Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Dear Friends,

Hello, Kristi and I are thrilled to have an opportunity to share a little bit about ourselves with you through this letter. We thank you for taking a look at our profile. But most importantly, we express sincere gratitude to you for considering adoption for your baby. We can only imagine the difficult process that this must be for you and commend you for your strength. Having adopted our daughter, Savannah, some 5 years ago, we can also express to you with first-hand experience that if you decide to place your baby for adoption it would be an incredible miracle for the adoptive parents you choose. We view our daughter’s birth mother as a hero and an angel.

We have had a very successful and healthy relationship with Savannah’s birth mother. We understand how special and unique the relationship is with birth parents. We are very open to fulfilling the needs of birth parents in terms of communication, visits, letters, photos, gifts, or anything else that would help the relationship be what it should be so that everyone is comfortable. If there’s one thing that you can be rest assured of, it is that you will never be forgotten by our family or your baby.

Kristi and I have been married for over 10 years now and are fortunate to have two wonderful kids; Savannah age 5 and Justin age 2. Both are miracle babies to us. Savannah was adopted and Justin arrived through a successful in-vitro procedure. We are an active and happy family. We enjoy doing things together, taking trips, going to ball games, camping, riding ATVs, wrestling, and jumping on the bed, to name a few of our favorites.

I’m not sure what I did to deserve such a remarkable wife. Kristi is my best friend. She’s loving, kind, and considerate. She also sports a quick wit and stellar sense of humor which has made my life with her a delightfully fun experience. Kristi’s also passionate and determined to fulfill goals and live life to its fullest. After Justin was born, she decided to take up running as a way to get into shape. Before we knew it, she set the goal to run a marathon – yeah, that’s 26.2 miles on foot! With no previous experience in long distant running, I thought this was a pretty audacious goal. (Especially since I considered myself the athlete in the family and I haven’t run one!) With a lot of hard work, commitment, and many miles on the road, she completed her first marathon in April 2009. Not even six months later she conquered a second marathon.

Kristi approaches family and motherhood with even greater dedication than running (or anything else). She is absolutely a fantastic mother. What impresses me most about her is that she’s able to develop a very strong and personal bond with each child. She works hard to know exactly what the kids need and strives to make them happy. Something I love about Kristi is the time she takes to make Savannah and Justin laugh. It doesn’t matter how tired she is or how long the day has been, she’ll play, tickle, and tease with the kids until they laugh themselves to tears.

From Kristi… Craig and I met on a blind date set up by my sisters and we kind of hit it off from the start. I am so glad my sisters set us up because I really love Craig. I’ve known him for 12 years now and love him more than ever. He really is my best friend no matter how cliché that sounds.

Craig is a natural born leader, which has helped him to succeed through sports, school, and now his career. He is very outgoing and good at developing and keeping relationships. It seems like everywhere we go he runs into someone he knows from somewhere. He’s also a sports fanatic, who grew up playing baseball, basketball, football, or anything else with a ball. He still plays a lot sports to this day and has recently taken up cycling and triathlons. Craig is a great provider for our family. He is a hard worker and takes pride in what he does to make sure he does his best. He has worked at the same company for over 10 years and has been given some great opportunities, including a work assignment, which moved us to Mexico City for two years.

Something that was obvious to me as soon as I met Craig was that he was going to make a great father. He is really sweet with children and loves to be around them. He has had a super close bond to Savannah from the day we brought her home. She is a big time “Daddy’s girl” which makes Craig very happy! He is a real hands-on dad and enjoys playtime with the kids. He’ll also spend time reading books, watching movies, wrestling, riding bikes, playing catch, or giving horsey rides…anything to be with the kids and make them happy.

I feel very blessed to be able to stay home with our children. It is what I have always wanted to do. These past five years, since we adopted Savannah, have been the best years of my life. I absolutely love being a mom. I didn’t think life could get any better but then we were able to have Justin join our family. He is a very happy and active little boy. I love the relationship between Savannah and Justin. She is very mothering to him and loves to help take care of him. She will sit and “read” to him and they both love it. Justin loves to wrestle and thinks that anyone who is lying on the floor is initiating a wrestling match. I know I have been abundantly blessed in my life. As Craig mentioned, we view both of our children as miracles. It is my hope that we can have one more miracle happen in our family with the addition of a child.

Back to Craig… Kristi and I both come from healthy and vibrant families. Kristi is the 5th of 7 children; with four sisters and two brothers. I am the oldest of 5 boys in my family. Our children have no problem finding a cousin to play with, as there are 22 grandchildren on Kristi’s side and 7 on my side…so far. We have a great relationship with our siblings and their children and get together often. Grandmas and Grandpas also play an important role in our kids’ lives and both sets of grandparents are wonderful examples to the entire family.

Adoption has already been an incredible blessing in our life. We know that life is a miracle and that somehow and in some way the Lord is able to place the right children in the right home at the right time. It is impossible to describe the love we have for Savannah and Justin. It is our sincerest hope that we will have the opportunity to provide this same love to another child. What’s more, Savannah and Justin would enjoy nothing more than to share their lives with another brother or sister.

We wish you the very best throughout your pregnancy and through all of the upcoming endeavors of your life. May the Lord bless you with all that you stand in need of and much more.

Sincerely,
Craig & Kristi