17 Years...

On April 10 Rio and I celebrated 17 Years of marriage!  In this day and age I would say that is pretty darn good!  We had family photos done that day, here are some pics...

Tessa 6, Colton 14, Tyler 18, Margo, Rio

SEVENTEEN YEARS!  Like everyone else we have had our ups and downs but one thing that has never changed (only gotten stronger) is our love for each other.  Rio and I never fight...never.  There is nothing in life worth fighting about.  We are each others best friend and through thick and thin we are here to stay!  I love you baby!  You are the BEST thing that ever happened to me.

Tyler turned 19 on May 11.  He is currently working, finally, but he needs to find something that pays better and is full time.  He still hasn't decided what he is doing with his life and watching him struggle breaks my heart.  On the other hand, I hope he gets his sh** together soon and does something...ANYTHING!  He is very unique in the way he thinks & he doesn't discuss feelings or even life in general with us so it's hard to know what's going on with him most of the time.  Regardless, he is still one of the most handsome young men I have ever seen!

Colton turned 15 on May 1.  He has spent the past few months back and forth between home and St. George, where his friends from Tuacahn are.  His friends have come to stay with us also...at one time we had FIVE teenage boys staying in our 2 bedroom apartment with us...lots of food, lots of dirty dishes & laundry...good time!  Colton is very free spirited, has long hair, wears bandanas & peace signs & thinks he is a hippy.  He hasn't got a care in the world...wish I was like that!  We are not sure whether he will attend JHS this fall or if we will home school him.  Main stream school is not the place for Colton, he does not do well there.

Tessa will turn 7 in August.  Auntie Elka still watches her for me during the day.  She has fun playing with Jaeger, Gauge, Malena & the neighborhood kids.  She is still shy sometimes but a fun loving girl who is VERY ATTACHED to her parents.  She wants to go anywhere & everywhere with her daddy, even to work!  She is tender hearted, very sensitive & seems to have seperation anxiety if she isn't with one of us.  She doesn't even like to sleep at other people's houses anymore, she says she will miss us too much.  I sometimes wonder if the past 2 years of stress in our lives have have left her feeling insecure or un-secure.  She spends all of her time with us, we are quite the threesome!

I love my family, as dysfunctional as we are!  We may not be perfect, but no one is, and I am learning to accept that more each day. 

HAPPY 17 YEARS!