About Us

As I sit here staring at this blank page, I truly am unsure of what to say. I started this project with the assumption that everyone who will read my blog probably already knows us. Then I started actually thinking about what I will want to write and accomplish with this blog, and I realized that some will undoubtedly see it who don't know us and many who do know our family don't really know all of our story. So...here it is!

Chris and I met in a high school seminary class my junior year. He was a senior, and I distinctly remember the first time I noticed him walk in late. He had the most beautiful eyes of anyone I had ever met (still one of my favorite physical features), and he looked so familiar to me. I knew him even though we had not met before in this life. What impressed me even more was when I learned that he was always late because he dropped his younger brother, who has autism, off at school each morning and sometimes it didn't go smoothly. I remember thinking that it was cool that he would be late so he could make sure his brother was settled in at school. A few months later, we started dating, became best friends, and were married four years later after he returned from an LDS mission to Detroit. We will celebrate twenty years of marriage soon, and it has been a crazy wonderful ride!

 We had two beautiful daughters in the early years of our marriage. Samantha (who will hereafter be called Sam because she hates her full name) will turn nineteen this year. She is graduating as a Valedictorian and will start school at Utah State University, my alma mater, in the fall. She plans to study Music Education and Performance and minor in Japanese.  She plays french horn and trumpet primarily, but I haven't seen her pick up an instrument that she couldn't play. I'm still not quite sure how I raised such an intelligent and talented musician, but she is one incredible girl and such a strength to our family.

Cassidy, our second daughter, is turning seventeen this year. She is one of the most kind hearted, compassionate people I have ever met. She plays the cello and is a voracious reader, but her real passion lies in art. Give her a pencil and a scrap of paper and she can create art. Give her more to work with, and she creates incredible beauty! Her grandfather once called her vibrant, and it is still the best word I have ever heard to describe Cassidy. She brings a peace and joy with her everywhere she goes with her calm voice, quick wit, and beautiful smile.

Now here's where our story begins to get complicated. After Cassidy was born, we felt very strongly that there was a boy that needed to join our family. Four long years of infertility followed, though, and we weren't quite sure how or if it would ever happen. In retrospect, I can see the hand of the Lord in the timing because we were not ready financially or emotionally for Mikey when we started trying to have him. Michael, our youngest, was born in 2006 with Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia with SMA. That is a really fancy way to say that his nervous system, both central and peripheral, is breaking down over time. What it means for us is that Mikey will not be with us for a long time, and while he is, there will be many challenges for him. He uses a wheelchair and countless "accessories" to participate in the things he loves, and many people struggle to see past that. He has an amazing ability, though, to work his way into people's hearts and touch others for good. He is sassy, sarcastic, and has his dad's goofy sense of humor. We are blessed everyday by the spirit he brings into our home. Through this blog, I hope to share some of that spirit with you as we journey down his trail, however long or short it is. Michael has taught us so much about the importance of embracing every moment, good and bad. It is in some of the most challenging moments that we have learned the most, and in some of the simplest moments that we have found peace. Most importantly, we have come to understand that everyday is full of momentous moments if we will only be ready to see them.