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State We Live in: Missouri
Our Religion: Christian
Stay At Home Parent: No
Our Age Preferences: Newborn-3 Months, 3 Months – 12 Months
Our Gender Preferences: Either Gender
Our Race Preferences: Any Race, African American, African American/Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, Caucasian/African American, Caucasian/Asian, Caucasian/Hispanic, East Indian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Native American
Sibling Group: Yes
Open to Twins: Yes
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Call or text Lifetime Adoption at 1-800-923-6784.
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Hello! As a couple we spend as much time in nature as possible, which is pretty easy because we live inside a state park. We have fun whether we’re on a family float trip, going camping, having game nights with friends and family, traveling, silly dances in the kitchen, or hiking a trail with our dog. We try to live our life grounded in gratitude, looking for bright spots in each day. Laughter is a huge part of our household too!
Adoption has been something we’ve talked about for a while. It’s exciting to be in this process to adopt our first child! We’d love to learn more about you and your child, and find out what a connection together could look like through open adoption.
Our Story
How it started: We met on a dating app when Jennifer sent the first message. Jennifer is the daughter of a beekeeper, which is said to bring good luck for her in love (it did!). Even before we met in person, we knew our connection felt meant to be. We had our first date just before Thanksgiving, and fell in love soon after while looking at Christmas lights. It was like our own Hallmark holiday special and it makes Christmas extra magical every year. We got married 6 months later and here we are 7 years later, still falling more in love every day.
What matters to us: We value quality time together as a couple or with our family and friends. It’s important to us to create lasting memories, spend time in nature, and stay connected to our faith.
Things we enjoy together:
• Traveling to historical places or with lots of nature to explore
• Hiking trails at Missouri State Parks (it’s our goal to visit all 93 parks and historic sites!)
• Camping and floating or kayaking
• Jeep rides
• Cooking fresh meals
• Volunteering with Meals on Wheels
• Serving international students at the local college
• Participating in church outreach programs and study groups
This is Jennifer
According to Daniel: Jennifer is one in a million and always up for an adventure with me. I love her willingness to try new things outside of her comfort zone and how she challenges me to do the same. Jennifer will be a wonderful mother with her caring, loving personality. She’s always one of the first people to offer to babysit little kids in our family! I love seeing her comfort the little ones to sleep or get into a Nerf battle with the older kids.
Jennifer’s interests:
• Walking our dog
• Reading
• Crocheting and fiber arts
• Tending our herb garden
• Cooking and baking
• Making natural self-care products
This is Daniel
According to Jennifer: Daniel makes me laugh like no one else can and is giving and sacrificial with his time and care for those he loves. He’s a laid-back country boy who loves to be outdoors and his work managing a state park is a perfect fit (he’s the reason I love nature now too!). Daniel is a man of faith who prays often. He’s an early riser and makes me breakfast most mornings. He can be quiet, yet silly too. Daniel will be an amazing dad! The children in our lives are drawn to him, I think because he is a big kid at heart. He will be at every sports game, school play, or donuts-with-dad event because Daniel is family-first. He has a tender heart and loves with all of it.
Daniel’s interests:
• Gardening
• Woodworking projects
• Restoring my 1979 Jeep (or taking it out on gravel roads with the radio on high!)
• Visiting other state parks on my days off from the park where I work
• Presenting to school groups who come to my state park on field trips
• Teaching people to kayak
• Fishing or hunting
• Reading at home on rainy days
Our Home in Missouri
We live in a cozy house inside the state park that Daniel manages. We have a fenced-in backyard, but we like to say that the park is our backyard. Recently we built a deck on the front of our house, which has been perfect for watching sunsets or storms rolling in. Living in a state park is amazing, with hiking trails, a playground, and a lake right in the park. Our church and Jennifer’s work is in town, just 15 minutes away. We often enjoy day trips to bigger cities, like Columbia, St. Louis, and Kansas City.
Our home has three bedrooms and we’ve begun to prepare a room for our future child’s nursery. We even wrote our favorite Bible verses and promises on the walls before painting it. The room will have a warm mountain theme and it will be a dream come true to personalize this special room and finish decorating it for the little boy or girl who will join our family.
Our Family
We both come from close-knit families, most of whom live relatively close. Jennifer’s older brother and his wife adopted two of their children as babies, so we’ve already seen what a blessing adoption can be. One of our nephews is African American and our family is fully supportive of us adopting a boy or girl of any racial background. Her brother’s family lives in Minnesota and we love taking turns visiting each other throughout the year. The rest of our family lives within 90 minutes of us, so we get to see each other often. And we love pool days at Jennifer’s parents’ house!
From Our Hearts to Yours...
