After a couple of years of dating, we decided that we no longer wanted to exchange gifts for birthdays and holidays. Instead, we decided that we would plan an activity to do together as our gift to each other. “Things” often bring a moment of happiness, but building memories together brings us a lifetime of happiness.
This past Christmas, LeighAnn gifted Joe with a camping trip in the basement complete with the tent and air mattress set up. Joe gifted LeighAnn with building a garden together so that they could enjoy fresh herbs and vegetables all summer long.
We have gifted each other with tickets to sporting events, plays, musicals, weekend getaways, and comedy shows. We’ve attended cooking lessons and clay sculpting classes. We’ve gotten a bit more adventurous with camping trips in tiny homes, ice skating, curling, and rock climbing.
Whenever we gift each other with an activity we make sure that we can do it together and try to find something that the other person has never done.
Spending time together making memories is the most important gift that we can give to each other.
We met in August 2015 online. The only reason LeighAnn decided to message Joe back was that he used proper grammar and seemed like a gentleman. When he messaged her, he didn’t start with a cheesy pick-up line like, “Wuz up babyyyyy”. She was relieved and messaged him back. A few weeks later, we met for coffee, and LeighAnn knew immediately that she would marry Joe. Joe asked for a second date shortly after that first coffee. In 2019, we became engaged and married in the fall of 2020!
While we have many similar interests and hobbies, we are two independent people who share one life! We play games, camp, travel, and have many random conversations that start with LeighAnn asking, “what if we touched eyeballs?” No worries, we have not done that! We simply love being around each other.
Joe is very supportive of LeighAnn. He encourages her to have girl days with her mom, spend time with friends and sisters, and loves her general goofiness. LeighAnn is also very supportive of Joe. Joe has always continued to learn and grow in his professional career. Joe has had a few different types of jobs and Leighann has supported him in finding happiness in his work. Leighann always encourages Joe to always stay connected with close friends.
Together we take a yearly vacation with Joe’s college friends and their children which is the highlight of every summer.
We spend as much time outside as we can. We love sitting by the pool, going on hikes, finding a beach to bury our toes in, or simply walking through a nearby park. LeighAnn is especially skilled at finding a relaxing activity in the sun for her and Joe.
This past summer, Joe got back into golf and LeighAnn has taken an interest in learning how to play (mostly because the golf bag is super cute). This might be the next summer activity that we enjoy doing together. In the winter, we cozy up by the fire, play games, catch up on TV shows and movies, and work on house projects.
LeighAnn and Joe both have their own ways to wind down as well. LeighAnn loves to garden, read thriller novels, or bake delicious treats. Joe will head to the gym, find a lake to go fishing or put together a jigsaw puzzle. LeighAnn also loves to host people at our house. Leighann sets the plan and menu, and Joe ensures that everyone has enough to eat and drink.
Gender: Any Gender, including an Ambiguous or Transitioning Gender Child
Ethnicities: Any Race and Ethnicity
Age: Newborn to 3 Years Old
Total of: 1 to 3 Children or 3 Siblings
We Live In: Grand Rapids Area
Our Faith: Open to All Religions
Pets: No Pets
Kids Already: No Children Now
Child Care Plan: Family Member Child Care Licensed Child Care Center Stay-at-Home Parent
Joe has three older siblings who live in Michigan. We see his family numerous times throughout the year for family cookouts, kid’s events, and holidays. LeighAnn has three younger siblings. Two live in Michigan and one in San Francisco. We see her family more frequently throughout the year for a quick hang-out.
LeighAnn’s family lives close to us so it’s easier to stop by for a quick conversation and coffee. Joe’s parents live on a private lake in Rockford. Every spring and fall we brave the cold water to put in or take out the dock for the season. We enjoy the summer lake days full of fishing, swimming, and cooking out!
We value our tight-knit friendships over many casual acquaintances. While our friend group may be smaller than others, we consider our close friends part of our family.
We are both friendly, easy to get along with people so it is not hard for us to make new friendships. Joe tends to be slower and more guarded when making new long-lasting friendships. LeighAnn can strike up a conversation with strangers in a grocery store while choosing a shampoo.
We both agree that finding the right community and friendship groups will be an important part of our adoption story. We will seek out friendships that support the growth and identity of our child.
We live in the Wyoming area in a quiet neighborhood within walking distance of many parks and trails. We are a 10-minute drive from malls, restaurants, hospitals, and all of the conveniences you could need. LeighAnn’s parents are a short 5-minute drive away.
