Our wedding day

When Dennis and I were dating and talking about getting married, of course we needed to talk about where we would actually live. I told him flat out that I could not live in Corona, where he was from, or anywhere in the LA area because of my fear of earthquakes.

I did however, agree, to marry him in the Los Angeles LDS temple.

So my oldest son Brock drove me, McKay and Tyler to Corona the night before our wedding. (We missed Logan who was in the Philippines in the middle of his 2 year mission for our church.) After visiting with Dennis and his daughters, who had also arrived for our wedding, the boys and I checked into our hotel for the night.

My sons fell asleep around midnight but it took me till about 1am to doze off, finally. At 2:46am guess what happened? AN EARTHQUAKE. Found out later it was a 7.1 coming from Hector which is located about 90 miles from Corona. The whole place shook terribly. I screamed. The boys woke up, from my screaming I think, not the earth shaking. I went outside and noticed several fellow hotel people outside looking around...the water in the pool still swaying wildly.

My boys told me it was over, so I should just go back to sleep. I don't think Brock even got out of bed. I tried to doze off but we kept having aftershocks, and I felt them all. I never did go back to sleep that night. I wanted so badly to call Dennis, but this was the night before our wedding so I didn't. I found out later that he wanted to call me because he woke up too from the shaking but was afraid of waking me up. He obviously did not know me as well as he knows me now. I DO NOT sleep through earth quakes.

So that is how our wedding day began.
This was 9 years ago today!

This picture was actually taken at the Oakland temple, not the one we were married in.
I looked too tired the day of our wedding to put any of those pictures here.


This is our combined children the day of our reception. 2 sons are missing.
Dennis and I both had a son on a mission at the time.


Why is this the only picture we have of ourselves at our reception
when over 100 pictures were taken that night? Because instead of hiring a photographer, I gave McKay and Tyler a bunch of disposable cameras and instructed them to take pictures. I didn't know till AFTER the reception that they took pictures of everyone eating. Yes, they went around and actually waited till the mouths of our guests were open and then they snapped the shots. What was I thinking??!
They couldn't help it. They were BOYS, ages 13 and 15!



If you don't want to read my list of why I love Dennis just skip to the song below.


*He wakes up every morning asking himself what he can do today to make me happy.
*He often empties the dishwasher before leaving for work.
*He says he likes to go grocery shopping with me. He patiently pushes the cart while I take my time filling it.

*He asks me nearly every night after dinner, "Are we going anywhere tonight?" And when I tell him where, he takes me. If I say, "Oh you look tired tonight. Maybe we should stay home." He will say, "I'm never too tired for you."
*He helped me everyday for the 3 1/2 weeks my mother lived with us until she died. He was the last one who saw her. He says it was one of the greatest experiences of his life.
*He still opens the car door for me. He opens all doors for me. He has me so spoiled that when I go out with girlfriends I sometimes will just stand there waiting.
*He is an excellent listener. If he sees me stressed he will say, "Come and sit here and tell me all about it." And he will sit there and listen to every word. I feel I am a good listener too, but he is even better than me.

*He LIKES honey do lists. He will ASK for them and seems to enjoy going down the list and getting everything done one by one checking them off as he goes along.
*He never wants to be late for anything, especially church. To him, being on time means being there at least 15 minutes early. His motto is, "I'd rather be 30 minutes early than 1 minute late."
*Dennis helped me finish raising my 2 youngest sons. He was right there front and center, doing it all.

Perhaps you think I am exaggerating. I promise, I'm not. Perhaps I should tell you some of his faults to make this more realistic. Let's see. Oh I know one. *He will sometimes go to the store for me but I don't think he can do that with out calling me 3 or 4 times while he is hunting for things.
*And here's another....he has a hard time throwing anything away. He is very sentimental...so I try to do de-cluttering when he is not home. Also, this is probably his biggest fault...he does not put anything away. For example, he is so good about wrapping gifts for me because he knows I do not enjoy that. But it never even enters his brain to put the scissors and tape away. (He does not believe in gift bags.)
*Oh, and if I have been gone and I come home to all the cupboards open and things sticking out of the drawers, I know that he had been on the hunt for something lost. Yep, that's about it

I will always have memories of Den and I driving down the coast of California
on our honeymoon with him singing this song to me over and over again.



