Steve and Brandi

hello! We would like to thank you for considering us as potential parents. We pray for you and your child while you face one of the toughest decisions of your life. We greatly appreciate the sacrifice that you are considering on behalf of your child. Putting your child’s needs above those of your own displays strength and such great love. We promise to share the message of your strength and your love with this child as they grow. Your child will understand the reason behind such a selfless act.

Looking back several years, we faced a miscarriage, then a year later faced infertility. When we heard the words “aggressive fertility treatments”, we knew God had another road for us. We grieved our infertility but embraced adoption. Less than a year and half after deciding to adopt, God blessed us with our son, Alex. Alex’s birth mom invited us to be an integral part of the process every step of the way. We welcomed the opportunity to walk alongside her throughout the pregnancy, the birth, and the days, weeks, and months that followed. She will forever be a cherished part of our life and family!

Adoption has forever changed our lives. It has been an incredible blessing to us, our son, and our entire family. Because adopting and raising our son has brought us such incredible blessings, we cannot wait to be a part of that process again. We look forward to supporting you as you consider adoption and we promise to love your child as our very own. Alex is super excited to be a big brother. He talks constantly about all the things he wants to teach his new little brother or sister.

Most of all, we promise to love and cherish your child. Your child will always feel safe and secure. Your child will thrive in our home as we have a strong lasting relationship and a very close knit extended family to love and care for him or her.

We would love to come alongside and support you as much or as little as you desire during this time. You are in our thoughts and prayers as you make this difficult decision.

with love, Brandi and Steve our story

HOW WE MET

We met at a euchre party of Christian singles at a friend’s house. As part of this large group, we continued to meet up for dinner, bowling, bonfires, and more. We saw each other at these outings and became friends along the way.

After a year had passed, we started to get together in smaller groups and got to know each other even better. We started meeting for bicycle rides, just the two of us. When we met, we would go for long leisurely bicycle rides and stop for dinner. In the process, we had lots of conversations and continued to learn more about each other. We dated as friends, for several months, mostly by taking bicycle rides, then, finally “officially” started dating!

HOW WE KNEW WE WERE MEANT FOR EACH OTHER

Brandi On long bicycle rides and stop offs for dinner, we spent a lot of time just talking, enjoying each other’s company, and learning about each other. Steve was a patient pursuer, kind, generous with his time, and so giving to other people. He loved Jesus and hoped to gain a closer walk with Him. He had purchased a house several years before and chose it with the intention of it becoming a home to share with his future wife and children. I loved that he had a plan for a family when he purchased the home that we now share together. This strong man loves with his whole being and has the most tender heart that I have ever known. I knew this was the man that I had been waiting for God to provide for so long.

Steve As an avid outdoorsman, I never thought I would find a spouse with interests to match my own. Then I got to know Brandi. She is highly active and never tires of outdoor adventures. Her adventurous spirit is one of the first things that I loved about her.

I chose Brandi to be my wife for many reasons -her inner strength and God given beauty and smile. She listens, is fair, and she cares deeply. We have the same faith and life goals. We work together so well in many aspects of life, helping one another and growing together through life’s highs and lows. Our relationship continually shows me what it means to truly put someone else first. I’m learning to be a better man of God. I remember a conversation we had before we started dating about whether we wanted children. I told Brandi that I wanted a couple of kids. I knew that she was well-equipped to be a mom because she was working with children every day in the classroom. Her stories about helping students overcome challenges to succeed in the classroom were some my favorite conversations with her because they illustrated her love and devotion for children.

Last but certainly not least is our chemistry together. Her smile is uplifting and her laugh and humor are both unique! She just gets me, and I’m not saying that’s always something she enjoys, but she gets me and I love that. Each day is a new adventure. All things are possible in Christ, and Brandi and I coming together in His perfect way is proof!

HOW STEVE PROPOSED

Throughout our relationship the local canal became a special place for us. We spent many weekends riding bikes along the canal path and stopping along the way for outdoor music and dinner. We had watched many concerts on the canal and enjoyed just talking and getting to know each other. One night, Steve brought me downtown to the canal on a quiet summer evening. We had a picnic and spent a couple hours just talking. Little did I know, all that talking was really him getting up the nerve to ask me to marry him. Eventually, Steve got down on one knee on our picnic blanket and nervously asked me to marry him! Of course I said “Yes!” At that point, he had spent so much time working up the nerve that we didn’t even have time to celebrate that evening! We giddily called our parents to share the exciting news and jumped right into wedding planning the next day.

