Dear Birthparents,
Love, admiration, appreciation and respect describe the feelings we have for birth parents and grandparents. We are forever grateful to our birthmother Debbie. She is our angel… Austin (our adopted son) loves to learn about her life and his adoption story. Debbie’s selfless act of love changed lives forever.
Our journey to adoption started with guidance from a loving God to know there are children waiting to come to our family through adoption. The initial stop in our journey came thanks to an amazing angel, Debbie, who chose adoption for her precious little boy. We are excited for the next stop in our journey and so is Austin. We will provide lots of love and fun for our future children and Austin will do the same for his future brother or sister.
We have been married fourteen years and have had many amazing experiences. We met at University and got married while in college. We have lived in Utah, Boston, Michigan, DC, Dallas, and New Jersey, have traveled and met people from all over the world and been on many adventures. Nothing compares, however, to being parents to Austin.
Thank you for taking the time to read our letter, and get to know us better. We look forward to learning more about you. We feel it is important that our adopted children know about their birthparents. Austin has found so much strength and joy in knowing his birthparent’s story, their talents and their interests and in being able to sing happy birthday to her, send pictures to her, and receive words of encouragement and amazement from her.
About Lynette (By Devin)
Lynette is the most amazing wife, mother, best friend and loyal supporter I could ever dream of. She is a fun, beautiful, strong, caring woman who is full of life and energy.
Lynette studied Interior Design and has a great sense for how to make a home a room or a family environment be so warm and welcoming by the little touches. It is through the little things Lynette does on a daily basis for Austin, me and others that she brightens our lives.
Lynette is currently a full time mother and wouldn’t trade her job for anything in the world. She is also a volunteer leader in our Church’s regional youth program.
With her free time, Lynette enjoys gardening, boating, and snuggling in a warm blanket. She also plays the French Horn and enjoys waterskiing and surfing behind the boat.
About Devin (By Lynette)
Devin is the love of my life. He is the most caring and giving person I know. He tries hard to have a good balance between work and family life which is an important act of love to me and Austin. His love of children is apparent to all as you see him interact with Austin, our nieces and nephews and our friends’ kids – In our friends scene you will find me chatting with my friends and you will find Devin wrestling with the boys or teaching gymnastics to the girls. The kids love him not just because he is fun, but because he shows he cares about them, teaching, disciplining and encouraging them every step of the way.
Devin loves sports! He regularly plays basketball, tennis and soccer, loves all things boating and beach and recently completed a half-iron man triathlon.
Devin studied Accounting at Brigham Young University and received an MBA from the University of Michigan. One exciting thing about Devin’s work is that he is like a Doctor for families who own businesses. He helps to diagnose problems and opportunities for the companies and the families that own them and helps them reach their full potential.
About Austin
Austin is a 6-year old bundle of energy, happiness and adventure. He loves animals, making paper airplanes, trampoline parks, fishing, skiing, riding bikes, and playing with his 30 cousins (10 of whom live nearby). He says “Kindergarten rocks” and loves to read books about animals and science. He is also a very tender kid…protecting his mother and his girl cousins and praying daily for a baby “sister” (or brother). He likes to wake his mom up singing “Good morning beautiful.”
About our neighborhood
We live at the end of a family friendly cul-de-sac (9 homes, most with young kids) where the kids play together outside and the big kids help out the little kids. We live in a wooded area with lots of animals (deer, turkey, birds…) near a beach town that is a huge summer tourist area. The beach town is 5 miles away and is a dry town (no alcohol). It is sometimes called America’s favorite family resort with a family friendly boardwalk with rides, pizza, arcades, and lots of treats!
The river and bay are just two miles away providing boating, swimming, kayaking, fishing, crabbing and great family time. We love the mix of quiet woods and bustling summer beach town. We moved around the country for the first 10 years of our marriage; but are excited to have settled down here.
Our public schools are highly ranked with low teacher to student ratios and lots of volunteers. The teacher’s know Devin’s family well… in fact Austin’s teacher taught two of Devin’s siblings and Devin’s Kindergarten teacher still teaches in the room next to Austin. There is a wonderful pre-school nearby that Austin attended and that our future children will attend.
We live 2.5 hours from NYC and enjoy taking trips to “the big city.” Austin especially loves playing on the rocks at central park, riding his scooter through central park, and exploring the Museum of Natural History (dinosaurs!).
About our home
We live in a spacious, welcoming brick home on 4 acres. We have a partial basement and rooms on the main floor dedicated to kid’s learning, playing, and crafts. We have a room reserved for a future baby’s nursery. The home has a large deck and backyard for entertaining and playing. It is a nice gathering spot for family and friends.
The large yard is great for play… but also for yardwork and for teaching Austin the importance of work. We enjoy working in the yard, especially when we can use our tractor.
More about our families
Lynette is the youngest of three kids and the only girl in her family. Her parents and siblings live by a lake. We enjoy visiting them and enjoying the outdoors together.
Lynette’s dad owned a Building / Contractor business until retiring last year. Her mother was a teacher for 30 years before also retiring this past year. They are now serving a 2-year volunteer service mission for their church; fortunately, their missionary service will bring them closer to us on the East Coast.
Lynette’s oldest brother Mark has Cerebral Palsy and has taught us so much about happiness and loving life. Her other brother Justin is married with 3 cute kids and an amazing wife. Justin loves the outdoors – hunting, fishing, biking – and is a great fishing coach.
Devin is the 6th of 11 kids in his family (7 boys, 4 girls). He grew up by the beach where we and much of his family still lives. Devin’s mother passed away of Cancer in 2016; she was an amazing mother, teacher, and entrepreneur. She is missed. Austin was very close to his grandmother and expresses great love and tenderness for her memory. Devin’s dad was a Senior Executive in a large company before founding his own technology company 16 years ago.
Four of Devin’s siblings live nearby and four live in Utah; we enjoy visiting and skiing with them. The other two siblings live in Seattle and Michigan.
Thank you for taking the time to review our profile. We pray for you and wish you have peace and confidence as you consider adoption.
Love,
Devin, Lynette, and Austin
