THE THACKERS

OUR STORY

Colton and I met early in our childhood. Our fathers had served a church mission together when they were 19 years old. They have remained friends ever since. Our families would get together when my family would come to Utah every summer to visit family.  As time went on Colton and I had not seen each other for about five years.  In the summer of 2010, I went to Utah to attend my cousin's wedding. It happened to be July 4th weekend and some of my college volleyball friends were in Utah. We wanted to get together and go to a rodeo. The one person I knew that competed in rodeos was Colton. I contacted him to ask if he knew where my friends and I could attend one. He told me he was participating in a few that weekend and we could come watch. Needless to say that is where our love story began.  Not long after seeing Colton for the first time we made plans for him to come to Arizona for a visit. After about a month of texting and nightly phone calls, I felt guided by God to make a move to Utah. We started dating while Colton continued his undergraduate work at Utah State Univeristy. A year later we were married.

After 2 years of marriage we decided it was time to start growing our family by having a child. Everything seemed to be so easy at first, I was able to get pregnant right away. While traveling to Arizona for Thanksgiving my water broke at 19 weeks and I delivered our son Bronson. He passed before birth. We know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of His children, but we were heart broken. As the years passed the struggle to have another child was agonizing. Many doctor visits and tests didn’t really lead anywhere. Following Colton's graduation from veterinary school we moved to Lexington, Kentucky for him to complete an internship. We were blessed to find an amazing doctor, who helped us get pregnant again through IUI.  At about 12 weeks we were elated to find out we were having a girl. Although this pregnancy seemed to be a little more challenging than the first, we were hopeful for a better outcome. In December of 2017 at 22 weeks our sweet Grace Jami was born sleeping. Colton was the rock that held this little family together. He cared for my every need. 

Our hearts began to heal and we continued to work closely with our doctor to determine where it all could have gone wrong. With more tests and surgeries, the struggle to grow our family continued. Throughout our struggles with infertility, adoption was something we discussed. In July of 2019, we were again visiting family in Arizona when we had special experience that helped us to know that it was time for us to prepare to adopt.

Through the years we have always tried to look for the light in dark times.  The sunshine always comes out after the storm. Grandma Thacker is remembered for always singing "You Are My Sunshine" to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. We welcome you to join us in our search for our sunshine.