So fast forward to now...it's still the same. I can't get enough of our time when we don't have anything going on around us but what he is telling me and what I am telling him. Sometimes I daydream about moments when everything stops and we get a moment of just us.
With 4 little girls in this house who also just want to tell Daddy all about their day, and give the first hug, or get the first kiss, sometimes I feel like I need to push and shove my way through the loudness and get my turn. Poor guy has to give lots of attention to a bunch of needy ladies!!!
My very favorite times with Gonzo are during football season on Friday nights after a game. He gets home about 11:30, the girls are in bed, and we talk. About the game, about the week, about the girls. He is always a little wound up from the game and we usually talk for a few hours until I don't answer him anymore because I've finally lost the battle with the back of my eyes. It takes me back to our first year of marriage and staying up late talking and watching football highlights. Even though the morning comes much earlier now with my 4 alarm clocks than it did back then I still look so forward to Friday nights.
I'm centimental and have a good memory and wanted to think back to some of the major things that happened in each year of our marriage so far. So here it goes!
Year 1:
We lived in a tiny apartment across from Brookshires Grocery Store in Kaufman, TX. I taught second grade and Gonzo coached football and taught 8th grade English. Gonzo didn't have a vehicle for most of that year so he rode my bike to the field house every day. My bike!!! Not a mans bike. He rode my red bike I got for maybe my 14th birthday! I mean really! Should I just stop here?!?! This guy...not many would have done that! We only lived there about 9 months and then moved to Arlington for another coaching job. On our first anniversary we were unloading boxes from the move. I have a picture of us holding the district championship trophy and I can't find it. One day I'll put it here!
Year 2:
I was teaching second grade at an elementary school right around the corner from our house. Gonzo was coaching and teaching at Martin.
We made our new house a home and were daydreaming even more about little feet running down our halls. We started to check into the next steps of trying to make a baby after 12 months of nothing. The outcome of those tests proved that nothing was wrong with either one of us and so we kept doing what we had been doing. I was still teaching second grade and he was still at Martin.
The Lord did some big stuff in us this year and long story short after almost 3 years of trying and waiting and trying and waiting we were pregnant. There was one night during this year that we will never forget when my folks, Lee and Andrea, and Gonzo and I sat around our living room and cried and prayed and cried and prayed. Looking back this was a time when The Lord came through BIG for us and we should have turned 180 degrees and we only turned about 90. We were so grateful for finally being pregnant and knew it was only by God's grace that it happened. He was slowly softening our hearts and wooing us in.
We had Adda B and she brought us so much joy. He was still coaching at Martin and I was still teaching. I took about 13 weeks off after I had Adda and then finished out the school year with her in childcare. After that I started staying home and kept a few kids for a little extra money.
I was still watching kids from home so that I could be with Adda. Gonzo was still coaching at Martin. Adda was active and our only kiddo and we thought she was the smartest and best little girl there was. We started to talk about having #2 and thought that since it took so long with Adda we might start trying a little before Adda turned 2. Boom! I was pregnant with Ella just like that. I was pregnant in this picture.
We had another baby! I was still keeping kids from home and Gonzo was still coaching at Martin. Things were a tiny bit more hectic and loud and The Lord was showing more and more that I was not in control. I was realizing slowly but surely that this all together pretty little day to day I had going on was just a covering for what He really wanted to do in my heart. This actuall picture marks the beginning of something big God was going to do in our life in the next year. I didn't know it then, but I was pregnant!
Oh Boy! I can't quickly describe year 8. This is the year that WE WILL NEVER FORGET! When everything we knew and loved changed, God was the only constant in our life. He took a moment in that year and made such greatness come from it. Some many memories, and friends, and experiences happend in those 8 years and it was all worth it to get to the place the Lord had us. Year 8 I found out I was pregnant, then I found out I was pregnant with twins, then I found out I was pregnant with twin girls. These two babies would come to be a symbol of God moving us from a life where we lived a safe Christian life to a time when we relied ONLY on what He was going to do next.
In this year Gonzo had a new job as a defensive coordinator at a school in Ft. Worth and I was staying home with our 4 babies.
Year 9:
Gonzo was still working at Dunbar. I was still at home with the kids. Adda was going to preschool 2 days a week and our house was a zoo. This was another hard, hard, hard year with lots of tears and lots of stretching. Pretty much daily Gonzo and I were reaching out to our home group for prayers and seeing how The Lord changes lives through a Godly community. At a time when He knew we would need help He provided just what we needed and almost always it was down to the wire. God likes to stretch us like that. 
Here we are! So describe what The Lord has done in our lives from year 8 to now is impossible. I pray that people can see what He has done in us. I hope that from the outside there is a difference. We are forever changed all because of year 8. I cry when I think about how grateful I am for that turning point The Lord allowed. He get's ALL the glory for everything single thing he has done in our lives. He has done great things! All I can do is cry out and praise Him for the GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY! Gonzo is still the DC at Ft. Worth Dunbar. I'm still home with the kiddos. Adda just finished kindergarten. Ella went to preschool 2 days a week this year and loved every single second of it. The twins are almost 2 now and run me into the ground about 30 times a day. I struggle to keep my head above water almost everyday but we manage. I struggle with loosing my cool, I have zero patience, my kids pray for my yelling, and a cry often. The best part is I don't have to carry any of those burdens. I just give them right on over to my Abba Father and He changes things for my good. Gonzo and I have learned to love differently now, we have learned to talk differently now, we have learned to pray differently now. These 10 years have been GOOD! I'm looking forward to the next "year 8" He brings our way. We pray often for what He has next for us and wherever He leads us. He is so good, and so faithful.
It's late! I'm tired and I need to go to bed! But listen, if you get nothing at all from this blog hear this!
He is Good
He is Able
He is Love
He is Faithful
He is All Knowing
He is Mighty
He is Forgiving
He is Restoring
He is The Provider
He is Beautiful
He is Safe
He is GOD
If He hasn't left me in my 33 years of life He won't leave you! When things turn south the only place you can run is right into His arms. In all things and through all things He gets the glory. 10 years ago He knit together two people who He knew would struggle and go through hard times and He never gave up!
Thank You My Jesus! May you guide our every step and guard our hearts and bring us closer to you always! Love you all and hope you are encouraged by these words!
Oh, I'm not going back to proofread this! Sorry if you see mistakes! Going to bed now!
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