Teamwork

PapaBear and I joke that he and I wouldn't have been friends in high school if we'd known each other. He was almost 25 when we met and I was 21 so we weren't the same people we were as teenagers. We aren't exactly opposites, but the common stereotypical differences between men and women hold true in our relationship.

One of the good things about being different is that we have different strengths. I can fall back to sleep even after going out in the cold early in the morning to unlock the gate. He doesn't mind going out in the dark to drive through the park and lock up.

On the weekends during the summer, someone else opens the gate, but in the winter that job falls completely on our shoulders.

When I drive past our house and see my tracks out to the gate I don't cringe at the thought of the next time I have to set my alarm for 6:45 on a Saturday or Sunday morning - instead I smile and thank God for blessing me with a husband like PapaBear.



Looking for a new job is never fun, but he's not letting it get him down. He's helping out SO much at home so I can focus on my freelance work. He called me the other day to ask a couple questions about the Beef Barley Soup recipe we use and I about cried. Without being asked, he took it upon himself to make one of our favorite meals.

He plays with the kids all day long. Honestly, it makes me a little sad that the kids prefer to play with him now. Not jealous sad, but sad that I haven't been good at playing with them like I should be. Sam has a specific way he likes to play 'boats & fish" and with his race cars that I just don't get, but PapaBear does. They play for hours at a time.

PapaBear has been checking in with the employment agency and is filling out a park maintenance position application with a local park district. Those jobs are very competitive since they don't become available very often and the pay and benefits are so good. Thank you for your continued prayers as we seek God's will. One door that He has opened is the opportunity to trade even more of our housing expenses for our experience doing park programing. We meet with the the parks coordinator and his boss next Wednesday to see if we can come to an agreement that benefits all of us. I'm just as nervous for that meeting as I was for the meeting that determined whether we got the caretaker position.

This post took me almost a week to write since it's important that I spend my computer time wisely (read: focusing on paying projects). I do use twitter, so you can always read the breaking Bear Country News there. I'll be back to blogging every day just as soon as I get about 300 blog book pages designed. Thanks for your patience!

Not Me Monday - 8th edition

Today is a good a day as any to talk about the heating issues we've been dealing with. When else could I throw out the following info?

Our house was not 80 degrees on Saturday afternoon.
It didn't get that hot despite having 6 windows open.
We didn't have to bother our landlord on a weekend.
We didn't have to turn off our heat even though it was in the 20's outside.
We don't have to wait three days for the replacement part to be shipped.
It is not 52 degrees in the house when we wake up in the mornings.
(We can turn the heat on for a couple hours at a time but then have to turn it off or the radiators will overheat.)

We escaped the hot temps in our house on Saturday by dropping the kids off at Grandma and Grandpa's and went out on a date. These things did not happen while we were out:

I did not drag my hubby into BabyGap just so I could see in person the cute outfits Brittany was talking about in this post.

I wasn't subjected to 5 minutes of profanity while I waited in line to use the restroom at Macy's. The mother who used the f-word every other word did not have a 6 year old in the restroom with her. She didn't allow her daughter to cut in front of me in line. That same mom didn't say the following, "What's taking so long? Is someone pooping?"
I did not spend those 5 agonizing minutes praying for the well being of that six year old.
We did not spend the first hour of our date just trying to find restrooms at the mall. What's the deal with department stores not having both restrooms in the same place????
We were not sent on a wild goose chase before we left the mall when the sign for the restrooms sent us up one floor only to find out that the men's restroom was located two floors down from the women's.
We were not completely annoyed, frustrated, and mad about restrooms. Nope. Not us.
This is not the second time I've written about bathrooms this week. That's plain gross.

I was not excited to find The Flight of the Navigator at the movie store. Who gets excited about cheesy kid movies made in the 80's? Not me!

Other things I didn't do this week:

I didn't let my kids have play food straight out of the box from the lady I bought it from on Craigslist. I washed and sanitized it all first. Since it's so tempting for them to put their lips on it I made sure it was all germ free first. I wasn't too lazy to avoid getting them sick.

I did not go out to lock the gate twice....in my robe. (I was wearing other clothes too, but the robe offered extra warmth in the cold, cold night.)

Julia didn't come downstairs after her nap wearing a dress, tights, pajama pants, and one sock. Not my little fashion diva.

