Life's Little Miracles

This past week Kent and I had the chance to go up to Primary Children's Hospital to visit a very special new little friend. Our dear friends Shaun and Lanette (whom we were blessed to meet through the adoption process) received their little one last week. The birth mother's due date wasn't until the end of the month, but she came early. Lanette and I had been at a Stake Relief Society meeting with Sister Bonnie Parkin, former Relief Society General President. I met Sister Parkin a few years ago when I was Relief Society President of my BYU ward. She is a gem--her motto is that we as Relief Society sisters are "Charity Chicks." That phrase has always stayed with me. Anyway, that night we got a text from Lanette saying they were on their way to the hospital! Their daughter Iris was born the next morning.

Iris had a few complications and was sent to Primary Children's for surgery. In the meantime, her birth parents signed the adoption papers, and on Monday after I got work, Kent and I got to go up there to meet her. She is an angel. Shaun and Lanette, we are SO happy for you two! You are already amazing parents. It was so special for Kent and me to be able to see how this little baby just belongs in their family. Adoption is an incredible thing and we are so beyond excited for the day when we can bring our little one home!

In this month's Ensign, there is an article on Infertility. If you would like to read it, you can click here. This article is an answer to many of my prayers. I have been praying for some kind of article in the Ensign or in General Conference addressing infertility for a few years now. I have struggled alone for so long with this trial; even though I've had Kent and a few close family members and friends there by my side, I still felt so alone. I know that anyone who has gone through the struggle of infertility knows what I mean. Unless you have gone through it, it is hard to comprehend the pain and the heartache and the grief that you go through. I never lost my faith, but at the same time I felt like others thought I had because I was having a hard time. I have always known we would have children, but that doesn't make the fact that we haven't been able to conceive yet any easier. Anyway, this article is a true tender mercy from the Lord for me. Also, the poem just after the article:

Just The Same

Sometimes—

God sends rain

Straight from the sky

To nourish the young flower

and it grows.

Sometimes—

God sends rain from the sky

To the mountaintops,

Then over hills and through valleys

Until it reaches the flower

and it grows, just the same.

Sometimes—

God sends a child

Straight from His realm

Into a mother’s arms

and love grows.

Sometimes—

God sends a child

From heaven to another’s arms,

Then over hills and through valleys

Until he reaches the arms of his mother

and love grows, just the same.

by Diana Lynn Lacey

This is exactly how we feel. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing us to pass through trials that He knows will help us to become who He knows we can be. I don't know what our future holds, but my love for our future children is already strong, and I know that we will have to opportunity to be parents and to raise our children in love and righteousness. To any of you who may be struggling with infertility, or with anything--you are never alone. With the Savior, you can do all things. 

We're Off to See the Jimmer...

We love March Madness. It is one of our favorite times of year! Kent's family even has an annual bracket competition, with the winner receiving the travelling plaque with their name added to it! We have a lot of fun watching the games and having some mad fun!

Well, for those of you who don't know, one Jimmer Fredette of the BYU Cougars has been the talk of all basketball-dom this season, and for good reason! He is the rockstar of basketball, and he helped take BYU to the Sweet 16 for the first time in like 30 years or something! The night they beat Gonzaga to make it to the Sweet 16, we were watching the game with my brother Ki and one of my best friends Krista. We were all so pumped by the excellent win, that we got to thinking, "How cool would it be to be there?!!? I wonder how much it would cost? Where are the games? New Orleans? How long of a drive would that be...wait, they actually HAVE tickets for a decent price!?!?? LET'S GO!!!!!!!!" And so, on a very spontaneous whim, we bought four tickets to the Sweet 16s and Elite 8 in New Orleans, did some rocky financial guesstimates, and planned our trip! Sadly, a couple days later, Krista had to cancel--but she did get to go see her hubby TJ pole vault for BYU AND visit her family in California! Not to mention she got to fly....good trade! 

The night the madness really started. Plus the fantastic bracket Krista and TJ printed for us!

The March Madness cookies we made one night with Krista!

