Our Story

We have an amazing life!  Our story is unique and as most couples do, we love talking about how we found each other and our adventures together so far.
  We first met when I was 18 and Justin was 19.  Justin worked at a Boy Scout Camp, Camp Loll all summer with my boyfriend at the time.  They had become fast friends and I met Justin when he brought him home after the summer.  We didn't hang out much, but I definitely knew of Justin and thought only the best of him.

Fast forward a couple summers.  Justin had been in the Marines for 7 months and was stationed in California.  I had moved to Colorado to live with my Grandma.  I lived in a small town and there was NO boys to date.  I thought of Justin often and finally got the courage to find out his address and write him a letter.  Apparently it was pretty obvious in the letter that I was very interested in him.  We emailed back and forth a couple of times and then started talking to each other on the phone to really catch up.  Our first phone conversation was over 4 hours long!  We hadn't seen each other in a while, but it became pretty obvious to both of us, that we were supposed to get married.  We hadn't even seen each other since he had left for Marine Boot Camp 7 months earlier!  It sounds crazy, and felt a little crazy at the time, but after a lot of prayer and reading my Patriarchal blessing I knew that he was the one.

 He was deploying in September to Iraq for seven months so that definitely threw a wrench in our plans!  He ended up giving me a promise ring at the wishing well in Disneyland in August, and then 5 days later really proposed (after asking my Dad) at Union Falls in Yellowstone after an 8 mile hike.

Right before...

Yes!

(Mind you we had to still hike 8 miles back!)  It was a wonderful, beautiful, heartbreaking time.  We only got a few days to be together before he left for California and then deployed.  Seven months is a long time to be apart.  We talked as often as we could, but with him being on the front lines in the Marines, it wasn't ever often enough!

We were planning for a September wedding after Justin returned in early April. My Mom and I flew out to be there with his family to welcome him home!

 It was so awesome to finally be in the same country again! After talking that night, we knew we couldn't wait much longer to be together.  The time apart was getting harder and harder, and we knew that he was slated to deploy again in a year.

 So we moved the Wedding up to June!  It was a beautiful day with our families there, and he looked so handsome in his uniform!  We honeymooned in Salt Lake City for a few days, then packed up all of our stuff and moved to California! I love looking back at our time there. 

We really had only spent about 5 weeks over the last year in the same place, so we had a lot of getting to know each other to do!  We were young and so in love.  We spent every waking moment together whenever Justin was actually around and not training down on base.  Preparing for his second deployment was hard.  We both didn't want him to go, but knew he had to.

We had been working with our Bishop preparing to receive our Endowments and be sealed together in the temple.  However Justin was going to be deployed before our first anniversary, so we couldn't be sealed until after he returned.  We focused on making sure we were able to receive our endowments before he deployed.  We both went through the Newport Beach Temple on my birthday, March 30 2007.  It was such an amazing experience.  I was and still am so grateful for the blessing of the Temple!  Both sets of our parents flew out for this special occasion which made it even better. 

When the time came, I drove him down to his base where he hopped on a bus and drove down to San Diego where his Naval ship was.  We stayed the night in a hotel down by the dock, and then I dropped him off early the next morning.  I didn't even stay till the shipped pulled away, it would've been too painful.  I parked the car, gave him a hug and a kiss, and said goodbye.
It was a long seven months.  I had decided to stay in our apartment and continue to work while he was gone.  The thought of packing all of his stuff away and not seeing it for seven months terrified me.  I felt that if I moved back in with my parents, that in a way it would feel like Justin wasn't coming home.  And I desperately needed him too!  So I stayed.  He had cousins close by, and I hung out with them often.  I would go to his Aunt and Uncles house every Sunday for dinner.  It was hard.  Here we were just getting used to being married, and we were separated again.  I often told him that it would be so much easier if i didn't love him so much :)

