Jonathan and Brooke

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From Us to You

Dear Expectant Mother,

It’s impossible for us to understand exactly what you’re going through, but we appreciate the opportunity that your loving sacrifice gives our family. We come from large, extended families and have felt like our family wasn’t complete. It’s difficult to adequately express how much a baby will bless our lives and the gratitude we will always have for you. At the same time, we believe we can bless the life of your baby.

We are Jon and Brooke and we’re excited to let you know a little bit about us, and hope that after you get to know us, you’ll consider letting us love and raise your baby.

After meeting in college and dating for a year, we were married in 2004. Shortly thereafter we moved across the country to Pennsylvania to continue our educations. It was there that Brooke finished her degree in art and Jon graduated from Dental school. After 4 years in Pennsylvania, our next stop was Minnesota for 4 more years of school for Jon. We made our final move to Washington four years ago where we have now planted roots. We have settled in a small suburb with great schools and countless outdoor activities. Both of us were raised by loving parents who taught us how to work hard and enjoy life. They also taught us to recognize what really matters in this life. Our mothers are both teachers and so the value of education was instilled in us from an early age. These are some of the values we strive to teach our kids and would strive to teach your baby.

Despite pregnancy complications, we’re blessed to have two children, a son who is 12 and a daughter who is 10. They’re both very excited to have a sibling to love and shower with attention.

We’re very involved in our church as well as our children’s activities. We love sports and have coached many of our children’s teams. We also love being outdoors and enjoy time at our cabin where we’re able to boat, Jet Ski, fish, hike, and make s’mores around the fire. We have family and friends who visit us at the cabin throughout the summer. Most of our extended family is within driving distance and so we’re able to get together frequently.

When we aren’t visiting family, we enjoy traveling. Some of our favorite memories are traveling with our kids to other states and counties. We’ve been to 47 states and 5 countries. Our kids’ favorite vacations include Disneyworld and Universal Studios.

Brooke volunteers a couple of days a week at the elementary school but will be a full-time stay-at-home mom with your baby. Jon’s 12 years of school were a sacrifice but have provided a great work schedule where he only works four days a week. This allows lots of time for family.

We’ve learned with our two children that each child has a unique personality and unique interests. We’re confident that we’ll be able to nurture whatever interests your baby has and help them develop their talents.

We believe we have a lot to give and will provide a wonderful life for your baby! We will love, nurture, and support your baby. We are so excited for them to join us on our adventures.

Sincerely,
Brooke & Jonathan

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Why We Are Choosing to Adopt

We adore our two children and they are huge blessings in our life. They are biologically ours, but Brooke had extremely hard pregnancies with complications. She is not able to physically go through another pregnancy. Jon comes from a large family and Brooke is very close with her extended family. We loved growing up surrounded by family and don’t feel like our own family is complete yet. Brooke has many adopted cousins from multiple ethnicities, and the opportunity to adopt and expand our family seems like the perfect fit. We will love your child as our own and appreciate the opportunity to care for them if you choose us.

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About Brooke, by Jon

When I met Brooke in college, I was drawn to her immediately. We went skiing on one of our first dates, and I appreciated her sense of adventure and competitive nature. After getting married, we went on our honeymoon to Central America, where I had lived for two years. Despite not speaking Spanish, Brooke was up for the adventure and we had an amazing time. Brooke is very active and enjoys playing volleyball, and also coaches a club volleyball team. Sports bring out her competitive side. We play a lot of ping pong in our basement with friends and family, and there aren’t many people who can beat her. She even won a pickleball tournament where we live. Brooke loves art and enjoys working on projects with our kids to nurture their creativity.

Brooke is a youth leader with our church and has a way of connecting with all of the girls. I admire her kindness and her ability to always make everyone feel included. She’s always looking for ways to help others. The attribute that I most appreciate about Brooke is her dedication to our family. Having been married for 16 years, I have learned so much more about her, and recognize even more how blessed I am to be her husband.

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About Jon, by Brooke

Jon is fun, easygoing, and hilarious. Everyone loves being around him and he is the life of the party. At the same time, he is hard-working and ambitious. He studied hard to get through 12 years of college and residency and is now an oral surgeon. He loves sports and is very athletic. Growing up he played football, basketball, and baseball. He loves to surf and ski.  I introduced him to tennis and volleyball and found that Jon is good at everything he tries and learns quickly. More recently we have enjoyed playing golf together as a family (the kids mostly just like riding in the golf cart.)  He is a thoughtful and loving husband. He loves spending time with the kids and is a wonderful father. He is strong in his faith and a great community volunteer. I couldn’t have chosen a better man to spend my life and raise a family with.

