So Long, 2013

What a year.  My feelings about last year are hard to put into words.  I experienced the most happiness I've ever felt but I have also never experienced more heartache.  I have never been tried more in my life yet I've never been more blessed.  My faith has never been shaken harder and my testimony has never been stronger.  I can't deny that I'm anxious to turn the page and see what our future holds but I am absolutely grateful for everything I experienced the last 12 months.   

So much of our lives is vastly different from how we thought it would be right now but I truly love what my life has become.  As a result of everything that happened last year, specific people and opportunities have come into my life that wouldn't have otherwise and I couldn't be more grateful for each one of them.  It's always said that God only gives you trials you can handle but I know I was given such a trial because my testimony was lacking in many ways and needed help.  If this is the price to pay to become closer to our Savior, I know it will be worth it.

Logan and I are a happy family of three but people often ask when we will get pregnant again.  'One day' is all we tell them.  We are happy, enjoying being with each other, and healing.  In time our desire to expand our family will be there but not right now.  Through medical technology we will have the blessing of ensuring our future children aren't affected with SCID and we are so grateful for that.

One thing Logan and I constantly talk about is how grateful we are for the endless amount of love and support we have received from the moment everything began last year.  Every single thing that was done on our behalf, no matter how big or small, was more critical to our strength and healing than any of you will ever understand.  We are able to put one foot in front of the other each day because of the help we continue to receive from everyone around us.  We hope to one day have the ability to repay each one of you that have been such a blessing in our lives.

We hope everyone has a fantastic new year!

When we were living in the hospital, we had the opportunity to be a part of the StoryCorps project with Primary Children's Hospital.  We had a roughly 1 hour interview where Logan was the interviewer and I was the interviewee.  Our interview was condensed into a 5 minute segment and posted to the hospital blog.  For those of you that didn't see it on Facebook a few days ago, you can listen to it below:

http://primarychildrenshospitalblog.org/2013/12/30/elis-battle-with-scid-a-parents-perspective/#comments
(If the link doesn't work for you, go to www.primarychildrenshospitalblog.org and scroll down until you find out story.)

Other random happenings...We had a fun New Year's Eve with my family playing games and eating lots of food!  My brother had to take his family back to Minnesota this morning and, as always, it was sad saying goodbye.  I'm going to miss this face!

Some of our good friends invited us to the Jazz game on Monday and it was my first time in a suite!  The new video boards are absolutely massive and no picture can do them justice.  Many thanks to the Neff family for the invite!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2014!