Happy Anniversary, Honey.
Thank you for asking for my phone number.



16 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's so funny what you said about Dennis calling you when he goes on errands, my dad does the same thing. Once he leaves to go get anything, you can count on the phone ringing in the next five minutes, and it's him with a question.
We love Dennis. He is such a wonderful man and a great neighbor. He is also lucky to have such a wonderful lady like you in his life. Happy Anniversary!!
-Heidi

Rebecca said...

This is such a fun post. Oh my gosh. Dennis is so much like John it is scary! John won't throw things away, opens my door ALWAYS, will do anything for me, he also calls me about 4-5 times from the store (how did we ever survive pre-cell phone), I am happy for you! Happy Anniversary. Rebecca

Brock said...

Happy Anniversary! I can't imagine Dennis not being a part of the family... no literally, I have no memories without him! ;)
I can however attest to that list... he really is that terrific. I am so glad that you have found each other and that our family reaps the benefits of your happiness. Congratulations.
Erin

grandmapeg said...

Happy Anniversary!! What a warm and sweet tribute you gave to Dennis. You guys have a great marriage and are such a good example to others. I hope you have a wonderful day! I remember you calling me that morning to tell me about the earthquake. I'm glad you lived to tell about it!
Peggy

Jan said...

What a love affair. It is very solid and great. Happy Anniversary. Really a great tribute.

Anonymous said...

Jill, this is beautiful. No wonder we all love Dennis so much. And you, too. Happy Anniversary. You're a match made in heaven. Love, Dad and Susan

Logan and Amy said...

Happy Anniversary!! We love you both.

Lisa said...

I'm trying to find the right words as I listen to the wonderful song. I can't, except that you two are such a light and a wonder to us all. What a blesed life you have! Happy Anniversary!

Ammy said...

I loved this post! Happy Anniversary! It is ironic that your kids and Dennis' kids look like real bros and sisters.
Ammy
BTW...thank you so much for all of the comments you leave on my blog. Johns parents are here this weekend and I always ask how everyone is doing...it makes me miss you and everyone else even more....
Ammy

James and Kresta said...

Happy Anniversary! You two are a wonderful couple. We enjoy having you guys in our life.

The Gage Cage said...

Paul comes home from work and the first thing he asked me is "Did you read Jill's blog today?" I did read it earlier but I wasn't signed in and didn't have time to comment....so I am back again. Paul and I both noticed that you forgot to mention that Dennis being fun in hotel rooms on your list of things you love about him. ;-)I think it is so funny that you mentioned some so called "flaws" to keep the post believable. I WISH Paul had the flaw of calling from the store. Besides,we refuse to believe either of you are flawed in any way.

I can't believe there was an earthquake the night before your wedding! At least we know your relationship isn't shaky and is built on a firm foundation. Happy Anniversary! We love you both!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. You guys are awesome. I am so happy that you found each other.

Kris said...

Oh Jill. Do you know that I'm actually in tears right now? OK, so I'm a "ball baby." But reading everything you said about my dad just made me so grateful that you two met. I prayed for that day to come for a long time because I knew my dad deserved to be so happy. My dad was everything to me growing up and when I knew that I wanted to marry someone just like him.

I am grateful for you, for your boys, their wonderful wives and I feel so lucky that our families were brought together. Happy, happy anniversary.

Beth Swann said...

I love your sweet story! It brought tears to my eyes to learn about your happiness together. I don't know Dennis very well but I know you and I can totally "see" from your descriptions of him how wonderful he must be. I can't imagine you with anyone any less wonderful because you are sooo wonderful!

Anonymous said...

I love this post! Happy Anniversary! Seeing you happy makes me happy, too. :)

Kim

Kathy's Red Door Welcome said...

A very happy anniversary to both of you! I loved reading your tribute to your husband. lots of love, Kathy

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