About Us

  

  I was born and raised in Germany. I am the oldest of 8 kids with 6 younger brothers and 1 younger sister, (Danja, Radi, Eli, Abe, Hyrum, Till, and Cyrus) My parents are Rick and Maren. Our house was always a party with that many kids running around. My dad played professional basketball and coached in Germany until we moved to the U.S. when I was almost 11 years old. I grew up loving the game of basketball just as much as my dad, and dreamed of playing professionally as he did. In 2014, when I was in 9th grade I was diagnosed with Pre-B ALL Leukemia. That threw a pretty big wrench in the game plan I thought I had laid out for myself. I was scared but also excited to learn and grow from this new opportunity. I quickly became family with the patients, nurses, and doctors up at Primary Children's Hospital and will forever be grateful for my family away from home. I made it into Remission, graduated Highschool early, and left for my mission in April of 2017 to Massachusetts, Boston for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I absolutely loved and cherished every moment of my mission. In December of that same year, 8 months into my mission, my Leukemia relapsed and I finished my service as a full time missionary and started treatment for round 2 with Cancer. 

    This time was easier in the sense that I was mentally more prepared for what was to come, but physically much harder because I had to endure Radiation, and a Bone Marrow Transplant this time around and I was lucky enough to avoid that the first time. My bone marrow donor was my little brother Abe, even though I had a couple of other brothers who were matches. I went through all the treatment and then made it into remission for a second time and have been living life to its fullest ever since. 

 

  Lexi was born in Salt Lake City and has grown up in Magna, Utah. She is the oldest of 4 kids with 1 brother and 2 sisters, (Cameron, Olivia, and Aleah) and her parents are Kris and Emily. As a 15 year old Lexi was a superstar dancer and made the drill team at Cyprus High School as a freshman. After a drill performance one Friday night Lexi was taken into the ER with a ton of pain, and after 17 hours she transferred to the cancer unit where they took a biopsy and then diagnosed her with High Risk Neuroblastoma. Treatment was extremely aggressive for Lexi right from the get go and it took a physical toll on her body. After countless surgeries and procedures, mixed with chemotherapy, radiation, and back to back stem cell transplants, Lexi finally made it into remission. She just hit her 5 year cancer free mark this year 2022.

    The two of us met in the cancer clinic at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was in my own patient room dancing to "Hotline Bling" by Drake, when Lexi and her Mom happened to be walking by into their own patient room. Lexi noticed the song, made a comment, and her nurse asked if she had every met "Ricky". She said no, and was expecting to meet a little bald boy. I was already in the maintenance phase at that point and so my hair and physical stature had made a small comeback. Standing at 6' 2" and a head full of hair, I came out smiling and got to meet Lexi. She didn't believe I was a patient at first and so she asked for some street cred, by asking what type of cancer I had. I told her I had leukemia and even showed off some of my scars from the process to hopefully back up my words. Obviously I did it in a way where I made sure she got a good look at my Abs by lifting my shirt all the way up for her, just to make sure she didn't miss the TINY scar on my chest. She then proceeded to show me up by not just showing off the same scars on her body, but also the huge scars on her stomach and around to her back from all of the surgeries. Needless to say Lexi showed me up that day.

   We became quick friends and I made it a point to visit frequently while she was inpatient. Our friendship grew over the years and we had the opportunity to go to some school dances together, but we never dated. I left on my mission and we wrote occasionally. Then when I relapsed she flew all the way out to the east coast to visit me in the hospital and our relationship quickly began. We were engaged in February of 2018 just three months after my relapse, even though I was in the middle of treatment. I received my Bone Marrow Transplant that April, and then we got married later that year in September. 

    We are currently going on year 4 of marriage right now and it has been nothing short of an adventure. We had the chance to go live in Virginia and fulfill one of my life long dreams of playing College Basketball. We went to SVU for a whole year while I was still on chemo and Lexi was dealing with her own battles. Health has been a big part of our marriage since the get go, and it continues to be at the head of our everyday life, but we are plugging away and loving every moment. Lexi has been amazing and miraculous, even making a comeback from Hospice in 2021 after a procedure that went south. She is the ultimate fighter and my inspiration. We continue to try and live our life to the fullest, understanding that nothing is ever promised! Come join us on our journey as I share some of the crazy and fun experiences we see along the way. 

   Lexi and I love you all so much! I hope you feel our love through these stories.