The way we were

Before we owned real estate with plummeting valuesBefore we slept an average of five fitful hours/night Before we ever knew the meaning of the words IRS Audit Before we ate cold snacks for 75% of our meals Before we considered a "date night" a free lunch at the school cafeteria with only one of our children pilfering food off our trays Before we worked multiple jobs Before we moved across states Before grocery shopping on a Saturday night was the weekend m.o. Before sleeping in past 8 a.m. was pure decadence Before "vacations" entailed spending a week at our parents' houses Before we bandied about names like Ferber and Princess Presto and Chuck the Truck Before we really knew what it was to be stretched to the ends of our resources and sanity, meaning before we really knew what it was to pray and to love...

...this is what we looked like:

For realios.

And to think.

The goodtimes hadn't even begun.