One day I got a call from him early on a Sunday morning, we chatted like usual, and I was so glad to hear his voice.  Later that night while I was at his Aunts house for dinner I got a call from Justin's parents.  They said that the base had just called them, and that Justin had been in an accident.  They knew that he was alive, but didn't know much else.  They told me to call a number on base and talk to them, as they had been trying to get a hold of me all night.  I was a wreck.  They said that he had been in a IED attack, and that he only had minor injuries, and would be okay.  I figured I must have talked to him right before the attack, as I'd just heard from him that morning.  Wrong :) He had called me after it had happened and didn't want me to worry, so he didn't say anything. We both learned valuable lessons that day, but were mostly grateful that his injuries were so minor, and that he was okay! He really had angels watching over him that day.  I was so grateful that night for a Priesthood blessing from Justin's cousin of comfort and peace in such a hard situation. 

Home sweet home

Justin came home from his deployment right before Thanksgiving, and we were sealed for time and all eternity in the Salt Lake Temple on December 29th, 2007.  I will never forget the overwhelming joy and relief I felt knowing that no matter what happened, war or not, we could now be together for eternity! It was  a freezing cold day, but we were nothing but warm.

Justin finished out his time in his contract with the Marines, and decided that it was not a career he wanted anymore.  It was a valuable thing that he had learned a lot from, but he missed his family, and it was a hard lifestyle.  So he was honorably discharged when his time was up, and we moved back home to Utah!  He started school and I started work, and we decided we should think about babies at some point.  Justin and I decided that it would be too hard to have and raise a child without him when in the Marines, so we would wait until that was done before trying.  Well now he was out!  That is all I wanted to do. (have a baby:)  Well Justin felt really strongly that we should go work at Camp Loll (the camp where he worked before) the next summer.  I agreed that we should fast and pray about what to do (this was a big decision) and then go from there.  Well, we were definitely supposed to go work there that summer! I was the head cook for the staff, and it was hard work!  Early mornings long days and lots of cooking and food preparation.  It was an amazing experience that changed my life forever.  I loved working so closely with the staff and learned so much about myself, my limits and abilities.  I learned that I can do hard things!  (you'd think I would've already known that after surviving two of my husbands deployments right?)

I look tired! Cooking for 80-100 people three meals a day is a rough job!

After that summer we found out that I was pregnant!  We were over the moon excited! We set up our first doctor's appointment and were set to go in when I was 12 weeks along.  We were in the process of buying a house already, and felt that everything was going according to plan. We were getting our dream!  I miscarried at nine weeks.  It was really hard.  I don't know how else to say it.  I knew that it was part of God's plan for me somehow, but it hurt. A lot. Luckily we had just moved and really threw ourselves into unpacking and getting settled in our new home and ward.  We had faith that everything would work out. 

Our Happy Home!

We ended up going to Camp Loll for one more summer and that of course was a big blessing. What better medicine for our souls then spending the summer up in God's beautiful wilderness!  Justin got accepted to the Radiology program at Weber State University and started that fall.  Things were moving ahead, but no pregnancy.  I had gotten pregnant so fast the first time, I just figured it would be easy again. But it wasn't.  Justin finished his associates program and continued with his bachelor's. He started working part time as an X-ray tech while still in school, and I continued to work and help support our family.  

Road Trip slumber :)

That is us and Lauren's Parents in the background waiting for the 4th of July Parade to start!

We had so many adventures during these years!  We went backpacking, hiking, camping, on cruises, and road trips. We have tried to make the most of our time without children, but always have in our hearts a wish for that blessing in our life. 

Last Summer Justin graduated with his Bachelor's Degree in Nuclear Medicine.  He recently got a full time job in X-ray, and is working towards getting into the Nuclear Medicine Department as soon as it opens up at his hospital.    I am working for an Orthodontist that I love, and thoroughly feel like I'm excelling in my job. 

April 2013

But we want to be parents!  We've been praying for years now to have guidance to know how to move forward with growing our family.  We've tried medicines, tests and procedures and haven't found success.  We've always been open to adoption, but really wanted to know if that was the plan for us.
We were prompted strongly last November to look into it, and we've been moving forward ever since!  We know that there is a way for us to be parents, and we are so grateful for that chance!  We hope that sharing our story can help others to get a glimpse of who we are and where we come from.