I have not been treating a yeast infection as if it were diaper rash. Nope not me. I didn't let my poor baby girl suffer all week when the diaper cream didn't work. I took her in to see the right away. Not 6 days later.

I did not turn around and sell a LittleTikes Vanity for more than twice what I paid for it. The lady who bought it didn't live a quarter mile from our old house. The world isn't that small.

Brian did not have to spend an extra hour in the car yesterday driving home to retrieve my work stuff that I forgot to bring to church with me. oops.

We did not sit together as a family in church for the first time in six months. The suckers suggested by my nice readers didn't work like a charm.

I did not lose my cell phone again. It didn't ruin my whole Sunday afternoon. I did not find it in the yard 30 seconds after sending up a prayer for help. (I had dropped a receipt and when I bent down to pick it up the phone must have fallen out of my pocket.)

We didn't revel in warm temps at the apple orchard, splash in rain puddles, and build snowmen and go sledding all in the same week. Not here in Minnesota!

What did you not do this week? Join the fun at mycharmingkids.net

With a Capital "F"

Freedom - I went downstairs to let the cat out and feed him his breakfast this morning an could not find him anywhere. Brian searched. I searched. I searched again. My mind started racing through all the senarios...was there poison in the basement that we didn't know about? Is there a hole somewhere that he got out through (would help explain the mice getting in!), was he stuck somewhere? Finally I went outside and sure enough, there was the cat, trotting up to the front door to get his breakfast.

Fresh Air - We have radiator heat in this house and so far it had been working just fine. I'm bracing myself for the day our built in china cabinet doubles as a freezer. Until then we are experiencing the opposite problem - it's flippin' HOT in here! Two mornings in a row we've woken up in hot, stuffy rooms. The termostat is set at 67, but it is 76 in here. I have always struggled to breath in hot air. Maybe there's a nurse or a doctor out there who could tell me if that's related to my low blood pressure and low pulse (50-55 beats a minute)???
We turned the thermostat WAY down (50) and have a number of windows cracked to reverse the sauna effect.

Free Time - Brian's mom has graciaously accepted our request for a spur of the moment babysitter. After naps we'll drop the kids off at Grandma and Grandpas and head into the 'burbs in search of something fun and free to do. We haven't figured out yet what we want to do with two precious hours of kid-free time. If it's anything like the two hours I spent wandering around Target yesterday (mostly in the toy aisle), it will be filled with talk about the kids, but at least we'll be able to talk in complete sentences and without interuptions. :)

Freaked out - You know all those doors I talked about in our house? Well FOUR of them lead outside. I think our front door is pretty obvious, but the man who was peaking in the door next to the library thought that particular door looked like a good option. I was sitting here at the dining room table blogging away when the dog went balistic. I looked up to see a beared man looking into my house. Talk about freaked out!
I kindly explained to the mailman that he could leave packages by the other door if we weren't home. I hope he got the message.

Election Day in Numbers

5 - the number of miles I had to drive to get to my polling place
3 - the number of minutes it took me to register to vote
0 - the number of people ahead of me in line
25 - the number of ovals I had to fill out on my ballot
21 - the number of people I voted for that I know nothing about
2 - the number of times I had to go to the polling place (I had to go back and vouch for Brian.)
150 - the number of people who had cast their ballots before me (I voted at 9:15am)
373 - the number of people who cast their ballots before Brian (He voted at 4:00)
23 - the number of people who looked at Julia when she started belting out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in the Echo-y town hall
45 - the number of seconds it took me to usher the kids outside
15 - the number of steps to the top of the ladder at the park behind the town hall
I heard myself saying to Sam, "Sorry Sam, that slide is too dangerous for kids. It's only for grown ups." A slide. At the park. Geepers Carrie. But it WAS way too high for him so we played on the newer equipment and left the slide that was probably installed in the 70's alone.
0 - the number of political ads I'll have to endure after today.

