We are Gabriel, Elizabeth, James, and Andrew Dix!

We thank you for visiting our website and wanting to get updates on our lives. Please know and respect that we don't share our children's faces or locations on social media. The purpose of this site is to act as a baby book for the kids, to share stories and images with family and friends, and to provide life updates with loved ones who we might not have the opportunity to have long conversations with given the chaotic blessing that is our life.

-Gabe and Elizabeth Dix

gabeandelizabethd@gmail.com

The Story of Our Family

Elizabeth was born in Greensboro, NC to Ira and Sara Drake, and has one younger brother (by 4.5 years who currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.) When she was 5 years old Ira got a job in Memphis, TN as a librarian, so the family moved. She grew up in Memphis, moving away in 2007 for the first time as a college freshman at a theater school in Chattanooga, TN. After graduation she spent 6 months in NYC, but returned to Memphis to shift gears to pre-nursing.

In 2013 after years of completing pre-requisites, working odd jobs, and even completing an EMT certification, she decided nursing wasn't her calling, and while helping a friend move to the DC area was offered a job as a live-in nanny with a family in Crystal City, VA. Though that gig didn't work out long term, it brought her to the area. 

Life events would lead her to finding Christ and starting her life as a Christian. She worked for a few more families as a nanny, then took a job at The Falls Church Anglican doing administrative work for the Children's Ministry. In 2016 she left her job for an opportunity to study theater abroad, but after a traumatizing event while traveling - decided against moving out of the country. Instead, she became a Starbucks barista for about 8 months while getting back onto a career track. Networking connections led to her managing a non-profit Legal Aid and assisting with Christian Legal Aid nationally. That was a great experience, and would also lead her to meet Gabe in a roundabout way. 

Gabe was born in Calgary while his parents Diane and Clinton Dix were training for Missionary life in Brazil. He has an older brother and a younger sister. All of his immediate family are in Lancaster and Charleston, SC. His first 14 years were spent off and on in Brazil. His parents worked Finance and Editing for Wycliffe's Bible Translation mission in Cuiaba. The family home-based in Brazil, but would come to the states periodically to check in with supporting churches and see family.

When Gabe was 14 they decided to remain in the States (namely NC) permanently. He finished school in NC and attended Erskine College in southern SC. There, he met lifelong friends Reid Flinn (and wife Samantha) Jessica Schult, Robbie (and MaryAlex) Kopp, and David Cook. He received his degree in History. 

Gabe joined the NC National Guard (Army Intelligence) around the same time his brother Jon also enlisted as Army. They were in the same unit for a while, and Gabe ended up serving for 6 years with a year in Kosovo. 

After an honorable discharge and a few service connected disabilities - Gabe moved on to contract work and moved up to the DC area for a job at Ft Meade working in counter-terrorism.

The Meet Cute

July 2019 - Gabe and Elizabeth had both signed up for an online dating app: Bumble. The rule was that you had to both match to see each other (unless you pay to see who likes you) and the girl has to make the first move within 24 hours or the match expires. (each person is given one "extend" per day to keep the match alive for another 24 hours. Gabe lived near Annapolis, MD and Elizabeth lived over an hour away in Annandale, VA. Both had match filters set to local - and they never should have met. 

BUT... God has bigger plans. 

Elizabeth was driving to OH through DC for a work event while Gabe was in DC visiting Robbie Kopp who was there for a work event. The Bumble algorithm took their proximity into consideration and showed each one the other's profile. They matched - however, Elizabeth was very busy with work and let the 24 hours pass without extending a message. Gabe used an extend - and Elizabeth received the notification of that, felt compelled to message someone who would use their extend on her, and thus a conversation was started... 

That's not all.

Elizabeth is an extreme extrovert who could be out every single night with friends and not be phased by it (pre-kids) and she WAS. Karaoke night was more like twice per week. She'd go out dancing and to parties and was part of a board game group. She was all about spontaneity and adventure/experiences. 

Gabe is an introvert who feels comfortable with his close set of friends, and can be the life of the party when with those specific people, but he has anxiety disorder - tends to overthink decisions, and spontaneity is NOT his friend. 

July 27, 2019 - Elizabeth had already had a brunch date, dance class with friends, a church Young Adult picnic with 50+ people, and had a date scheduled with another guy that night. The date fell through, so Elizabeth suggested while on a phone call with Gabe that they go out (within the next 2 hours) Somehow Gabe said yes (very out of character) and they ended up meeting at National Harbor that evening around 6ish. (it was a good in-between point)

They had dinner at an irish pub (which had disgusting "Irish Nachos") and then they walked around the statue garden until they found a bench and started talking about anything and everything - and all the in betweens. Before they knew it - it was after midnight, and even then it was almost 2am before they were in their cars driving to their respective homes. 

By September (and after 2 weeks of Elizabeth traveling through Greece) they decided to make things official. It was during a road trip on the way back from visiting Gabe's family in SC (in early October) that they talked about the possibility of getting married. 

Gabe proposed on Christmas day.

