Letter

Hello! Thanks for reading our letter and getting just a little glimpse of who we are. We’d love to get to know you more so please feel free to contact us anytime.

Why Choose Us?

We are a unique family in that we both are home with our kids most of the time. Brian's job as a financial analyst allows him to work from home 100% of the time. We are able to work out together in the mornings, go for walks at lunch with the girls, and eat all three meals at home together as a family each day. It is AWESOME!!!

His schedule allows me to be able to run errands during naptime, or just have a little downtime to go jogging, take guitar lessons, or two half days a week go to my job as a physician. We live 2 blocks from my office so I can put the girls down for their nap at 1:10 pm, be to work by 1:15 pm, see a few patients, and be home before 3:00 pm when the girls wake up.

When I started medical school, I never imagined a schedule that would allow me to be a stay-at-home mom and still be able to practice as a physician all at the same time. Our kids are so important to us, however, that we have managed a way to be able to spend as much time as possible with them and still be able to provide a stable, financial home life for them as well!!!

We already have two children. Why do we want to adopt?

We both had great childhoods and we want to recreate a little bit of that for our kids. I (Chantel) am the oldest of seven kids and love being part of a big family. We always planned on having six or seven kids as well, however because of infertility, we are having difficulty having more biological children. We currently have two daughters and they bring us so much joy. It has been an amazing experience so far and we can't wait to see what life has in store for us!!!

We have always wanted adoption to be a part of our family because Brian grew up in a home with a biological brother and an adopted sister. It was a wonderful experience for their family and one we would like to have for ours as well. We know that we can provide a great home for your child and welcome the opportunity to raise more children.

Because we have two girls, we would really like a little boy but are open to either sex. We are open to a newborn or an older child. We are also open to a sibling group of two to three children.

We have been married for eight years. We met nine years ago in church in Des Moines, Iowa. I was a third year medical student and Brian was just finishing up his Master’s in Business.

A few years ago Brian could best be described as a go-getting, jet-setting outdoorsman. He loved camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, skiing, biking … you name it. If it involved poles, guns, tents, gear –he was there. I, on the other hand, would have been found reading, knitting, cross-stitching, scrapbooking or working on some project or another. We use the past tense on these descriptions because these days the best words to describe us are “Mom and Dad”.

Today, you are most likely to find us playing in the park, feeding the quacks (that’s our 3 year olds code for duck), watching Tinker bell for the 1000th time, and playing dress up with the many, many dolls that are taking over our house. Brian can still be found sleeping in a tent but it’s the pink princess tent that is set up in our daughter’s room, and he’s mostly likely hunting the monsters that live under the bed and in the closet. I still love to read but my current favorites are “Llama, Llama, Red Pajama”, and the “Big Snore” and the projects I’m working on usually involve crayons, stickers, and Crayola color wonders (don’t make a mess on walls, HOORAY) markers!!

Our interests are now our children and we wouldn’t have it any other way!! We love to be together as a family. We have more fun together than with anyone else and have never laughed as much as we have with each other. We love to travel and frequently take trips together. We enjoy the outdoors and recently have found joy in the zoo, the playground, the park, and anything that allows us to spend time together with our daughters.

Our Girls

Alicey is almost four. She takes after her dad and is a totally outgoing, people person. She attends preschool two mornings a week and loves every second of it. She carries a purse around with her pretty much every where she goes. She loves dolls and anything princess. She is the funniest little girl and makes us laugh every day.

Avenley is almost two and tries her hardest to keep up with her Big Sister. She loves dancing to music and playing with the dog. She is such a joy and we are thankful every day to be her parents!!

We live in a cute little 1940’s bungalow in an awesome neighborhood that is conveniently located three blocks from my office. Can’t beat that commute!! Well, maybe Brian’s commute from the upstairs to the downstairs. Our yard is completely fenced – a must for our two mischievous little dogs and adventurous little girls and is big enough for all of them to run around in. We have a great view of the mountains from our backyard and are only a few minutes away from the ski resort. That comes in handy all winter!! We are just a couple minutes from downtown and benefit from memberships to the Dinosaur Park, the Children’s Museum and the Nature Center.

Our Families

We are grateful to have the loving support of a large extended family that will be there to support us every step of the way. Our families are awesome. We couldn't ask for better grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for our kids!!!

Brian grew up in Texas and his family is still there. He is the oldest with one younger brother and one younger sister. We travel to Texas several times a year or his family comes here to Utah so that we can spend time together. His brother has two little girls that love playing with our little girls. We make a yearly trip to Disneyland every January and this past year all four girls got to go together. It was so much fun!!

I grew up in Utah. I have three younger brothers and three younger sisters. All my family lives here in Utah with the exception of one brother who is in the military and stationed in Alaska. We see my family weekly, usually on Sunday’s for dinner. I have two nieces and seven nephews and they are so much fun. I love having so many cousins for my kids to grow up with!

I wish I could tell you that we were the perfect parents that we never get frustrated, that our house is absolutely spotless, and that our kids never misbehave but I can’t. We're just normal people and we struggle with the hard parts of raising a family. We probably eat ice cream a little more than we should and our kids don't always go to bed on time, but despite our short comings, at the end of the day we find the most joy in our children.

We've worked hard to be able to provide a good home for them and we're in a position to be able to support a large family. Most of all, we can tell you with absolute certainty, that we will love any child that comes to our home with all our hearts.

We would love to be able to talk with you more and see if we are the family for you. Please send us an email at any time and we'd love to arrange a time to talk with you by phone.

With love,
Brian and Chantel