A Sad Day...

Early this morning they tested Austin's brain activities, and declared him brain dead. They pronounced him as dead at 10 am. They are currently keeping his body "alive" so they can harvest his organs. We can't even express how sad this is for our family.

Austin and Lisa have not only been amazing family members, but they have been even better friends. When we found out we were pregnant with Ellie, Austin and Lisa were the first people we told. It was in November 2004. Austin and Lisa invited us to a Toby Keith concert. Austin HATES country music, but he liked Toby Keith. Austin was home from Afghanistan for a couple of weeks, he and Lisa were taking a weekend away. We went to eat at the Treehouse in Salt Lake, and then went to the concert. Dan and I didn't have money to go to the concert, so Austin and Lisa paid for us to go. I can remember watching them together, and I thought...they are really in love. They danced to the music, and were so affectionate with each other. I can remember thinking that ten years down the road, that's how I wanted mine and Dan's relationship to be.

The day we had Ellie, Austin and Lisa came up (a three hour drive). We knew they loved and cared for us...they've always been so good to us.

Both times we moved, Austin and Lisa helped us. Austin even brought his boys up when we moved from Logan. I had just had Ellie, and I hadn't packed anything. They loaded us up, and helped us unpack.

Austin is the most forgiving person, Dan and I are bad friends, but Austin continually invited us over, he invited us to family parties, and parties just for the fun of it. He is the glue that has kept a family that is not "that close" together.

Dan mentioned that when his uncle died, visiting his house wasn't the same...it felt empty, but he said the world feels empty without Austin. He will be truly missed.

Please continue to pray for Lisa and the kids, pray that they will be able to get through this difficult time.