Tricks of the trade

In all our years of camping, backpacking, and canoeing we've accumulated a fair amount of gear. Brian has been going to the Boundary Waters for 20 years, interned at Isle Royale National Park, and worked at Voyageurs National Park. I've been camping since I was 6 months old. My parents had horses and I have photographic proof of being bathed in a horse bucket at their campsite. Each piece of equipment we use holds many memories. I don't have the horse bucket anymore but I do still have my first pair of hiking boots that I bought for my horsepacking trip to Wyoming when I was 14. Whenever I lace up my Timberlands I'm reminded of that great trip, the friends I made, the scenery I saw, and how incredibly long it seems since I was 14. My next big purchases were made when I was 18 and included a new pair of hiking boots and my Crazy Creek Chair (see below). That same gear has traveled across three continents with me and reminds me of either melting in the heat of the rain forest or freezing at the top of the Andes depending the day.

Fast forward two years and the need to load up on more gear is upon me: sleeping bag, backpack, expensive hiking pants... Lets just say everything got well broken in while I crisscrossed much of Latin America and Western Europe.

When I went to Voyageurs National Park to do my internship I brought all my trusty gear with. I was going to the Northwoods after all. I was going to get lots of use out of it. Before Brian and I went on our two week tour of Minnesota State Parks I bought a camp stove, cookware, and a ThermaRest.
The next summer as a paid employee I used my stipend to invest in Gortex. Love that stuff.

Our first big purchase as a married couple was our canoe. It seemed fitting.
Since then we've added a new tent ($10 at a garage sale!), waterproof bags, headlamps, rain pants, and a kayak.

I love window shopping at REI. Gear is pricy but the trade off is that it lasts forever. Sure I paid $180 for my second pair of hiking boots, but that was 14 years ago. By far the best deal was the $80 Timberlands that I've been wearing for 18 years.

Here is my Crazy Creek chair in action on our most recent trip.


Other things that I recommend to make a wilderness experience more enjoyable include:

An anchor bag.

We bring a small mesh bag and rope along and then add rocks from the campsite to make a boat anchor.


We collect driftwood from the shorelines. It's dry and makes great fires.

Fires are important - especially when your husband tips the canoe over.

It only took 3 days to dry this stuff out.

I can't complain. I wasn't the one who got all wet.


Having someone along who knows how to catch fish, is willing to touch them, AND clean them is a huge bonus.


A canoe paddle is a nice flat surface for fish cleaning.


Do you know what this is?

Convenient! That's what it is. This bathroom may be rustic, but it beats the alternative.


This year our campsite had the nicest bear tree ever.

It may look like the bag isn't high enough, but there's a drop off before you get to the bag so it's actually hanging 15 feet up. Usually we have a really hard time finding a decent tree to hang our food. This tree met all the criteria.


I'd never seen a roller portage before, but now that I've experienced the ease of rolling a canoe full of gear from one lake to the next, I wish ALL portages were this easy. None of the 1/2 mile with 60 pounds on my back.


At least I don't have to do what Brian does.

He carries the canoe AND the food pack.
That's my man. :)

If you like to camp, canoe, kayak, or hike what's your favorite piece of gear*?

* an RV is not considered gear so don't even go there.

Not Me Monday - 5th Edition

I did not wear 11 different articles of clothing in order to stay warm on our trip.
I did not wear the same shirts for 4 days straight.
I did not forget about our dog the entire time we were gone until the drive home and I saw a dog in someone's yard.
Brian did not tip over the canoe when he was going out to fish before dinner.
I did not just blog about Brian tipping over the canoe despite him saying that we weren't going to speak of this...ever.
We did not break camp over an hour before the sun came up in order to get home to see the kids sooner.
No, that would be stupid and dangerous. We wouldn't go up the rapids in the dark.
Brian would never carry a canoe over rocky terrain in the dark.
I did not spell Stellan's name incorrectly and then proceed to take a bunch of pictures of my mistake.

Julia did not fall into the pond while we were gone.














I most certainly didn't laugh at her reaction at seeing this picture
of herself covered in green algae.

I didn't tear up this morning when I read the note Brian's mom wrote in the front of the movie she left for the kids.

I don't think the kids had any fun with their grandparents and aunt. We'll never leave the house again. The kids cannot survive without us!



Thanks Gene, Rena, and Sharon for taking such good care of our Sammy Sam and JoJo while we were gone!


I did not let Julia play with water in the bathroom sink while I put the finishing touches on my Not Me post this morning.
I did not hear the dreaded "uh-oh" and run in to find water running over the edge of the sink onto the floor. Nope. That would have been too predicable.


What didn't you do this week?

While you were sleeping

Mommy and Daddy were driving six hours away to spend their first nights away together in over 2 years.

