We welcomed Lucy Kathryn into our family on October 20th. She is the light of our lives and all three of us are in love!
Our New Addition!
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We welcomed Lucy Kathryn into our family on October 20th. She is the light of our lives and all three of us are in love!
We welcomed Lucy Kathryn into our family on October 20th. She is the light of our lives and all three of us are in love!
Welcome!
Welcome to our site. We are so grateful to you for taking the time to learn more about us as a family!
If you are an expectant mother or father considering adoption, there is lots of information for you below about our family. Don't hesitate to send us an email with any questions you may have about anything you might be curious about! We would really love to get to know you.
If you are a friend or family member of someone considering adoption, we would love for you to refer them to our page.
A letter to you
Dear Birth Parents,
We are so grateful to you for taking the time to read our letter and getting to know us as a family! Every night as we kneel to pray as a couple we pray for your happiness and your ability to find comfort during what must be a difficult time for you. We adopted our son Charlie and in doing so we were able to witness first hand what a difficult and powerful decision you have before you. We are forever grateful for Charlie's birth mother and for her amazing strength and love for what she was able to give to us and to Charlie.
We are so excited to add to our family and make it four. Another child for us to love, care for, dote upon, and raise. A brother or sister for Charlie to love and play with. Even though he is still too young to comprehend what is happening we can only imagine how excited he’ll be to have a buddy.
Hi, this is Mark. I guess this is the part where I need to talk a little about myself. The truth is I’d much rather talk about Kate and Charlie...they’re a lot more fun. But what can I say about myself. I pretty much have two favorite things - my family and my business. Those are the two things that take up basically all my time and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
First of all, I love being a husband to Kate. We’ve been married over five years now and known each other for about seven. Kate and I had a pretty rocky dating relationship (she couldn’t figure out that she wanted to marry me and I’m just not really the type to take no for an answer), but since we’ve been married it’s been pretty much smooth sailing where our relationship is concerned. I’ve always felt lucky that my wife is such a good friend; I know everybody says their spouse is their best friend - and I hope it’s true for them - but for me I know it means I’d rather hang around Kate than anybody else.
Kate is an amazing wife and mother. It has always been my dream to own my own business, and Kate supports me 100%. Without her it would be impossible to start and run a successful business. She just believes in me and tells me she trusts me all the time, and that’s important for any man to hear when he’s trying to go out there and provide for a family. I love her for that.
I also love watching her with Charlie. She’s so patient and loving with him, and Charlie loves her too. It’s just about the cutest thing ever when he walks up to her, wraps his arms around his mom and buries his head on her shoulder. Or he goes in for a serious open-mouth kiss. One of the things I enjoy most is when I walk past Charlie’s room and see him and Kate reading a book together. He has quite a few books on his little book shelf. Kate sits on the floor, Charlie grabs a book and then turns around and backs up until he lands in her lap. They read the book, point out all the pictures, and then he does it all over again. He can do that with fifteen books per day. In fact, Kate has them all memorized now but she still loves to sit with him and read because he loves it. I know she can’t wait to have another little one.
Hey, this is Kate. I suppose you want to know a little more about me. Mark summed up our relationship pretty well! I don’t know what to add, except to say that he is a wonderful man who loves his family and only wants the best for us. He works very hard to provide us with all that we enjoy in our life. Our family is the most important thing to us on this earth.
As Mark said, I really love being a mother (and I suppose every letter you’re reading says something like that), but it really is what I love. Being able to be Charlie’s mom is such an amazing experience and I really feel very blessed that our life has been led in the direction to adopt our children. Our inability to have biological children has actually been something that has bonded us even tighter as a couple. It was a difficult struggle for many years - one that helped us grow. But we know that adoption is the way for us to grow our family. It has already been an amazing blessing for us.
We've set a lot of goals as a couple and we've worked really hard to be where we are right now. We really value the time we spend together as a family and with the dream of Mark working for himself a reality, we get to spend a lot of our time the way we like to - with each other. Charlie really loves spending so much time with his dad. Mark is such a good father. There's nothing like seeing him wrestle with Charlie or seeing Charlie's eyes light up when he walks through the door. He's patient and kind and brings a lot of peace and love into our home. He's smart and easy going and never deviates from what he knows is important. He is a wonderful example to me and Charlie and I know he can't wait to add another baby to our mix!