The Wedding/Early Marriage

Venues, caterers, photographers, videographers, engraved memorabilia, etc. were booked for a September 7, 2020 wedding!

and then COVID happened... and the borders closed between states... and it was scary and unknown and people had to have written notes from work stating that they were essential in order to be driving on the roads. Elizabeth caught a cold in March and was sent home from work (never to return.... to the office) and so she quarantined at Gabe's house in Edgewater, MD (really for fear that if she didn't that they'd never be able to see each other because it was just that weird of a time) After prayerful consideration and encouragement from trusted clergy and Elizabeth's Godparents - they decided to go ahead and get married - and deal with the wedding part of it another time after the world calmed down. 

May 9, 2020 was a beautiful backyard wedding at a dear friend's house in Richmond, VA. There were less than 10 people present (and we still felt like we were going to get shut down by the cops) 

We knew we wanted to follow it up with an actual wedding, but in the meantime Elizabeth's mom lost her job (due to the pandemic) and moved in with them from Denver. Elizabeth quit her job at Christian Legal Society in favor of finding a local job. She began to work for Equinox Innovative Systems (a tech startup specializing in tethered drones mainly for DoD use) as a Personal Executive Assistant to the CEO. Gabe was working from home as an analyst - which is unheard of in the Cleared world, but COVID made some unheard of things possible. 

After rescheduling the wedding to May 31, 2021 and still not being able to hold it due to restrictions we were finally able to go for July 31, 2021 and THANK GOD because immediately afterward we moved into a new house (after a year long search and placing 50+ offers on various houses - but the COVID market was absolutely insane with people offering cash on half a million dollar homes - and waiving all inspections and contingencies. It was very hard to compete.)

Elizabeth had corrective surgery on her uterus for a birth defect and TWO WEEKS LATER she conceived. They were not expecting that, but October 3, 2021 - she scared the crud out of Gabe by showing him a positive pregnancy test at 2 in the morning. 

April 2022 Elizabeth's dad, Ira, had some medical emergencies that necessitated a move from Memphis to Baltimore to be closer to family. He spent the summer in neuro-rehab after 2 craniotomies. 

Becoming Parents

May 29, 2022 Elizabeth gave birth to James Gabriel Dix on the same day that her younger brother, William married Caroleen Faraji in Los Angeles, CA. They were pregnant not long after and in February 2023 cousin Noah Walker was born. 

Sara was able to move into her own apartment in the Frederick, MD area when James was about 6 months old. 

Right before James' 1st birthday - Elizabeth and Gabe found out that she was expecting again. 

Ira's health had ebbed and flowed - and he had some permanent issued caused by hospital medications during his neuro-recovery. January 2024 was particularly hard for him physically, and his body gave out on January 25th. Elizabeth was overdue with Andrew and had been experiencing Prodromal labor (contractions that build but don't result in active labor) since Christmas. Finding out that her dad passed away sent her into actual labor - and Andrew Michael was born the next morning. 

Elizabeth quit her job at Equinox after it was purchased that spring by a larger defense company. The transition from 1 to 2 kids, not to mention 2 under 2 along with the grief of losing her dad was too much to be able to handle working full time - and a mental health break was necessary. 

Gabe is in a job he loves - Cyber and Emerging Biotech with Health and Human Services. He's hoping to get some more experience under his belt and be able to start up a consulting business in the near term. 

Elizabeth B is currently enrolled full time in an online Business Administration degree program and is self-studying for a Project Manager Professional Certification with the goal of finding a job in Defense Project Management once completed.

The kids are doing amazingly well - learning a mile per minute and making it really hard to catch up with them! Check out their individual pages for updates and pictures!

These are a Few of our Favorite Things

• Going to the beach! (we've been to Pensacola, Myrtle, and some of the Baltimore coastline beaches so far! The boys love digging in the sand and riding on gentle waves.

• Playing on the local playgrounds. We love our neighborhood playgrounds, but also Hilton Tire Park is a favorite.

• Going to the Library! Most of the libraries in our area are very child friendly and have educational toys as well as fun books to read.

• Singing together - Both James and Andrew absolutely adore music. When there's sadness, boredom, fussiness, etc. usually a song will turn that frown upside down so fast!

• Cooking with Mama! Both our boys absolutely love helping Mama in the kitchen - and will very gladly volunteer as taste testers.

• Swimming in our swimming pool. James and Andrew take like fish to the water. We just have to watch out for mosquitos because James welts up.

• Visiting Zoos and aquariums. So far we've been to Animal Kingdom Orlando Disney World, The MD Zoo in Baltimore, the Baltimore Aquarium and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in CO Springs, CO.

• Dancing and Movement - We go to the Little Gym and James is signed up for gymnastics there, but Andrew tags along and they both love to move their bodies and dance to the music.

• Brazilian Food. Mama is learning how to make all things Brazilian. Not only does it taste AMAZING - but Gabe feels less homesick when he has a big bite of Picanha or a plate of Pudim.

• Board Games - Inevitably whenever Gabe and Ellie have date night it ends with us playing board games together. We can be out somewhere at a nice dinner, at a 5 star hotel and still all we want to do when it's said and done is go back and crack open a really intense board game (not your everyday monopoly...) We don't find a ton of time lately with the kids and work, but it's a favorite activity for sure.

a Family Tree