My Boys

On April 5, 1993 at Michigan's NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game with 11 seconds remaining, Chris Webber brought the ball up the court into a half court trap.  Michigan was down 73–71. Webber attempted to call for a timeout while his team but had none remaining.  It resulted in a technical foul that effectively clinched the game for North Carolina.  If you are a Michigan fan you likely still utter a few choice words your grandmother would cringe at when recalling this incident. 

Fast-forward 5 years.  In early October 1998 during my freshman year of college, some friends and I showed up at a party off campus.  I remember walking into that old house and being greeted by a roomful of people in the living room.  Several of the guys were sitting on couches watching SportsCenter.  I sat down next to a blonde guy wearing glasses and a lime green plaid Ralph Lauren Polo shirt.  Clearly this guy didn’t plan on meeting his future wife at the party that night or else he might have toned the look down a bit.  But Zach is lucky I overlooked that!

The guys were talking about basketball.  Someone mentioned an athlete “pulling a Chris Webber.”  I jumped in and recalled the ill-fated incident.  Zach turned his head and looked at me with disbelief…and then interest.  He was clearly impressed that I knew something about sports.  (Well, I had him fooled!  It took me 5 years of marriage to remember that he coaches the Defensive Backs.  And I still can’t always remember the positions of the DBs…safety and corner I think?!)  It really was a fluke I even knew about Chris Webber in the first place.    

As we struck up a conversation that evening and found out we had a lot in common as we were both born and raised in Boise.  But we didn’t being dating immediately.  In fact I went on a date with 3 other guys from that party before I gave Zach a chance. 

Fast-forward again 3 months to January 21, 1999.  My dear high school friend Carla (Lewis) Lords and I went to the beer garden a social function at the fairgrounds with Boone’s wine coolers in hand (ugh, sorry mom!)  For those of who are not up-to-date on your cheap and disgusting wines, Boone’s is exactly those two things.  And if you are wondering why there were so many “social beverage functions” it is because there wasn’t much else to do in small-town LaGrande.  Zach and I reconnected that evening within the confines of the chain link beer garden.  Definitely not romantic. But a memorable and fun night!

I wish I could tell my boys I met their dad at church.  Or on a white water rafting trip.  Or the library.  Or pretty much anywhere else other than the Mahon brother’s house and a beer garden.  But Zach turned out to be a wonderful man in spite of the fact that we met in those places.  He told me early on in our dating relationship that all he wanted to be one day was a dad.  It also didn’t hurt that I wanted to be a full-time mom to my kids which he fully supported.  We didn’t date continuously for the next 6 years but we did eventually reconnect a few years later.  He proposed December 31, 2004 and we were married a few months later on May 27, 2005. 

There are a lot of things I love about Zach.  He is the perfect travel companion—up for exploring and loves to eat his way through any city we visit just like me.  He is also my Netflix buddy.  We’ve spent countless hours glued to the TV, shaking with anticipation as we queue up the next episode.  I won’t list all of the fabulous shows we have watched over the years—you might wonder how we ever got anything else done!  I am blessed that Zach supports our dream for me to be mommy, CFO, culinary director and Maid Lily for our household.  Zach has worked hard to give us this opportunity.  Zach loves Jesus, has a tender heart and is a fantastic dad. 

The thought of him not being a part of our lives for years to come is almost too much to bear.  So he just has to beat this stupid cancer.  I know he wants the same thing too. 

Zach proposing to me.  

Welcome to the family baby Max!

 Sweet baby Max born October 16, 2013.  He has earned the nickname Mr. Squishy because he is chubby and snuggly!

Sleeping Max.  

 Oliver dearly loves his little brother Max.

 Our lively, sparkly-eyed, BUSY Oliver.  Oliver turns 2 on January 23.  He loves puppies, the garbage man and throwing away trash.  One day he wants to find a job that entails all 3 of those loves.  

Crazy about these two!