Married life.
Year One Highlights.
August: Surprise wedding. Honeymoon in Taos.
September: Family trip to see grandma. Kenny’s birthday. Medical trip to Texas. Fun with Wendi and Carter. Flying J Ranch fun. Family trip to see Uncle Ken and Aunt Tamara. First family camping trip and my first camping trip ever. The kids and I go down a natural water slide in our hiking clothes.
October: Another medical trip to Texas. More time with Wendi and Carter. We pick matching Halloween costumes and decorate the house. Family outing to the Renaissance Fair.
November: Kids enjoy the Farm and Ranch museum. Slightly creepy Santa visit. Thanksgiving in Ruidoso. We put up a beautiful Christmas tree.
December: 40th birthday celebration in Ruidoso. Anniversary dinner at Double Eagle. Kenny’s work Christmas party. Tubing at my parents’ house. Day after Christmas trips to the hospital. New Year’s adventure with the kids.
January: First trip to Mayo. World rocked. Day appointment becomes a week of appointments. Kenny needs a new liver. Celebrated Emmy’s birthday. Fun family hike. Jersey Boys in El Paso.
February: Kenny gets sick in Ruidoso. Taken by ambulance to Las Cruces and spends over a week in the hospital. Movie date with the kiddos. Kenny starts getting scary skinny. Valentine’s celebration with my love.
March: Snow in Las Cruces. Hikes with the sisters. Move Kenny to Phoenix. Waterpark adventures with the kids. Hard goodbyes. Dad’s birthday picnic at White Sands. Roller coasters with Kenny.
April: Kenny gets on the transplant list. Begin working 4 10’s and traveling to Phoenix most weekends. Kenny gets to come home. Fun with the kids in Las Cruces. Kenny cooks and cooks and stocks my fridge with delicious meals before heading back to Phoenix. Kenny goes to a Diamondbacks game. Desert hiking. I become obsessed with Saguaros. Kenny shaves his beard. Waterpark trip with kids and Mary for Easter in Tucson.
May: Kids have fun swimming with the cousins. Gavin has a concert. Kenny moves to the resort (thanks mom and dad!) Get the first call as a backup for transplant. Hopes up then crushed. Griffin graduates kindergarten and my family is there since Kenny and I can’t be. Memorial Day at the resort with Mary and the kids. Cheesecake Factory fun. Hard goodbyes again.
June: Move Kenny to the condo. Emmy goes to camp at Lone Tree and accepts Jesus as her savior. Kenny and I go to a Diamondbacks game and watch fireworks. Get a call. Krinny drives with me to Phoenix. Disappointment. More calls. Kenny even gets prepped for surgery in his heated gown but at the last minute it’s called off. More heartbreak.
July: Get another call. Drive all night and arrive at the hospital just as Kenny is being released. Still no liver. Mary and the kids come for July 4th. Play in the pool. Butterfly Wonderland. Calls. Hospital stay. No livers. More goodbyes when Mary and kids go home. Minor meltdown. I decide to stay one more day. Early morning call. No time to spare. It’s a go – Kenny is getting a transplant!!! I now live in Phoenix. Caretaker classes. Clean the car, clean the condo. Kenny gets released on day 5. Rest and relax and recover. Shop and cook and clean and help Kenny. My coworkers donate leave so I can be out of the office. GOT marathon. Wendi visits. Bingo and fondue. Coconut mail from Hawaii (thanks Mitchells!) Staples come out.
August: Visit from Mary and the kids. Lion King. Celebrate Griffin’s birthday. Aquarium. Benihana. Kenny’s released! Romantic trip to Sedona. Search for vortexes. Sunrise on the rocks. Breakfast on the river. Couples massage. Mom and dad come to help us move home. Back in Las Cruces. Back to work. Achilles injury and a boot. Sister’s trip to Vancouver. Seawheeze Half Marathon. First anniversary. Emmy goes with Mary to see Elvis. Family trip to Capitan for a football game.
Year Two.
September: Church. Puzzles. Pool time with cousins. Bubbles in the backyard. Kenny’s birthday. Celebrate Mary’s birthday with dinner on the rooftop. Trip to the pumpkin patch.