While you were getting dressed, we were paddling across the first of 2 lakes.


While you were eating breakfast, Mommy was resting half way through the 190 rod portage.


While you were painting pumpkins, Daddy was carrying the canoe (and the food pack) around some rapids on the South Kiwishiwi River.



While you were eating hamburgers and ice cream cones at McDonald's, Mommy was catching our lunch.




While you were making pizza with Sharon, Grandma, and Grandpa, Mommy and Daddy were enjoying the view at their campsite.



While you were watching Whinnie the Pooh, Daddy was catching big fish.


For the record Mommy had a bigger bass on her line until it broke the line.


While you were eating tacos, Mommy and Daddy were eating fresh fish.



Really fresh


While you were getting ready for bed, Mommy took this picture for Stellan's gallery.



While you were sleeping in your beds, we were sleeping in this tent.

In fact, we were probably sleeping before you were! We were in the tent most nights by 7pm.

While you were sound asleep, Mommy and Daddy were paddling and portaging in the dark so we could get home to you faster.


While you were eating breakfast, we saw an eagle fly over our canoe during the last 5 minutes of our time on the water.



While you were napping, Mommy and Daddy were driving home to see you!

Correction: Daddy was driving. Mommy was sleeping.

We missed you!

To Love, Honor, and Cherish

That's what Brian and I pledged to each other seven years ago today.
These are the roses he came home with after work in honor of our wedding anniversary. Aren't they beautiful?










And speaking of flowers.... I was tickled pink to discover we have tulips at this house, but that excitement was dimmed when I realized that this single bloom would be the only one we'd be able to enjoy.



My disappointment is a thing of the past now that the other perennials are making their appearance. This is a rare Fern Peonie that lives in our front yard.


The kids and I made our front porch more welcoming with the addition of these beauties . I have a collection of pots from my hometown pottery shop. You might remember them from our failed container garden last year.



Isn't it funny what makes you feel like a grown up? For some reason having my very own flower box on my front porch makes me feel like an adult. The two children planting the flowers? You'd think that's what would do it. But nope - they help me feel like a kid again.

The hints of yellow in there are the Mother's Day marigolds the kids gave me via their Sunday school teachers. The rest we picked out at the local greenhouse.

This jungle of green boasts giant Peonies as well as what I think are Day Lilies.

This one Hosta plant is bigger than the ten plants at our old house combined.

Then there are the Irises.... Purple I think. They remind me of the farm I grew up on in Wisconsin. We had tons of Irises by the cellar doors.


What's blooming in your yard right now?

my Mother's Day

We called today Mommy's Special Day. I got extra hugs and kisses. I got to sleep in (too bad it made us late for church). I received 3 cards from Sam and two from Julia (all homemade). The kids gave me marigolds to plant in my flower box. Sam gave me a framed picture of himself he made at school out of puzzle pieces.

I got to pick our afternoon activity (Frisbee golf). I got a gas station cappuccino - just because. Julia picked me a flower. At bedtime when we
asked Sam what he wanted to tell




Jesus thank you for today he said "Mommy". It was a wonderful day - one I won't ever forget.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

executive decision

Joseph continued to fight through the day yesterday but wasn't able to eat his food despite it floating right above where his weak and crippled body was hovering. Brian came up behind me at 8:30 last night and said, "Say bye-bye". In his hand he held the net with the fish inside. "He died?"I asked. He hadn't, but Brian said it was inevitable. Was I upset to flush a live fish? Of course, but what I was glad he had been the one to just get it over with. Otherwise I'd be the one to find him this morning (most likely) belly up for good. I panicked that maybe Sam should be there so he didn't always wonder where he went, but he showed no signs of trauma when I told him Daddy flushed Joseph last night. Poor Mary doesn't seem to be handling it well. She's swimming laps like I've never seen her before.

Love

With all that's going on in our house right now a romantic Valentine's is out of the question. (Thanks for the babysitting offer though, Sharon.) 8+ years into our relationship Brian and I still try to not leave it to only the Hallmark-ish holidays to express our love for each other so it's really not that big of a deal that we couldn't do anything special. Two years ago we spent Valentine's Day in the hospital while I received IV fluids because of terrible morning sickness, but that's a whole other post...

