Jim is the second of two children. His father Marv is a retired purchasing agent and an avid golfer. His mother Lea is a home maker and loves all things domestic. Jim's older brother Nick and his wife love sci-fi and renaissance fairs. Their renaissance themed wedding was great fun and we enjoyed dressing up in the costumes Laura made!
Laura's Family
Laura is the third of four children. Her father Dale was a high school vocational teacher and was busy rebuilding his 64 ½ Mustang when he passed away 12 years ago. Her mother Nancy is a home maker and is busier in retirement than ever. She's involved in bridge club, golfing, quilting and volunteering her time. Laura's oldest brother Scott is developmentally disabled, works in a special workshop and lives on his own in a group home with several others. Her older sister Heather is an IT/Accounting project manager, is married and has three children. They have numerous rescue kittens that keep them busy. Her younger brother Todd is a landscape architect is married and has two small children. He reminds Laura of their dad in his love of building and tinkering. When her family gathers, one of the guaranteed events is a great board game, cards or dominoes.
We visit our families often, even though they are a distance away. Good thing Jim works for an airline! We also look forward to our families visiting us several times a year. Everyone in our families is thrilled we have decided to adopt and are excited to welcome this baby into our family.
Our House & Neighborhood
Home Sweet Home!
Two blocks from our house is one of the biggest playgrounds in the state. Jim helped build the playground as it was volunteer community effort. He really wanted to help build our children’s favorite place to play. We strongly encourage lots of outdoor play time. We have a great swing set and sandbox in our spacious backyard where our daughter and her friends have spent many hours playing. Hope would love to have a little brother or sister to share it with. We have a nice size garden and grow many fruits, herbs and vegetables. We love walking out to our garden and picking fresh goodies for dinner.
Our Neighborhood Playground
We live in a small town on the outskirts of a larger city. This provides a family oriented safe community with the benefits of a large metropolitan area near by including a great zoo and aquarium, several minor league sports teams, the state fair grounds, shopping and many other events. Our town has one of the best school systems in the state for both academics and athletics.
We have the greatest neighbors anyone could ask for. During a recent ice storm, one neighbor provided Hope and Laura their warm house while staying out in the rain and ice helping Jim fix our generator late into the night. Hope and one of our older neighbors have a very special connection - she is her "next door grandma". We have other neighbors who love to watch Hope so we can enjoy an evening out and who keep our dog while we're traveling.
We are active members of our church where we've made more friends. We enjoy weekly services and participate in many different family events including festivals, Easter egg hunts and trick or treating. We're also very good friends with several families from our daughter's daycare class. So although we live a distance from our extended family, we have a large circle of friends and neighbors that support and care for us.
American Adoptions, a private adoption agency founded on the belief that lives of children can be bettered through adoption, provides safe adoption services to children, birth parents and adoptive families by educating, supporting and coordinating necessary services for adoptions throughout the United States. For more information on American Adoptions please call 1-800-ADOPTION (236-7846).
