Today I Say "I Do"

Two years ago today I married my husband, but I didn't marry just my husband. Mark and I have both been previously married. We both entered our relationship with children of our own. He with his son and his son's girlfriend and I with Buddy and Munch. If you have done the math you have already figured out that our son, Bubba was born before we were married. An interesting blended family isn't it? I wouldn't want it any other way.

When we started planning our wedding we both agreed that we didn't want anything traditional. He wanted to have a pig roast. Yes--I said a pig roast and along with that pig he wanted pork chops on a stick, just like you would get at a city festival.

We decided to be married in our backyard, invite our closest friends and family, hire a party planner, and yes do a pig roast. I did have one request: we offer appetizers, salads and sides provided by the party planner. I did not want corn on the cob and baked beans served at my wedding!

We decided on a wonderful selection of food, a beautiful cake, chose a DJ, found my dress, picked out flowers and centerpieces and made all the other decisions that are made for a wedding. All this was the easy part.

We also decided to write not only our own vows, but our own entire ceremony. Our minister gave us a book of all the different ceremonies she had to offer. Not one single ceremony was just right for us and our family. We spent hours breaking apart and piecing together our ceremony. As our children are such a prominent part of our life we thought it only right to involve them in the ceremony.

After we said our vows to each other we surprised everyone in attendance, including the children, and asked for all five kids to come join us. We all held hands and formed a circle.

These were our vows to them:

Today, as we become husband and wife, we welcome you into our new family. We promise to be there for you always, to comfort you and care for you, to protect you and provide for you, to guide you and listen to you, and most of all, to love you with all of our hearts all the days of our lives.

This was our minister's blessing:

May your marriage and family be blessed with faith for the future. May your hearts be filled with the happiness of hope. A family is a circle of strength and love. With every birth and every union, the circle grows. May every joy shared also add love to the circle, and may every crisis faced together make the circle even stronger. May all of you as a family blend together and move forward into the future with FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.

We were pronounced husband, wife and family, exchanged hugs and kisses among all and proceeded up the path to our new life.

As I sit now and think of all that I have and all that our family has become, I know that I couldn't ask for anything different than all that I have. How lucky I am to have the husband and children that I do. May the rest of our lives be as happy and wonderful as the past two years.