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Lifestyle

We are very fortunate to have a comfortable lifestyle that allows Brooke to stay at home with our kids. Jon works 4 days a week and is home by 5 o’clock on each workday. We love being together and enjoy any activity we can do as a family. That includes lots of sports, cards, puzzles, and board games.  We have made our home a place our kids and their friends love to hang out. Family and friends are over constantly.

In the summer months, we live at our cabin by the lake where lots of family and friends come to visit and join in on the fun. We spend lots of time boating, hiking, and enjoying nature. When we aren’t on an adventure, we spend time being creative. Music is a family favorite and there is always music playing in the background. We believe in children discovering and pursuing their individual talents and interests. Right now, our kids are exploring Math and Science clubs, video games, and art. To teach them responsibility, they are also expected to work hard on their studies and do chores around the house. We have a good balance in our lifestyle and believe your baby would enjoy growing up in our family.

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Home & Neighborhood

We live in Washington state in a suburb. We enjoy the feel of a small-town while being within 15 minutes of two major cities. We love our Modern Craftsman home. There is plenty of space for playing in our walk out basement, & ping pong room. We have a great outdoor space with a basketball hoop, trampoline, fire pit, and spacious yard.  We love to grill and enjoy BBQing with family and friends. S’mores are also a favorite summer treat enjoyed around the fire pit. Our yard has a perfect hill for sledding with a large flat space for yard games. We live in a friendly gated community, where we are able to know our neighbors and enjoy large neighborhood parties. Many paved walking trails surrounded by pine trees are ideal for outdoor time with our dog! The view from our hill provides amazing sunsets and a vibrant cityscape.

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Our Travels & Hobbies

We love to travel and plan fun vacations. Jon is fluent in Spanish, which makes our visits to places like Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico much more immersive. Jon’s mom speaks Italian and French and his dad spoke German, so we have a deep appreciation for language and experiencing different cultures. We are already planning our family trip to Europe.

Our family has a shared love of golf, ski, surf, play ping pong and board games. Jon enjoys basketball, baseball, and football. He played football in college and also coaches our kids’ sports teams. Brooke loves volleyball, tennis, pickleball, reading, and painting. Jaden likes surfing, basketball, math, playing video games, and is learning to play the piano. Kayla likes volleyball, soccer, crafts, and art projects. She is also learning to play the piano and likes to dance.

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Our Families

We love family reunions and have strong relationships with our large extended families. Jon has four siblings: two brothers and two sisters. They live in Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Brooke has one sister who lives in the same town as we do. Brooke’s mom and stepdad live in Utah, and her dad and stepmom live in Idaho. We visit family frequently, and family loves to visit us at our cabin over the summer. We are able to see everyone at least twice a year.  We believe that having a strong family bond is very important so we do everything we can to strengthen the relationships our children have with all of their family, near and far.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

We appreciate the melting pot that America is and enjoy many cultures. Jon was able to live in Central America for 2 years and he is fluent in Spanish. We love traveling to different areas and countries to study and experience different cultures, and especially try new foods! Our family is very diverse with many ethnicities represented. Through marriage and adoption we are a multicultural family that loves to get together for reunions and visit together often.

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Traditions

For us, family traditions are a mix of the big things as well as the small things. Every Sunday after church, we come home and make grilled cheese sandwiches together. Since we bought our lake cabin a couple of years ago, we started the tradition of our families gathering together each summer to enjoy each other and the outdoors. Everyone has enjoyed learning to surf and the kids love tubing and swimming. It’s something we all look forward to. In the winter, our kids love getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve and look forward to waking up in them for Christmas morning. We enjoy taking family vacations each year to new destinations and creating amazing memories together.

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What We Will Share

While preparing for our adoption journey, we were able to take many classes that educated us about the adoption process. We learned that being open and honest about adoption from the very beginning is the healthiest approach. We will help your baby understand how much everyone loves and cares about them. We are open to you having a continued relationship with your child with whatever contact you decide is best. We want your child to have a strong sense of identity and know the culture and history of where they came from. With your help, we will do our best to help them understand the love behind your decision and create strong ties to both of our families.

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Our Promise to You

We promise to love and care for your child as our own. We will support them in developing their talents and exploring their interest. They will be raised Christian and we will teach a healthy balance between work and play. We will try to cultivate in them a love for being active and outdoors. We promise to cultivate a love for learning and study their culture and ancestors. We will support them through school and help them achieve their dreams, whatever they end up being.