Our Story

Heard at the grocery store, the mall, maybe a local fast food restaurant:

“Wow, you’ve got your hands full!”

“Are you Catholic?” or the slightly bolder “You must be Catholic.” (Occasionally insert Christian for Catholic)

“Are they all yours?”

“Are there any twins?” (as if an affirmative answer makes seem us less crazy)

“I could never do that!” (code for “you must be crazy.”)

And maybe our all-time favorite:

“Don’t you know what causes this?” (insert wink)

NEIL: Truth be told my wife, Amy, has usually born the brunt of these comments and questions.  But I’ve heard them too. Amy and I are both pretty laid-back, not easily offended. So not wanting to give the wrong impression, we don’t hold these comments against anyone or reply with any clever retorts to questions and judgments.  

So how did we find ourselves in this very interesting situation?  Don’t know, we’re still trying to figure out what causes this!!! Seriously, though, let’s recap…

AMY: Neil and I met the summer of 2002. On the evening he asked me out on our first date, I found out my dad (my world) had pancreatic cancer. My immediate family flew off to Disney (because that is what you do when you find out you have a giant cancer battle in front of you!), and our date was put on hold. Neil wasn’t scared or intimidated by my family circumstances though. Our first date was on my parent’s anniversary… August 18.

My dad pursued various treatments. Neil and I spent every opportunity together. We knew early on this relationship was right. Neil got to interact some with my dad. Neil walked with me through the most difficult time of my life. My dad’s battle ended on September 27, 2002.

Neil and I were engaged at the end of October. We KNEW.
We were married on February 28, 2003.

At the time, Neil worked for a physical therapy practice, and I was working at my family’s motorcycle business. Our family plan was to wait for a minute, and then get started with those babies (it turns out that having babies is easy for us). We thought four would be the perfect number for our family (both Neil and I have three siblings).

Neil: 14 months later…Nolan…17 months…Savana.

It is at this point we realize that the difference between one child (perfect baby) and two (hmmm, no comment) is a quantum leap.  So we decide a healthy gap between #2 and #3 would be prudent.

16 months (Surprise! Some gap, huh?)…Landon…19 months…Lucie.  4 kids and we’re done!

19 months (Surprise!)…Tessa.  5 kids and we’re definitely done!

AMY: While neither Neil or I had done anything permanent to prevent children, we were in fact, trying not to have more kids…I think this was where we really realized that while we weren’t setting out to have a large family, each one of these little people is a GIFT. Two more little gifts have followed Tessa – Eli (on our anniversary) in 2014, and Titus came September, 2017.

NEIL: The amazing thing about life in general, and life walking with the Lord in particular, is that we can plan all we want but it is biblically clear: The God of the universe has a perfect will that cannot be thwarted, regardless of the plans that we make.  He establishes our plans (Proverbs 16:3) and orders our steps (Proverbs 16:9).  

AMY: It’s hard to overestimate the changes and growth in Neil and I over these last 16 years together. Being married and having kids has a way of rooting out all kinds of junk you never knew you had. Having a large family has forced us to be creative with our resources, be intentional with both our money and our time, and increase our faith as we realize just how inadequate we are on our own. We’ve gotten comfortable with using the word “no” on a regular basis, and dealing with sadness on every level because of that answer. We’ve grown into lovers of adventure, quiet moments, and flexibility inside structure….

NEIL: Is our family complete?  Probably. But I’ve learned enough through our journey not to guarantee anything.  I know we are a family established by the Lord. I know circumstances have taught us much about patience, frugality, hard work, teamwork and self-sacrifice.  I know a spirit of adventure has awoken in us. And this I certainly know: Our story has barely begun to be written!

The Greb family welcomes you on this journey with us…