So the night before we left we scrambled to find a replacement die-hard, semi-crazed Jimmer fan to join our cause. We found Kent's sister, Raelene, mother of 6! Her wonderful husband recognized the once in a lifetime fabulosity of the situation and convinced her to join us in our venture! So last Tuesday night, around 10pm, we embarked on a very long, very long, very roadtrippy roadtrip! Kent and I have made several cross country trips together, and, despite all sensibility, we LOVE them! Something about striving to keep each other awake while jamming out to classics like N'Sync, Tim McGraw, Wicked, Backstreet Boys, and EFY just makes my day. We drove about 20 hours through the night, and arrived at Kent's other sister, Natalie's house around 6 or 7 pm! Despite the long time in the car (Kent drove from 10pm-2am, I drove from 2am-6pm...both very tough shifts) then Ki drove a ton during daylight and Kent and I finished off with a couple shorter shifts, we were SO excited to see our ADORABLE nieces and nephew!!!!! Kent and I spent the evening running outside and "chasing" the girls on their bikes, and playing games with them inside. Then, in honor of old times, my brother-in-law Josh and I busted out the Rockband (last year when Natalie was pregnant with Jake and on bedrest, I spent a month with them helping take care of the girls, and Josh and I ended almost every night with hours of Expert-level Rockband!!! Loved it! We also, of course, enjoyed some one-of-a-kind Blue Bell ice cream....Yum!!! The only down side to this visit was that it was SO short! We love you Natalie and Josh and family and only wish we were closer!!!!!

Our adorable niece Ally singing her Taylor Swift, complete with her own choreography!

So Thursday morning we got up and were back on the road for another 8 hours...destination, the Big Easy! The drive was really fun...scenic and of course, musical. (Did I mention Kent and I LOVE to jam out to music when we are driving?) We got to our hotel (We stayed at a Wyndham timeshare of Raelene's, thank you!!!), checked in, painted up, and headed to the games! I painted a giant "Y" on Ki's chest, with "Jimmer 32" on his back. He, Kent, and I dyed our hair blue, and I put mine up in a sweet awesome cone! Needless to say, we were a sight and people actually asked to take pictures WITH us there...yes, even a couple Florida fans!!! The game was amazing, complete with an overtime! Sadly, we lost it in OT, with the help of some awful reffing, lopsided calls, and an all around off night on our part. But WE MADE IT TO THE SWEET SIXTEEN AND WE GOT TO SEE IT IN PERSON!!!! And thanks to Ki, we even got to ditch our nosebleed seats for a large chunk of the game and sit second row behind the Cougars!!!! Such a fun time! We stayed for the second game, which was a blowout and I really didn't pay much attention to. Ki found solace in someone's leftover fries they left on the ground behind us and declared them his "comfort food." That made my night right there. Ki was able to sell our Elite 8 tickets that night, so we decided to spend the next day in the city, and then head home. Before heading to bed that night, Ki and I went to the hotel's gym to burn off some frustration, and I ran 3 miles at 2am!!

"You got Jimmered!" The road trip crew!

"Jimmmmmerrrrrr....!"

"I made Kent a sign that said, "I quit my job for this!"In honor of him moving on from Craig's Cuts to teaching!!! Go Mr. Nixon!

We are big fans!

So we weren't the only die-hards from the Nixon family! Uncle Clair and his sons John, David, and Tim Nixon, our brother-in-law Josh, and us all met up at the half! We did win the prize for longest drive though!

Blue's the new blond...haven't you heard?

Friday was a fun day. We toured New Orleans and ate some good food, and enjoyed some time by the pool.    The only thing I can say is that should you ever go to New Orleans, AVOID BOURBON STREET AT ALL COSTS!!! It made the strip in Vegas seem mild, and we couldn't get out of there fast enough. After that though we did have fun running around. Kent and I even frolicked a little and did some impromptu swing dancing in public! We also took a few pics with some bums....all for the cause of fun. We got some sweet foot massages at one of those foot places that have the pictures of all your organs located in your feet. Really weird, but felt oh so good! We also were lucky enough to come across the most amazing band of these young jazz banders jamming on the street! They played nonstop for about an hour and were incredible! We also enjoyed the random drunk man dancing to the beat in the middle of the street, haha. We ended the evening with our trolley ride back to our neck of the woods, and a delicious dinner at a favorite that Kent and I had discovered last time we were in New Orleans, called Cheesecake Bistro. SO Delicious! Kent, Ki, and I went swimming that night, then headed to bed early (well, everyone but Ki, who had a boatload of homework!). We got up Saturday morning a 3am and left for our would-be 23, turned out to be 29 hour trek home. 

Skyline view atop our hotel

Posing with the silver man as he takes his smoke/beer break! He made $23,000 last year with his act!

Ki and Kent being "abstract" like the sculpture

Frolicking and whatnot in New Orleans

Music was in the air, so we took advantage. We even got cheered on by passers by!

Note the bums we are trying to impersonate? They thought WE were crazy! Haha, so fun!

