12 Years

December 27th was my and Jon's 12th wedding anniversary. It's strange because 10 years seemed to be such a big number and felt like we couldn't have been married that long, but 12 years doesn't seem long enough to have contained everything we've done and been through.

I thought in celebration of our 12th I would put a few pictures together of the last 12 years and a quick summary of some of the things that have happened.

Our wedding day - December 27th, 1996


This is the back porch of the LA Temple. I think that day was the biggest rainstorm in the history of Southern California. (maybe not, but it's got to be close!) It poured so pictures on the temple grounds were not a possibility. To top it off the temple is closed for a couple weeks around Christmas and it was only open this morning, half day, to do marriages. If I remember correctly there were 20+ sealings being done that morning. There was a group of us waiting inside to get out onto the back porch and they sent us out 1 couple at a time. The interesting thing was that a temple worker had to stand at the door and watch us the entire time and be sure that we didn't step off of the porch. If we were to have stepped off the porch we wouldn't have been allowed back in unless we went all the way around to the entry and showed our recommends again (which were still inside the temple so it would have been impossible). In the mean time everyone who came to the temple with us that day had to wait out in the rain without any cover. With so many couples going out to take pictures it was a long wait. I guess we learned who loved us that day! The rain didn't bother me too much that day, I was so happy to be getting married!

Our first apartment was in Salt Lake City at 2100S and 2300 E. It was just in between the University of Utah, where I was a student, and AlphaGraphics where I worked. It was a great apartment because it was ground floor, had an extra storage room in the back and a back door to the parking lot behind the complex. Our apartment was the only one with either of those things. We lived there for about 6 months before we got into married student housing at the U.

1997 -

Jon got a job at the RC Willey outlet at Redwood and 9000 S in West Jordan. It was conveniently right up the street from Grandma and Grandpa Andersons house. He worked Saturdays so sometimes I would go with him and spend the day over there. I worked at AlphaGraphics throughout that year and went to school at the U. We moved to apt 910 in the married student housing. It was a really small apartment but the rent was cheap and utilities were included. We were on the second floor, which was only a half flight of stairs up, and the laundry room was right below us which was great.

Here we are at Disneyland on Christmas Eve 1997.


1998 -

This is the year we moved back to CA. Jon went to work at Blockbuster at some point. It wasn't too far away from our student apartment so he would ride his bike. This worked out good for me because I had the car and didn't have to take the shuttle to school and the bus to work anymore.

In June I decided I was too home sick to stay in UT much longer and called the company I had worked for during the summer after I graduated high school. The GM there remembered me and asked how soon I could start. So we packed up and moved home. We stayed with Jon's parents until September when we rented a house 2 houses from my parents. It was great being so close to them especially since the boys were still young. Jeff was 8 and Andrew was 3. They used to come over all of the time and hang out with me, which I loved. My mom would call and tell me Andrew was on his way so I'd open the door and he'd wander in. It also put us back in my home ward which was an interesting experience. I did the music in primary for several months and then went into the Young Womens presidency. Jon went to work for an Interior Design company. He worked in the warehouse and delivered furniture.

Here is the family at Jeffrey's baptism in October of 1998

1999 -

Not much changed in 1999, we lived in the same house and had the same jobs. This is the year I visited Hawaii for the first time. Jon and his family had been there several times before. What a great place.

Here we are in Hawaii with Jon's sister and parents in July of 1999


2000 -

Pretty much the same. This is the year we went on our first houseboat trip with my family. It became an annual trip for several years because we had such a great time.

This is us on the houseboat trip in April of 2000



2001 -

This is the year we started our house buying/selling adventure. We moved out of the house we had been living in and moved back in with Jon's parents. Jon worked full time on the first house we bought and I was still working at 4/Flight. The first house, which was on Euclid Ave. in Upland, was a learning experience for all of us. We spent a lot of time there. Our biggest projects there were learning how to float mud over cracked plaster walls, pulling down wallpaper (we got much better at that over the years!) and putting down tile floors. It was a cute house and I wanted to keep it when we were done.

Later in 2001 we bought our second house (after selling the first one) which was on 3rd Ave in Upland. This was a much, much bigger project and we ended up having the house for a year before we sold it.

This is us, with our family flag we made, at the Anderson Reunion in Idaho in July of 2001



2002 -

In February we moved into the 3rd Ave. house which was pretty much done with all of the work we were doing. This house brought new learning experiences to us. We had to pull wood paneling from the walls in 2 rooms which had vaulted ceilings. This meant that we had to mud and sand the walls afterwards. It is the first house we textured the walls in before painting. There was a lot of electrical work that had to be done and we tiled bathroom and kitchen counter tops as well as the floors. The house was beautiful when we finished and I enjoyed living there for a while. It was a good sized house with a large master bedroom and bathroom so I got a bit spoiled.

In February we went to Salt Lake for the winter Olympics. We had a great time! Jon and I spent a while as the Nursery leaders in our ward there. When we were released from that I was put into the Young Womens presidency, and later that year was called as the Young Womens president. I was very nervous and unsure about whether or not I could do it but I made it through and learned a lot and think I did alright. I was 24 at the time and served for a year before we were preparing to move out of the ward.

This is us with Jon's dad at the bobsled races at the Olympics in February of 2002


2003 -

At the beginning of 2003 we were working on our 3rd house which was on Coca St. in Alta Loma. It was my favorite of the houses we did, except for ours of course. We moved into this one in February of 2003 when the 3rd Ave. house finally sold. This house had a huge backyard that was mostly dirt. There was a pretty good sized RC car track in the back for a while. We had a lot of fun on it (we had RC cars at the time) before it finally came time to level the yard. I remember this house had a septic tank which we had to have something done to, and that Jon and his dad fought a huge battle with the gophers that were living in the back yard.

