What does "Family Life" mean to you?
Family life to us means spending quality time together throughout the day and having dinner together every evening at the dining room table with the television turned off. Spending time together sharing activities around the home, local area or travelling and supporting each other’s interests and cheering each other on is also very important to us. Car trips to see the extended family are a rite of passage in both our childhoods and will be as well in our family.
Describe your childhood:
Jeff - I grew up in a neighborhood that was farmland converted to houses with large open fields that provided plenty of room to run and play. I enjoyed being outdoors with my friends playing baseball, football and riding our bikes. My Dad owned an Auto Parts store and taught me about home and car maintenance. My dad was also a pilot and owned a plane and would fly the family to Florida and other places for our family vacations. My mother was a homemaker and believed in a higher education for her children. I have great memories of being in the kitchen helping to make cookies or special meals with my mom.
Cynthia - I was raised on a cattle ranch in early childhood. My love for horses came from my father and I have fond memories of riding horses and enjoyed being outdoors. I inherited my skills at cooking, sewing and crafts from my mother who was a wonderful cook and sewed beautiful projects. When I was in the fourth grade we moved to Mexico City, Mexico where I learned to be fluent in Spanish and lived there for three years until we moved to a small town in Indian which was a wonderful place to grow up. I enjoyed drama, choir, being a Pom Pom girl and running track.
Tell us about your home?
We live in a beautiful home that has a very child friendly yard, which includes a sandbox, a play and swing set, and lots of room for children to run and play. We also have a long wide driveway that is great for riding bicycles and tricycles well away from the road.
When you have a 3-day weekend, what do you like to do?
We like to invite the local kids over to our house to play in the yard. We also enjoy engaging the kids in crafting projects for the upcoming holidays or birthdays. Occasionally we will go to the movies, go bowling, or go fishing in the bay or a local pond.
Do you have pets? If so tell us about them?
We have a mature medium size dog that is very gentle with children and loves to play outside.
What is your favorite food?
Jeff - Loves all sushi and all types of seafood.
Cynthia - Loves a grilled pork chop, potatoes, cream gravy and peas.
What do you hope to teach your children?
How to be happy, kind and intelligent world citizens that treat others with kindness and respect. That there are many adventures to experience in life, but nothing will enrich their lives more than family.
Do you play any musical instruments?
Jeff - No
Cynthia - No; but we love listening to music. We keep music on around the house most of the time to make the days happier.
Describe your neighborhood?
Our subdivision was originally built in the 1930’s and has gone through several updates since then. The homes are all on large lots and have their own character and style. There are many children in our neighborhood of all ages and it is a wonderful place for children to grow up. The families are all friendly and see each other quite often, sometimes gathering for spontaneous outdoor picnic dinners.
Share something about your spouse that only you know:
Jeff - Cynthia wants to climb to the base camp on Mt. Everest.
Cynthia - Because of Jeff’s interest in modern technical things, he loves to engage the quiet environment of nature on weeklong camping trips.
Describe the last romantic thing you did together?
We had a candlelit dinner on a cruise through the Alaskan inland waterway.
What will you tell your child about their birthmother?
That she helped God fulfill our dream of having a family.
It's Daddy's day - what activity do you want to share with your child?
I look forward to sharing our Pancake Saturdays and Waffle Sundays. I will help the little ones make the pancakes and waffles to start the day off right. When the weather is nice, after breakfast it’s outside to explore the back yard and see what wild things we can find. Bunnies, squirrels, birds and bugs are the usual suspects.
Do you plan on sharing with your child what their birth parents were like?
Yes, when appropriate, we will share with our child what we know about his/her birthparents. The more information we have, the more we can help answer the child’s questions while growing up.
What kind of education are you hoping to provide for your child - Private or Public?
We are currently leaning toward a private education from pre-kindergarten through high school. After that it will be the child’s choice whether he/she attends a public or private college. Our son is thriving well in a half day Montessori school.
How did you come to the decision of adoption?
Our desire to start a family together was complicated by not being able to conceive a child of our own. After several years we decided to pursue adoption. We were blessed by a wonderful birthmother with the birth of our son, Jonathan. We have greatly enjoyed having our son in our lives and are looking forward to the joy of another child joining our family. Jonathan is very excited to become a big brother to a little brother or sister. He is very gentle with small children.
What faith will you raise your child?
Christian
How will you help your child accomplish their dreams?
We believe that providing our children with the best college education at the school of their choosing and introducing them to a wide variety of people and opportunities throughout their lives will provide them with the ability to accomplish any dreams that they may have.
What kind of a relationship do you hope to build with your birthmom through her pregnancy?
We would like to understand her family, circumstances and values. We understand that each person’s life is different and want to be supportive of her in making good choices and pursuing her dreams in life. We would also like her to know this very important decision she has made for the child she is carrying is a very positive action for herself, the child, and us as adoptive parents.
How did you meet?
We were introduced by a mutual friend. Cynthia was living in Missouri and Jeff was in town visiting his parents. It was like a storybook “Love at first sight”. We had two dates before Jeff was deployed overseas for six months with the military, but our relationship grew through letters and phone calls. We dated a year after Jeff returned home and then married.
What was your relationship with your parents like?
Jeff - Growing up my relationship with my parents was very good. They supported me in the decisions I made and exposed me to many opportunities through travelling on summer vacations.
Cynthia - My relationship with my parents was very healthy and they exposed me to a wide variety of choices in life. They raised me with a strong sense of self and the willpower to succeed in whatever I chose to do.
What attracted you to each other?
Jeff - I thought Cynthia was beautiful, energetic and very intriguing.
Cynthia - I found Jeff tall, dark, handsome and the most intelligent man I’d ever met.
Please describe your personalities:
Jeff - Smart, methodical, thoughtful, loving, creative and seeks adventure in life.
Cynthia - Happy, loving, optimistic, artistic and seeks all of the joy in life.
What are your hobbies (please share those you enjoy as individuals and those you enjoy as a couple):
Cynthia - Sewing, baking, gardening, travelling, running.
Jeff - Flying, home projects, watching sports live or on television.
Together we enjoy taking long vacations to a wide variety of places both in and out of the United States. We enjoy visiting different cultures and learning how people live throughout the world.
When you close your eyes and see yourself holding your precious baby in your arms what are your thoughts regarding the birthmother?
How eternally grateful I am that she could be so brave and so loving to imagine a different life for this child.
How will a child enrich your life?
Embracing him/her within our own family and providing him/her the confidence to move through the world and see joy within it.
Why did you each choose the career path you decided on?
Cynthia - After two years of college I went into retail management and loved it. After the adoption of our son, I decided I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom so I could take care of our son and be involved in his everyday activities.
Jeff - After completing a year in graduate school I realized all I really wanted to do was fly airplanes so I joined the military where I earned by Masters of Science degree. I enjoy my work in the military and the wide variety of opportunities that have been made available to me.
What makes a birthmom special?
A birthmother is very special as she is entrusting us with her child to love and care for; that takes more courage than the average person could possibly imagine.
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