Today Brian showed his love for me by leaving me a note before he left for work. The words were simple..that he would be thinking of me.
When he came home from work at 10am I showed my love by continuing to care for our sick kids so he could get some rest, despite still feeling nauseas myself. When he got up he proceeded to clean up some of the mess in the house without making me feel bad for letting it get so out of control. Then he let me crawl into bed and relax for a couple hours this evening while he tamed the troops.
It's the little things that I love so much.

...and because I already had this saved from an anniversary post I thought I'd follow the crowd and share our love story here as well.

originally written on May 27th, 2007
It's been six wonderful years since we stood before God, our family, and our friends to recite our wedding vows to each other. When I think about how much I love Brian today, and then think back to our wedding day, I can't believe how much we've grown in our love for one another. I have always wanted to put our love story in writing so our children can read about how much their mom and dad trusted in the Lord to work things out for His glory. So read along if you'd like.....
Most stories begin with how a couple meet. Ours begins two months earlier in two different countries. Studying in Vienna, I was two hours away from leaving on a train for Paris when I got a phone call from the States. It was a woman named Carol Maass from Voyageurs National Park. It turns out that an application I'd filled out for an internship had been accepted. This was an unpaid position so I couldn't say yes without first talking to my mom about the financial aspect of it. I told Carol I was very interested, but would need to call her back. I quickly gathered up enough change to call home and explained the situation to my mom. I really needed to get to the train station so rather than put my mom on the spot I told her to think about it, call Carol when she'd made up her mind, and that I'd call home when I returned from my trip in 10 days. Who knew my entire future was tied to that decision. God knew and that is what is so amazing about it. He knew that by my mom accepting the internship on my behalf I was destined to meet my future husband. Meanwhile, Brian and his friend, Troy, were backpacking across Europe. They visited many of the same places I did and even rode on a train with classmates of mine. (They were talking loud enough that Brian learned they were students studying in Vienna. After the fact, we put two and two together and it had to be my classmates traveling to Barcelona.)

When Brian returned home to Minnesota he packed up his belongings and started his second season at Voyageurs National Park. He'd been offered a position At North Cascades, but he decided to take the position at Voyageurs instead. On June 1st, 1998 - the day we met - we both stood with the rest of the volunteers, rangers, and staff who had assembled for seasonal training in the Lake Kabetogama Visitor Center. I remember Brian as the guy wearing an ugly baseball cap and tattered flannel shirt. On the tour boat, seated kitty-corner behind me, he dined on muffins made by his girlfriend, Sara. It was a summer to remember. I made lifelong friends and learned a lot about myself. There is something about living in a cabin in the woods surrounded by God's beautiful creation that brings me close to my Savior. The way the schedule worked out - Brian and I often spent our workdays at the same visitor center. When you spend nine hours a day with someone, you really get to know them. It was Brian who shared the same days off as I did, and it was Brian who helped me with my new puppy, Conor. We talked about our faith and past relationships. That summer I read the book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Years later Brian says he still remembers me telling him about the guy I was hung up on at the time. "He's worth waiting for." and "I'd move to Montana for him." What I remember from our conversations about dating was that I knew that until I had my life figured out, I wasn't going to be messing up someone elses. I was focusing on my relationship with the Lord and letting Him take care of the husband finding. God has quite the sense of humor! My future husband was right in front of me the whole time!

