Who's the guy with the hair and the girl with the eyebrows?

Tomorrow is our 16th anniversary. I was thinking how this time last year we were in Mexico with our kids, my mom, Miranda Blomquist, Adam Campbell, Maria B, Madison Olmstead and Art Montejano. On the day of our anniversary Sally and Joel Frostad (our missionary hosts) took us to the beach and we spent a great afternoon jumping in really big waves. I had never done that before (it was still the Pacific but it was way warmer than our west coast!) and it has become an awesome memory for us.

The significance of going to the beach on our 15th wedding anniversary was pretty big for us, although it was probably lost on everybody else that was there. The story goes:

Tris and I met in Tijuana, Mexico in 1989, and returned to Tijuana in 1990 to go to a Christian leadership training school there. While there we really noticed each other (to put it mildly) and it was on a day off, on a sand dune on Coronado Beach, San Diego, that we actually put into words how we felt.

A few years later, during Christmas break, we went on a road trip with Tris' parents, his sisters and our swedish friend, Josie, and drove the Econoline van down to San Diego. A rainstorm of rainstorms made us detour off of our planned route and into Palm Springs, where we stayed in a hotel (properly distributed and chaperoned, of course) and had a great time poolside. How does Palm Springs fit in? That's the suspense to hold you 'til later.

After Palm Springs we stayed in San Diego and Tris and I headed to Tijuana, for old times' sake. It was 1 January, 1992...the beginning of a great new year. We spent the day hunting down old Mexican friends in the markets and then headed to Coronado Beach on the bus. Tris was acting very strange and nervous: I remember how he pulled me off the bus way too early for the beach; we had to walk an extra 5 blocks. Once we got to Coronado Beach we walked along the sand and then, as you probably figured out, he proposed. Actually, how it happened was that we were walking along the beach without our shoes on and we got really cold feet (haha). Tris stuck something in my sock (not very tricky for a smart guy...I saw him do it) and when I went to put on my sock there was an engagement ring in it. That's how the story goes...when we were in Palm Springs I had commented on a beautiful engagement ring set (and I had been very, very picky) that was in a store window.

So...that was 16 1/2 years ago...and 2 1/2 years ago we were able to take our kids to the same beach on our trip to Disneyland. They wanted us to re-enact our engagement but that was too hokey. We did pick a spot and tell them that was where it all happened, although in reality we didn't really have a clue. We just needed to cater to their romantic sides because they love stuff like this.

like i said, it was cold on the beach in Jan, 1992 and it was cold again in March, 2006!

That is why being in Mexico, even though it was a little south of Coronado Beach, was so special for us. Now we're here in a totally new country (not very close to any beaches, by the way) and with a totally new life. Not sure what tomorrow entails but it looks like we're going to dinner with a Canadian fellow and his wife who are here from Canada. His name is Marv Penner and unfortunately I didn't catch his wife's name. Great speaker...works with youth and I thought that what God had him say yesterday was right on the mark. I'd recommend him for a speaking engagement at Northgate anytime...I think he's through a bible college in Alberta. We're not that great at planning out of the ordinary anniversaries, but they always work for us. Tris figures he's taking me to Bali in October, but it's with a bunch of others, 2 of them our kids, so that doesn't count. I may not post tomorrow because it looks like a busy day...

Thanks for reading!