after celebrating each of her siblings’ birthdays and patiently waiting for the ever-so-slow july to arrive, it was finally lauren’s turn to party! she was beside herself with eager anticipation. i was beside myself with party preparations.  let it be known that pinterest is a bad, bad place. etsy, too. after a few weeks of gathering ideas, making plans, purchasing supplies, making lists, preparing items, hanging decorations, rehanging decorations, and a couple late nighters, came the night before the big day. and if you know phil… you know that he is all about the party favor bag.  unfortunately for me this time, he was too busy with work to be…

so we celebrated anniversary number 11 last month.  in the last few years, the month of july has ended up being a crazy busy month for us with phil finishing one program or another, moving, lauren’s birthday, and our anniversary all thrown in there. but even so, we’ve always tried to mark the date in one way or another, and God has always provided time for us to spend with each other and to look back over the years of all we have to be thankful for. and i’m happy to report that this anniversary finds us in a very good place.  the Lord has blessed us beyond what we…