"Y"

View from the pillars of the Mississippi! We almost got wet!

Karate Kid...ish?

Lost in Love

Such a cool tree!

Family shot!

Amazing street Jazz band!

And a foot massage to top it all off!

Kent and I started off the drive alternating about every four hours, while Ki caught up on some missing sleep. Then Ki took a turn and we recognized his true calling in life--doing anything that requires you to stay up for insane hours with a severe lack of sleep! Ki drove for something like 9 hours on Saturday non stop and with no problems! It was amazing! Not to mention he shaved quite a bit of time off our arrival time! Things were going splendid most of the day! Around 1 or 2am on Sunday morning, we decided to take a 24 mile, 30 minute detour to see the Four Corners (we've ALWAYS wanted to go there!) The best part: when we arrived, IT WAS CLOSED! Who knew? Apparently they are only open 8am-5pm, so for any of you ever hoping to see the Four Corners, go during business hours! We just laughed, took pictures by the closed sign, and continued our journey. 

THE FOUR CORNERS!!!! After hours, Ha!

I drove for a good part of the wee hours of the morning, until about Price, UT where it started snowing pretty hard. I pulled over and had Kent switch me once the roads started getting pretty packed. As we made our way past Price along Spanish Fork Canyon, the weather got intensely worse, until it was a full on blizzardy white out!!!! It was so bad that Kent was staying on the road only by trying to stay on the rumble strip; that way we could assume we were in the middle of the road and not too close to the looming drop-off that was way too close for comfort! Finally, we decided to say a prayer. Literally as I was finishing asking Heavenly Father to please guide us to know what to do so that we could return home in safety, and saying Amen, we noticed lights reflecting in our rear view windows!

We had been the ONLY car on the road....and I mean the ONLY car! But as we closed our prayer, this truck with 4WD and better lights than us came out of nowhere (straight from Heaven!) and passed us to let us follow them. We were so relieved to have company out there, and recognized the answer to our prayer, and the tender mercy of the Lord. After only about a tenth of a mile though, the weather worsened even further and both of our vehicles were forced to stop completely. We waited for about ten minutes, but then finally decided to call 911. We were stuck in the middle of the road and didn't want to risk a plow truck not seeing us in time or something like that! 911 thanked us for making them aware of the road conditions, and just told us to be careful! Eventually, after almost an hour, we were able to inch our ways forward until we reached the summit and a gas station were several semi trucks and other vehicles were stuck as well. We waited there awhile, until a few cars started making their ways down the canyon. So we decided to just take our time and follow the tracks that had been left. Going between 5-10 miles per hour, it ended up taking us nearly 4 hours to make it the 39 miles to I-15!!!! So close, but SO far!!!!! So instead of arriving home at our original time of 4:30 am, we got home just after 8am. But, we GOT home! We were grateful for Heavenly Father's guidance and protection. And looking back, what an adventure! Having made it home safe, we really did have a fun time...what better way to end a road trip of insanity anyway, right?

Yes, THIS is some of the blizzard we were in, and that is the truck that saved us!

So, just after 8am, Sunday morning, and here was the start to my Sunday of Sundays:

I unpacked, put dinner in a crockpot, showered, and got ready. I left for my 10 and 10:30am appointments for visiting teaching, then went to my 11am Ward missionary meeting/visits. At noon I met with a girl from my Ward to practice our musical number for that day, then went to Ward Choir. At 1, Church started, and I accompanied on the piano my friend who played the oboe for the musical number. I was then asked to help teach Sharing Time in Primary for 2nd and 3rd blocks, which I did and which went well. After Church, Kent and I had Temple Recommend Interviews, then headed home in time for Kent to head back out for a Scout meeting. I finished getting dinner ready, and then did a mad dash to get the house in some kind of order, just in time for my grandparents (Oma and Opa) and Kent's Grandmother and Granddad to come over for dinner! We had a wonderful visit with them, and after they left, I'm pretty sure I collapsed. We are both still recovering from a crazy awesome week last week. Sadly, since I work at Primary Children's with kids all day, and Kent has been substitute teaching with kids all day, we inevitably got sick this week. But we are recovering and having the time of our lives still. 

So, there you have it...yet another crazy adventure to add to our Wonderful Life together! Have a wonderful General Conference weekend everyone! I LOVE Conference and hearing the inspired words of our Prophet and those who serve with him! 

