Letter

Before we introduce ourselves, we want to sincerely thank you for considering adoption. Birth parents are revered in our home. We respect you tremendously for considering adoption for your baby. This is no doubt one of the most difficult situations you’ve ever faced. We are sure you aren’t taking this decision lightly and we hope you will be strengthened in whatever you decide. Likewise, we will do everything we can to prepare for our next adoption and the perfect baby waiting to join us. We are excited about adding to our family and hope you understand your sacred role in doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves.

We would like to tell you a little more about us so you can see how wonderful adoption has been for our family.

Our Experiences With Open Adoption

We make two promises to you: we will always love your baby and we will never forget you and the gift of life you gave your child. In our home, an open adoption is more than sending email updates. You will know how much we love you. Your child will always know who you are and the different talents, personality traits, and parts of their appearance they inherited from you. Your child will know the special reasons why you placed them for adoption and how deeply you love them.

We will forever be grateful for our boys’ birthmothers and their brave sacrifices. We have been blessed with very open relationships with both of our boys’ birth families. After bonding with their babies, we saw how heart-wrenching it was for both women to have the strength to place their babies. It was because of those powerful experiences – and many special experiences and conversations with them since placement – we feel even more ready to adopt again. We have learned about love, courage, faith, and healing from our boys’ birth mothers. We can hardly wait to share that special bond with you too.

We hope for another open adoption and know that every birth parent is different. We feel prepared to create an honest and trusting relationship with our next baby’s birth family. A relationship that feels right for all of us. If you have any questions about how we feel about birth mothers or an open adoption, please don’t hesitate to email us.

We met through a mutual friend at a movie at BYU. Shortly after, Michelle moved into Greg’s apartment complex. We spent the following year getting to know each other better by eating Sunday dinners together, studying together and going to see bands perform. Michelle also became one of Greg’s biggest groupies when he formed his own punk rock band. We started dating seriously, and then were married in the Salt Lake Temple in April of 1998.

Greg is now an attorney for a law firm in Portland, Oregon. He loves his job because it is challenging, but even more so because it is rewarding to help clients work through their legal problems. Michelle graduated from BYU in broadcast journalism and worked until our first son, Noah, was born. She now stays at home full-time.

The main thing about us you should know is that we are best friends. We started out as friends and now that we have children, we still try to spend as much time as possible together. We take a class at the gym together every week and after the boys go to bed we like to relax together talking and laughing about the day. A day doesn’t seem right without a little time just for the two of us.

Michelle (by Greg)

Michelle is a wonderful wife and mother. She is beautiful, kind, compassionate, caring, loving, hardworking, and a faithful member of the Church. Michelle is a great teacher. Both Noah and Sam are very advanced for their age because Michelle will take the time to read to them and answer Noah’s seemingly endless questions. Michelle takes a special interest in each child individually and allows both of them to develop each of their own strengths and talents. Michelle enjoys spending time outdoors with the kids at the park, at the zoo, and in the neighborhood. She is very active and does not like to sit around.

Michelle is loved and respected by everyone she meets. Because she is compassionate, she is always willing to help others in need and many of her friends will actively solicit her opinions. Michelle is confident and secure in her beliefs. She will always stand up for what is right, even though it may be difficult at times. Michelle has a wonderful sense of humor and we always have a lot of fun together. She has an infectious smile and laugh that lights up a room. She is honest and trustworthy in all aspects of her life. She is dedicated to being the best wife and mother she can be.

Greg (by Michelle)

Greg is an amazing person. He is everything to me and our boys absolutely adore him. While they love kisses from mommy when they are sad, they much prefer to be held and snuggled by daddy. Every morning Noah puts on his shoes and stands in the garage to watch Greg leave for work. He waves and yells “bye dad!” about fifty times until Greg drives around the corner and no longer can be seen. Throughout the day, Noah asks if he can call Greg, especially if he sees a cool car or if he hears a song on the radio he knows Greg likes. When Greg returns from work in the evening, both boys run to greet him. Noah starts a long-winded explanation of everything they did that day, and Sam tries his hardest to chime in with whatever details he can share. Greg is much more involved in the boys’ life than the average father. He takes an active interest in everything they say and do. He helps me with everything around the house and he makes sacrifices to meet us for lunch about once a week. I appreciate that although he has a demanding job, lots of friends, and hobbies of his own, our family is his priority and we make him genuinely happy.

