Today Ryan and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary.
It has been fourteen years packed full of some of the most meaningful and beautiful life moments – pregnancies, babies, adoption and birthdays.
When we said our wedding vows to each other fourteen years ago, we followed each vow with the words, “by the grace of God”. That is exactly what has transpired and how I would describe our marriage. We have struggled but pulled through – by the grace of God. We’ve hurt each other and always chosen to forgive and love again – by the grace of God. We’ve worked through every conflict – by the grace of God. We’ve grown to love each other more and more – by the grace of God.
I would have never imagined 14 years ago that Ryan and I would wake up surrounded by ten children today. I am so thankful and wouldn’t have it any other way!
To start the day of celebrating, Ryan had me stay in bed while he made a surprise breakfast of chocolate banana crepes. They were delicious, just like the crepes we had on our honeymoon in Paris. We exchanged cards and gifts.
Then we headed to downtown Charleston. We love specialty coffee so we hit up City Lights Coffee. It did not disappoint.
We enjoyed walking through the city market.
Then we walked over to Waterfront Park.
There are a couple of neat fountains and a pier with great views of the Charleston harbor.
Our kids enjoyed playing in the fountain. I held Bravely up to touch the water and it splashed all over her face and mine. Haha. That we were not expecting.
Our kids really liked the big porch swings hanging along the pier.
We loved seeing the great views of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that we had driven across numerous times.
After checking out Waterfront Park, we walked over to Rainbow Row.
Rainbow Row is a series of thirteen colorful historic houses. We loved all the color.
We drove to the Workshop for dinner.
Six vendors share space in this cool food court, offering a fun mix of street foods.
Ryan tried a popular Philippine dish.
I had chicken tacos. I almost never pass up street tacos when it’s an option. These were good! Our kids had grilled cheese or hot dogs with fries. We all shared a few desserts.
Ryan, Bravely and I all have horribly sore throats, but we all had a great day anyway.
I am so thankful for the fourteen years we’ve had together. And here’s to many more years of love, laughter…and kids – by the grace of God!