Dear Birthmother,

We appreciate the time you are taking to read about us.  This must be a tremendously stressful time for you and we hope that the choice you make for adoptive parents will give you peace of mind.  Whether you choose us to be the adoptive parents of your child or not, we respect the decisions you make to be in the best interest of your child.

Our names are Tammy and Lori.  We are a loving, fun, adventurous couple that has been committed to one another for nearly eight years.  Our relationship has been based upon a foundation of love, respect, support and a mutual admiration of one another.  We are very fortunate to have found one another and couldn’t be more excited to take the next step in our relationship to raise children together.  We are not only confident in our relationship together but also in our ability to provide a very loving, nurturing home full of varied opportunities and experiences.  Our home, in Lancaster, California, is located in a very quiet and safe neighborhood with nearby schools and parks.  One of the most positive aspects of living in this High Desert community, other than it being Lori’s birthplace and extended family hometown, is it’s central location to so many different activities in Southern California.  We are equally distant from activities in Los Angeles, the beach, the mountains and the lake where we love to jet ski and camp!

Tammy is a big kid!  She loves life and lives it every day to it’s fullest. Her smile and her ability to not sweat the small stuff are infectious.  She is a high school physical education teacher with a Master’s Degree in Education Technology.  She also coaches two sports: girl’s freshmen volleyball and varsity softball. She has an uncanny ability to motivate students to succeed not only in sports but in education as well.  Tammy played softball at Humboldt State University and has utilized her experiences there to build a well-respected program at her school.  Her philosophies as a coach and a teacher are simple – she stresses sportsmanship, respect, dedication and commitment.  Her passion for coaching is evident by the tireless excitement she brings to the field.  She can’t sit still!   Many of her former athlete’s parents still come to watch games because they love to see a coach that is so involved with her team.  She has a true gift at reaching her students and athletes.

Lori is an award winning videographer for an aeronautics agency.  She has traveled the world documenting various aeronautical research programs from the air and from the ground. She produces, directs and edits video programs for media release, education and engineering analysis.  She is one of only a few female aerial videographers in the country.  She has been a featured speaker at various community venues and schools to share her adventures and experiences.  Her message to those following a dream is to excel in every opportunity that comes their way and the sky will truly be the limit.  Her love of video and photography makes her career also her hobby. She enjoys producing special event videos for friends and family. She also produces an end-of-year season highlights video for Tammy’s softball team and she creates sports skills videos for local high school athletes to help them obtain college scholarships.

Most of Lori’s extended family lives nearby and has frequent get-togethers.  Tammy has family in Las Vegas, Seattle and New York.  We are blessed to have such loving families so we do our very best to balance our time especially during holidays.

Our dogs, Bella and Rocko, and cats, Skeeter and Peanut, are currently our only “children” and were each rescued from various misfortunes.  But they now lead a very pampered and spoiled life. They each have their own Christmas stockings filled with goodies every year and they travel with us in our RV whenever possible.
Adoption and knowing kids in foster care is not uncommon territory for us.  Tammy’s high school has a high percentage of students in foster care, which gives her a heightened awareness and understanding of the importance of providing a loving and nurturing environment – one of support, encouragement and involvement.  Lori’s sister and brother-in-law have three adopted sons.  Their guidance and support will be immeasurable and our child will have three tremendous uncles that will share a unique common bond.

We have gained a great deal of insight from watching our family, friends and co-workers raise their children. Their experiences have taught us that a home rich in love, opportunity, respect and tolerance toward diversity is key to developing a healthy and stable environment for a child.

Education is extremely important to us!  But it will be a priority to not only come from school but also from exposure to the arts, sports and the many adventures we hope to explore together.  We believe a child’s full potential can be reached through many different opportunities and experiences.  It is our desire to provide the kind of environment that will allow our child to become everything he or she can be.

As a teacher in our district, Tammy has great benefits and each summer off from work.  We also each have an abundance of time available to care for our newborn child and an eager and supportive Grandmother to provide added support.

We love to find new places to visit every summer and we love to take family members along on our getaways.   We have two time-shares that we either use in Hawaii (Lori’s favorite place) or trade to visit somewhere new (usually Tammy’s choice).  But we also love to travel in our motorhome on weekend trips to the lake, the beach or the mountains.  Rest assured, however, that we are basically homebodies the rest of the time.  We love our home and enjoy having friends and family over to swim or bar-b-que or both.  We love to play board games and cards, watch movies and sports, and play on the computer.

Everywhere we go we enjoy taking pictures – silly pictures.  They are more fun to look at and laugh at later.  Tammy is usually the one coordinating and/or encouraging the silly shot while Lori either takes the picture or sets the camera up for someone else.
Thank you for taking the time to read about us.  If you would like to speak to us about adopting your child or have any questions for us, please contact one of our Adoption Advisors at AdoptHelp – (800) 637-7999, toll free.