American Adoptions -- America's Adoption Agency
 We are so honored that you are considering our family for your child! We truly believe that everything in life happens for a reason - we know that the child that we are meant to love & cherish is out there somewhere & we can't wait to meet him or her!  |
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Our primary reason for wanting to adopt is that we truly believe that our family is not yet complete. Nearly two years ago, after years of difficulty conceiving that included a miscarriage at 11 weeks, we decided to reassess our family plans. Did we truly need another child to complete our family? We are so blessed to have Julia, and perhaps that would be enough. After about a year of pondering and praying, we finally came to the decision that we really want to be able to open our heart and home to another child. Adoption felt like it might be the answer but we were looking for a sign, wanting God to send down a lightening bolt or something to signal to us what we should do. Unbelievably, two days after Jamie first made contact with a woman from her mothers' group who had offered to discuss the adoption process, the entire sermon at our church service was about the unconditional love of adoption. She cried through the mass and took that as the sign that we were heading in the right direction!
Another factor in choosing adoption is that we would love to have a sibling for Julia ... we are both close with our own brothers and we know how special that relationship is. And Julia would just LOVE to be a big sister. Lastly, we feel like we have so much to offer a child - love, stability, structure, education, a dedicated and caring extended family.
We are sports fanatics! Phil makes a living covering sports (as did Jamie for many years) and we avidly follow our own teams year-round. Jamie grew up a University of Washington fan - her dad played football there and she was even a cheerleader in college. Jamie's parents are Husky season ticket holders, so we are lucky enough to attend a few football and basketball games every year, and even get to watch from the sidelines sometimes! Phil is a Boston sports fan - Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox carry his interest year-round.
We both love staying active ... Phil just completed his first triathlon in August, and just so he couldn't brag too much, Jamie ran her first half-marathon in October! Jamie loves to golf and ski, and as a family we enjoy hiking, kayaking, swimming and just being outdoors. We are so excited to extend our love of sports into our own family, whether we are coaching our kids' soccer or basketball teams, taking them to tennis lessons or just tossing the ball around in the yard.
Making special memories together is one of the best parts of being a family. Christmas traditions are especially sweet - Julia & Jamie love making grandma's Santa Claus cookies (complete with coconut beards & raisin eyes) just like Jamie did with her mom.
Another Christmas tradition that is near & dear to our hearts is our annual Beppo's dinner. What began nearly 15 years ago as a gathering with Jamie's two best friends from high school, their parents & siblings has grown to include husbands, children, in-laws & more. We take over a huge table in a local Italian restaurant, stuff ourselves full of pasta & laugh the night away.
Another holiday we love is Halloween. We host an annual pre-trick-or-treating party for a few neighbor families, then the kids get all decked out in their costumes for photos before the dads take them out in the red wagons to trick-or-treat.
Summer brings traditions too... a yearly vacation with Phil's family is always one of the highlights of the season. And we always visit Seattle during the summer & love spending time at Jamie's parents' cabin on Puget Sound.
One daily tradition that we love is our daughter's nightly tap/ballet/acrobatics "show". She puts on dance costumes & twirls around for us to various songs, stopping often to pet the dog, change her outfit or just generally offer some comment on life. We cherish that family time.
