Hello! We are Joan and Daniel. We’re from Washington State. We have been married for twenty years and have been so privileged to have six wonderful children. We know that you love your baby immensely and it is your love that’s led you to consider adoption.

We can’t imagine the difficulty you must be facing right now; selecting the family in whom you will trust your child’s future is a tremendous responsibility. Your child will always be precious to you, and more than anything you want them to grow up in a home filled with love. We have always dreamed about having a large family and after we got the news that we were unable to have any more children we talked to some of our close friends and neighbors, who have four adopted children, about adopting. We absolutely love being parents and are super excited to begin this new journey and welcome another little member to our family through adoption. We know the strength & love you have for your child and hope we can make this journey together.

We might in high school and it was love at first sight! At that time, Daniel had a band that played at local fairs, parks, and events. Knowing Joan was a great singer, he invited her to sing back up for his band. However, it was really so that he could spend more time getting to know her! It was a blast, and we have so many good memories from that time. When Daniel turned 21, after years of dating, he finally worked up the courage to ask Joan to marry him, and on Christmas Eve, she said yes! We have been married for 20 years now and have been through some exciting times and have learned so much together.

Joan is an amazing wife and mother to our children. She is extremely loving and caring. Her whole life is centered around our family. Joan has a wonderful sense of humor and is always making everyone laugh. Joan is very active (likes long walks) and loves to do all kinds of adventures with our family. She is a coffee connoisseur and is always trying out new shops anywhere we travel, but in the end, she usually likes her own coffee best. The neighborhood kids love coming by on hot summer days to swim, play games, and have treats in the back yard. Joan is a wonderful conversationalist, bringing joy to everyone she sees.

I have loved Daniel for as long as I can remember. He is a great listener and is very compassionate. In our twenty years of marriage he has nurtured me and cared for me and has help me know that no matter what comes our way he will always be there for me and with me.

He is an amazing father, he loves being outdoors with our kids, hiking, kayaking, snowboarding, riding bikes, roasting marshmallows, with seemingly endless energy. He finds time to talk with each one of them every night, seeing how they are doing, helping them with homework, listening to their stories, eating ice cream. Our children know without a doubt they are loved and dad is never too busy to talk and spend time with them.

Danielle is 19 and a lot of fun. Every Friday night, she takes all her sisters and brothers to the store to get them treats for our weekly movie nights. She has won quite a few music awards and is a Suzuki certified viola teacher.

Matt is 17 and loves playing music with his friends. He is the electric bass player for a local band, and was recently the youngest person ever to get his teaching certification in sound engineering and recording. He likes being on stage is currently performing in ‘The Music Man’, ‘Carousel’ and ’South Pacific’.

Kaylee is a very tall 13 and so much fun. She can make anything into a game and all the neighborhood kids love her. She cares about people and always seems to know when her friends need encouragement. Kaylee also plays the violin and was the youngest member to
be accepted into the local string ensemble.

Luke is 10 and a joy to be around. He loves fishing and playing outside with his friends. He also can eat an enormous amount of food and be hungry an hour later. Luke plays violin, guitar and drums.

Grace is 8 and the tomboy of our family. She loves flannel shirts, jeans, playing outside, and football with her older brothers. She is so incredibly sweet, very easy going and so enjoyable to be around.

Heather is 4 and a bundle of energy. She loves music, singing and giving the family concerts on her cello. She is very sweet and loves talking to people.

We live in a quiet community in Washington State. Across the street is a forested area so every morning we get to watch the wildlife. We have a large backyard and a covered patio with built in heaters so we can enjoy being outside as much as possible. The kids have a garden where they plant vegetables in the spring and snack off them all summer. One block away is a park with a walking trail, full sized baseball field and a beautiful carousel that runs in the spring and summer. There is also a bandshell in the park where we go to enjoy summer night concerts. We have a large four bedroom house with a newly built audio recording studio. Daniel is a recording engineer. He has worked with some of the best audio engineers in the world. Most nights you’ll find him jamming, writing and recording music with our kids.

Grandpa Randy and Grandma Kerry have been married for 54 years. Grandma Kerry is an amazing baker so on many nights the kids head over for her homemade ice cream and chocolate cake. Grandpa Randy was an army paramedic during Vietnam and then later worked as the fire commander and Arson investigator in California for 20 years, so when anyone gets hurt or needs his expertise he is close by and ready to help.

Grandma Diane and Grandpa Lewis have been married 46 years. Grandma Diane teaches art at a local school so the kids enjoy going to her house to do art projects and exploring in Grandpa Lewis’ extensive garden. We have a very large extended family with several of our cousins, aunts and uncles living close by.

Many of our friends have adopted children so our kids have grown up knowing their friends’ incredible adoption stories. Our entire family is very supportive of our adoption journey and they can’t wait to welcome another child into the family.

Our biggest holidays as a family are Thanksgiving and Christmas. On Thanksgiving morning, a backyard football game nicknamed “The Turkey Bowl” is played with our neighbors. Then we all get together to eat and play games for the rest of the day and night. On Christmas we all take part in our local Christmas music production, it’s a lot of fun. After Christmas we will usually head out to the ocean with some of our friends for a little Christmas vacation.

We understand this process can be overwhelming, so we wanted to thank you again for taking the time to get to know us. We hope that by learning more about us we’ve piqued your interest, and a foundation of trust and respect has begun between us.
We always knew we wanted a large family and cannot wait to continue our dream through adoption. We are excited to welcome another child into our home and feel blessed to have the chance to do so through adoption.

With love,
Daniel, Joan, Danielle, Matthew, Kaylee, Luke, Grace & Heather