Trusting In The Lord With All My Heart

Last weekend was Kent's 28th birthday. On Friday we drove up to Idaho Falls and my sister Katelyn and I got our hair cut...Katelyn cut off 10 inches and donated it to Locks of Love! I got 5 or 6 inches off; fun change. Anyway, we stayed the night in Rexburg with Katelyn and Steve Friday night.

Our before shots

Katelyn, her new doo, and her old ponytail!

Saturday morning (Happy Birthday Kent!), we drove down to Idaho Falls to the LDS Family Services Agency, where we met Julianne and Shawn. Julianne was an expectant mother who found our profile online and contacted us about placing their baby with us. We had been emailing and texting a lot over the past month and decided a face to face meeting would be a great next step. I was very nervous on our way there, but the minute we walked in I felt great! They are both SO cute and SO sweet, and we hit it off right away! Kent asked them to show us some of their Kung Fu, and so they did! It was amazing! We met at the Agency for just over two hours. Kent did some of the Thriller dance and his Aladdin impersonations, Kent and I sang our song ("I Hope You Realize") together, and Kent sang a few of his other songs as well. 

At LDS Family Services with Shawn and Julianne, two amazing people that we have been blessed to meet! We love them now and always.

After our initial meeting, we decided to go to lunch at Red Robin. In total, there were seven of us: Me, Kent, Julianne, Shawn, their friend Savannah, and Katelyn and Steve. I made Kent's birthday cake and after we ate they brought it out for us and sang. Julianne and Shawn were awesome and got Kent a sweet Ninja card and balloons. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other. From there we all went bowling. After that the five of us (minus Katelyn and Steve) went to the Idaho Falls Temple and visited in the Visitor Center. We saw some amazing artwork of the Savior, which was a wonderful and Spiritual experience. We had an amazing time talking about the Gospel and just enjoying the Spirit of the day. It was amazing how right everything felt, and we all felt so at peace, knowing that Heavenly Father had brought us together. On our way home that night, Julianne texted us and said that they would be honored to place their baby with us. By Monday morning, our adoption profile was on firm hold, meaning we had been chosen!

Our birthday group: Kent, me, Katelyn, Steve, Shawn, Julianne, and her friend Savannah.

In honor of working towards becoming a High School Spanish Teacher, Kent's chalkboard cake, complete with a cupcake apple, frosted pencil with chocolate chip tip, Fudgee eraser, marshmallow chalk, and powdered sugar chalk dust!

Us with Kent's "Chalkboard cake"

"Apple?...No thank you...It's good...Okay." hehe

Katelyn and me with our travelling "sisterhood" lucky elephant ring...wishing Lyska was with us! 

Me and Kent with Julianne and Shawn, kindred spirits having a grand old time together!

Tuesday night we got a text from Julianne, so we called her and she was in tears. We talked with her and Shawn until 12:30am, after learning that she had started bleeding and was afraid she might be miscarrying. She had not yet been to the doctor, so we encouraged her to go in as soon as she could. She called me Wednesday mid-afternoon with the news: She had lost the baby. We were all devastated in different ways. Kent and I had from the very beginning decided to mentally and emotionally prepare ourselves for the possibility that something like this could happen. So although we were shocked and sad, we knew that it was just part of Heavenly Father's plan for all of us. We know that we were supposed to meet Julianne and Shawn, and we are so grateful that we were brought together the way we were. We had an amazing day with them on March 12th, and will cherish that day forever. We know that we will find our baby, hopefully soon, and that it truly is in the Lord's hands. We love Julianne and Shawn and know that this was out of any of our control. We think she was probably around 14-16 weeks along. Even though things felt so right with them, we know that these things happen for a reason. So we will continue in faith, adding this experience to the countless of others that we have had during this struggle to grow our family. 

Everyone has trials, and each trial is individually unique and difficult in a very different way. But the lesson is always the same: If we "Trust in the Lord with all (our) hearts, and lean not unto (our) own understanding," "He shall direct (our) paths." I have faith that the Lord is guiding us. It doesn't always make the pain of our struggle with infertility less, but knowing that if we can respond to this very emotional trial with faith, utilizing the power of Christ's Atonement, we will grow and become stronger. It has not been easy. In fact it continues to be a daily emotional and mental challenge for me to face. When we started all this it never crossed my mind that one of my most difficult trials would simply be trying to become a mother. I want to be a mother more than anything else and can't wait for the blessing of raising our children, whom I already love more than words can describe. I have cried so many tears and had so many days where I've just wanted to give up and stay in bed. But whenever I reach the end of my rope, the Tender Mercies of the Lord find a way to bless me in ways I never could have foreseen. I know it will continue to be hard, "If life were easy, it wouldn't be hard." But I am grateful for the lessons I continue to learn and for the strength the Lord is blessing me with daily. I rely on Him in every way. Prayer is my pillar of hope. The scriptures and the Temple, and Priesthood blessings are real and they are there for me and for you. I do not love this trial, but I love the lessons I am learning, and I love the person that Heavenly Father is helping me become. 

