Hoping to Adopt

We are so excited to announce that we are hoping to adopt again!!  When we moved to Washington and settled down after a year of moving we decided we would start the adoption process again.  At this point we have all of our paper work filled in, home study done, and background checks turned in.  We are just waiting for the adoption agency to approve us and then we are officially ready to be chosen to adopt!!  We are so excited and feel so blessed for this opportunity.  Adoption is a blessing that we are privileged to be a part of.  We are so anxious to welcome a new little one to our family and hoping and praying for this miracle.

Hoping to Adopt

Dear Friend,

We are so grateful to you for taking the time to get to know us.  We realize this decision must be very difficult and our thoughts and prayers are with you.  Please know that you are giving us the hope of parenting another child and helping our family grow, something we could not have without you choosing us.  We are very excited about an open adoption and sharing pictures, letters, emails, etc. with you.  We will keep you updated!  You are and will be a very important part of our lives!!  We would love to let you know more about us.  Keep reading to find out!!

Chapter 1-Getting Married

Our story together began nine years ago when we met in Provo, Utah, after Sheldon returned from his LDS mission to Germany and Julie was a junior in college.  We met through common friends, and Sheldon not too long afterwards asked Julie out on a date.  That date turned into many more dates and us spending all our time together.  We dated for six months, were engaged, and then were married nine months after we met.  Needless to say it was fast, but we were so sure that we were supposed to be together as husband and wife.

Chapter 2-WAITING but HAPPY

Julie graduated from Brigham Young University and taught elementary school for four years in Utah and two years in Oregon.  Sheldon graduated from the University of Utah and was accepted in the optometry program at Pacific University in Oregon.  We went on lots of fun vacations together, enjoyed snowboarding together, and just had a lot of fun date nights!  During that time we were very happy but very willing and anxious for the opportunity to become parents.

Chapter 3-We’re PARENTS!

After much prayer, we decided to go forward and hopefully have our family grow through adoption.  This was a very exciting time for us as we prepared for a little one to come into our family.  When we met our son's birth mother, we felt so strongly her decision was right for everyone involved.  We formed an instant connection to her.  She allowed us to become parents and in doing so blessed our lives immensely.  We love our son's birth mother, and we keep in contact through our online blog, emails, and through the mail.  We will always stay in contact with her because she is such an important part of our family.  We also want our son to realize who he is, where he came from, and that he is such a special boy because he was adopted.  He has so many people who love him and want to see him succeed and be happy.

Our son is two and half now and is so much fun. He is a little ball of energy!!  He loves to play with trains, cars, tools, and build with blocks.  He is all boy!  He is very coordinated and loves to be active.  Some of his favorite things to do are jump on the trampoline and go on canoe rides in the lake in our backyard.  He loves playing with other children, and he will be very excited and interested in a new brother or sister that will hopefully come into our family.  We have already started asking him if he wants a new brother or sister and he always says, "YES!"

Chapter 4-Family Time

Some of our favorite things to do as a family are to go for walks, go to the park, have picnics, take our son to indoor play places, go to movies, go to the zoo, go on vacations, visit with family, and enjoy being outside.  We are a very active family!  We also love popping popcorn, making smoothies, and having a fun family movie night.  Family dinner is very important to us, and we eat dinner together as a family every night.

We just moved to Washington for Sheldon's optometrist profession, and we have loved being here.   We spend a lot of time outside enjoying the lake in our backyard.  Our son loves looking at animals and bugs, and we love exploring the world through the eyes of a two year old.

We have been on lots of fun family vacations because we enjoy traveling so much.  One of our favorite places to go is Disneyland.  We go there at least once a year, and our two year old son has already been their twice!  Just recently we spent three months in Hawaii for Sheldon's optometry rotation, and we had a blast exploring the island and soaking up the sun.  We just went on a cruise, as a couple, to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to celebrate Sheldon's graduation from optometry school, and it was awesome!

Julie's Family

Julie grew up in Las Vegas and has two older sisters and one younger sister.  We have three nieces and four nephews on Julie's side of the family.  They are very supportive of our upcoming adoption and are very hopeful this miracle will occur.

