The Winner Is...

Thank you to everyone that entered the give-away! It was a very humbling experience to read through so many people's stories of struggle and triumph. It was very difficult to determine the winner as each nomination was so deserving.  We are very happy to announce that Chris & Sundee Wilson will be receiving a custom oil painting from Santiago.

The Wilson's lost their twin boys and Sundee wrote and shared their beautiful story with us.  In her own words:

"When I was 8 weeks pregnant we found out we would be having twins. From that day forward our minds were going at 100 miles an hour thinking and preparing ourselves for twins. At our 12 weeks check up the little munchkins were "swimming" like crazy on the ultrasound. My pregnancy was going great, by this time I had only had maybe 3 episodes of morning sickness/vomiting.

These little guys would be the first grand-baby and great grand-baby for my husband’s side. It was a very touching moment to let them know that we were expecting. They were all so excited and ready to do anything for us. I was the first daughter on my side to get pregnant. Even though my sweet mom was already a grandmother, it became something totally different for her as she shared her knowledge and past pregnancy experiences with me. Because of this I invited her to come to my 17 weeks check up.

As we sat in the office waiting for the doctor, we joked about what the babies gender would be. Just a few days before we had put in an offer on a home and it was accepted. Things seemed to be falling into place perfectly. It was crazy that in just a few minutes we would find out what we were having and be able to start narrowing down names and nursery themes/ideas.

The doctor came in and we followed him to the ultrasound room. He placed the Doppler on my belly and we saw one of the twins, again we all began throwing out our guesses. The doctor continued to look but not say anything, he then pulled the Doppler off and said "Sundee, things aren't looking so good." My heart sank. He continued "I need to look closely at some more things, are you okay if I continue?" As I replied, I hoped that whatever he saw was just a fluke and that things would be okay. He again placed the Doppler on my belly and asked if I would like him to tell me what he was seeing. I told him “Yes, please tell me everything.” Crying my mom stood up and came to my side and held my hand. The doctor said "This is where I should see the heart beat. I'm going to do some contrast to see if there is any blood flow." Nothing. I was holding back the tears in hopes that the other twin was okay. Chris also came to my side at this point. As he moved to the other twin he found the same thing. Hundreds of emotions ran through all of us, my mom said "it just can't be."

Sundee was induced a couple of days later and delivered two baby boys.

Harvey & Johnathan Wilson 

4 oz and 7 inches

"I know will always have little mementos to remember them and how special each of us (Chris, Harvey, Johnathan and I) are to each other. Still to this day I dream that things would have changed and that I would have been able to raise them here on earth. Nevertheless, I know that because of this blessing and my faith I will be able to see my boys again and raise them in the millennium. I know that my Heavenly Father and my boys knew that I would be well taken care of.

I haven’t had a day yet when someone asks me how I am doing. People have told me that they are amazed at our bravery, but in all honesty I am strong because of those many people and friends who are looking out for me. Our boys will always be in our hearts. My mom spent a week with us at our house, taking care of us. I know her heart aches for me and for the loss of the grand-babies, we have never had a miscarriage in our family, it had been a totally different experience for everyone. I am so grateful that the Lord trusted me enough to carry these boys to the point where they needed to return to him. Again, I am grateful and so blessed to have such loving friends and family to support me through this time. I am deeply sadden of the thought of not raising my boys, but I am grateful for the eternal marriage that Chris and I have to that we will be able to return to heaven and reunite with our sweet Harvey and Johnathan."

Congratulations Chris & Sundee! Santiago loves the idea of painting two vintage fighter planes with their names on it.