Our 7th Wedding Anniversary

Trip Down Memory Lane......

Seven years ago tomorrow Jamey and I were married in Gatlinburg. (Really Redneckish of us I know!)

We checked into the "Love Nest" and were married at the Little Log Chapel at 8:00 that Saturday night. I got married at night like I always imagined I would and the stars were beautiful that night!

I remember we left on that Friday morning before we got married and we totally dodged everyone's phone calls until after it was official. (His mother would have found a way to track us down if she knew what was going on...she would have found a way I KNOW she would have.)

We had all day Saturday to bum around town, get our marriage license, shop for some shoes for me to wear...yep...I went to get married without white shoes to wear with my dress, grab me a bouquet from a local florist and away we went!!!!

I never had dreams of a wedding. I never wanted the whole hoopla....the "bow on the butt" wedding was not something that appealed to me at all. I love attending wedding celebrations and have served as Maid of Honor in two and a bride's maid in another but I hate to be the center of attention and had no desire for a fuss to be made over my wedding. (I also knew that my future mother in law would have totally taken over it and I would have been powerless to stop the madness!) The idea of it just being us really appealed to us at the time so we eloped. Looking back I think we could have done something simple and included our family and most intimate friends. I somewhat regret not having our parents and grandparents witness our ceremony. I think we hurt several people's feelings...mainly our mother's.

During and after the ceremony a "photographer" snapped a few pictures and we were off...Mr. and Mrs. James Wheeler.

On the way to dinner we called our family members to give them the good news.

The next morning we got up, ate at a local pancake house, stopped by the chapel to get our tiny photo album (consisting of like 10 pictures) and we were on our way home.

Jamey had already moved out into "our" rental house and I was dying to move in too so that very Sunday when we got home we packed up my things from my room at home and we were set. We lived in our cozy little rental house from July 20, 2002 until we bought our house in May of 2004.

In November of 2002 Jamey bought me our dog Penny for my birthday and she has been with us ever since...she made our little house a little more cozy. We found out we were pregnant in December of 2003 and later in February of 2004 we suffered the heartbreak of the miscarriage of our twins and my D & C procedure. A few short months after being in our new home we were elated to find out we were pregnant again in July 2004. On May 4th, 2005 our lives were forever changed when we welcomed Riley Faith Wheeler into our lives! She was an 8lbs 4oz...2 1/2 week late miracle who changed our lives forever. In March of 2006 we found out we were pregnant again and were over the moon with excitement! On December 15th, 2006 Samuel Charles Wheeler arrived and was 9lbs 14oz of pure sweetness! Our family was now complete and Jamey and I were happier than ever before!

We have suffered the loss of twin babies and other loved ones but we have remained strong and in love with one another. We are very blessed and thank God every day for the love we have and the family He has given us.

Happy Anniversary To Us!!!!!!