As a couple, we knew of each other in high school and would see each other at large Track and Cross-Country meets. Brian was interested in spending time with Eden, but she was friendly to all and completely oblivious, she didn't know how to tell when a boy liked her!
While Eden was on her church mission Brian lived with and worked for his sister-in-law's family, the Wilsons, who lived across the street from Eden's family. This led to Brian eating dinner and spending a lot of time with Eden's family; the joke became he slept at the Wilson's but lived with the Lakes! After Eden returned home from her church mission they quickly started dating and the rest is history!
We attended Brigham Young University-Idaho and earned our Bachelors degrees. Brian earned his degree in Nursing, and Eden in Exercise Physiology. Camden,
our oldest son, was born soon after Eden's graduation in 2014 and right in the middle of exams for Brian. After graduation we moved our family to Salt Lake City, Utah where Brian worked as a Registered Nurse on a Neuro Acute Care Unit at The University of Utah Hospital. Emmett was born in Utah and when he was 3 months old the decision was made to move to Tennessee so that Brian could take a job in a Cardiovascular ICU in order to gain the necessary nursing experience to become a Nurse Anesthetist. Although the decision to move to Tennessee forced us be far from family it was a leap of faith that allowed us to start graduate school much quicker. We started Brian's doctorate in Nurse Anesthesia at the Rosalind Franklin University in 2017 and we were so excited to finally graduate in June 2020! We now happily live in Washington state and Brian has started working doing what he loves!
The decision to pursue a graduate degree was made in order to allow Brian to be home with the family and also to have the financial freedom to provide worthwhile opportunities for our children. There is nothing more important to us than quality time as a family. We always eat dinner as a family, say prayers, and our boys always request a bedtime story. It is rare that the kids go to bed before peals of laugher and fits of giggles can be heard from their rooms as a result of Brian's bedtime stories.
As a family we love to go hiking, fishing, watch movies, go on bike rides, cook together, and any adventure we can find in the outdoors!!