American Adoptions -- America's Adoption Agency

Hanging Out Before a Jason Aldean Concert

We enjoy a wide variety of activities, especially in the summer. We are sports fans and love to watch football, basketball, and motocross. We usually attend a few college games each year, but most of the time we gather at our house or at a friends. Recently, Jeff has been taking Hailie to WVU Women's basketball games. It gives them some one-on-one bonding time and since Hailie has started playing basketball, it gives her a chance to learn some pointers.

It's Game Day! Let's Go Mountaineers!

Since we live on the lake, we spend a lot of time doing activities such as swimming, fishing, and boating. This past summer, we bought kayaks and the three of us have had a fantastic time paddling around the lake with those.

When we are home, we love to play board games and our current favorite is Yahtzee. We also have a Wii and Hailie loves to challenge us to bowling and boxing, both of which she wins on a regular basis.

Birthday Dinner with Hailie at a Japanese Steakhouse

Being a parent is the greatest gift that a person can receive. It is also the hardest job a person will ever take on, but with the greatest rewards. Jeff's daughter, Hailie, spends about half of her time with us. She was only 2-1/2 when we met, which means that she really can't remember a time when it wasn't "Daddy and Janena." Janena and Hailie bonded immediately and the relationship the three of us have is really special. What is even more amazing is the relationship we have with Hailie's Mom. We believe a lot of the reason we are able to have such a great relationship is because we put Hailie first. And that is probably the biggest part of being a parent - looking out for your child's best interest. Sometimes this means that you do things for them that they don't always like or understand, but it is your job to guide them through this life. As parents, we believe that we must teach our children the core values in life, such as honesty, integrity and compassion. We feel that teaching your child good morals and beliefs will help shape them into a productive, confident adult. Children fill our lives with laughter and hope. The unconditional love and trust they have for you cannot even be measured in words. They are a gift to be treasured and we can't wait to welcome your child into our lives.

We met 7-1/2 years ago through a mutual friend. What makes our story unique is the fact that we met at a mud bog, where we were watching 4 wheel drives race through the mud. Not the most romantic place to meet your future spouse, but it does make for a good story.

Janena was living in our hometown at the time and Jeff had come in for a weekend visit at his parents. The town we grew up in is really small and the mud bog is a big event for the area, so it was the place to be that weekend in September. Jeff's best friend also happens to be a long time friend of Janena's and he introduced them that day. We started talking and really connected. We ended up spending the rest of the day together. We exchanged phone numbers and began daily conversations, which is a great way to get to know someone. We would talk about everything. We would visit with each other on the weekends and every moment we spent together made us realize how much we had in common and how much we liked each other. We found that our values and priorities in life were the same and it became obvious that we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. We can't imagine what our lives would be like if we hadn't had that chance encounter at the mud bog. Or maybe it wasn't chance. It feels like fate.