Kim’s Extended Family

Our extended families have become "one" big family. We are all very close to each other. Our families have the same beliefs and morals. It's as if we were all meant to be family. We send cards and gifts to each other and visit whenever possible. Every year for Kevin's birthday we celebrate with both of our parents at our house. Our parents even have the same names! Our families can not wait for us to adopt again. Everyone is so excited and they all pray for the day when there is another baby to love.

Kevin’s Extended Family Celebrating His Parents’ 40th Wedding Anniversary

Kim is the middle-child of three girls. Her sisters are truly her best friends. Both of them have three children ranging from new born to seventeen. They both live one mile from us and have in-home daycares, which is where our daughter attends. Kim's parents, better known as "Momo and Poppy" live two miles down the road from us. Both of her parents are retired and spend a lot of time with the grandchildren. They attend as many activities as possible like t-ball, basketball, soccer etc. Every Sunday we get together as a family at their house for dinner.

During the summer months we spend a great deal of time at Kim's sister's house; swimming and barbecuing. The kids also love it when "Poppy" takes them the creek to through rocks and play in the water. One of our family traditions is on Christmas Eve we all attend mass together and then go to "Momo and Poppy's" to open gifts and pig out on snack food.

Kevin is the younger of two boys. His brother is married with two children, a boy and girl. They live a few hours away from us. We only get to see them about three times a year and when we do Kevin and his brother stay up till wee hours catching up. Kevin's parents live in the same city as his brother. They come and visit us for the weekend about once a month. We talk on the phone often and his Mom sends our daughter packages (filled with clothes and toys) about 6 times a year for absolutely no reason at all. Since there is distance between us we take turns having Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house.

Our Home

We built our 1 1/2 story home in Missouri nine years ago. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 half baths and 2 full baths; one being the "kids," decked out in fish decor with bright colors. We have a spacious family room, eat in kitchen, dining room and a living room where we spend a lot of family time. Toys are almost in every room of the house. Our home has plenty of room to entertain and have guests stay over. It is on 23 acres with a large yard filled with children's activities; swing set, trampoline (with sides), batter baseball, and a soccer goal to name a few.

Kim and Karlee at the Zoo

Our home is a mile from the schools, church and parks. Our small town is one where everyone is very friendly and feels safe. Our community has numerous activities yearly such as the county fair, parades, sporting events, picnics, fall festivals, any thing a kid would dream of.

The neighborhood is quiet with hardly any traffic since we live on a dead end road. We choose this location to build our home so that we would never have to worry about children playing outside. During the winter months deer can be seen on our land. Our neighborhood has children ranging from newborn to 7 years old, one of which is a cousin.