A family photo taken in our yard.

Jim, Christy & Allyse

Our names are Jim and Christy. Our daughter’s name is Allyse. We have much love to share and desire very much to adopt a second child. Please know how much we respect you for considering adoption. We feel honored to have the opportunity to introduce ourselves to you as a prospective adoptive family.

Unsuccessful fertility treatments and the desire to start a family began us on our adoption journey in 2005. We were blessed to be able to adopt our daughter, Allyse Marie, in March of 2006. We believe that adoption was the plan for our lives all along and we feel led to adopt a second child. We still have so much love to give. So does Allyse, who is very excited about the chance to be a big sister!

As parents, we believe it is important to be loving, fair and consistent. Not a day goes by that our daughter doesn’t get hugged and kissed and told how much she is loved. We feel it is our responsibility to help Allyse and our future child learn and grow by being role models for them - showing them how to treat others and how to stand up for what’s right.

Our family is our life. We are happiest when we are spending time together - the three of us and our dog Baxter, who we adopted from the Humane Society as a puppy in 2000. Whether we are going on a picnic or building a snowman, making cookies or reading a book, we make the most of the time we share. Our family is built on love and honesty and on a true appreciation for what we have been given. Our extended family is also very important to us. They are close, not only physically, but emotionally. We were both fortunate to grow up in loving, supportive homes. Our family members continue to be for each of us sources of strength and support. They are all looking forward to sharing love with a new member of the family!

We believe that what makes a good marriage is being best friends. That is what we are and have been since we met in 1998 when we chaperoned the Valentine’s dance together at the high school where we both work as teachers. We have been married for nearly 10 years now. Our marriage is built on love and trust. Neither of us could imagine life without the other.

We both earned Masters Degrees in education -Christy in math education and Jim in social studies education. We are both fortunate to have had a solid education and know how important education is.

We own a three-bedroom raised ranch house in the country, situated on just under seven acres of land. A creek runs through the lower part of our property. We enjoy taking hikes and picking berries in the summer and playing in the snow during the winter months. The beautiful view from our dining room window gives us the opportunity to enjoy the seasons. We could not ask for a more perfect place to raise a family.

Family traditions are important to all of us. They are what binds a family together. We have blended traditions from both of our families and created new ones with Allyse in the last few years. We started a new tradition this Christmas of camping out by the fireplace in the living room on the night we decorated our Christmas tree. Celebrating birthdays, adoption day, and other milestones have created memories that we will cherish for years to come.

As mentioned before, we are both teachers. Jim has been a high school social studies teacher for 18 years. He is also currently the coach for football and track. Christy has been a high school math teacher for 13 years. We both enjoy the jobs we do and are dedicated to the education of our students.

We have a close circle of friends that we can depend on in good times and bad. Our friends have young children that are Allyse’s age. Allyse enjoys playing with them and is likely forming some life-long friendships like the ones we value.

Our faith, as Christians, is an integral part of our life as a family. We go to church together - a United Methodist church - every Sunday. Allyse began attending Sunday School this fall and has enjoyed learning songs and Bible stories and interacting with the other kids in her class. We have a loving church family who showers Allyse with affection!

There are many activities that we each enjoy. Jim enjoys reading and sports. Christy likes to cook, bake and make crafts. Allyse is an active little girl who loves to do everything from playing ball to having a tea party with her stuffed animals to helping mommy in the kitchen! The activities we enjoy most are the activities we do together.

We hope that by reading about us you can see how much we desire to adopt a child and how much love we have to give. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to share with you and we wish you only the best as you make decisions about the future. May God bless you now and in the years ahead.