Happy Anniversary!

A summer wedding—what a romantic notion! That is until you realize a few years later that it will ALWAYS be hot as blazes on your anniversary. For my love and me, a July wedding made perfect sense at the time. I was a teacher and had about ten weeks off from mid-June to early August. A July wedding gave me a few weeks to devote to last-minute preparations once school was out and gave us plenty of time to get our two households worth of stuff settled into my husband’s bachelor home after the wedding. That all worked out well enough until we found ourselves sweltering through the streets of Williamsburg and D.C. on our honeymoon. In recent years, we’ve taken to celebrating our anniversary with a short overnight trip here or there in April or May, but we just cannot let that special day pass us by. On July 8^th, we celebrated sixteen years of happy marriage. What a blessing from our Lord! Here is the anniversary card I tucked into my husband’s suitcase. (We actually braved a “stay-cation” on our anniversary this year, and yeah, we were melting on the streets of Marietta.)

We are not the first in the family to marry in July. Randy’s parents preceded us in marriage by almost fifty years. They celebrated sixty-six years together last Tuesday. It is so sweet the way they still hold hands when they are out together. Here’s the card I made for them:

And, last but not least, today marks forty-five years of marriage for Randy’s sister and her husband. Guess how they celebrated? Zip-lining. A facebook friend commented that many people celebrate a 45^th anniversary with cake and punch. I’m afraid I’ll take the cake and punch. After all, if the Lord allows us forty-five years, I will be 73! They were able to join us, along with Randy’s parents, for lunch today. It is always such a blessing to have family in our home. Here’s the card I made for them, which just happens to be based on Mojo Monday Sketch 201.

I love this sketch! I’m thinking about adapting it for my Christmas cards. Yes, to escape the heat, at least mentally, our minds have already turned to Christmas. And oh, I think that  stamp is a Christmas sentiment, but I thought it applied in this case, too. Inside, the card completes "wishing you PEACE, JOY, LOVE" with "and all the gifts of a happy marriage . . . Happy Anniversary!"