The Stinky Little Lamb

So my sister Katelyn had to write a children't book for one of her Elementary Education classes at BYU-Idaho, and she asked me to illustrate it. It's called the Stinky Little Lamb, and it's based off of a story our Mom made up and told us when we were little! I've never drawn anything like this before, but I ended up loving it! So, here is a preview of what the pages will look like when she gets it published for her class! She did a great job writing it. It had to have an educational purpose, so she decided to focus on teaching the life cycle of a butterfly.

As a tribute to our parents, this last page has a couple little extra details. Every night when we were little, when our Mom came to tuck us in, she would bring us an apple slice. I know, we should have crazy cavities, but as it turns out I've never had a cavity! Anyway, Katelyn and I have lots of fun memories of sharing a room and seeing who could chew the quietest, etc. So there is an apple on the nightstand in honor of our Mom. Our Dad used to tell Katelyn her own special bedtime story about Marshmallow Men, so the Little Lamb falls asleep dreaming of a Marshmallow Man in honor of our Dad.

This was such a fun project! I'm excited to explore my abilities in the art department further--so much fun!

Hoping To Adopt

Dear Friends,

We want you to know how much we admire you for your strength and courage during this time in your life. We can’t imagine what a difficult decision this is for you and we hope that you will be comforted as you consider what will be best for you. As you think about the decisions you are being faced with right now, we would like to take the time to tell you a little about ourselves.

How We Met, by Kayla

Kent and I met at Brigham Young University on January 16, 2007. I was studying pathophysiology in the common area with a friend when Kent came and sat at our same table. I was teaching my friend a way to remember the difference between “malignant” and “benign” by explaining that in Spanish, “mal” means “bad” and “bueno,” which means “good” sounds like “benign.” My reference to Spanish caught Kent’s attention from across the table, because he was a Spanish major. That struck up a conversation between the two of us, which led to Kent asking for my number. We went on our first date a few days later and spent every day after that together. Kent proposed to me two months later on his birthday on March 12^th, and we were married a month and a half after that on May 4, 2007. Growing up in a very small town with no real restaurants, Kent loved taking me to new fun places to eat. We went on so many fun, creative dates, like snowboarding, seeing a ballet, or going on a “pirate” themed group date. We still love to go on fun, creative dates. We also love watching movies together. From the very beginning, Kent and I got along so well and had so much in common; everything was so natural. We set goals and talked about the future from pretty early on, so even though we didn’t date for a long period of time, we knew one another very well and knew we were meant for each other. Today we continue to have fun in everything we do together. We cannot wait for the opportunity to add children to our happy little family.

A Little Bit About Kayla, by Kent

Kayla grew up in the logging roads of Western Washington. She is the oldest of five kids and is the best big sister imaginable. Ever since she was a baby, Kayla has loved water. She learned to swim at an early age and has since become as close to a mermaid as possible (minus the scales J ). Her mother taught her to play the piano, to sing, and to perform in front of audiences. She still gets nervous right before, but always performs tremendously well. Kayla has always gone above and beyond typical expectations. She was the most involved student at her school and excelled at the same time in her academics. She even had the honor of being Valedictorian of her high school. Kayla is extremely motivated. She can multi-task better than anyone I’ve ever met. The way I usually explain Kayla’s ability to someone who has never met her is, “Kayla can do more on her worst day than most people can do on their best day.” I truly believe that Kayla can do anything. Kayla has an amazing love for others, particularly those in need. She employs all of her talents for the benefit of those people. When my sister was on bed-rest during the last trimester of her pregnancy, my brother-in-law broke his collar bone, which made for a difficult situation for them to parent their three little girls, ages 6, 4, and 3. Kayla was in a position where she could take time out of her schedule to help out, so she flew from Boston to Texas to help my sister’s family for just over a month! She was “the best aunt!” She took our nieces to the park and fed the ducks, went bike riding, jumped on the trampoline, made dinners, read stories, took the oldest to school, and essentially served as a “stand-in mom” when my sister couldn’t be.

