I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend

Has it really been 5 years?

The Proposal!!

May 22, 2004

Moving from Nacogdoches to Houston (May 2007)

Third Wedding Anniversary (May 22, 2007)

KK's Masters Graduation

We're Pregnant!

Happy 5th Anniversary to the man of my dreams. Being your wife is always an adventure, Russ King.

What a journey we have taken to get here! I keep thinking about what someone said at our small group a few weeks ago, "if you can make it five years, you can make it sixty". While that might not be true for everyone, it certainly is for us!

I don't know if I can express to you how proud I am of you, of the man you have become. I knew I married a good guy, but I am in awe of the man you have become and the characteristics I have seen emerge in you. Your dedication to providing for Campbell and I, your discipline to be a wonderful, encouraging teacher, your desire and work to lead our home spiritually, the way you fulfill your commitments to the church, and of course your furocious intent to make sure our grass stays as green and beautiful as possible, to name just a few!

I am also so proud of us. We got married as kids. Young, clueless, selfish, so unsure how marriage should look. I feel like we are thirty years and three thousand miles from those two. It blesses me that we laugh more than we fight now, that after years of working against each other to achieve our own purposes, we have finally figured out what it means to be united. Thank you Lord for such grace and mercy and for those that have helped us figure this out along the way.

I love you Russell King. Thanks for making me one blessed wife!

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year?

May 14, 2008

May 14, 2009

Campbell Rose King,

It is unbelievable that a year has passed since we saw your sweet face for the first time. What a beautiful day. After so many months of waiting to see what you looked like, waiting to meet you, you were honestly the most beautiful thing your daddy and I had ever seen.

You were born looking just like your daddy. A year later, you have changed so much and yet you still look...just like your daddy! So many mothers are sad that their babies don't look like them, but it makes me happy to look at you and see so much of the man I love.

There is so much I could write about the joy you have brought to our lives. From your sleepy newborn cuddles to the ticklish laugh of our big one year-old girl, every day of the past year has brought a new joy. Watching you grow and change, watching you discover so many things about the world, and literally watching your little personality become evident, we are often in awe that this is the same sleepy girl we brought home from the hospital. While we adored every second with your sleepy, newborn self, we have had so much fun with our smiling, talking, crawling girl. You have become quite the busy girl! Since you spoke your first word a few months ago, you are constantly telling everyone you see "hi!". I love when we're in a store and you tell everyone we see "hi!", when I leave the room and come back in and you tell me "hi!", and how EVERY time you see one of the cats, you tell them "hi!". You have the sweetest disposition, Rosey.

But I couldn't tell of your changes, baby girl, without also telling of the changes your presence in this world has brought to daddy and I. Because of you, we have learned to communicate better. We have learned to appreciate and value our time alone together more. Because of you, we have become so much more intentional about our relationship, as we know you are going to learn about marriage from watching us. Our marriage is stronger because we are your parents. Because of you, we have learned to trust God in ways we have never had to before. There have been few instances of faith in my life more difficult for me than to trust that God loves my Campbell even more than I do. While at times this has been beyond difficult for me, I am coming to understand more and more how God feels about us humans - all from being your mommy. We are better because God gave us you.

Happy 1st birthday darling girl!

We love you,
Mommy & Da-Da