September of 2003 is when we bought the house from my parents and started the renovations. We did a lot of work to it in the next few months and didn't move in until early January of 2004.

Here are the 2 of us at the Anderson reunion at Bryce Canyon in August of 2003


Here are a couple pictures of us during the house renovation. You can get an idea of just how much we tore down and put back together.

This is looking through the kitchen and into the back bathroom (where we knocked down 2 walls getting rid of the laundry room and built a new wall)


This is in the living room where we built a wall making the new laundry room behind it. After getting this wall framed up we knocked out the entire wall behind it which opened it up to the hallway.


2004 -

In January we finally moved into our home. There were still things we wanted to do, but most of it was done and it was ready to be lived in. I set up the middle bedroom as my office and the front bedroom as a guest room. Of course my guest room didn't last long because in February Tyaan moved in with us. She was 12 at the time, Jon was 30 and I was 25. The front bedroom became her room (and it still is). Jon was working for a construction company at the time as an estimator, and I was still at 4/Flight. Tyaan was in 7th grade and attending a school in Claremont. She started attending church with us and quickly asked about baptism. We had felt pretty strongly about not pushing her to do it, but she learned a lot in the next few months and there was no stopping her. So she took the missionary discussions and was baptized in July, just after she turned 13. In September she started 8th grade at Vernon Jr. High which is just around the corner from our house and is where I went. By then we knew she was a permanent addition to our family and we were all thrilled about it.

Here is Jon and I at the Kona Temple in Hawaii in May of 2004


Here is our first family picture we had taken (thanks to our friend who is a photographer and took us to do it) in September of 2004.



This is Jon and I at a ward Christmas party in December of 2004


2005 -

In 2005 Jon went back to school. He started at UTI in February and worked part time in the afternoons. It was a big adjustment for all of us. Tyaan finished middle school (thank goodness) and started at Chaffey High School that fall. I was still working at 4/Flight. I started school that spring also. I started taking the required classes to become an RN. I took Chemistry in the spring and Anatomy in the fall. In November my Grandpa Malcolm went into the hospital for bypass surgery. He never recovered from it and passed away a few days before Christmas. That was a really hard time.

Here we are on a campout with some friends in May of 2005


2006 -

This was a good year for us. Tyaan finished her freshman year in high school. Jon was still at UTI. I was still working and taking classes at night. We had Disneyland passes and went all of the time. Jon owned a jeep so we got to go out in that quite often. Tyaan got to go to London with a group from school while I went with my family to the Grand Canyon. We went to Lake Mojave in June, Tyaan had a big birthday party at the beach, we saw Wicked for the first time, we went to 2 family reunions back to back in August (Anderson in Baker, NV and Stephensons in Park City, UT). In August Tyaan's adoption was finalized!!! Tyaan played water polo for the first time that summer and ran her 2nd year of cross country when her sophomore year started that fall.

Here we are in September of 2006




2007 -

We started this year with renewed Disneyland passes, Tyaan was in water polo season and Jon was on his last few months of school at UTI and deciding what to do afterwards. He decided to apply for BMW which is very selective and he was nervous that he wouldn't get in. Tyaan was in choir at school this year and started her first swim season in March. Jon applied for BMW and got accepted. Shortly after we found out that the class he was planning on attending just a few minutes from our house was cancelled and if he didn't want to reapply several months later he would have to go to either Houston, TX or Orlando, FL for school. We decided it was worth going to Houston and he moved out there in mid June after graduating from UTI. He came home for Tyaan's birthday in July (sweet 16!) so he could see her in a play she did that summer. Tyaan and I visited Houston on Labor Day weekend in September. I went a few times after that for weekend trips but Tyaan only went out the one time. Tyaan started her junior year that fall and got her driving permit in August. I took a great trip in October. I flew to Houston and spent the weekend with Jon. I had bought an old Jetta a couple months earlier and needed to get it back to CA. So I drove from Houston to Dallas on Monday to stay with Lisa for a few days. On Thursday I left Dallas, spent the night in El Paso, and drove to Phoenix, AZ on Friday to a friends house. I stayed the night with her and drove home on Saturday. It was one of my favorite trips ever (although that's a long list.) I went back to Houston in December for Jon's BMW graduation and we drove straight home. We got home on Dec 23rd. Jon had been gone for about 6 1/2 months. We were very happy that it was over.

Here is Jon and I at a restaurant in Houston in September 2007


2008 -

Jon started at New Century BMW in Alhambra in January of 2008. After almost 3 years of school it was great for him to start working! I was still working at 4/Flight and Tyaan was in her 2nd water polo season. In March she started a fabulous swim season ending with 4 top 3 finishes in league and the medals to go with them along with getting named team captain. She attended her schools Backwards dance, played in the powder puff game, went to Mormon prom and finished her junior year of high school. She got her license in June. We went to Cedar City in July for the Stephenson reunion, she went on a 3 day handcart trek with our stake youth just after we got home. Celebrated her 17th birthday with a party in our backyard and was in a regional dance festival put on by a group of SoCal stakes. Anderson reunion at Yuba Lake in August followed by Tyaan starting training for cross country season. And just like that she starts her senior year of high school. I turned 30 (holy cow!!) The prop 8 adventure started going strong. Tyaan went to her last homecoming dance with a cute boy. We took a trip to Utah in November for the Oborn sealing. The cute boy becomes Tyaan's cute boyfriend. Her last water polo season started in December, we celebrated Christmas and Tyaan's very own dirt bike. And on the 27th it was 12 years ago...

Here we are on a Haslam family weekend in Malibu, CA in July 2008



That is a quick rundown of the 12 years of my marriage. Like I said, it seems like a long time, but we fit a lot in to those years. And I'm a happy girl.