Thank you for this chance to be considered as your child’s adoptive parents. We want you to know that we are praying for you as you make your plans. We hope you and your child will always know how loved you are. When we picture life with a child, we imagine lots of days exploring outside with friends or family, game nights, cooking together, keeping things simple and focused on quality time with each other. We will be there for everything, from homework, school plays, sports, or the little things in between. We will encourage them to make the most of their education and to learn from anything they experience. We’ll support his or her interests or goals and provide the direction and tools for our child to pursue them.
We promise your child will always know you and how much you love them. We plan to talk positively about their adoption from the beginning. We are committed to always keep the line of communication open with you. If you’re comfortable, we hope to have a friendship with you and welcome ongoing contact after the adoption. We’d love to know what you picture for that relationship, and if you’d like future visits, phone calls, sharing photos, or updates. To us, open adoption has the potential to create an extended family connection between you and us, if you’d like that.
We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. To learn more about us, please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
More About Daniel
Education: Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology
Profession: Superintendent of a State Park
Stay-At-Home: No
Racial Background: Caucasian
His Favorites:
Thing About Christmas: Family traditions
Dream Vacation: Southwest U.S.
Hobby: Woodworking or restoring my 1979 CJ-7 Jeep
Way to Spend a Weekend: Camping and hiking
Subject in School: Science
Recipe to Cook: Loaded Scrambled Eggs
Outdoor Activity: Kayaking and hiking
More About Jennifer
Education: Some college, study in Business
Profession: Community Banker
Stay-At-Home: No
Racial Background: Caucasian
Her Favorites:
Thing About Christmas: Looking at lights & baking cookies
Dream Vacation: Greece
Hobby: Tending my herb garden
Way to Spend a Weekend: Camping and kayaking
Subject in School: English & K-12 math
Recipe to Cook: My Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
Outdoor Activity: Kayaking and playing with our dog outside
Gallery
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More About Our Family
Why We're Hoping to Adopt
We first bonded over our love for family and have always hoped to raise children together. We experienced infertility and later found out that we would not be able to have a child biologically. It all made our hope to adopt that much stronger. Adoption has a special place in our hearts already, with a niece and nephew who both came into our extended family through open adoption. We were also foster parents as we waited to start the adoption process to grow our own family. Our whole story keeps pointing us back to adoption and we're excited about becoming parents this way.
Fun Facts About Us and Our Families
• Jennifer considers herself an amateur baker and loves to learn something new in the kitchen (her newest skill is cheesecake!). Baking something she's never made before and sharing it with loved ones is one of her absolute favorite things.
• Daniel is known as the bug or snake identification guy in our circle. His family likes to send him pictures and ask “what kind of snake is this?” He has worked for Missouri State Parks since he graduated high school, so he's learned a lot and loves helping others enjoy the great outdoors.
• Both of our sisters-in-law are nurses!
• Both of our dads work or worked in careers involving motor vehicles. Daniel’s dad still owns an auto parts store in his hometown.
• We have two nieces and two nephews (and two of them were adopted!).
• Jennifer’s parents have been married 41 years and Daniel’s have been married 37 years!
Our Pets
We have one dog and two cats. Daisy is our long-haired Dachshund who loves to sun herself in sunbeams on the floor (almost like a cat!). Patches is a big ginger kitty who is half-blind, yet he will follow us on long walks with us and the dog. Smokey is a Russian Blue cat who loves sitting in the windows, is besties with our dog, Daisy. Our pets are good with people and a great part of our little family!
Family Traditions We Love
• Seeing Christmas lights and going to the corn maze each year are two of our favorite traditions!
• Daniel’s family has an annual reunion river floating trip with around 40 of his relatives.
• Every summer Jennifer’s brother’s family visits for a week and we love taking our nieces and nephew to the zoo, Science city, and the park.
• Get-togethers with Jennifer’s family always has wonderful food, which is usually followed by a movie or game.
• Daniel’s brother’s family have a camper that they like to bring over to camp in our park a couple times each summer. Usually his parents will join us all for the weekend and we all sit around the fire, chatting while the kids play.
• We have been a part of a program at our local college that helps international students feel welcomed. We are currently friends with two young women from England and enjoy having them come over for dinner and games at least once a month, or cheering for their soccer or lacrosse games. We love being there for them like family, since they are so far from home.
• Going on double dates with Daniel's brother and his wife to Kansas City are some of our favorite ways to enjoy a short get-away.
In Closing
Thank you for learning a bit about us and the life we'd love to share with your baby through adoption! Being chosen as your child's future adoptive parents would truly be an honor we would always be grateful for. We've hoped and prayed to raise a family together for a long time and we're excited to be in this process to adopt our first baby. We would love to get to know you and the hopes you have for your baby's life. Just know that we're praying for you and your baby, from the bottom of our hearts. To talk with us, just ask Lifetime to set up a call or video chat. It would be great to hear from you!