Who we are.

Welcome to our blog. We are so pleased you have found your way here and can share in the bits and pieces of our life, both joyous and sad. Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start I hear). I am Emily. I am the wife and mom of our crazy bunch, and I hail mostly from West Virgnia, but also claim Ohio and even Florida. Living in what I deem "the Utah bubble" has been quite the adjustment, even now, 12 years later. But what I am grateful is that I came here, because without having come here, I probably would not have met my husband.

Mike is the husband and Dad, and you will not find a kinder soul, or more hardworking one. He is my strength, and I cannot imagine my life without him.

We have 5 littles, but only 3 on this earth. Our first was a little girl, named Lilly, who lived a miraculous 5 weeks, which was 4 weeks, 6 days, and 23 hours longer then we had hoped, as she was born missing much of her brain (a condition called Holoprosecephaly). Her life was nothing short of miraculous and although our hearts grieve as we long to be with her, we know that she is busy on the other side, and watches over us. She would have been 8 this fall 2014.

Ryker is our next, and is also another one of our angels. He was born one year and nine days after Lilly,  with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Sydrome. He too taught us much. He was so strong, so sweet, and we miss him dearly. We hold onto our belief and knowledge that we will be with them again someday, as long as we are striving to live our lives to the best that we can.

Collin is our current 5 year old. He is smart, imaginative (almost too imaginative at times) and we were blessed to have him as part of our family through the blessing of adoption. We brought him home at 5 weeks, after fighting in court for him, ultimately losing, but we were able to become his foster parents. He is such a joy in our family and we love the spunky little spirit.

Jacob is our 3 year old, and let me tell you, there is not a happier 3 year old out there. He has eyes that shine, and finds such joy and glee in the everyday. Jacob is another congenital heart defect warrior, actually sharing with his dad the pains of having been born with a coarctation of the aorta. He also fought hydrops in-utero, and after a lifesaving shunt that was placed through me and into his chest, he was able to grow and was born at a mighty 7 lb. 1 oz at just 36 weeks. He started early intervention preschool for some delays (fine motor and speech clarification) but he LOVES riding the bus and seeing his "fwends" which include not only his classmates but also his beloved teachers and school bus drivers. He is kind and we could not imagine life without him.

Cora rounds out our little bunch. She was born early, at just under 33 weeks, but is the healthiest little baby. She just celebrated turning 6 months chronologically, and she is adored by not only her parents, but also by her brothers.

That is us in a basic nutshell, a very basic understanding of our somewhat complex family.