OUR WEDDING DAY

We got married during our favorite season on a sunny day in October 2012. We gathered with over 200 family members and close friends in my parent’s church in my hometown for our wedding. At the reception, we spent the evening dancing away while also making the rounds to talk to each and every guest that we could. It was an amazing day of celebrating our love for each other and the life together that was yet to come. meet my wife Brandi

Brandi is full of life and energy, always on top of things, A FEW FUN FACTS able to multitask in a single bound (I’ve not seen where • We have 3 little furbaby cats named Gi-Gi, Derby, she hides her cape yet)! She is very caring, funny, level- and Sammie. headed, and a straight shooter through and through. • Coffee is one of our favorite simple pleasures in life! She keeps our home well-kept and organized even with • Brandi and Alex visit Brandi’s parents at least once our little one running circles around her. every week. • We love to do scavenger hunts, nature hunts, and When she left her teaching career to be a stay-at-home Easter Egg hunts in our wooded backyard! mom, all of the talents she used to teach and motivate • We celebrate everyone’s birthday twice, once with a classroom full of kids are now being used to teach and friends and once again with just family. We love encourage our little one! They show me the new things holidays and celebrate them in a big way, Christmas they’ve created daily: learning letters, and building sand being our favorite as we celebrate it multiple times castles or towers of blocks. Because of Brandi’s efforts, with various groups of family members! Alex has developed a love of learning and knew how to • Brandi enjoys running, bicycling, adventures, spell his name at age two! She was born to be a teacher watching baseball games, baking, and making and a mom, and it shows in every aspect of life. homemade cards.

She loves to do crafts and is just amazing with what she can do with the simplest little things. She takes everyday items and turns them into gifts from the heart. We work, play, and pray hard together seeking the Lord’s will for our lives and family. She is an awesome wife and mama!

meet my husband Steve

Steve’s kindness, compassion, and generosity are loves playing these games with Daddy! Steve also best illustrated in his volunteer work. I am always loves to throw a football with him or help him amazed by Steve’s ability to fix anything, but I practice hitting a baseball off of a tee. If our son am even more amazed by his willingness to do wakes up crying in the night, Steve will patiently it for the benefit of others. Steve uses his talent sing to him or sit in a chair nearby for hours, if for carpentry and fixing things by volunteering to needed, until our son can get back to sleep. His repair houses for people who would otherwise be tender heart and patience for our son continues to living in poverty. amaze me.

Steve has such a tender heart. He’s the shoulder I A FEW FUN FACTS can cry on and my earthly rock! I’m not sure how • We enjoy watching the Hobbit and Lord of the I would have gotten through the hardship of a Rings series every winter! miscarriage and then infertility without Steve’s love • We make a big breakfast every Saturday and compassion. I remember the many nights he morning! spent just holding me while we talked through • Steve loves to go backpacking, sailing, tears about our crushed dreams. mountain biking, and hiking! • We create a photo calendar every year at He also likes to have fun and be silly and he always Christmas with the photos from the previous seems to know how to make me laugh. Steve is the year that highlight those moments that we kind of man who will spontaneously start dancing cherish! with me in the kitchen. • We write positive things that happen or fun things we do on pieces of paper throughout Steve always makes time for our son and will the year, put them in a cup, and then read drop whatever he is doing to put him or me first. them on New Year’s Eve. He invents games with our son such as “playing • We all love to go bicycle riding together, with volcano” with his knees in the air and holding our Alex in the bicycle trailer, on the paths next to bedspread up. Then Alex will climb around, under our house. the bedspread, or jump on top. Our son absolutely

BRANDI’S SIDE I have been blessed with an incredibly supportive and loving family. My sister and I grew up in the same house with both of Our Families our parents for our entire childhood in a small town that is just 35 miles from where Steve and I live now. Since I stay at home with Alex, we are blessed to be able to visit my family one day per week while Steve is at work. We also frequently get together for dinners, celebrations, church outings, and many other events. This time with extended family is extremely important to us as one of our main goals as parents is to promote close, loving relationships between our son and his extended family members. Steve and I both feel that these strong relationships promote stability and self-confidence in our child.

I enjoy a close relationship with my sister, her husband, and her two children. They still live in my hometown and we see each other frequently. My niece and I are especially close. We enjoy getting together frequently to do things such as make dinner together, bake cookies, carve pumpkins in the fall, make bonfires, roast marshmallows for smores, and go shopping. I love being the ‘cool’ aunt that she can confide in about her secret crushes and future dreams.

STEVE’S SIDE I have lots of fond childhood memories! Wrestling with Dad on the floor or helping him build or fix something were some of my favorite things to do. Having been a toolmaker and machinist for many years, my dad could build about anything. I loved learning alongside him, and now as an adult, appreciate being able to handle many household repairs on my own. I am very much looking forward to teaching my son or daughter these valuable skills. When my dad was at work, I recall my brother, sister and I helping Mom hang the bed sheets on a clothesline. Running through them was the best! Rather than scolding us for dirtying her freshly washed sheets, Mom usually ended up playing along with us.