I would say life in our family is pretty easy going. Whatever we do we just like to do it together. We are getting ready to plant a garden this year and are looking forward to when it produces yummy veggies to eat. We love to be outside playing - at the park, on walks, in the sandbox, doing yard work. We really love to travel and see new places. We have family in Oregon, Colorado, California and in Southern Utah and we take several trips a year to see them! One of the favorite places Mark and I love to go is New York City. We've been twice and we would both love to go to DC (where Mark served a mission) and of course, we'd love to travel all over Europe.
We would love to get to know you better - to find out what you’re passionate about and how you’re feeling as you go through this entire process. We’re wondering what your hobbies are, what your plans are for the future, and what kinds of dreams you have for your baby.
Those things are important to us because we’re going to be sharing them with your baby from an early age. We can’t wait to learn more about you and develop a lasting relationship. Our first adoption has been the biggest blessing of our life, and we’re excited to have another little one come into our family. We look forward to sharing experiences and building memories with you if you end up feeling like we’re the right family for your baby.
Lots of love,
Mark and Kate (and Charlie!)
We are so grateful to you for taking the time to read our letter and getting to know us as a family! Every night as we kneel to pray as a couple we pray for your happiness and your ability to find comfort during what must be a difficult time for you. We adopted our son Charlie and in doing so we were able to witness first hand what a difficult and powerful decision you have before you. We are forever grateful for Charlie's birth mother and for her amazing strength and love for what she was able to give to us and to Charlie.
We are so excited to add to our family and make it four. Another child for us to love, care for, dote upon, and raise. A brother or sister for Charlie to love and play with. Even though he is still too young to comprehend what is happening we can only imagine how excited he’ll be to have a buddy.
Hi, this is Mark. I guess this is the part where I need to talk a little about myself. The truth is I’d much rather talk about Kate and Charlie...they’re a lot more fun. But what can I say about myself. I pretty much have two favorite things - my family and my business. Those are the two things that take up basically all my time and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
First of all, I love being a husband to Kate. We’ve been married over five years now and known each other for about seven. Kate and I had a pretty rocky dating relationship (she couldn’t figure out that she wanted to marry me and I’m just not really the type to take no for an answer), but since we’ve been married it’s been pretty much smooth sailing where our relationship is concerned. I’ve always felt lucky that my wife is such a good friend; I know everybody says their spouse is their best friend - and I hope it’s true for them - but for me I know it means I’d rather hang around Kate than anybody else.
Kate is an amazing wife and mother. It has always been my dream to own my own business, and Kate supports me 100%. Without her it would be impossible to start and run a successful business. She just believes in me and tells me she trusts me all the time, and that’s important for any man to hear when he’s trying to go out there and provide for a family. I love her for that.
I also love watching her with Charlie. She’s so patient and loving with him, and Charlie loves her too. It’s just about the cutest thing ever when he walks up to her, wraps his arms around his mom and buries his head on her shoulder. Or he goes in for a serious open-mouth kiss. One of the things I enjoy most is when I walk past Charlie’s room and see him and Kate reading a book together. He has quite a few books on his little book shelf. Kate sits on the floor, Charlie grabs a book and then turns around and backs up until he lands in her lap. They read the book, point out all the pictures, and then he does it all over again. He can do that with fifteen books per day. In fact, Kate has them all memorized now but she still loves to sit with him and read because he loves it. I know she can’t wait to have another little one.
Hey, this is Kate. I suppose you want to know a little more about me. Mark summed up our relationship pretty well! I don’t know what to add, except to say that he is a wonderful man who loves his family and only wants the best for us. He works very hard to provide us with all that we enjoy in our life. Our family is the most important thing to us on this earth.
As Mark said, I really love being a mother (and I suppose every letter you’re reading says something like that), but it really is what I love. Being able to be Charlie’s mom is such an amazing experience and I really feel very blessed that our life has been led in the direction to adopt our children. Our inability to have biological children has actually been something that has bonded us even tighter as a couple. It was a difficult struggle for many years - one that helped us grow. But we know that adoption is the way for us to grow our family. It has already been an amazing blessing for us.
We've set a lot of goals as a couple and we've worked really hard to be where we are right now. We really value the time we spend together as a family and with the dream of Mark working for himself a reality, we get to spend a lot of our time the way we like to - with each other. Charlie really loves spending so much time with his dad. Mark is such a good father. There's nothing like seeing him wrestle with Charlie or seeing Charlie's eyes light up when he walks through the door. He's patient and kind and brings a lot of peace and love into our home. He's smart and easy going and never deviates from what he knows is important. He is a wonderful example to me and Charlie and I know he can't wait to add another baby to our mix!
