Thursday, January 26, 2012

Today

Psh. If you want to know about where I was 2 years ago, come look through my iPhoto. I'm done with this.

As fun as New Zealand was and as much as I learned about myself, I wouldn't say it was the defining moment of my life. It was a lot a amazing experiences and I spent many a solitary hike pondering about who I was/am and who I wanted to be. But it didn't define me.

As I left for New Zealand there was something much more defining going on in my life. Our dear cousin Steven Koecher disappeared without a trace. From that moment on, our entire family has been different. We were brought to our knees with sorrow and aching, we've been leaning on the Lord's arm, and we are stronger for it.

From this tragedy our family bonded like it never had. We have always been close but now we are one.

A year ago today our family was blessed with this little ray of sunshine! And we were again brought to our knees, but this time with gratitude. Jaela was only expected to live a few days and Today she is celebrating her first Birthday. We sure love her!

Another person who has had a massive influence on me is my husband, Robert. He celebrated his birthday on Tuesday the 24th. He has been my best friend for many many years (no that isn't a cliche, it is real. All you people claiming you're marrying your best friend, unless you have held a bleeding pig head between the two of you and you're taller than him, you have no idea.) Ok, maybe that isn't necessary. However, I can not say how thankful I am that he was born, that he moved to Utah, that he moved to my ward when we were 12, and that he loves me.





Love that guy!

2 comments:

Allison said...

Oh, now that's adorable.

jeremyandstacey said...

Jaela's 1st birthday was a big day in our lives. There definitely were times when we thought Jeremy and I would quietly remember the day alone. But are were blessed to still have her with us and we hope to celebrate many more birthdays with her.