As soon as I saw Emily walk into our church building 3 years ago, carrying her then six-month-old baby girl, I knew she had to be my friend – I knew I needed her in my life. I saw in her the answer to prayers, the example I searched for of a young, beautiful mother figuring it all out from scratch. We clicked quickly, and ever since then we’ve been raising our children side by side. We used to spend entire days together at one another’s home, bringing a pack-n-play with us so our kid could sleep at the other’s house. While the babies napped, we would sit on the couch and just talk about life. We’d laugh, cry, eat, share tips and secrets and good deals. We don’t get to spend full days together as often, now that we both have a second kid to keep up with, but we are still just as close.

I’m constantly learning from Emily. She shows me, by example, how to be a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and Latter-day Saint. She is full of faith, selflessness, creativity, frugality and sensibility, joy, determination. She fights like a lion for her family, her beliefs, her dreams. Sometimes I wonder what it is she sees in me as her friend – I feel I can hardly keep up with her amazingness at times! One of my favorite memories with Emily is waking up in the wee hours of the morning, the air still so cold and crisp that it cut through layers and layers of clothing and the sky still so deep we needed flashlights to see where we were running. Or late nights at the gym, our feet pounding the same circuit of treadmill at a sweaty gym, clocking our miles and daring each other to increase the incline or beat our previous time.

I don’t just love Emily, of course I love their daughter. And of course Axton does, too. I’ve loved seeing their family dynamics change and stretch to include their newest addition and baby brother. Emily, as always, has handled baby number two and all that he entails with grace and faith. I also love Mitch! I love the way his daughter’s eyes light up when he enters the room, and the way he makes Emily laugh. I love the way these two figure things out as a young married couple with small children. I love the way they sacrifice for each other, put the Lord first, serve each other, their children, and those around them. I love that Mitch and Emily have grown up and into each other in the past 6 years of marriage. Mostly I love that they have allowed myself and my family into their hearts and into their lives, and I hope that never changes.