7 years

We have a tree in our backyard that has grown a lot in the last 7 years.  When I first met Brad 8 years ago it was pretty tiny and provided absolutely no shade.  This year it provides tons of shade and it turns out it is a Mulberry tree.  Brad and I had no idea!  The tree was here when he bought the house 9 years ago and neither one us gave much thought to it.  When we had Kennidy and Annie over we were all in the backyard helping Brad with the playhouse/swingset project and I was complaining that we need to trim the branches on the tree because I was tired of walking into it.  That is when we looked up and realized a few branches had mulberries on them.  Brad and I were amazed!

When Brad and I first started dating we went trail riding at Franklin Creek.  There is an area that used to have a ton of Mulberry trees.  The only way to reach them was to stand on top of your horse.  So, when we were riding that day I pointed out the mulberries and then we both stood on our horses and picked them.  Brad says he fell in love with me under the mulberry tree.  Brad ask me to marry him in December and there were no mulberry on any trees at that time, but with the help of his family they hung some fake mulberries in the branch of a tree on their property.  Brad and I went riding that nice cold December day to the tree with the fake mulberries and Brad got down on one knee under the "Mulberry tree" and proposed.  I said "YES", we had only been dating about 5-6 months.  Looking back at it Brad and I laugh and wonder what we were thinking!  We love each other and are thrilled to be married, but we laugh because we thought we were in love then and it is nothing compared to what we have now!

Today is our 7 year anniversary!  Unfortunately, we have to postpone celebrating until another day (not that we ever do anything super exciting anyway).  The weather has finally dried out the fields and rain is in the forecast for Monday, so Brad is out spraying and I am home with the boys.  With any luck we will be able to enjoy a nice dinner date sometime in the next couple weeks to celebrate!