Our neighborhood is full of school-age children, including our closest neighbor who have an adoption story of their own. Our neighborhood hosts a number of events including a summer block party and a Santa sleigh ride. Our neighborhood is always looking for kid-friendly activities to bring people together.
We sold our first home in 2024 and bought this house with hopes of growing our family. We live in a four-bedroom home with a great backyard for playing, relaxing, roasting marshmallows, and lying by the pool soaking up the sun! There are three bedrooms upstairs including the master and a child’s bedroom.
Our house is on the corner of a cul-de-sac so there is plenty of space to learn to ride a bike, roller skate, or play street hockey safely. We feel that our house and neighborhood are ideal for raising a family which is why we moved. We are ready to turn our house into a home!
We both have spent most of our careers working in education. We have seen the good and the bad that a traditional, formalized education can have on a person.
Joe grew up thinking that a college education was the only way to succeed in life, so that is the path he followed. Obtaining an advanced degree and working in education for 15 years, he realized that is not the only path to success. Joe still values a traditional education but believes that there are countless ways for children to learn.
LeighAnn grew up similarly but quickly realized that a formalized college education was not for her. She followed her passion with an associate’s degree in American Sign Language. LeighAnn immediately began working at a local high school as a Sign Language Interpreter.
We believe that a K-12 education helps to build important life skills in a child. We believe that in a K-12 setting a child will begin to understand who they are and develop interests they may want to follow in life. We believe all of this but also understand that not every child learns the same way. We will choose the best school for the child based on their needs and desires, and not what is simply convenient for us.
We believe that consistency and being clear and specific about negative behavior are critical. As parents, it is important to model the appropriate behavior that we hope to see. Physical or verbally demeaning punishment will never be an option for us.
We believe that those sorts of behaviors will only teach that child that fighting or verbally abusive language is a solution to a problem. Fighting and name-calling are never a solution to a problem. We will talk through the situations and offer alternate choices when possible.
We believe strongly that positively reinforcing good behavior will help teach a child right from wrong. Positive behavior will be celebrated as much as negative behavior is punished, if not more.
Growing up, when Joe misbehaved, he would lose the privilege to do something that he enjoyed. He quickly learned that his actions had consequences. When LeighAnn misbehaved, she too would not be able to do something that she enjoyed but also receive a “reading time-out.” She would need to spend time in her room reading until her punishment was complete.
While we believe discipline is important and necessary, our home will be a positive and healthy environment for a child to grow up. Our child will know right from wrong and to be respectful of others.
We both grew up with a religious upbringing with the Golden Rule being at the center of those teachings.
Joe grew up Catholic and attended church regularly. He went to Aquinas College which is a private Catholic college. After college, he attended services from many different religions realizing how similar they can be. While he no longer attends religious services, he believes that there is something bigger than us out there and everyone has the right to explore their faith in whatever way gives them peace.
LeighAnn grew up Baptist and attended church regularly. She always had good experiences and loved church through her young adult years. During college, she realized that church attendance or the amount she prayed did not impact whether she was a good or bad person. While she respects her parents who are still strong in their faith, she has opened her eyes to other viewpoints.
While we do not attend church now, We pray at dinner to show our gratefulness for our blessings, our requests for our hopes and dreams, and for others who may be less fortunate. As future parents, we will teach our children about different religions and provide opportunities to explore those as a family. We will support our child in whatever path they choose to follow.
I have always enjoyed putting together puzzles, tinkering with electronics, and helping others succeed. My current role involves working with new and changing technologies and school classroom needs. With any technology, problems will arise, ranging from simple bugs to major outages. Technology is also confusing due to bad designs and layouts, and unclear expectations.
My role allows me to support our school staff, teachers, and students when using new or unfamiliar technologies. I get to troubleshoot and solve issues and provide resources on how to best use the technology.
One aspect I enjoy most about my job is that get to directly support our teachers with their technology needs. I help to remove the technology barriers that our schools face and allow teachers to teach and students to learn.
I plan to take as much paid paternity leave as my company allows. Unfortunately, that is very little. I will return to full-time employment after only a couple of weeks. We are considering all options for LeighAnn and her return to work. Regardless of LeighAnn’s employment status, we plan to enroll in a local licensed daycare. Our families have also offered to support us when additional support is needed.
