Welcome! Meet:

Greg + Alyssa

Business Owner / Stay at home mom (previously Special Ed Teacher)

Utah

Caucasian

Christian

All About Greg & Alyssa
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Greg & Alyssa

My name is Alyssa, but I am affectionately called “Lyss” by my friends and family. I grew up in Utah, and have lived here almost my whole life. I am the youngest of 5 children. I grew up playing sports, especially softball, and learning music. I started playing the flute at age 11, and enjoy all kinds of music, but especially country. I also learned Spanish in a dual-language program at my elementary school. (I am definitely not fluent anymore, but I love refreshing my Spanish brain with Duolingo.) I played softball in college and graduated with a degree in Special Education. I taught elementary Special Ed for 7 years, and loved it so much! I love being outside, hiking, skiing (water and snow), the mountains, the beach, making new friends, and sports- especially baseball/softball (my first love), and most recently, pickleball! I have recently taken up cake decorating, and love creating fun and yummy birthday treats for my family.

Hi, I’m Greg, also from Utah - born and raised. Growing up, I spent lots of time with friends and family playing baseball, basketball, and golf. I have 2 older brothers and 1 younger sister. I played baseball in high school and also in college in Virginia. In my early adult life, I also lived in the San Antonio area for 2 years while serving a mission for my church, during which time I became fluent in Spanish. I love all things sports: watching, playing, and coaching. I love trying new things, traveling, spicy food, and playing games. I have been an avid Chicago Cubs fan since I was a kid, and I love cheering on my BYU Cougars. Lately, I have had the opportunity to record stats at some of the BYU football and basketball games. It is tons of fun. I have spent 15+ years as an executive for various software companies. Now, I enjoy owning my own business and being an entrepreneur.

Why Adoption?

I (Alyssa) learned at age 14 that because of a rare genetic abnormality I was born with, I would not be able to have my own children. If I did, it would be through IVF. Fast forward 11 years and we began our marriage with two 5-year-olds from Greg’s first marriage. A great blessing to us! One year later, we began the IVF process, and on our first try we were blessed with our Camden, despite some pregnancy complications and a 6-week early delivery. Our next IVF try in 2020 was successful, but I had the same pregnancy complications again, but this time much more severe. Our “miracle Addie” was born at a scary 23 weeks and 5 days. She was a fighter and defied many odds to live for 51 days, all in the NICU. Her passing is the greatest heartache we’ve endured, but it has brought us closer together as a couple and as a family. However, since then our family has never felt complete.

Once we had some answers to prevent another severe preterm birth, we began trying IVF again, but were faced with failure after failure. Dozens of doctors’ appointments, lots of “I don’t knows” from them, 1 surgery, 4 failed IVF procedures, and 1 miscarriage later (likely due to the trauma from my last delivery), we have opened our hearts to growing our family in a new way. Both of us, as well as our kids, deeply desire for another member of our family. Especially since Ace and Brooklyn are only with us part-time, we desperately want to give Camden a full-time sibling. He often talks about “when we get another baby like all of his friends.” It’s breaking our hearts that we cannot provide that for him on our own. We believe God has guided us to adoption, and the next member of our family will come to us through someone else.

We also feel that our family has some special benefits to an adoptee. They will not feel as “different” as they potentially could with another family. Meaning, our two oldest also have an additional birth mom, and Camden was also brought here in a special way (IVF). We are very open with our children about how differences are normal, and can be a strength to our family. A child through adoption would fit right in with that family's values and experiences.

Family & Home

We live in a beautiful six-year-old home in Lindon, Utah (near Provo, about a 40-minute drive from SLC airport). It is a 2-story home, plus a basement, adding up to 3300 square feet in total. It has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms, sitting on .23 acres. Our backyard is our “happy place” where we spend many spring and summer nights playing family whiffle ball. Because we live in a newer built community, our neighborhood is filled with young and growing families. Friends for the kids are all over. Kids running around playing together outside is usual. Most parents coordinate city sports teams and activities together, which adds to our amazing neighborhood camaraderie. We also have a neighborhood park that is about 100 yards from our home, which is a popular gathering spot for kids and families. Our typical neighborhood activities include barbecues, Halloween parties, neighborhood firework shows, and more. We are so blessed to live here, have so many life-long friends, and wouldn’t pick anywhere else!

