Dear Friend,
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to introduce ourselves. Although we cannot begin to understand the feelings you are experiencing at this time, we want you to know how much we admire and respect you for your decision to consider adoption. We are continually grateful to our daughter’s birthparents for the decision they made. We know the decision is difficult and we hope and pray that you will feel an extra measure of love and comfort in your life at this time.
It was not long into our marriage that we found out that we would not be able to have children on our own. As we searched for direction from our Heavenly Father, we felt directed toward adoption. We were blessed with our daughter, Sofia, in February 2008. We cannot imagine life without her. We remember the excitement we felt throughout the process of Sofia’s adoption and are looking forward to another miraculous experience. Adoption brings so much love to all who are involved and we feel privileged to be a part of this miracle. We look forward to welcoming another child into our home and hearts.
We have been married for almost five years, but feel like we have known each other forever. We love being together in everything we do. We love to travel as well as create memories at home. We have so much fun taking Sofia to the zoo, to parks and to the library. In the summertime we love to go to the farmer's market and be outside as much as possible. We love going to movies, cooking, hosting parties, eating sushi and laughing with each other. We also love going to college football and basketball games, and cheering for our Utes!
How We Met: (As told by Matt)
I had seen Jessica at church, but was too nervous to talk to her. I had been put in charge of a small church activity group and helped organize a Sub-for-Santa for December. One Monday evening, my group went to Wal-Mart to shop for our project. I strolled my cart down the toy aisle and was surprised when my cart bumped head-on into another cart as I turned the corner. I was delighted when I looked up and saw that the girl pushing the other cart I had bumped into, belonged to Jessica! She introduced herself and said she recognized me from church. I tried to act cool, but inside, I was so excited to finally get the “official” introduction! It wasn’t long after that we started to date; and pretty soon we were seeing each other everyday. We laugh as we tell people we found love at Wal-Mart!
Jessica about Matt:
It didn’t take me long to fall in love with Matt. He is one of the kindest people I have ever known. He is friendly and has a unique capability of making everyone around him feel special, welcome, and loved. He never judges, never speaks ill and is always the first to offer help. He is a hard worker and is a faithful priesthood holder. He also has a great sense of humor and is always open to trying something new, just for the fun of it. Watching Matt with our daughter has made me love him even more! He loves playing with Sofia and taking her on special daddy-daughter dates.
Matt is the oldest of seven kids. His siblings live in different areas of the West (with one sister in Pennsylvania) but get together as often as possible. One of Matt’s family’s favorite thing to do is go to their cabin in New Hampshire. The cabin belongs to his grandparents and has been in the family for generations. Everyone loves to swim in the lake, hike the beautiful hills and play fun games together.
Matt about Jessica:
From the day I met Jessica I was hooked. I love to be with her every possible moment. She is a beautiful person both physically and spiritually. Our home is a place where people come to see how she has decorated for the latest season with lots of color and unique decorating. She truly makes our house a home. She loves to travel and see new places.During college, she decided to spread her wings a bit and had the experience of studying in London, Venezuela and Washington D.C.
One of the things I love most about Jessica is how she gets so excited for life’s events, like birthdays and holidays. I will say, it’s a bit frustrating trying to buy presents for her because she is a snoop! In her eyes, half of the fun of surprises is finding out the surprise before it actually happens. I know, it doesn’t make much sense to me either. Luckily, I had been warned of her “peeking” ways by her family. Our first Christmas together, I actually shrink-wrapped all of her gifts after I had wrapped them in Christmas paper. There was no way she was going to get through that before Christmas morning!
Jessica is the second child of four, with an older brother and two younger sisters. Two of her siblings and parents live close by, while one of her sisters lives in Switzerland with her husband. Many of her cousins and aunts and uncles also live close by and we enjoy getting together with family as often as possible. Jessica grew up with cousins as close friends and it is wonderful to have those relationships grow over the years. We love having Sofia around her own cousins and hope the relationships they develop will be life-long as well.
Sofia is a very outgoing toddler. She loves being in the middle of everything going on. She loves playing with her cousins and grandparents. We try to be very patient parents and love watching her grow and develop. We know Sofia will make an excellent big sister! She is great with her younger cousins and has a "baby doll" she carries around everywhere; she loves to change her diaper and give her lots of loves!
We are so excited to add another miracle to our family. We know that each child that enters our home will be loved and will bring us great joy and new experiences. We know that each child will be different and we look forward to the fun that different personalities bring to a family. We want you to know we are committed to raising children who know they are loved, both by us as well as by their very special birth parents, they will truly know of your love. We would love to explore a relationship with you.
We pray for your peace, strength and guidance as you make this decision.
With Love,
Matt & Jessica
