THANK YOU!!!

Thank You!!!

We would like to offer a HUGE "Thank You" for all of the support we have received, especially this last week. With our blog/story being featured on Small Fry Blog, we had a lot of people share our story. This is one way we can consider social media truly a blessing. We had countless friends and even strangers sharing and posting our blog/info through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, their own blogs, etc.  

We have been so overwhelmed by the love and support that has been shared and offered through this experience; it is opportunities like this that remind us: we are not alone on this journey, there is a whole world of people cheering for us. This experience has increased our faith and hope, knowing someday (hopefully soon) we will be blessed with the opportunity to become parents.

Thanks again!

Love, 

Brad and Emily Marsh

FSA - Families Supporting Adoption

For whatever reason, I have had a hard time figuring out how to approach/complete this post, but someone recently shared a video with me that kind of summed things up.
A couple weeks ago Brad and I had the opportunity to attend Birth Mother Panel for FSA - Families Supporting Adoption. This organization is managed locally. They host a lot of meetings that help with adoption awareness and support. It truly is a wonderful organization with the most pure efforts and intentions. I really appreciate those that work so hard to make it available to couples like us. They also offer a lot of opportunities for people to get involved and help out.
Anyway, Brad and I were SO impressed with our experience at the Birth Mother Panel. There were four birth mothers there; one that had placed almost seven years ago to another that had only placed two months ago! It was so helpful to have the variety of timelines. It was also interesting to hear the many similarities, but also the many differences between each story. Hearing their personal stories and their personal journeys made it so much more real. Before this meeting Brad and I thought we had an appreciation for the Birth Mothers' role in the adoption process. But now, we have an even GREATER appreciation AND respect for these women.
 I think one thing Brad and I have worried about in the past was our ability to develop a comfortable relationship with a potential birth mother. Our experience at this meeting helped to put us at ease as we were able to sense a small connection and feeling of comfort as we listened to each of their stories. These women are truly amazing and inspiring. They have worked hard to make the very best of their lives and are changing others lives as they share their amazing stories.

This video link below is one of the most inspiring videos of a birth mother I have ever watched. She is such and amazing, strong individual. I hope this video is helpful to anyone seeking guidance, understanding, or simply gaining more knowledge on the subject.
A Birth Mother's Story

These stories are also, so motivating and inspirational:
It's About Love

Small Fry Blog

Check it out! 

We have been featured today on SmallFryBlog as a part of their Adoption Week!!! 

We are so excited/blessed to be a part of this adoption awareness experience. :)

http://www.smallfryblog.com/2013/04/18/hoping-to-adopt-the-marsh-family/

Mom and Me

When the family comes in town, my mom always likes to try to spend an extra week in town. She likes to spend a little extra time with us, as well as focus on spending more time with her mom and sisters. Mom spent most of the day Monday with her mom and sisters, then joined us back in Alpine that evening. A few of Brad's friends came over to watch the NCAA finals, we visited with them while my mom and I met with our dear friend and handyman, Marc. we are VERY excited about some small improvements we are making in the basement and I am excited to share them with you once things start happening over the next month or so. :) 

this space is due to change :)

Tuesday me and my friend, Rachel joined my mom up at City Creek for the day. She was meeting her high school friends for lunch and Ray and I were going to shop. We sat down just to visit with my mom and her friends for a bit and ended up staying with them almost the whole five hours we were up there. They were so much fun to hang out with and we LOVED hearing all of their hilarious stories from high school. Spending the day with them made me so much more grateful for the amazing friends I was blessed with throughout my elementary, junior high, and high school years.

still a bunch of hotties

me and most  of my best pals from high school

My mom and I spent Wednesday together, up in Layton. We helped my mom's sister, Jill, paint her kitchen and enjoyed laughing all day at the blonde moments that tend to happen when everyone gets together.

Thursday morning my mom, Zac, and I went to the temple (Brad had to work :s) Afterwards my mom and I ran a few errands before meeting up with her Alpine-friends for lunch at Blue Lemon. They were nice enough to invite me and I enjoyed catching up with them as well. Afterwards we headed straight to Sugar House to visit my cousin, Juliana. Her little family just moved up there and her mom (my mom's sister) was up there helping her move in and decorate. We also got to visit with Aunt Lorie while she was helping accessorize the house. It all looks so darling! Juliana's little baby boy, Connor is the sweetest thing and is just so cuddly! I could have held him all day long!

the sweetest little guy

That night Brad and I attended our first FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) meeting. This evening is for a post of its own :)

Friday my mom and I joined most of her sisters and the married, girl cousins as we headed north to our cousin, Tifani's house. We helped her do some decorating and refinishing in her new home while we enjoyed catching up with a few more of the cousins we hadn't seen in a while. It was a full day and we didn't get home until late, so we just went to bed. 