Sheldon's Family

Sheldon grew up in Vernal, Utah.  He is the third of five children.  He has two sisters and two brothers.  We have four nieces and two nephews in Sheldon's family.  They are all anxious to have another little one in the family to love!

Chapter 5-We’re ready to be a family of FOUR

We decided when the time felt right we would definitely try to add to our family through another adoption.  All three of us are ready to become a family of four, ready to add another precious child to our family, and ready to love him or her with all of our hearts.  We can't wait to add to this chapter in our lives!!!

Thoughts & Feelings

Julie has been a great wife, mother, and example to me.  She is always pushing me to be my best and accomplish all my goals that I have set for myself.  I don't think I would be as far along in life and with my education if she had not been helping me along.  This is an amazing quality she will share with our children.  I know she will always love them and help them to be the best that they can be.  Julie has many qualities that make her a great mother.  She is caring, loving and fun to be around.  I love how she is so outgoing.  She loves to go out and do things like go shopping, go to the beach and even spend the occasional night camping.  We also love to snowboard, boogie board and go on walks together.  She enjoys running and just did her first half marathon and also sprint triathlon.  She is also working on her master's degree right now.  She is always striving to improve herself.  She always puts the needs of others above her own.  I really can't think of any weaknesses she has.  I just think she is the sweetest, most sincere and caring person that I know and is such a great mom.  I love Julie and I am so blessed to have her in my life. -Sheldon

I love Sheldon so much!  I am so happy to be his wife.  We just celebrated nine years of marriage together, and they really have been very happy years!  Sheldon and I rarely fight because Sheldon has such a calm manner about him, and he is really easy-going.  Sheldon is also a very hard-working individual.  He put himself through college and studied countless hours to achieve his degree as a doctor of optometry.  He worked night shifts during his undergraduate studies and really slept very little.  He also never complained.  He studied night and day during optometry school and was also able to give his free time to me and our son.  We are very lucky to have him provide for us so well.  He has such a positive, up-beat personality.  He is fun to be around and loves to joke.  He ran a marathon last year.  He is a very active guy who loves exercising and playing outside with our son.  He gets very excited about holidays and is very festive.  He loves carving jack o' lanterns, putting up our Christmas tree, and watching fireworks on the 4th of July.  He really loves life and is always happy.  He helps me to see things less seriously and enjoy the people and things around me.  Sheldon gets excited over small things and makes me feel like we are always on an adventure, a fun adventure.  He is a wonderful husband and an amazing father. -Julie

Thoughts About a Future Adoption

We are so excited and eager for the opportunity to be the parents to another little child.  Becoming parents has blessed our lives immensely, and we have so much love to give to the next little one that comes into our family.  We are praying and hoping for this miracle.  Becoming parents is a sacred calling that we take very seriously.  Adoption is a blessing that we are so grateful for and know that if you choose us, we will always keep you updated, let you know how loved you are, and answer all questions our future son or daughter has about you with honesty, dignity, and the utmost respect.  You will always be an important part of our family, and we are excited to get to know you more.  Thank you for taking the time to read this and get to know us.

With love,

Sheldon, Julie & Jace

We're going to be parents!

Hi everyone! We have been chosen to adopt a baby boy due June 8th. We are so thrilled and excited. Our prayers have been answered and the sweetest, most self-less birth mother is giving us this opportunity. We are so ready to be parents and have this life changing event happen. We are so blessed!

Update

I talked to the caseworker on Tuesday and he told me that the birth mom who was looking at us will contact us by email if she is interested in going further with the adoption process. He also said the birth mom is looking at other couples too so if she doesn't contact us that we can assume she is interested in a different couple. So we'll see. But I feel very excited that we are even being considered! Wahoo!

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and prayers. We really appreciate it!

Adoption Hope

Today a caseworker called and told us a birth mother was looking at our profile and was interested in us!!! I was at work so I didn't get the message until later after 5:00 and I wasn't able to call them back during office hours. So now I am dying to know how interested is the birth mom? And how good are our chances? I was so excited to get that phone call because it meant to me that birth moms are actually looking at our profile. So if you are reading this can you say a prayer that the right baby will come to our family and the birth mom will know if she should choose us? It would help so much to know that prayers were being said in our behalf. This is exciting!