A little bit about us

In October, Chris and I will be married for 5 years. We always knew that we wanted to have a forever family but unfortunately for us, it hasn't been as easy as "makin' bacon." Lets rewind and give you the low down on the big question,  "why don't we have kids?"  

At the age of 8 months, Chris was diagnosed  with a rare cancer called neuroblastoma. His family was told he only had a 5% chance of survival. His treatment involved multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, full body radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. The treatments were successful but unfortunately at age 8, he was diagnosed with cancer again, this time of the Thyroid. The treatments took a toll on his body. He was told at a young age he would not be able to have kids. But Chris beat the odds. Here he is 26 years later, healthy, alive, and a true miracle. 

Chris with his aunt

Chris with his grandpa

Being from Wisconsin, I never imagined myself living in California. But in 2009 that all changed. I decided that I wanted to serve a mission for my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or more commonly know as the Mormon church. So I prepared all that was needed and on June 10th, 2010, I was on my way to Spokane Washington. Little did I know that I would meet my future husband.

During that year and a half on my mission I met Chris (former Elder Ortiz) and we became really good friends. Before returning home, Chris had asked me to write him some letters.So that's what I did and the rest is history. It only took him 2 months after his mission to propose to me and 2 months after that we were married. Yes, we are your regular crazy Mormon kids. We hadn't even gone on one date before we were engaged. But here we are happily married, ready to start a family.

Final days of my mission

During our "dating" days Chris informed me that he couldn't have kids because of the cancer treatments. I always  knew I wanted to have kids but that never stopped me from loving and marrying him. We had heard that there were others that had neuroblastoma and were fortunate to have kids. So we decided to do a little more testing at UCSF in San Francisco. We tried everything we could but still no luck. Being told by doctors that you can't have your own biological children is not the most exciting news but we weren't discouraged because we knew there were other options and that God had a different plan for us. After much fasting and prayer, we knew our path was to do foster to adopt. So here we are ready to start this next step.

This road has definitely been a roller coaster for me but it's been  a lot easier with my husband. He is full of so much love and compassion and is always optimistic. He has been so supportive through this whole journey thus far and he always looks for the best in everything. I definitely couldn't do any of this without him. I see the way he plays with his nieces and nephews and know that he will carry on that same love to our children and be a great father. 

Chris here: I had to butt in and brag about how amazing my wife is! My wife is a beautiful, selfless daughter of our Heavenly Father and  this was the hardest, most terrifying thing to do. Telling your future wife that you couldn't have kids was very difficult, especially when her life goal was to be a mom. She willingly and lovingly put her wants aside and knew this would not be an easy road. I couldn't be any happier and am extremely grateful for her. I know that she will love any child that comes into our home with that same selfless and abounding love. God is good and we couldn't be anymore excited to start this journey.

Writing this has been hard for Chris and I. We aren't usually ones to put our private matters out for everyone to read. We have never wanted to seek out sympathy or anyone to pity us. We really would like to use this blog to help others through this same journey and to help others understand. We are ready to start this adventure and are excited to see what the lord has in store for us.