Saturday I ran a couple errands before anyone woke up. Then I made a bunch of sugar cookies to decorate at a party that afternoon for this little lady:

She is getting married on May 4th :)

That evening my mom treated  Zac, Brad, and I to dinner at Olive Garden. We were stuffed by the time the main course came out, so we just took it all home for dinner the next day :) When we got home, we hung out a little bit before going to bed a little early. 

Sunday was another one of the bitter-sweet days. We enjoyed spending the morning together and attending church. Afterwards, we spent about an hour at home before heading up to the airport to get my mom home. Like I said, it's always bitter sweet to see family go. We always enjoy having them in town and are grateful for their generosity every time they come. Thanks for the fun memories we made the past two weeks! Looking forward to your next visit in July!

the day he popped the question

Three years ago today, my hunk of a hubby asked me to marry him. I know it's kind of odd to document this three years late. However, after recently discovering the video footage of me telling the story never actually happened (blonde moment with mom and the video camera), I decided today was a fitting day to document it.
Brad proposed to me on a Friday, April 16, 2010. It was the middle of finals week and I had totally bombed a final that afternoon. I was pretty bummed about it and Brad had already told me he was going to pick me up from campus. He knew I wasn't feeling too hot about myself so he picked up some Cafe Rio and took me on a picnic to our favorite park in Provo. We had spent a lot of time there throughout our courtship, getting to know each other so it had kind of become our go-to hang out.
We enjoyed our pork salads on a blanket while we talked about how pathetic my performance was on my final. After relaxing a little, Brad gave me a brand new baseball and we decided to play some catch.

picnicking at the park

playing catch with the new ball

Because my baseball was new, I was being a bit protective. Anytime it would hit the grass or roll in any mud I had to wipe it clean before throwing it again. One of the many times I overthrew the ball it rolled past Brad and into some mud. His back was turned as he picked up the ball and, I assumed, was cleaning it off. It was taking him forever so I started nagging him, telling him to "throw it already." He finally threw it back to me and a smudge caught my eye as the ball landed in my glove. I pulled the ball from my glove to perfect Brad's  cleaning efforts. It was then that I realized it wasn't a smudge at all, but some writing...

reading the writing on the ball, over and over and over again...

Then, I looked up to see Brad running toward me, kneeling at my feet, holding up a little paper box. 

The little paper box was a bit of an inside joke from attending a devotional together, folding paper creations, the first weekend we met. I'm all about sentimental :)

popping the question face to face

saying yes!

yay for being engaged!

This is the ball he proposed with; we had it on display at our wedding reception:

@blushphotography

Everyone has their own preferences for their dream proposal story. For me, I just wanted it to be sentimental. I didn't need the rose pedals and candles with the lights (although that's darling). I just wanted the proposal to have personal meaning. Brad and I enjoyed spending time together in the park, eating our favorite food, playing catch - something we loved to do together. I also love that I have a souvenir from such a special day :) For me, it was perfect. I'm so grateful for my man and how he knows exactly how to make me happy.

Family in Town

Welp, our house is now quieter than it has been in two weeks and it is a bitter-sweet feeling. It is always fun to have family in town and embrace the chaos of going a million places, catching up with a million people. However, it is also nice to get back into a normal routine after so much chaos.
As I mentioned before, my family was in town for Easter weekend and the whole next week. We kept extremely busy making sure they were able to visit everyone they wanted to while trying to make two cars work among 4, almost 5 drivers. We made it work and enjoyed each others' company all along the way.
We spent most of our evenings at home relaxing, watching old family videos, and welcoming the occasional guests stopping by to visit the family. It was fun to talk about old childhood memories and how excited we are to have this handsome guy come home in November:

Elder Shaun Baxter

I cannot believe how fast time has flown by! I am so excited to pop his little head off come November :)