Our extended family is a huge part of our family life. I (Alyssa) have 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters. Greg has 2 older brothers and one younger sister. All of our siblings, and both sets of parents ALL live in Utah, the furthest one only a 90-minute drive from our home. Needless to say, we see cousins a LOT! And each kid has at least one cousin near their age to be their buddy. We spend a lot of holidays together, as well as supporting each other in extracurricular events.

How others describe me

GREG in Alyssa’s words:

The first thing that caught my eye about Greg was how genuine he is. He is a people person, through and through, and highly prioritizes his relationships with others. I fell in love with him because of his love and joy for life, and those around him. He is constantly looking for ways to serve people in need, it is so inspiring. He treats me and all women in his life with so much respect. He is the goofiest, most relatable, loving father ever! He is definitely the favorite parent! He makes our home a light-hearted and enjoyable place. Everyone loves him because he has a special way of making you feel like a million bucks.

ALYSSA in Greg’s words:

Alyssa, or as I call her, Lyss is my soulmate. She is everything that I could ask for in a spouse and partner. In my opinion, her most amazing attribute is her loyalty. She is loyal to God, to me, to our marriage, and to our family. When Lyss puts her mind to something and commits, there is nothing in the world that will keep her from fulfilling that commitment. Her devotion to God is inspiring and has blessed my life. She encourages me and our kids to be the best version of ourselves and reminds us every day of the love that she has for each of us. She was born to be a mother and caregiver and she has such a tremendous impact on our children. I’m madly in love with her and am so lucky to be able to live life with her.

How We Met

Ironically enough, we actually grew up right around the corner from each other. But due to our 7-year age gap, we weren’t high school sweethearts, as most people guess. Our families were friends, and we each were friends with each other’s sibling(s) through adolescence. Both of our families were very into baseball/softball, and in our adult years we became friends by being on the same slow-pitch competitive softball team. After getting to know each other on the ball field, Greg couldn’t resist pursuing a deeper relationship after seeing Lyss in her car on the freeway, jamming out to Michael Jackson. Shortly after that, we started dating, and were married about a year later. Since we attribute softball to our becoming a family, it has stayed a big part of our lives. We love playing it together and are now adding mixed doubles pickleball to our athletic repertoire. We are both active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. God and family are our first priorities, and the ultimate focus of our marriage.

Advice to Future Child

We believe that you are a gift to us from God. We have so much love to give, as do your siblings. We will be an anchor and refuge for you. We will help you fulfill your dreams and live your life to the fullest. We love you!

Perspectives on Open Adoption

Assuming the relationship is not harmful, we are all for open adoption! We feel an open adoption gives the child a much greater sense of identity, understanding, and purpose in life. We feel the more people in a child’s life who love and support them, the better. Because of our two oldest children’s split custody situation, we are very used to having multiple parents involved in a child’s relationship. We would be honored to facilitate a meaningful and positive relationship between you and your child, as well as us as parents.

Favorites

Greg

Favorite Movie: Field of Dreams
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: “Cougar Christmas:” We are all big BYU (local University) fans. Each year, the night before the first BYU Football home opener, BYU’s mascot (Cosmo) “comes” to our house and leaves BYU themed gifts and decorations for the family to wake up to the next morning. He also fills each family member’s own BYU stocking that was laid out for him. We love getting into the BYU spirit as a family!
Hobbies/Interests: baseball, golf, pickle ball, baking
Dream Vacation: Whichever one is coming up next!
If I Could Choose a Superpower: create more time in a day

Alyssa

Favorite Movie: Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: 4th of July! We do a neighborhood breakfast in our backyard every year, and it’s a blast!
Hobbies/Interests: softball, pickle ball, crafting, outdoor activities
Dream Vacation: New Zealand
If I Could Choose a Superpower: A clean house with the snap of my fingers!