Dear Birthmother

Dear Birthparents,

There is so much to say with so little space to write it in. We can only hope to share with you enough of our lives that you will be able to trust and grow to love us.

We would first like to tell you a little bit about ourselves. Our names are Craig and Tamra. I grew up in a small town. Craig on the other hand is a city boy. We met my first year in college. We are very opposite of one another. I was quiet and shy while Craig was loud and not afraid to speak his mind. We had only dated two weeks when Craig sat me down and explained to me we would never be able to have children of our own because of a previous childhood illness. My heart sank, but there was something very special about Craig. He was so completely honest with me from the very beginning. Craig has this love for life I can never begin to comprehend. After only three months of dating he asked me to marry him. I loved him…loved him enough to want to spend the rest of my life with him and let the Lord take care of finding a family for our home. Craig is now a wonderful father and leader for our family. I am truly blessed to have him in our lives.

I love Tamra very much. She has a giant heart and a great love for children. Whenever the family gets together, Tamra is the aunt that always goes right for the babies. She is the aunt the kids always seem to have love for from the moment they meet. Tamra has a degree in education and uses this in her everyday life teaching our sons, Cade and Aaron. Tamra has a great talent for keeping our home in order. She seems to find organizing the closets enjoyable, which I will never understand, but a clean and organized home is important to her. She has also instilled this trait in our sons. Tamra is an excellent mother and loves every minute of it. She loves to do the small things for our sons. Tamra also loves to read, scrapbook and play the piano.

Craig is a certified commercial pilot with a Bachelors Degree in Aviation Science. Craig currently works for a regional airline and is in the process of building his flight hours so that he can someday work for a major airline or corporate operation. His love has always been in the sky.

Prior to Cade’s birth Tamra worked for a major airline as a flight attendant. Over the last few years Tamra completed her education and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary education. She currently teaches a fourth /fifth grade split. Tamra loves teaching and has a great love for her students. She loves her job, but her passion has always been to stay home with her children. Our plans are for Tamra to continue working until we are blessed with another addition to our family.

We are both very close to our families and love to spend time with them. We love to share with Cade and Aaron some of the wonderful experiences and opportunities our parents have given us. Our families have always played a huge role in our lives. We grew up in large families with strong LDS backgrounds. We both have three sisters and one brother. We want our children to grow up with the same morals and beliefs we have. Some of our favorite family traditions include yearly trips to the cabin in Yellowstone and house boating at Lake Shasta. We love spending time with our extended families and find that it is always filled with laughter and excitement.

We are very active. We cannot stand to sit around. Our home is always filled with adventure. We love to go boating, traveling, water-skiing, snow skiing, snowmobiling, camping, bicycling, fishing and 4-wheeling; the outdoors is our playground. We believe strongly in planning for the future, while living in the present. Each day we make it a high priority to eat together, play together and share time with each other. Each night before we put our children to bed we read to them and kiss them goodnight.

When Craig and I were first married we started a Christmas tradition of painting ornaments for our tree. We usually add about 2-4 new ornaments each year. We now include Cade in our tradition and when Aaron gets old enough he will be included also. Cade loves to paint ornaments. Each year Cade makes a special ornament for his birth mother. We talk to Cade about his birth mother often and let him know that she loves him very much. Aaron is still very young but we feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to have both his birthparents in our lives. We love both our children’s birth parents dearly and feel it is very important to let our children know of the love they have for them.

Cade and Aaron have been the greatest blessings in our lives. We love them both with all our hearts. Each day they bless our lives with laughter and happiness. Before Aaron was born Cade would constantly talk about the time when he would have a sister or bother. Our social worker once asked Cade why he wanted a brother or a sister; his reply was “ I don’t want to be the only one in my family”. From the moment we brought Aaron home from the hospital we knew Cade and Aaron would have a very special bond. Cade watches over Aaron and is very protective. It amazes us every day the love that they share for each other.

Cade is all boy. He is very athletic and coordinated for his age. He loves sports and we often find him watching football, basketball, or baseball on T.V. Craig and I are not sports nuts and we hardly, if ever, have sports on T.V. One afternoon Tamra came down stairs and he was watching sports. She asked him why he wasn’t watching cartoons and his reply was, “It’s baseball mom!” Cade is currently in second grade where he is at the top of his class academically. Cade loves to read, write and color. He is very patient and has a tender heart. Cade is always striving to help and do what is right.

Aaron is a rambunctious toddler. He is very active and is constantly getting into everything around the house. He is a very happy toddler and is easily pleased. His first word was thank you. He loves to observe what others are doing and will quickly try to join in the activities. He is not shy around new people and will try to carry on a conversation with anyone who will listen. His grandfather told us that he has never been around a toddler with such a funny personality. We just love both our kids and could not imagine our lives without them.

Having a family has always been very important to us. Both our children were only two days old when they blessed our home. We always knew we would love our children, but we were unaware of the kind of love that we would gain through adoption. Adoption has been a wonderful blessing in our lives. When we adopted our sons we gained a love for their birthparents and their family that we did not expect. We still have a close relationship with both the birthparents and write to each other often.

When we put our sons to bed each night there is one thing that we are forever grateful for and that is the love of their birth mothers. Our lives have forever been changed by the selfless act of one who loved our sons beyond words. We cannot begin to comprehend the decision you are about to make. Our prayers are with you that you will be able to find the strength you need to make this difficult decision. Whatever it may be.

All our love,

Craig, Tamra, Cade and Aaron