Dear Birthparent(s) –
Thank you for reading this. We can’t imagine what you must be going through right now but know we have complete respect for you and your decision. Also, we want you to know that we will give your child the best life we can provide and will love them completely (with lots of hugs & kisses).
Currently, we are a family of 3 – plus 2 dogs (retriever Sophie and spaniel Sammy) and a ball of fur cat (Anakin). However, we want to expand. Jen & Mike met 8+ years ago and soon after marrying Jen became pregnant and Nathan came along. Nathan has been an amazing addition and being part of him growing up made us realize we weren’t done growing yet. Although we have tried for several years to have another child it has not worked out. We have always had adoption in our minds (even pre-Nathan) and it was easy to decide to expand our family through adoption. We have always thought adoption was a beautiful choice and believe this is the right path for us.
Here is a little information about us:
Jen grew up in Wyoming, went to college in Minnesota, and worked in Pennsylvania after graduation. Mike grew up in Pennsylvania and went to college there but traveled a lot with the military (he is still in the Marine Corps reserves) and served twice in Iraq and once in Yemen. We share a love for travel and both have done a lot of traveling over the years –including: New Zealand, European backpacking, Peru, Morocco, India, Indonesia, and Iceland. We have slowed down the traveling with Nathan but have still managed to take him on a few trips so far and we have many family trips planned for the future such as: Disneyland, Alaska, Ireland/Scotland, and Africa. Mike works for the state in the justice system and Jen works remotely from home for a company involving medical research (she is a biostatistician).
We typically have a relaxed work week with a lot of time to spend with Nathan. He goes to pre-K (he is 4) during the day but is very close by and so we often pop in to say hi. In warmer weather, we often bicycle around town to the library or farmer’s market. We live in a lovely home across from a park so we often go there as well. Nathan is just getting old enough to start some scheduled activities and we are trying roller skating with our eye on swim lessons soon. However, we also feel it’s really important for him to just enjoy being a kid so we don’t schedule much!
Other family activities we love to do on a regular basis are camping, hiking, cooking (favorites are pizza, Thai/Indian curries) & baking (Nathan & Mike’s favorite are chocolate chip cookies), legos, games/puzzles, movie nights, visiting family nearby, and having friends over. We also love to read and have 6+ large bookcases. The pets are also part of our daily interactions and Nathan proudly helps feed them daily. Our goals for raising Nathan have been to have him be kind, compassionate, have fun, and feel safe and loved at all times.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of our values and interests as a family. It’s important to note we would love to share pictures, emails and funny stories in the years ahead (if you want). We are all very excited about expanding our family – Nathan can’t wait to be a big brother!
Best wishes and sending good thoughts to you.
Mike, Jen, & Nathan