I work as a Human Resources Specialist. My role is to support various departments with a variety of things such as hiring, employee performance, benefits, and anything else the department or employees need regarding Human Resources. I love connecting with employees and leaders daily and being able to support them however I can.
My plan is to take 12 weeks off from work to bond with the child. After 12 weeks, I hope to return to work in some capacity whether full or part-time. For childcare, we plan to have a family member(s) and a licensed daycare watch the child. After returning to work, if my heart wants to be a full-time at-home mom or if our family needs change and a stay-at-home parent is needed, I will stay home!
My family is made up of six members including my mom and dad and my three older siblings. My parents are Dutch (dad) and German (mom) so my youngest sister and I are Dutch and German. My oldest siblings are from my dad’s first marriage and are Korean and Dutch.
We don’t do much to celebrate our cultural or ethnic background. The focus is more on spending time with each other as much as possible. Typically, we’ll gather at my parent’s house around the holidays to celebrate and pick up exactly where we left off when we last saw each other. I have seven nieces and nephews. We always do our best to attend their sporting and cultural events to support our growing and changing families.
For most of my life, my parents have lived on a lake so many of our traditions and memories involved the water. It’s a bit uncommon, but one of my favorite traditions is putting in and taking out the dock and boats. My dad likes to have the dock and boats in the lake as early as possible. The water is slightly above freezing and holes in the waders seem to grow every year.
We end the day with most of us warming up around the fire with a hot cup of coffee and a warm bowl of chili. Taking the dock and boats out at the end of summer is always less eventful. The sun is shining, the water is warmer, and we end the day on the back deck grilling food and reminiscing about all the fun that we had on the lake that year.
I come from a unique family, and I think that makes us special. My dad was injured playing college football and uses a wheelchair. I am the oldest of four kids. My two sisters are adopted from Bangladesh. I was adopted from Korea while my brother is my parent’s only biological child. My brother’s wife comes from a traditional Indian family.
I love the different cultures my family shares and we celebrate our diversity by embracing our cultures. Growing up celebrating our arrival/adoption date was special. We always had a special meal and a small gift from our country of birth. My brother had his own special day by celebrating his half-birthday!
Both my parents are now retired. My dad worked for the State of Michigan and my mom worked as a nurse. She chose to spend time balancing family and her professional career by working part-time on and off during my childhood. My parents instilled in me a strong worth ethic while placing family time and relationships above all else.
I have wonderful memories of our family traveling to Indiana to a cabin called Potato Creek. My dad would invent fun challenges for us kids such as finding and kissing a turtle, learning how to ride a bike and taking a picture of a raccoon. I grew up playing endless hours of Legos, tea parties, crafts and reading.
We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for considering adoption as part of your journey. We admire your strength, love, and selflessness in making such a profound decision.
If you choose us, we promise to provide your child with a safe, nurturing, and joyful home filled with love and opportunity. We are committed to providing a stable and supportive home where your child can develop their unique talents, interests, and personality.
We are committed to honoring your role in their story and ensuring they grow up knowing how deeply loved they are by you. Your strength and love will always be an important part of your child’s story, and we will ensure that they know about the incredible sacrifice you have made for their future.
Please know that we are open to maintaining a relationship with you through letters, photos, and visits if that is something you desire. Our goal is to honor your wishes and to provide the best possible life for your child.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. If you would like to see more of our life and those we hold close, we would love to share our photo book with you. Whatever path you choose, we wish you and your child love, happiness, and a bright future.
Sincerely,
Your role is significant and we want to honor you. We want the child to grow up knowing who you are and how much they are loved by you through shared photos, letters, and visits.
We hope to create special traditions with you. We always celebrate LeighAnn’s arrival day (adoption day) as much as we celebrate her birthday. We’d love to continue this tradition with you by celebrating the official adoption day.
Your role is significant and we want to honor you. We want the child to grow up knowing who you are and how much they are loved by you through shared photos, letters, and visits.
We hope to create special traditions with you. We always celebrate LeighAnn’s arrival day (adoption day) as much as we celebrate her birthday. We’d love to continue this tradition with you by celebrating the official adoption day.
Just one more thing...Your role is significant and we want to honor you. We want the child to grow up knowing who you are and how much they are loved by you through shared photos, letters, and visits.
We hope to create special traditions with you. We always celebrate LeighAnn’s arrival day (adoption day) as much as we celebrate her birthday. We’d love to continue this tradition with you by celebrating the official adoption day.
