Hello! We are Karen, Don and Ethan!

We are honored you are reading our story and we deeply admire your decision to place your child for adoption. We hope that our story will give you some comfort in knowing there are loving, caring and compassionate people in the world who will share everything they have with your child.

Our Story

We have known each other since September of 2000. We met in a US Government class in college. We got to know each other through an icebreaker on the first day and started dating soon after. Our friendship and love for one another grew quickly and we were inseparable!!  We have been married for 14 years and are super excited to grow our family through the gift of adoption!

Our Plan to Raise Our Children

When Karen and Don are at work, Karen’s parents do the babysitting. Before Ethan started kindergarten, they watched and bonded with him and your child will do the same. Babysitting adventures take place in the lake, at the parks and in storybooks. Education is very important to us. We have a huge collection of story books that we read from every night. We started a college fund for Ethan when he was born, we contribute to it monthly and will do the same for your child. We sneak teaching into all of our moments together so learning is fun and always happening!

Some of the things we LOVE as family:

• Fun in the lake in summer and snowmen and ice skating on the ice in winter
• Spending time outside, we love the seasons Michigan has to offer!
• Holidays and family parties: Easter, the 4th of July, Thanksgiving and our favorite CHRISTMAS!!
• Going to the local parks, the zoo and cider mills
• Traveling!! Our passports are ready and future trips await us! Our favorite places we have traveled: Venice, Italy; The Greek islands of Santorini, Mykonos and Corfu; Oahu, Hawaii and Walt Disney World!

A Little About Karen

About Karen, by Karen: I grew up in a family of five. I was a natural when it came to swimming and spent every day in the water from Kindergarten through high school. At age 12 I started babysitting for all the families in my neighborhood! Unfortunately getting pregnant was very difficult. After many years of fertility difficulties we were blessed with Ethan! I have enjoyed every moment being a mother and cannot wait to share my love with another child! I am a self-taught engineer and work for an automotive company. I went to school to x-ray people, but found a career I love x-raying and analyzing car parts instead. We often get to x-ray fun stuff from museums and universities like dinosaur fossils and even a woolly mammoth! My career provides a wonderful work life balance. I work from home three days a week and can make my own hours. This has allowed me lots of time with Ethan and to be home most days with him when he was young. Now that he is in school, my flexible job schedule allows me time to help in his class, attend parties and go on field trips.

About Karen, by Don: Karen’s childhood nickname was Carebear, I found it fit her well and quickly adopted it. She is incredibly caring and always willing to help others. Her example and helpful nature has rubbed off on our son who is following in her footsteps! Karen keeps us engaged in activities and family events. She is motivated, competitive and a problem solver. I’ve witnessed several times where she can take one look at a problem and she has it solved, leaving her peers scratching their heads. It makes me laugh every time. Karen is full of energy, thoughtful and nurturing. She is a natural teacher with patience to work with children at their pace. She loves to play with kids, make them laugh and encourages them to try new activities. One of my favorite things is when Karen plays with a baby. She has this ability to make a baby laugh like nothing you’ve ever seen.

Karen’s Hobbies:

• fishing
• swimming
• crochet
• baking
• crafts

A Little About Don

About Don, by Don: I was an only child. My parents stressed the importance of a good education and to get involved in extracurricular activities. I loved sports from an early age and played baseball, basketball and swam. I was a member of the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and was class president for a year. I found an IT job out of high school and have worked my way from an entry level job to IT Security expert over the course of my career. I went to night school and graduated with a Bachelors in Computer Programming. One of the nice benefits to working in IT is that I can usually work from home and watch Ethan when needed. I love spending time with our son. Part of me has never grown up. I love reading books, building Legos and playing games with Ethan. I enjoy teaching him, introducing him to new subjects and experiencing the world from his point of view. I love being a father to Ethan and I will always be a loving, caring and guiding influence for your child as well.

About Don, by Karen: I gave Don the nickname Tripp when I learned he was the third generation of his name. His dream job is to develop video games, but for now he is mastering IT Security at a financial services company. Children have always been drawn to him. When we were dating we attended a Christmas party with his work friends and their families. I was thrilled to see how all the little people at the party flocked to him. I was instantly in love and knew he would make a wonderful father! Tripp is easy-going, intelligent and always in middle of the fun. He is full of love, smiles and happiness and shares all his joy with us! When he is not at work, he’s at home spending time with us, playing, teaching and being a wonderful role model for our family. He is passionate about travel and looks forward to exploring the world as a family.

Don’s Hobbies:

• reading
• basketball
• sketching
• video games
• movies

Home: Where We Live

Karen has always been drawn to water and in 2001 found a cozy little cottage on a lake. We made it our home together after we were married in April 2004. Six years later, we tore it down and rebuilt a larger home with plenty of room to grow our future family. Since we live on a lake, it was important for us to start swim lessons and water safety right away with Ethan and we will do the same for your child! At the water’s edge, the lake is less than knee deep. Even with Ethan’s advanced swimming skills, he is never left alone. We have a boat for water sports, fishing and joyrides. Our subdivision has five parks where kids can run around, play on the equipment and swim at the beach.

Meet Future Big Brother, Ethan

He is a fun, loving, silly, happy six year old boy that adores the water and nature! He is very excited to be a big BROTHER!! He often tells us all the fun things he wants to teach a new baby! Ethan started elementary school in 2018. When he is not in school, we are spending time together. Ethan enjoys having friends and family over to play in the lake. He enjoys all sports and chooses what he would like to play. Ethan recently graduated from swim lessons and is on the swim team. When he grows up he wants to be a Biologist!

Ethan’s Favorite Things:

• Legos
• animals
• arts and crafts
• playing in the lake

The People We Love

Karen’s sister and her family of five live outside of Chicago, Illinois. We take trips to visit or meet in downtown Chicago to have fun together! The rest of Karen’s family live less than a thirty minute drive away. We see one another many times a year for holidays, birthdays and also random get-togethers. Don’s immediate family includes his Mom, Ethan’s Gigi! She is an hour away and we see her at least once a month. She is fun, loving and showers Ethan with love and attention. We enjoy BBQ’s and finding new places to eat out with her. Don has a very large extended family that we see them several times a year!

Thank You!

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us. Adoption is a wonderful blessing and a gift we hope to share with you. We admire and respect whatever decision you make! We want to thank you for taking the time to learn more about us. We are very excited to have the opportunity to welcome a baby or babies into our family and share our lives of love, adventure and happiness with them. We take this very seriously and want you to know we will give your child every advantage in life that we possibly can. We will love your child unconditionally and enjoy every moment of our new life together.