It’s been ten years since we said “I do” and made a covenant with God and each other to be husband and wife. Does that sound serious? Well, it is.
And, it is so much better and complicated than I ever imagined. We prepared. We took classes. Pre-marriage bible studies. I would do all of that again. Because, I believe it’s helped us to be better communicators and have a better marriage.
But, I think what has helped the most is our joint commitment to each other and to God. We make so many decisions based on how we believe God is leading us. We challenge each other and we don’t always agree. However, when it comes to the big issues we are passionate about: being the church, ending slavery, injustices in the world, contributing to our neighborhood’s well being, family… We’re on the same page. We want to raise great citizens of this great planet and be great citizens in the process.
I love being married to this man. Making music with him has been such a gift to our marriage.
I love you, Moustapha. I pray we have many more decades together to learn and grow! Happy 10 year Anniversary!
Seven years ago today, as I made that long walk down the beautiful aisle, surrounded by family and many friends, I could have never imagined this.
Our life has exceeded all of my hopes and dreams. You continue to surprise me and, if I’m being honest, frustrate me. And, I know I frustrate you! But, isn’t our life fun!? Your love is amazing. I remember how it felt to fall in love with you. I thought about you and our future all of the time. I loved everything about you and even though I knew you weren’t perfect, you were perfect for me. You were and still are my very best friend. Even more so now. Seven years and four beautiful children. Our relationship has gone through a huge transformation in a relatively short amount of time.
We had a little over a year as a married couple before having our first son. During that first year we found and purchased our home, a home in the heart of Houston, built in 1928. We only had twenty months with our first child until we welcomed our second son. Around that time you finished law school, passed the Bar and began practicing law in Texas. Just after our fourth anniversary, where we returned to the Petroleum Club (the site of our wedding reception) and spent the night at Hotel ZAZA (where we spent our first night married when it was still the Warwick) our kitchen flooded and we began major house renovations and a complete rehaul on our kitchen. We lived through it all and welcomed our baby daughter that year. Shortly after she was born, we moved back home into our “new” old house.
And, we returned to Hawaii with our three children to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. That was insane! You’ve supported me as I’ve made time to write music and lead worship at our church. Your support of God’s calling in both of our lives has been instrumental in the spiritual growth we’ve experienced separately and together.
Our children continue to grow and amaze us. And, during our sixth year of marriage, we had our fourth child, a beautiful baby boy.
We spend our mornings telling children “shhhhh!” “Quiet,” so and so “is sleeping.” “Lay down.” “Good morning.” “How did you sleep?” “Go potty.” “I love you.” “Give me a kiss.” …and so on and so on. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I am so tired and wish I could just sleep a little bit longer. And, then I imagine my life without all of this and it’s no life at all. These children, these precious blessings that we’ve been given for such a short amount of time, bring so much joy to our lives. I love that all six of us cuddle up in our queen size bed! You bring joy to my life. I am so thankful for you. You are my husband, my best friend, my love. I love you and wish you a very happy anniversary. Here’s to seven more years of wedded bliss!
Today is our 6th anniversary. 6 years! Wow! That sounds so few considering all that has happened. It has been a wild ride. And, it has been so wonderful. We’ve been blessed with 3 beautiful, healthy children. We live in a beautiful home in the best part of Houston. And we have amazing friends and family. And, we have even more to celebrate. The little Els will share the news with you here:
Our last full day in Maui was so much fun. Here is a brief recap: We had lunch on our way to the airport in Paia- the town we stayed in. This was our first time to actually walk in the town. We stayed just north of the town in a house that was literally a 2 minute walk from the beach.
We had lunch at Flatbread. It was really good organic pizza and other good organic stuff. I loved it. Thank you, Grandmother for treating us…YUMMY!
Bakri, Maddux and Moustapha in front of the pizza oven. Walking down the main street in Paia (the Hana hwy) Just after this photo was taken, it started raining.
Bakri playing with the Pizza dough.
Maddux hanging out in his room before we left the house. This was his first time to sleep in a big boy bed. He was awesome. The only funny thing that happened was the first night. I guess he wanted to sleep in the bed that we originally put Bakri in. So, when they were checked on in the night, Maddux had gotten out of his bed and was sleeping soundly in Bakri’s bed. And Bakri was close to falling off the bed. We moved Bakri and Maddux stayed in the other bed for the rest of the vacation.
The day before we left a wind storm came in. The waves were so beautiful. This was taken on the northshore of Maui, just north of Mama’s beach.
We were at this lookout point with hundreds of other people.
Our House- Hale O Ke Kai had a guestbook. This was our entry after staying the week. The day after we returned home, Trinity and I hosted a Sip N See for our friend and her new baby girl. This is T relaxing in her party dress AFTER the party. 🙂
This is the tail of a whale. Here is one close to the boat. Look at the glow under the water. That was something we did not see when we were here before. None of the whales ever got close enough to the boat to see them glow under the water. It is such an incredible sight. Here is one heading toward us. Here are 2 whales. Supposedly, these are males and they are after the same female. So, that was what all of the activity centered around.
Walking down the main street in Paia (the Hana hwy) Just after this photo was taken, it started raining.
The day after we returned home, Trinity and I hosted a Sip N See for our friend and her new baby girl. This is T relaxing in her party dress AFTER the party. 🙂
