Our Story

We met in August of 2000, this was just an uncomfortable "hi" at the local fair. Blake said that he had first seen me earlier that year in July at my sisters house but still to this day I can not remember him there. We finally met and were in the same room in November of that same year. And its been history ever since then. I was 18 and had just graduated from high school.....Blake was 16 and still in high school, this I did not know until we had been dating for a few months. I know that doesn't say much about how observant I am, but I like to say I was just blinded by LOVE. We dated, he got into his senior year. I had moved out of my parents house and got my ouwn place, which he stayed at frequently....oops, I think some would call that sinning, but it was fun. All that "fun" lead up to us getting a surprise announcement in March of Blake's senior year.....we were going to be having a baby. Wow what a shocker this was, I was young and Blake was even younger. What were two kids going to do with a baby? We definately had our hard times. But so far we have made it through all of them. We had our precious Stetson in 2002. Then we were faced with the unsettling news that he had a rare chromosome disorder, that he genetically got from me. Let me tell you this has got to be a mothers worst nightmare. All I wanted was the best for him, now all I good do is hope for the best in the situation we were faced with. There have been many rough times dealing with this but we are strong, and Stetson being as wonderful as he is has helped us push through. He faces many medical and developmental issues, but is such a trooper through it all. Blake and I deal with things one day at a time that is all that we can do. When Stetson was one we moved to Pocatello so that Blake could go to school. We only lived there for about six months before we moved back to Burley, what can we say our roots were stronger than we realized, we couldn't stand to be away from home. Blake finished school from Burley riding the bus back and forth to Poci. In May of 2005 he graduated from ISU with Diesel Technichian certificate. I couldn't have been prouder of him. Of those of you that know him, you know what he has been through in life, and those that don't well lets just say life hasn't been handed to him very easily and this is such a wonderful accomplishment for him. He is the first and so far only on both sides of his family to actually graduate from college. And he is so great at what he does. He started working in Heyburn at Lake City Trucks in June of 2005, and 18 days later we had our beautiful little Brooklyn. This was one of those super hard time in our life that we made it through holding on to each other with all our might. We came so close to losing her in the beginning. I will never forget that day for the rest of my life. Unfortunaley this was just the beginning of more struggles. Our little princess was also diagnosed with the same chromosome disorder as Stetson. "A Mother's Worst Night Mare". Now we had two children that have to face an already harsh world with disabilities that would make it even more challenging. Our little Brooklyn's first year and a halt was so hard, she struggled with so many health issues. But after meeting some wonderful doctors and a few risky surgeries, she is doing great now. Blake and I were married on November 11, 2005 the 5 year anniversary of our first "date". This date was significant to us, but try and find someone that will marry you on a national holiday.....Good thing that Blake grew up in a really really small town and knows everyone there including the mayor who was willing to come and open up the city hall building and marry us with just our closest family present. It was small, intimate and just what we needed. Afterwards we went to Jackpot for the evening, but had to return do to the fact that we had two small children waiting for us. In Feb. of 2008 we moved to Declo. Blake continued to work at Lake City until May of 2008 then changed job to work at his dream location...Peterbilt. They had opened a store in Jerome, and it just seemed perfect, well needless to say they didn't have all the wrinkles ironed out yet and it was rough going. We decided in November that the best move was for Blake to move back to Lake City. So now he is back and we feel that it is the right choice for our family at this time. I continue to go to school, at one time my major was Nursing, but I have since changed it back to Speech Therapy. I will graduate next year with my Associates in Biology with a Health Care Emphasis, then it is off to a university for a Bachelors, then a Masters, to hopefully some day graduate with my degree in Speech Pathology.