Kayla is a very loyal friend. Nobody has loved me and supported me more than she has, and I know that she will give the same love to our children. Being the oldest child in her family, she already has significant experience in caring for and teaching her younger siblings. They love her so much! Kayla is very aware of the feelings of others and empathizes with those that she is consoling. Kayla is very upbeat and energetic. She inspires others to excel in their talents. She is witty and goofy. She can always make me laugh to the point of tears. I know she will raise our children with sound principles, humor, and active fun. She is so excited to teach, guide, and love our children. Kayla is very sensitive to the Spirit and strives to follow the promptings she receives. She truly lets the Lord guide her life. I am so grateful that she is my wife. I know that the Lord blessed me with my perfect match. Kayla is the greatest blessing in my life, and I know that she will be the best mother I can imagine to our kids as they grow up in the Lord.

A Little Bit About Kent, by Kayla

Kent is the youngest of six kids in his family. Almost 16 years ago, when he was 12, he was in a car accident with his two brothers, a sister, and four other kids. His two brothers were 16 and 17, and they were both up front in the van. When the van flipped over it broke both of their necks, leaving them paralyzed. Kent suffered minor injuries but walked away with no lasting effects. His brother Reed is still on a ventilator. He cannot feel or move anything below his neck and requires 24-hour care. His brother Rob cannot move his hands or triceps, but has the use of his biceps and has trained himself to be able to push his own wheelchair and take care of himself completely on his own. Rob has his Master’s degree in Accounting and got married three months after Kent and I did in 2007. Kent grew up taking care of his two older brothers. He and his family chose to overcome that challenge in life by sticking together and staying close to God and their religion. Because of the things Kent has gone through in his life, he has become the most amazing man I’ve ever known. He always puts the needs of others first, sacrificing anything he can to help those around him. He is a hard working man with such a tender heart. He has spent much of his teenage and adult life caring for his brothers, never complaining about working through the night or having to stand and do tedious jobs like turning pages for Reed when he wants to read a book, or going through Reed’s baseball card collection when he wants to look at cards for sometimes hours at a time.

By nature Kent is a complete people person. He loves talking with people and genuinely cares for everyone he meets. He has a smile and a light about him that is contagious. He loves the Latin culture and is fluent in Spanish. He spent a summer in El Salvador working as the Country Director of a humanitarian project. He always volunteers to serve in whatever way he can. He has a natural gift with children. I have seen him play with and care for his 15 nieces and nephews countless times. He knows how to be a friend and mentor to children in a way that teaches them valuable lessons while still having the time of their lives with Uncle Kent. He is such a fun-loving, outgoing person and anyone that knows him adores him. He has a real gift for singing and writing songs to play and sing on his guitar. Kent is loyal, compassionate, dedicated, honest, loving, happy, and sincere. He treats me with the utmost respect and he will make the most amazing father. I know he will help me raise our children in love and righteousness, teaching them and lovingly guiding them along the way.

A Little Bit About Us

We are so excited to add a child to our family! We have so much love to share and look forward to the day our hopes become reality. We love music—it is a major part of our lives and we have so much fun singing and playing our instruments together. We love Spanish—Kent graduated with a degree in Spanish and is fluent, and I am continuing to learn the language, as we hope to teach our children Spanish as they grow up, and we hope to be able to volunteer in Latin American countries together as a family. We love the outdoors—hiking, wakeboarding, snowboarding, anything outside! We love sports—basketball, soccer, football, swimming, baseball, hockey, and so much more! We love to travel—we’ve been on several cross-country road trips and to several countries together and look forward to traveling with our kids. We love kids—playing with our 15 nieces and nephews is one of our favorite things and we can’t wait to be able to play with our own children! We love the Gospel of Jesus Christ—being active members of our Church is central to everything else in our lives.

Adoption Is Very Special To Us…Thank You

The decision for us to adopt was not one that we made on our own. In fact, there was a very specific, very special spiritual experience that we had that led us to this decision. We have acted on this and several other promptings to adopt and know this is the right thing for us right now. Should you consider placing your child with us, we would love to share this sacred experience with you. We know that adoption is an inspired decision. We pray daily for the birth parents of our future children and we know that in time we will be led together.

We look forward to having an open adoption with our birth parents. We are open to letters, pictures, emails, phone calls, and scheduled visits. We feel it is important for our children to know where they came from, and that they are and always have been loved. We are excited to establish a further relationship with you as we get to know you. As birth parents, you will always hold a special place in our lives and in our hearts. We look forward to meeting you and want to thank you now for giving us something so special that we could not do on our own. Thank you.

With Thanks, Love, and Hope,

Kent and Kayla