Hello,
We are Nate, Kassie, and Kyrie. Before we dive in, there are some things we want you to know first and foremost: We often contemplate the difficulties involved with considering adoption, and we recognize we will never fully understand how you feel reading this. With that in mind, we’d like you to know that we are praying for you, for your future, and for you to feel comfort as you address the needs of you and your family. After all, this is your family, and God trusts you to know what is best!
As we move forward, our lives are an open book (or webpage?). Read over this, see if our friends and family are right when they say we’re “pretty okay,” and hopefully you’ll get a few chuckles, a bit of comfort, and a sense of support from a family of strangers.
Our love story:
Nate and Kassie met in June of 2010 at work. As fate would have it, we were assigned to sit next to each other in orientation! After being threatened to be moved to other seats because we couldn’t stop flirting like 15-year-olds, we shaped up and went on a real date. We were married that November in our favorite LDS Temple. If you think that was quick, it’s because it was—we’re that kind of crazy in love! Even still!
Along the way we’ve picked up a puppy, named him Remington, moved more times than we’d like to admit, vacationed in eight states, and Nate graduated college (Kassie’s working on it). We’ve also managed a group home of teenage girls and watched a decent amount of The Bachelor & Bachelorette, and as many Patriots football games as we can!
We adopted Kyrie in May of 2015, and it was without a doubt the best day of our lives. (Don’t worry, marriage was a close second! But starting the family we dreamed of before we ever met was just too good to be true!) Her adoption was a WILD ride. Now we spend a whole lot of time laughing at her spice, reminding her to use her manners (as you do with three-year-old’s), having a lot of dance parties, and occasionally crying over the stress of it. (Because parenting is the best kind of hard!)
Our love story will never be the only one we tell our kids. They all have first parents who love them with stories of their own, and we will always share those stories with our kids! It’s a beautiful (and probably complicated) experience to have multiple family circles who love you, and we want our kids to feel the fullness of that love through their story. For each of our children, though, we’d love most of all for them to learn about the love of a first parent by feeling it directly through open adoption.
About each of us
Nate (explained by Kas):
Nate likes to hit the slopes (when he can) with some great friends. As much as he enjoys boarding, he loves watching professional sports more. The New England Patriots, Utah Jazz, and the University of Utah are all his sports favorites (so naturally, they’re all of ours)! Nate has become the chef of the family and is working on perfecting the art. Saturday mornings are our favorite because Nate wakes us up with the tastiest pancakes and bacon. Even Remi gets in on the action—Nate makes him his own pancake, including syrup. He’s the early bird of all of us, and he’s also the most positive and charming! Nate as a dad is the happiest thing I’ve ever seen! He’s so good at teaching Kyrie all the best things in life, like how to be silly, the importance of service, and how to adventure.
Nate is the third of four children. All of his siblings are married, and we have great relationships with all of them. The oldest of the four, Ashley who is married to Aaron and they have four kids. They live really close to us, and we get to see them often! Their youngest is only a few days older than Kyrie, which has been the most fun for her!
The next child, Spencer, is married to Natalie and they have two adorable dogs. They live out of state, so we get to talk to them on the phone, or on the rare occasion that Nate and Spence have time to play video games online. When we do get to be with them, our stomachs hurt from laughing and when they leave, our hearts hurt from missing them (you’re welcome for the extra cheese!!! 😉).
Nate was born next, and he was followed by Amanda who’s married to Alex. They also live nearby so we get to be around them a lot, too! They just had their first baby (a boy) in the fall of 2018! We’re so excited to have our next child close in age with him, just like Kyrie is with her closest cousin!
Nate’s parents are generous, which is probably where he learned to serve his family so wholeheartedly. The only thing they love more than being parents is being grandparents, and they always take time to express that. To say the least, we’re really blessed to have them around!
Kassie (explained by Nate):
Kassie is the most altruistic person I’ve ever met. She’s always thinking about others, finding ways to help them, worrying about them, and constantly praying for them. We will never have a lot of money because she will give it all away. When she says her goal is to change the world, she means it, and I believe she’ll do it. When she does find time for herself, she loves to craft, listen to audiobooks, and has begun to refinish furniture. She is the most amazing mother and does a great job balancing teaching Kyrie and having fun with her. She loves movies and T.V. shows that make you run through a gamut of emotions, especially those weighted towards the sad end of the spectrum, e.g., This Is Us. Coke Zero from the fountain, with a splash of vanilla, never fails to brighten her day.
