add one more to the tally.

12.

it has been 12 years now that I have been married to this guy.

our 12th anniversary didn’t start out in any particularly exciting way.

it was a little before 6 in the am, I woke up because my neck hurt (again), and my hand was asleep (again).  my best 4 year old bed buddy was crowding me (again).

as I lay there, trying to get comfortable, and trying to find sleep, I heard the “vvvvvvvtt, vvvvvvvtt” of a phone vibrating.

I blamed it on merrill, he is the one who normally gets texts and phone calls at obscene hours of the day.  well, except for that one time, when I won a wal-mart gift card.  (scam.)

that time, and this time.

it was my phone.

and my dad.

he is new to the world of cell phones and texting and I think it is rather cute.

as was our conversation:

dad- happy anniversary!!  twelve years or thirteen?

me- twelve thank you!

dad- that is what I thought but at my age a memory can’t always be trusted.

dad- by the way, what are you doing up sooo early?

me- I don’t know.  I think my phone started making noises or something. no, really peyton came and climbed into bed with me.

dad- it could be a lot worse.  you could have a st. bernard dog that does the same thing!

me- would it suck it’s fingers noisly?

dad- depending on whether it is a male or a female dog, it might make a lot of noise licking other body parts.

dad- go back to sleep!!

me- I am trying.

at some point during our early morning text-a-thon, merrill asked from the other side of our dark bed, “is someone dead?..  is someone dying??”

to be honest, I was quite thankful to still have my dad and that my dad was so sweet, to be the first to wish me a happy anniversary.

at 6 am.

forget sleep!

the rest of the day we spent together as a family.

we took our darling girls to this is the place for the first day of baby animal season.

we naively thought that it would be a pretty quiet day there.

not.

those were the biggest crowds we have ever seen there.

lynn was the only child brave enough to cuddle the baby animals, I guess ashley and peyton have issues with strange people watching them hold baby animals?

they did run around and have a pretty good time.

peyton thought she was “word girl”.  the cape went everywhere with us.

since most of our favorite activities still being closed, it was a fairly short visit.

we did get our treats (small selection) at the zcmi store, and rode on the train.

we saw an amazing antique quilt display at the old deseret hospital, and that got me excited to finish a quilt that is still going, so I can start more.

we visited the new city creek center after.  that was amazing.  didn’t buy a thing!  but seriously, shopping for that kind of stuff is not on my mind lately.

I am dreaming about my bedroom…

we enjoyed a quiet dinner, just the two of us, and called it a night going home to torture merrill by taking a few pictures.

really, it wasn’t bad.  he didn’t complain and even manned the remote, taking pictures at the most awkward moments, like when I was right in front of the camera adjusting the tripod (snap boobs), and more than a few as I was walking back toward him (snap bum).

then we wasted an hour, more than an hour, watching “incredibly loud and extremely close”.  I wish I could get that time back.  it wasn’t as good as people said it was.  there were good parts, but those were few and too far between.

I love reflecting back on these last 12 years, so many good memories, and so many blessings!

sure, we are older, a little grayer (and now I am adding to that count…), but wiser, closer, and comfortable with our little life.

just have to say how much I love you merrill.  thanks for continually putting up with me and my shenanigans.