My mom is the “fun” grandma, always doing crazy things and acting silly with Alex. She helps him build forts with our couch cushions and even gets down on the floor inside the fort with him. She loves to pretend to be a silly monster and chase Alex through the house. We always joke that grandma doesn’t know any quiet games and she’s the one who can’t sit still. All of this makes her an extremely popular grandma. meet our sonALEX Our son Alex is three years old, full of energy, and loves to What do you like to do with daddy? spend time with mommy and daddy! He loves to play with Have a snowball fight other children of all ages and is learning to share. He absolutely loves music and dancing around and will even make up his own What do you like to do with mommy? lyrics to songs which is super cute! He enjoys anything that Play all day with her involves a ball - kicking a soccer ball, dribbling a basketball, catch, and hitting a baseball off a tee! Alex loves tractors (like What is your favorite song? daddy’s), backhoes, and front loaders. He loves to learn and Wheels on the Bus play with puzzles, blocks, and his play tool set. We read to him every day and at age 3, he’s already reading words on his own! What makes you happy? He absolutely loves playing outside on his swing set, doing My grandma and my Mamaw and Papaw nature hunts, or walking on logs in our backyard! What is your favorite animal? An Elephant A FEW OF HIS FAVORITE THINGS... Where is your favorite place to go? What is your favorite food? A playground Pizza What is your favorite thing to play? Build a tower with blocks our life, travels, & traditions

We love to take our son, Alex, to the local zoo and children’s museum and are blessed to have an annual membership to both! We enjoy taking him to local festivals (a bounce-house is a plus), parks, trails, and swimming pools. Hosting potlucks, cookouts, and bonfires in our backyard with friends and family are favorite weekend activities. Playing soccer and tee-ball with Alex in our yard keeps us hopping and his love of the swing set never gets old. My sister hosts swim parties throughout the summer in her backyard.

We love all the holidays with Christmas being our favorite. We celebrate just the 3 of us on Christmas morning, opening presents, stockings, and having an annual tradition of making a special breakfast. We celebrate with extended family on both sides. Our celebrations include White Elephant exchanges, singing Christmas carols together, driving around looking at lights, and eating birthday cake to help us remember that it is Jesus’s birthday!

We enjoy vacationing to Gatlinburg, Tennessee every fall, staying in a cozy condo tucked away in the woods near the Smoky Mountains next to Dollywood. We also vacation with Steve’s mom every year which has been adventurous as we get to visit a new location each time! Grandma is a barrel of fun and Alex loves her to pieces!

Our Home

We live in a large ranch home tucked into a wooded lot with rolling hills, yet still inside the city. Our neighborhood is often referred to as a hidden gem, nestled near major thoroughfares for convenience, but far enough away you could hear a pin drop, or in our case, lots of birds and squirrels! We have access to several shopping malls, parks, multi-purpose paths, and loads of restaurant choices. We have 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 fireplaces, a huge playroom inside a finished basement, a sunroom, and front patio. We plan to add a deck off the back of the house. Our city offers one of the best Children’s Museums in the country, a terrific zoo, a state park nearby, and much more. We enjoy family time at all of those places and equally take pleasure in spending time at our beautiful home and in our yard. We frequently watch deer and other wildlife in the backyard. We host family and friends for dinners, barbeques, and especially love toasting marshmallows over a bonfire in our huge fire pit in the backyard. Why Adoption

In our first year of marriage, we got pregnant and soon after, we lost our baby due to a miscarriage. In the next year, we tried to get pregnant again but weren’t able to. We found out that I had infertility and would likely only get pregnant with some aggressive fertility treatments. Even if I did, the doctors said there was a significant risk of more miscarriages. We knew we did not want to go through such a crushing loss again. We felt that God was directing us down another path and after much prayer, we determined that path was adoption. Fast forward a year and a half, we welcomed our sweet little Alex into our family in 2015 through an open adoption. We would love the opportunity to grow our family again and give Alex a much loved sibling to grow up with.

Our family is no stranger to the concept of adoption. We have a history of “adopting” new members into our family unit. My sister and her husband have been foster parents for several years, and have fostered eight different children. Although none of these children were ever eligible for adoption, we have welcomed each of these children into our family for the duration of their stay. We have loved and cherished them as part of our family. From these experiences, even before I ever knew I would be unable to carry a pregnancy to term, I knew I wanted to adopt if ever I had the opportunity. “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6