Greg has a wonderful sense of humor and as a result has an easy time making friends. He is persuasive and loyal and a great leader. He is quick to forgive and is respectful. Greg is a hard worker and I really appreciate his willingness to provide well for our family. I am so thankful he loves the Lord and the gospel and that he has sincere faith.

Noah

Noah was born November 21, 2003. He is a very happy and energetic little boy. He literally never stops moving and every day he manages to wear us out. Noah is independent and is very smart. He loves to learn and read books and he asks questions constantly. That’s the first thing people notice about him, is his curious questioning. He is very social and has tons of friends – from babies to adults. He is obsessed with birds and animals and spends hours every day studying different species. He loves to know the details, including in what areas of the world they live. He loves to play outside and go to the park. He loves to ride bikes and look for salamanders and snakes with the neighborhood kids. Noah also loves music and can identify more songs than most adults. He tries to be good and nice to everyone and is often a peacemaker.

Noah’s birth mom is happily married and lives in Utah with her husband and her darling new baby. We have seen her a few times since placement and always look forward to another visit. We exchange emails and pictures often. We have gotten to know her entire family and value the trust they have in us.

Samuel

Samuel was born December 5, 2007. He is a happy and calm little boy and has been a blessing to our family. He is one of the easiest-going children we have ever met – and friends and strangers alike notice that about him. He really just goes with the flow. He loves balls and riding his bike and scooter and is really athletic and coordinated. He loves to climb and run and would spend all day outside if he could. He is happiest when he’s treated like a big boy and when we allow him to be independent and do things like Noah. He worships Noah and does and says most everything he sees his hero big brother doing. He likes bugs, snakes, dogs, reading books, and absolutely loves swimming.

We have an open relationship with Samuel’s birth mother. She lives close to us, so we see her often. We appreciate the love and support of her mother and how excited her extended family has been to meet us and accept us into their circle of love. Between visits, we also exchange lots of emails and pictures.

Brotherly Love

We love Noah and Sam more than words could ever say. We couldn’t imagine life without them. They bring us more joy and laughter than we ever expected was possible. Parenting them is wonderful, even if there is never a dull/quiet/clean/un-chaotic moment with them around!

We can’t talk about our family and not express the amazing love Noah and Samuel share. They are the best of friends and it is their love with each other that has motivated us to adopt another child. They can hardly function when they aren’t together. Noah adores and protects his little brother and Sam wants to everything just like Noah. Although there is a 4-year gap between them, they are extremely close.

We both have been surprised at how much fun it is to teach Noah and Sam. We have enjoyed teaching Noah to swim and to read. And we love teaching Sam to talk and to ride his bike. But we try to spend most of our time teaching things that we value most, like the gospel and a love for our Savior. We value time together as a family, honesty, respect, gratitude, hard work, and education. We also allow both of our boys to develop their own talents and explore their own interests. We know they came to the world with specific gifts and we enjoy helping them be who they were always meant to become.

Family Time

Family is everything to us. Our boys like to swim, so during the summer we try to go swimming at least once a week. Greg will often meet us at the pool for lunch so he can hang out with us too. We eat dinner together every night. Michelle loves to cook and we all love to eat, so we make that time a priority. We love to travel all around Oregon. Greg travels for work and we all go with him as often as possible. In recent months we’ve tagged along to Utah, the Oregon Coast, and Central Oregon. We also enjoy visiting family in Utah and Nevada. We took Noah to Disneyland and Sea World a few years ago, we took both boys to Hawaii in 2008, and we visit Seattle a few times a year. Our boys are getting quite accustomed to hotels. They are both excellent travelers!

While we enjoy the big adventures, more often than not we enjoy time at home in our backyard or around town at t-ball. We love having friends over to BBQ or hangout and we enjoy going out to eat as a family.

We know that peace during hard times is possible. We pray for you and invite you to become part of our family’s story. Please feel free to email us. We look forward to getting to know you.

With Love,

Greg, Michelle, Noah and Samuel

For more information about us (and more pictures!) please visit our adoption blog: http://greg-michelle-noah-sam.blogspot.com/