Our Miracles: The Story

AUBREE

We were married in June of '03 and we tried to start our family soon after, but had no luck. After we'd been married a year and a half, we both had a strong feeling that we should adopt. We were able to get completely approved right on our 2 year anniversary(2005). Our family was surprised that we were doing this, cause we really hadn't been trying to get pregnant for too long (even though to us it felt like forever). On October 24th Eric was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He had a surgery within the week to remove the cancer and his Dr. gave him a clean bill of health(had to have one of these in order to adopt). On December 15th, we got a call from our caseworker telling us a birth mom (Bridgette) had picked us and she was due the end of January. We were so excited! We scheduled the time when we were going to meet with Bridgette for the next week. On the morning of December 20th, our caseworker gave us a call and let us know that Bridgette was heading to the hospital because she was having so much labor. Aubree was born that evening. We couldn't believe it. We had 5 DAYS to prepare. We hadn't even met Bridgette. That was officially my last day of work. YEAH! We packed up and headed a little over 2 hours from our home to adopt Aub. Aubree ended up staying in the hospital for nine days because she had RDS (respitory distress syndrome) because she was 5 weeks early. With this time she spent in the hospital we were able to spend time with Bridgette and get to know her. Bridgette is our hero.

We finally brought Aubs home after the placement. Adoption placements are some of the most emotional and spiritual experiences that I have ever had. So, back to the story. Aubree was a great baby, and we thought everything was perfect. Eric was training for track season again and we were looking forward to his senior season. On January 11th(before Aubs was due) Eric was on his way to a Track meeting to give his teammates an inspiration speech, when he got a call from his Dr. His Dr. had gotten Eric's blood work back and the cancer had returned. We couldn't believe it. Eric started chemo by the end of January. He had nine weeks of some hard, hard chemo. He lost his hair, couldn't eat, and was as sick as I have ever seen anybody. If he held Aubree or showered or got dressed, he'd have to take a nap after each because he'd get so worn out.

Eric's Last Day of Chemo That little girl, our little Aubree was my angel. She was my miracle. She helped me take my mind off Erics' sickness. I really don't even want to imagine how I would have got through that time without Aubs. I am so grateful for Bridgette and that she placed Aubree with us and allowed us to have a family. Aubree was sealed to us on June 17th, 2006.

The day Aubree was sealed to us.

TANNER

So, around the time Aubs was sealed to us, Eric and I were looking forward to when we could get approved and adopt again (Aubree had to be 1). We were visiting Eric's family for a weekend in August (Aubree was 8 months old) and we went to a wedding reception. The reception was at a house of a Relief Society President. She asked us about Aubree, and we talked to her about how awesome adoption was. She told us a young girl (Andrea) in her ward was going to be placing a baby, but hadn't yet picked an adoptive couple. She was getting worried that she may not place if she didn't find a couple soon. So, we really wanted to talk to Andrea about adoption and make sure she really would place (we thought there would be no way she'd be able to place with us, Aubs was 8 months old, we were not approved). The RS president told her about our family and got her email address for us. We ended up calling our caseworker and telling him about the situation and he told us there would be no way for us to adopt her baby (she was due in Oct.), but we still wanted to share with her our family and our love for adoption. On our way home the next day, we got a call letting us know that if she did decide to place with us, then we could adopt her baby. We were so excited! We couldn't sleep or even think of anything else. We started emailing, and we talked to Andrea on the phone a few times. We planned to meet her the next weekend. We ended up going out to lunch with her. As we were sitting there in the middle of lunch, Andrea asked us if we'd adopt her baby. So crazy! We were so overwhelmed and thankful for this opportunity. It was really cool when we first got to know and meet Andrea. It was like we already knew her. She is wonderful. Tanner weighed almost 10lbs, 43 hrs labor, and ended up C-section. Andrea mentioned multiple times that she thought Aubree and Tanner were meant to be siblings. They are such buddies.

Tanner was born October 23, 2006. We now had 2 babies, 2 cribs, Eric was healthy, and life was great.

The day Tanner was sealed to us

TRAVIS

We had been told by multiple Drs that we may never be able to bear children. At this time it was OK because we had our hands full. In March of 2007 Eric's routine cat scan came back with a tumor in his abdomen. The good news was that it was non-cancerous, the bad news is he'd have to have his whole stomach opened up, all his guts taken out, the tumor removed and guts put back in. This would be a very in depth surgery with a long recovery. So they scheduled the surgery for April 16th. This meant that we had to move up Tanner's sealing date so that we wouldn't have to wait for Eric to recover. On April 9th, I was feeling kind of crampy and I knew I should be "starting" soon. My sister had given me a pregnancy test a couple years before all the cancer stuff, and I still happened to have it. Eric had just left to go exercise and thought that I might as well take it (I was only a couple days late). I couldn't believe it! It was positive. I kept saying, "There is no way, there is no way." Never in a million years did I think now of all times would I be pregnant. I was sitting there with a 5 and 15 month old and now I was pregnant. Crazy. I ended up being due a week before Aubree's 2nd birthday. It seemed like it took Eric forever to get home (he didn't take his phone). When he walked in I told him to go look in the bathroom. He thought it was a joke. So, I got to experience my first pregnancy with two babies in tow. It was nice to not have time to think about being tired or feeling sick. Travis was born December 8th, 2007.

Newborn Travis

Life is so great and we couldn't be more grateful to be parents. A quote that we love about adoption is something like, Adoption means you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy. With experiencing childbirth, it did give us a deeper appreciation and love for Bridgette and Andrea. We are forever in their debt. They blessed us with the nicest, greatest kids. We are so grateful for our relationship with each of them. We feel like they are part of our family.

As we look at our life, the Lord's hand is so obvious to us. We can see that He is actively involved with everything that happens, and are so grateful for His love and mercy. We feel so blessed and grateful. Even after giving birth to a baby, we have been told by multiple doctors that our chances of conception are not very high, because of all that Eric's body has been through. We would like more children, but we understand that the outcomes of our lives are not always the same ones that we would have picked for ourselves, but if we are faithful, the outcomes that the Lord chooses for us are always better. We have complete peace in our hearts and assurance in our souls that the Lord's will is going to be accomplished in our lives. We have trusted in Him in the past, and He has taken care of us. We will continue to trust in Him, and we know that we will be watched over.

Our Miracles!