Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

I am always in awe of how much God has blessed me, and constantly questioning what makes me special enough to receive them all.

Apart from the blessing of being saved by Christ, I am always brought to this question when I think of my family and especially, my two parents. Of all the two people I could have been born to, I was fortunate enough for Him to choose Paul and Annie Latour.

I am proud to say that today marks their 24th anniversary, and as I would love to present them with a 2 week Alaskan cruise to express my thanks for giving me such a wonderful life, right now this blog post will have to do. (I haven't even gotten my first paycheck yet! haha)

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you for....

bringing me into this world- Mom, you risked your life, and Dad, you risked your sanity! You have sacrificed so much for me to be here.

raising me in a Christian home- I know that being shown Christ's love from you two was what started me on my path to being saved and living a life to glorify Him. I don't know where I would be without everything you both have taught me.

giving me two..... wonderful....siblings- I got to have my 5 short years of only child glory, but I am happy you brought them into this world as well... We wouldn't be a "circus family" without them!

supporting me in whatever I wanted to do- From girl scouts to softball to dance to art classes to choir to even that nerdy "discovery" club at school :-) , you made me realize that I could do and be anything because I knew you would always be there to cheer me on!

helping me through those awkward years- this one definitely earns you gold stars! I cannot even imagine what it was like for you both having to deal with a junior high aged girl who came home crying every other day about the most ridiculous things! :-)

loving Greg as one of the family- from the very beginning, (and after some discussion with dad and his guns I'm sure, haha!) you both supported us and loved Greg as another son. We are so blessed in knowing that you will always be here for us.

and in celebration of today, thank you most of all for being an example of a marriage that I will always strive to create in my own life. Listening to all the stories of the very beginning to the ups and downs along the way, and seeing it as I grew up, I know for a fact that this is how God intended marriage to be and why He created such a beautiful thing.

I remember growing up hearing from so many of my friends and the kids at school of how their parents were divorced, and sometimes being told how unusual it was for mine to be married for so long. But these were the times when I was so proud to be the odd one out!

Thank you mom and dad for being "odd"

Happy Anniversary!