That Friday night, Brad and I headed over to the park across the street from our house. Some friends of ours were having a birthday BBQ and we were excited to join. Unfortunately we had a little mishap, and lack of judgement from the hubs. As I was walking over to join the group, Brad decided it would be fun, flirty, DUMB - call it what you'd like, to kick a volleyball in my direction. As soon as he kicked it he regretted it - rightfully so. As I was walking up to the pavilion, excitedly greeting our friends we hadn't seen in a while I was blindsided! Wack! Right to the face! A kicked volleyball - to the face - knocking off my sunglasses - making me delirious for a split second before our realized my nose had instantly become a blood faucet; not just a dripping faucet, but a running faucet. I must say it was a bit of a humbling experience. Anyone else that has had a blow to the face knows that you almost INSTANTLY cry, no matter how much it didn't hurt. Luckily the hubs came running over and shielded my scary face from any further humiliation. After cleaning up my face/nose/hands from the bloody mess we discovered a nice big bruise and fatty goose egg on the bridge of my nose; this wound restricted my ability to use normal facial expressions for at least a few days.  -    Now, I don't tell this story to put any shame on the hubs, but to share an experience that I can't help but laugh about every time I think about it or share it. He really did feel terrible, and took really good care of me, after I said some mean things to him in my state of vulnerability. We ended the night happy as clams, with a super tender face.  ...so bummed I never thought to take a picture of my lovely injury
That weekend, we spent the majority of our days watching LDS General Conference, you can find more on that here. The whole weekend was filled with such inspiring messages, motivating me to work harder to reach my potential. I am so grateful for the divine role of women and the opportunity that I will have, hopefully someday soon, to be a mother. We enjoyed watching and discussing these sessions with family both Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately Sunday was also the day we had to say goodbye to Dad and Meggy. After dropping them off, Brad, Zac, and I enjoyed a lovely dinner at our neighbors' house while my mom spent the night at her parents' house. We ended the night eating some yummy peach cobbler at Shay and Jason's house, then hit the hay.

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope everyone had a happy Easter, filled with peace and gratitude.
Our Easter weekend was extra special this year. My family flew into town Friday afternoon and will be here for the next week! We spent Friday evening at home, catching up and enjoying each others' company.  A few different cousins came by to visit and see the family. We stayed up late telling hilarious stories and watching family videos from when we were younger. So fun!
The next morning my mom and I joined Shaylee, Shannon, Aunt Jill, Aunt Lisa, and Aunt Jamie to head up to Tremonton for a funeral. My mom's dear Aunt Celia passed away last week from injuries sustained in a pretty terrible car accident. The family also lost a grandson in the accident; it has been a rough couple of weeks for this sweet family. It was nice to see so many of my mom's extended family and reminisce all of the positive, happy memories everyone had of Aunt Celia.

Aunt Celia

Shaylee, Shannon, and I also got the biggest kick out of our mom's as we "took a walk down memory lane." We went downtown and saw all the different houses they lived in and heard some of their crazy, childhood memories. Of course, at Jill's request, we had to make a stop at Kings and get some treats. We have some pretty good video footage of them laughing and giddy, telling stories. Unfortunately I think it might be too big to put on here. That night we were pretty beat, so we all just hung out, ate some dinner, and watched some more family videos.
Sunday morning I played the Easter bunny and got just a little something for everyone in the family to enjoy. We enjoyed spending the morning together and putting together fun Easter outfits for everyone. It was fun to attend church with the fam, as always. Brad, Zac, and I left an hour early to head to my dear friend's farewell. Sister Rachel Stapp is going to be an AMAZING missionary! Her talk was so perfect, so real, just so awesome. I am proud to call her one of my nearest and dearest friends. As I watched her sit down from her talk, it was the first time I really allowed myself to think about her leaving and it was SO heart-wrenching to think about. BUT it was also SO EXCITING! She is going to be such and amazing influence to so many people on her mission. I am so proud of her :)

for: Brad, Dad, Mom, Zac, & Meg

our Easter outfits... Thanks Karen (MIL)

Sister Stapp is a babe

After leaving her farewell, we all headed up to Layton to enjoy our family Easter celebration. They best part about holidays is spending time with those you love. It was fun to watch all the other ones hunt for Easter Eggs. We ate a lot of yummy food and enjoyed talking and telling more stories.
Also, a special little shout out to my cousin, Mitch and his new fiance, Jess! They are officially engaged. YAY! We are so happy for them and looking forward to their summer wedding :)

On the topic of Easter, I just wanted to share one of my favorite pictures of the Savior. This picture truly warms my heart when I think about His atoning sacrifice and His genuine, individual, unconditional love for each one of us. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of my Savior and the enabling power that comes with the Atonement.

I hope everyone had a special Easter weekend!