Kassie is the second of four children. She has an older sister, Desaree, who is married to Karl and together they have four kids as well! We don’t get to be around them much, but when the kids are together, they have a ball!
After Kassie, came her sister, Shelcee. Shelcee is a student at BYU and we are in close contact, which is so fun! Kyrie loves talking on the phone with her. We try to have visits as much as we can sneak into her schedule and Kyrie gets incredibly excited when she gets to play with Aunt Shelcee.
Trevan is the youngest in Kassie’s family, and he’s in high school. He is a busy teenager but, like Shelcee, we see him as often as we can! He has a job, dances at a private studio, plus is on the high school dance company. He has the most humble confidence you’ve ever seen in a teenager, and he’s absolutely refreshing to be around!
Kyrie:
Kyrie (pronounced kier-ee-ay) is the life of the party. She likes attention—in fact, she often demands it, especially when she’s comfortable with the people around her. Fortunately, her amusing and insightful comments keep the eyes on her. Mostly, Miss Thing just wants to be her quirky, spicy self, regardless of what others think. She loves people. As soon as she was able, she’d wave like a pageant queen at everyone she could see. Now, she yells hello (or whispers it if she’s shy)! That’s usually done when we’re at her favorite place which she calls Red Target. She’s her happiest self outside, so we spend a lot of our time in our backyard. Much like her birth parents, Kyrie imagines worlds far better than have been dreamed of before. Not a day goes by without lots of make-believe around here. She’s also very serious about style. And by that we mean she layers the most ridiculous clothes and loves it (and so do we). Or she wears them backward (which we also love).
Kyrie is excited about having a little brother and talks about him all the time. She says things like “when my other brother gets here (because, if you ask her, our dog is her twin brother), I’ll help feed him food!” Or “I’m going to play with all my toys with my other brother like I do with Remi.” She even drew a picture for him on our back steps throughout the summer so “he would remember to come home.”
Remington:
Remi has the most unique personality in a dog. When we went to pick him up the family told us “he’s a little dopey.” Naturally, our answer was, “We want him!!” He believes he’s fierce and voices his opinion with barks that are way bigger than he is. He’s also an 8-pound blanket hog. He loves when people come over and hates when they leave. Truthfully, he has no manners, and he’ll eat off any plate, regardless of whose it is. His favorite food is popcorn and pancakes (but we try to limit those). If he could spend his days chasing bubbles, cuddling Kassie, sleeping on Kyrie’s cozy toys, or eating Nate’s food, he’d be the happiest dog alive. And, since that’s pretty much how every day looks for him, we’d say he’s living his best life.
What’s Next:
Adding another child to our family will mean a little (or a lot) less sleep, more dishes, more tear wiping, less crafting, and more late-night diaper runs (that will probably also include bringing home some coke and coke zero). But, it also means more playmates, more snuggles for mom, more tickling and giggles for dad, and more comfy toys for Remi. More than that, it means piling in more love while we bring our family closer to completion.
We believe our family is strong and steady because we come together for dinner (though we’re almost always together for lunch, too), pray together multiple times a day, and read our scriptures every night. Those are the staples of our life and they unfold the hundreds of spontaneous “I love you’s,” kisses, snuggles, and giggles that come every day. We fill the rest of our time learning to read and do math, visiting friends and family, attending a tumbling class, and working/doing school work. It’s not uncommon for us to go to a local children’s museum, watch t.v. (keeping it honest), play outside or at the park behind our house and we even do the basics like eat, sleep, and bathe!
The most important message:
We want you to know that we support you. We recognize how stressful this time must be for you, and we want to extend our best wishes to you. If you decide it’s what is best for you and your child, we’d also love to add you to our family. We’ll share one of our favorite quotes by Jeffrey R. Holland before we send you off with all our love: Don’t you quit. You keep walking. There is help and happiness ahead. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.
Please take good care and know our hearts are with you!
Love,
Nate, Kas, & Kyrie (and her twin dog-brother, Remi)