October: Baby rattlesnake on the porch. Cowboys game in Dallas. Ellen’s with Wendi and Carter. Second annual family camping trip. Hiking in the Hila. Family Halloween as a band of pirates.
November: Griffin gets a black eye. Family movie trip. Back to Mayo for 4-month checkup. Kenny is star patient. Girls trip to Tulsa to meet Jana and Naomi for a half marathon. We don’t run, just shop and catch up. Juke gets antlers and a red nose for the holidays. My Papa passes away. I cook my first thanksgiving dinner. We decorate beautiful Christmas trees.
December: Kenny decorates the house for Christmas. So thankful I married a Griswold. Anniversary dinner at Double Eagle. Kenny gets a light-up Christmas onesie. I’m never to speak of it. Oops. Ava’s Christmas concert. Sleigh ride and Christmas fun. Matching Christmas jammies. Family time playing Las Crucesopoly. Jump Adventure.
January: Garage clean out. Visit Dave’s horses. I get to see Wicked in South Carolina during a work training. Celebrate Emmy’s birthday with a Dragon Prince party. Griffin gets a cute haircut.
February: Snow in Las Cruces. Date night and Kenny surprises me with tickets to a play. Valentine’s day. Start playing backgammon.
March: Hike to the top of A mountain. Kenny is getting super strong. Global pandemic. Start working from home. Lots of hiking in Ruidoso. Start watching the Mentalist.
April: More staying home. More hiking. Plant flowers and vegetables. More backgammon. More Mentalist.
May: More hiking. Find waterfalls in Ruidoso. Kayak at Caballo. Start killing flowers. Bell peppers start growing. Trip to Granbury to see Wendi and Carter. Start playing Wahoo. Buy kids kayaks and our own Wahoo board. Kids play in the river. Family kayaking at Grindstone.
June: Play more Wahoo. Must take breaks so that marriage survives. Cherry picking with Mary and the kids. 43 pounds of cherries. Pit cherries. Freeze cherries. Give away cherries. Bike tour of neighborhood parks. Weekend in T or C. Hot springs. Park. Christina’s famous pizza. Father’s day with the kids.
July: Back to Mayo (with masks on). Great report. Weekend in Sedona. Lots of good food and porch sitting. Hot air balloon ride to celebrate Kenny’s livervsary. Quinn’s birthday party. Mexican popsicles. Sister’s dinner at the Melting pot with Avalou. Flying J fun with the Mitchells. Huge bubbles and birthday cake to celebrate Griffin’s birthday early with Mary. First solo camping trip with Kenny (in the rain). New trees and plants for the yard.
August: RV camping in Durango. River rafting. Ice-cold swimming pool. Road trip to Silverton and Ouray. Anniversary trip to Taos. Climbing NM’s highest peak. Orlandos.
***
It has been a wild ride, to say the least. It's hard to believe we've only been married two years. We say it all the time: it feels much longer (in a good way!) After the first year was consumed by Kenny's health issues, we hoped for a simpler year two - but with a worldwide pandemic and complete insanity in this country and our state, we didn't get it. Still, it's been two wonderful years, full of joy and laughter and love. I made this list to highlight all the crazy hard stuff we've dealt with but it ended up being more of a reminder of all the good stuff, all the normal stuff, that we managed to fit in along with the hard stuff. It truly is a wonderful life.
I am the luckiest girl I know because I married my best friend - the kindest, sweetest, funniest, most generous and loving and patient guy I know. He also happens to be super tall and super handsome. And fun. And smart. And good, through and through. He knows the value of things. He doesn't give up, doesn't quit, doesn't take the easy route. He's willing to do the hard work of staying and fighting for the people he loves. He doesn't just say the words, he lives them out. His life reflects them. I said in our wedding vows that I fell in love with him because he fit all the characteristics of the biblical definition of love: patient, kind, not envious or boastful or proud, not dishonoring of others or self-seeking, keeping no record of wrongs. Two years later, knowing him so much better, having gone through so much, all of those things are still true (and even more true).
I'm grateful for this life, for this love, for this man and I'm so thankful God brought our lives together through all the messy twists and turns that led us here.
Happy Anniversary, Kenny Stahl.
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