I got him to bed and in the wee hours of the morning just wept, and wept, and wept.  He must have heard me because he woke up and asked me to come lay down with him.  Even through his pain he snuggled me up in his arms and said the most beautiful words to me, "Bethany, its okay, I forgive you.  I still love you." 

 It was more than I could bear.  My tears had no end.  There truly was no doubt.  He was my One.  God's grace and unconditional love given to me.

That was a true trial by fire, but we emerged from it changed people and more committed than ever to the future the Lord had for us.  As he recovered I knew without doubt that I wanted to marry this man, and soon, but did his timeline match mine?  Would a ring be in my future?