Donna’s Family at Christmas

Donna was born & raised in a large city. She comes from an Irish Catholic family and is the sixth of seven children. She has four sisters and two brothers. In total there are 15 nieces and nephews, bringing the extended family number to 29! All seven children live within 20 minutes of each other and are an extremely close family. Donna's brother lives in the same town and his son plays baseball in the park across from our house. There's not a day that goes by that Donna is not on the phone with a sibling, niece, or nephew. Who knows how many emails and text messages fly throughout the day! Donna is also close to her cousins and we host an annual St. Patrick Day party for all the aunts, uncles, & cousins.

Growing up, Donna's family always shared Sunday dinners together. Now with everyone's busy schedules they still find time for a monthly family dinner. There's usually a pick up game of basketball in the driveway, a group watching the final rounds of golf, another group catching up, and there's bound to be kids playing a video game somewhere.

Before telling Donna's family about our plans to adopt Donna printed out numerous pieces of adoption literature and created a binder for her family and friends. Then at a family gathering we told them of our decision to adopt. They were all so supportive and excited. We cannot imagine our lives without such a strong support system.

Our Wedding Day with Ray’s Mom, Sister and Brother

Ray was born and raised in a rural area and raised Catholic. He is the middle child of three, one older brother & one younger sister. Ray's sister has two children, a boy and a girl. His brother just hasn't seemed to find the perfect woman yet. Both Ray's mother & siblings live 30 miles north of our house. Ray's mother comes from a large family, 5 brothers & sisters. Holiday's are usually spent the Sunday after the holiday with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. Birthday celebrations are at a restaurant of the birthday boy/girl's choice.

Ray grew up in a rural area where outdoor activities were plentiful. All the children participated in 4-H, which required kids to work on project or care for animals for a period of time and then show them at the county fair. Ray participated in raising rabbits, woodworking, and baking. Until recently, the family was active in the area's boy scouts; there were many pancake breakfasts and camping trips. Ray and his brother received the highest scouting honor, an Eagle Scout.

Ray is 100% Czechoslovakian and still has relatives in Prague. They visited Prague years ago and hope to return for another visit. Ray's family dinner always include the traditional Czech dumplings. Ray made them for Donna's family once and now they are a staple for both family holiday dinners.

Ray's brother in law was adopted so when we told the family about our plans to adopt they were supportive and thrilled. Adoption has changed so much since his brother in law was adopted so they were anxious and curious to learn more details.

Our Home

We live in a beautiful four-bedroom house in Illinois, just outside the city. The neighbors & location are wonderful. Our neighbors have a pool; they have invited us over for many hot summer afternoon pool parties. There are many small children in the neighborhood, running & riding their bikes up and down the street. On most evenings there are bound to be a handful of families out walking their dogs. Directly across the street from our house are a park, the football & baseball fields, and the grammar school. In the winter, the city makes a skating rink in the park too. It is so much fun to watch the children play. On any given Saturday morning we can sit in our living room and watch the children play. Or during recess, you can watch all the kids running around, just having fun. Our home is close to family and friends too. We chose this house because it's ideal to raise a family; one of the top school districts in the state, beautiful parks, and tree-lined streets.

The Park and School Across the Street from Our House

We host a huge July 3rd party every year. Our city's fireworks display is a short walk from our house, so it was only natural for us to share the fun & festivities with our family and friends. We invite close to 100 people, the majority of which are children. The party is a picnic atmosphere. We have games for the kids and keep the driveway open for the pick up basketball games. We tweak little things each year to make it better & better, this last year we had a slushy machine ~ HUGE HIT!