I would say life in our family is pretty easy going. Whatever we do we just like to do it together. We are getting ready to plant a garden this year and are looking forward to when it produces yummy veggies to eat. We love to be outside playing - at the park, on walks, in the sandbox, doing yard work. We really love to travel and see new places. We have family in Oregon, Colorado, California and in Southern Utah and we take several trips a year to see them! One of the favorite places Mark and I love to go is New York City. We've been twice and we would both love to go to DC (where Mark served a mission) and of course, we'd love to travel all over Europe.
We would love to get to know you better - to find out what you’re passionate about and how you’re feeling as you go through this entire process. We’re wondering what your hobbies are, what your plans are for the future, and what kinds of dreams you have for your baby.
Those things are important to us because we’re going to be sharing them with your baby from an early age. We can’t wait to learn more about you and develop a lasting relationship. Our first adoption has been the biggest blessing of our life, and we’re excited to have another little one come into our family. We look forward to sharing experiences and building memories with you if you end up feeling like we’re the right family for your baby.
Lots of love,
Mark and Kate (and Charlie!)
All about Charlie
Charlie is a joy to have in our family! He's curious, happy, strong willed and just generally a busy body. He loves to read, wrestle with us, and push any button he can get his tiny fingers on. He's always trying to figure out how things work - the vacuum, the TV remote, the phone, you name it. He begs me to go outside and so we spend a lot of our free time at the park, walking around the neighborhood, picking dandelions, and in our future sandbox (we just need to get the sand).
Even though he's still too young (18 months) to really understand what it means to have a younger brother or sister, we know he'll love having a buddy. He already loves it when friends come to visit and one thing I've been surprised about is what a sweet little boy he is.
What our days are like:
Our days are pretty low-key. We wake up about 7:30 usually with Charlie yelling our names or knocking on the wall to let us know he's ready to get out of bed. The three of us usually have a breakfast picnic on the kitchen floor which only means Mark and I sit on the floor and we share our oatmeal with Charlie. He won't eat in his seat for breakfast probably because he's been cooped up in his crib all night. Mark goes to work after kisses from both of us and then Charlie and I start our day together.
Usually our days consist of doing pretty much what ever we feel like, of course with a few chores (for me) sprinkled in. Then again Charlie will follow me around and undo whatever cleaning I just did! We'll go on walks, read books, visit friends, have nap time, listen to music, go to the store when we need to. Sometimes Mark will come home for lunch or just come home early from work to hang out with us. That's one of the perks to having him work for himself. During the day I will have taken at least several pictures and Charlie probably will have thrown some sort of fit (hey, he's 18 months old!).
Charlie and I will (usually) have dinner ready for Mark when he gets home from work. Charlie loves to pull a chair up to the bar and watch me cook. Pretty sure once he gets a little older he'll be quite the helper in the kitchen. Charlie is so excited to see his dad when he comes home and Mark loves coming home to us. Mark gets some quality time with Charlie during bath time while I clean up the dinner mess. Now that it's getting warm outside, we'll go outside and work in the yard together or visit with the neighbors.
We love where we live! We were fortunate to be able to build the house we live in and we love it. We have great friends for neighbors and there are lots of kids all around us.
When it's bed time we say family prayers and have family hug and kiss time (where it usually turns into Charlie making Mark and I kiss by pushing our heads together - he gets such a kick out of it!) After big open mouth kisses from Charlie we turn on his lullabies, and lay him in bed. He loves going to bed, probably because he runs all day long. Mark and I then have a chance to have some alone time.
We love having Charlie in our family, and we really can't wait to add another cutie to our family!
Pictures
Cancun
New York City
Trip to Omaha to visit friends and Coldplay concert
Second time to NYC!
Snowboarding
San Diego
Trip to Yellowstone
Playing in the snow
Cabin in St. George
Swimming with Charlie
Trip to the Farmers Market
San Francisco
On our way to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge
Visiting the Redwoods in Northern California
Working in the yard
Hanging out with grandma and grandpa
Swinging at the park during a trip to Oregon
At the pumpkin patch
Charlie and Kate at Jump On It
At a football game in Colorado
Snowmobiling with family
Bowling with family
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