Ten Years of Wedded Bliss

Ok, so maybe it hasn't been "bliss" every moment of the last ten years. We certainly have been busy building a life together though!
To think we met at Diamond's Night Club in Rochester, New York, on August 23, 1995. It was Ladies Night and I had an audiology exam the next morning. I was three months into my graduate program at Geneseo and my friend, Kathryn, and I had decided we just couldn't study one more minute. We were on the dance floor and suddenly I saw him: Mister Tall, Dark and Handsome! He and I hit it off and before we knew it, we were wearing out a path from LeMoyne to Geneseo...over time, we chipped away at one another's tough protective shells and fell in love. By the time Frank asked me to marry him, on December 11, 1998, we had moved from Auburn, New York to Niskayuna, New York. My engagement ring was hanging on our Christmas tree at 1060 Baker Avenue in the upstairs apartment. What a romantic time!

Ten months later, we were married - October 9, 1999, at Niskayuna Reformed Church. Family and friends came to join in the festivities before my hubby and I headed off on a week-long cruise - Tampa, Grand Caymen, Cozumel and New Orleans...
Next came a series of mostly highs and a couple of lows:
May 2000, we bought our home in Clifton Park,
February 2001, we were thrilled to be pregnant!
March 2001, we were overwhelmed see two babies on the ultrasound!!!
April 23, 2001, sadly, we lost our twins,
July 2001, we discovered we were pregnant again,
September 11, 2001, we lived through the darkest day in our history,
October 2001, we had a romantic get-away in Cape Cod at a gorgeous bed and breakfast,
November 2001, we saw on an ultrasound that our baby was a boy!
March 25, 2002, we became the proud parents of a sweet baby boy!! Life has not been the same since! Of course we were delighted to become parents, however our couple-ness had changed and the weight of responsibility will remain.
February 2003, hubby threw me a surprise 30th birthday party!
January 2004, we discovered we were pregnant again. But suddenly there were complications and I was on bed rest off and on for the remainder of the pregnancy.
August 9, 2004, we became the parents of a precious little girl!
June 3, 2005, Frank turned 31 and we were quite surprised to discover we were pregnant again!! (I told Frank while we were having dinner at Garcia's restaurant...he promptly ordered himself the biggest margarita on the menu!!!!)
January 3, 2006, we became the parents of another baby girl!!
A few weeks later, we started couples counseling...the sudden addition of so many children in such a short time, on one income, left us feeling stressed out, overwhelmed and without much time to be together, just the two of us. We began to look forward to the weekly counseling sessions (thankfully my parents watched the "herd" for us)...we began to add dinner out to the agenda and soon fell in love all over again.
January 2007, we "graduated" from counseling...and a few weeks later, we discovered another little Hill was on the way!
September 26, 2007, the last Little Hill was born, a boy this time! Frank had decided that "this was it" and our herd was complete.

The above timeline only includes the human changes to our household...Frank (along with his dad and a few friends) has completely transformed our house in every way possible...retaining wall, new roof, new siding, new windows, new floors, finished the basement, remodeled bathrooms, new deck, new patio, and the list goes on and on. While I admit to whining and complaining about every new idea (the cost - financial and time, were great), I have to say it all turned out beautifully.
Frank and I may be night and day opposites sometimes (and we may drive one another a little crazy), but I am confident that God knew what He was doing when He put us together: when we take the time to communicate, we really balance one another out. Hopefully we can be the team God wants us to be to raise our four children, our treasures from the Lord.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Beloved!!!