Soon, it was almost September and I returned to Illinois for my final year of college, but not before a tearful goodbye. He had stuck a card in my glove box and told me to read it when I got home. I, of course, only waited until I got 1/2 mile down the road and was so touched by his words that I turned my car around and raced back to give him the hug I should have given him the first time I said goodbye. We kept in touch while I was in college. He even drove 5 hours to visit me once. We exchanged letters for the next eight months until we both returned to Voyageurs the following spring. (I got paid this time) It was a perfect summer. The staff that year gelled and we all became friends. We enjoyed our jobs, hung out after work - all while living in a beautiful National Park. Others would probably say that it was obvious that Brian was interested in me, but I didn't notice. Sure, I noticed how great he was and often wrote my friends saying, "He'll make a wonderful husband for someone, but not me."
Even our boss noticed and changed the schedule so we wouldn't have the same days off anymore. His theory was that if it didn't work out we wouldn't have to work together as often. (We have a running joke that we got married just to spite that silly man.) We often sat up late after watching a movie, talking about anything and everything.
It was during a conversation after a movie on August 23rd that things changed forever. I don't remember the details, but I do remember hearing the words, "I love you." My reply was anything but romantic and we both ended up in tears because I didn't feel the same way about him. It was an awkward and horrible week until I could finally be honest with myself and admit I had feelings for him too. August 30th, 1999 we shared our first kiss (initiated by me - I mean I shot the poor guy down just a week earlier. ) My job at Voyageurs was suppose to wrap up that very day, but two weeks earlier, I had been asked to stay until the end of September. That extension gave us 4 wonderful weeks together. We studied the Bible by the fire in a 1930's cabin, we soaked up the beauty of the Northwoods in autumn, and we tried to forget that our idyllic lifestyle was about to end. I didn't have a job to go home to so I decided to tour as many state parks as I could before the weather turned cold. My original plan was to make it a solo journey, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to spend as much time with Brian as I could. So on October 1st we packed up my Chevy Malibu and made a whirlwind trip around the state to check out 16 parks. We spent two of the nights camping with Brian's family and their friends (a tradition we still continue 8 years later).

We had yet another tearful goodbye on October 14th before I returned home to Wisconsin. Brian made the 5 hour drive to visit a few times, but mostly we talked on the phone and sent letters. One of the many things I love about Brian is his sense of humor. He was always saying or writing things that made me laugh.
Brian's brother, Gary, was getting married December 3rd that year and I was invited to come along - to Alaska. Who would have thought Alaska in December could be so beautiful! Brian made a comment the night of Gary and Laura's wedding about how he would go about planning his own wedding, and without thinking I replied, "Not if I have anything to do with it." One week later, while visiting me at the Mall I worked in, Brian wandered into a jewelry store to price some engagement rings. The pushy sales lady managed to talk him into buying a ring on the spot. There are two very significant things about when and where he bought my ring. One - without knowing it, he bought the exact ring I wanted (I'd been admiring it on my way to my job at Eddie Bauer, 4 stores down from the jewelers). Two - I hadn't even told him I loved him yet. I was planning to that VERY NIGHT. Talk about a leap of faith! Just goes to show that God's timing is perfect.

We attended my church Christmas program that night (Dec. 10th) and later, while sitting by the fire I presented him with a tiny box that contained my gift - or at least a letter that explained my gift.




Dear Brian,
There are so many things I wanted to get you for Christmas, but you know I can't afford to spend very much. I wish I could spoil you like you spoiled me with my winter coat. So instead of something from your Christmas List, I'm giving you something else you wanted. My gift to you is all my love.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Carrie

Things were beginning to fall into place for us. I would be moving to Minnesota to live with my Aunt and Uncle who had a baby girl nine days before Christmas. (I would spend the next 5 years as Elsie's nanny.) At this point I was still in WI with my mom and sisters. To spend Christmas with the family we braved blizzard conditions to make it to Minnesota. We were suppose to arrive at my Grandparent's home by mid-day on the 23rd so I'd have enough time to have dinner with Brian , but that didn't work out. Instead Brian came over in the morning of the 24th and we went for a drive. The front seat of his, Chevy Lumina wasn't the ideal place to exchange Christmas gifts, but we didn't care. He opened my gift and then he brought out a photo album that he wanted to show me. Being a picture lover, I thought it was sweet of him to want to show me pictures of his childhood, his family, and one of us taken at a wedding reception in September. Then he asked me to close my eyes and I played along. When I opened them and saw a ring, I blurted out YES!! I didn't even give him a chance to pop the question first. :) If I'd have given him a chance to, he was planning to say, "The pictures in this album represent the first 27 years of my life. So while I can't give you the first 27 years, I'd like to give you the rest. Will you marry me?"
Pretty sweet don't ya think?
If anyone is doing the math, yes, we hadn't even been dating for 4 months when we got engaged. When you are going to marry your best friend time doesn't matter. We'd been friends for over a year and planned a long engagement. We waited 17 months before I walked down the aisle to meet the man of my dreams at the alter. Brian was going to make a great husband someday. Only the Lord could orchestrate a coming together of two people who are so right for each other. We don't have a perfect marriage by any means, but we work at it every day. It is my prayer that our children will find spouses someday that are as loving, generous, forgiving, and romantic as their father.