LeAnn as a baby. (Courtesy of Howard Emry)

LeAnn Emry is born in Weiser, Idaho, to Howard and Darlene Emry.

Throughout her childhood, LeAnn loved animals and provided a home to two chinchillas, a rabbit, a ferret, three dogs, two cats, a turtle, a hamster and a goat through the years.

LeAnn as a girl. (Courtesy of Howard Emry)

“Our place looked somewhat more like a zoo than a home,” Howard Emry remembers.

LeAnn moved to Colorado with her family at age 7.

She took an interest in music and science, and became a Christian at age 16.