Tobias and Patty

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From Us to You

As we’ve been trying to find the perfect words to express to you how excited we are at the opportunity to love your child I am happy, anxious, scared, excited, and prayerful. I can only imagine that you are feeling a lot of different emotions all at once too. You are doing such a beautiful and selfless thing for your child, know that even when emotions are overwhelming, you are making a courageous and strong decision. I hope that you will get to know us in a way that will help you find the peace that I pray you get. I’m Patty, and  I’ve been married to Tobias, a wonderful man for 16 years. We have 7 beautiful, fun and energetic children living with us in our home. Their lives are full of exploring, experimenting and love. We had our first son when we were young. As our son grew and more kids came along, we wanted something we could all do together. We were looking for activities to expand their minds while teaching them the importance of responsibility and work. We found all of these things in what we now call homesteading. As a family, we grow food and flowers, feed and water animals, and maintain our home and land, but mostly we work as a unit. We spend most of our days together. Our children are learning how to live a life that holds no boundaries. They are learning to be self-sufficient and how to work for what they want. After our chores have been finished, we play hard too. We love board games and baseball, kayaking, hiking, bicycling, movies and video games, but again we do these things together. We want our children to be appreciative of all the gifts God gave us, especially the outdoors. Tobias and I both feel that we came into adulthood without knowledge of generations past, we want our kids to experience a slower more meaningful way of life. We hope that these foundations of faith, family, work and love will set them up to achieve their dreams. This is what we want for your child too.

We want you to know that you will always be respected and appreciated when we talk to your child about you. I want you to be the important part of his/her life that you are. We can/will send pictures and updates and if you’re comfortable, we can set up visits and outings. We will do our best to always make you feel welcomed and appreciated in our family. We will care for your child, we will welcome your baby into a great big family of support and love. We will treasure your baby as the gift from God that he/she is.

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

We started our life together very early. We met, Tobias a senior in high school and Patty in her first year of college, at ages 17 and 18, respectively. We dated for a little over a year before becoming engaged. Then, after six months, were married in November of 2006. We were then ages 20 and 19. We always knew that we would end up with a large family. We now have seven wonderful children from ages 15 to three. After our seventh baby, Patty began having issues with her reproductive organs. This was causing enormous pain and problems for her health. After almost a year of trying to treat and manage this issue with natural means, it was recommended that she have a hysterectomy. This procedure was performed almost three years ago. We had begun to get used to the fact that we would never again have babies. We are still very young and will only be in our early fifties by the time the baby moves out at 18! We both began to feel God calling us to look into adoption. We hope to be able to welcome a new baby into our life again.

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About Patty, by Tobias

Three things I love about my wife;

• She is my best friend
• She’s a wonderful Mother
• She is quick-witted and playful

I first fell in love with Patty when I was 17. We were married two years later and have not skipped a day since then without talking to one another. Getting to marry your best friend has been one of the best privileges of my life. She is a great partner in our life together. Aside from pulling me in with her looks, she has a very colorful personality. She is funny and most all of the time sarcastic. She is very witty, which typically means that I rarely end up with the last word. She is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met, she is always able to relate to people and to help them where they are in their life. This is part of what makes her a great mother. She spends every waking hour with our children; teaching them, feeding them, and caring for their needs. She has a deep devotion to doing her very best as a mother. Although Patty and I are very different in so many ways, I think it is very good for us. She always expects the best of me. What I appreciate most about her is that she is always pushing me to be a better person.

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About Tobias, by Patty

Five Reasons I love Tobias;

• He’s really funny
• He plays dress up with our little girl
• He works hard
• He’s the most reliable person I know
• He always does what he thinks is right, even if it’s hard

I’ve spent the last 18 years with Tobias. For most of them, he was my husband, for all of them, he was my best friend. Our relationship has always been centered around our genuine love of spending time with each other, we talk about everything! He’s smart, funny, hardworking, devoted, and fun-loving, he also loves his faith and is always trying to better himself. Tobias loves to travel and especially loves the beach! He’s the kind of person that doesn’t stop until the job is done, and jokes and laughs while he’s doing it. I admire his dedication to the betterment of our family, he is always ready to go the extra mile to make sure the kids have what they need. Sometimes that’s replacing the batteries, it could be the extra-long hug until the tears are finished, usually, it’s jumping on the trampoline or being the last player of whatever game they’re currently enjoying. He’ll always be there.

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Meet Our Kids

Joseph is 15 and is exactly what you would expect from the oldest child. He’s a leader and bears more than his fair share of responsibility. He loves cars and playing the guitar. He wants to be a pilot in the military when he grows up.

Leyna is our 14-year-old. She is quiet, sensitive, and kind. She loves to read and crochet. Her current life ambitions are caring for her dairy goat and starting a soap-making business. As long as she has enough spare time to craft too.

Blaise is fun-loving, adventurous, and helpful. At the age of 12, he spends most of his time playing practical jokes and finding ways to annoy his siblings. He will always help you if you need him. He wants to work on a horse ranch when he grows up.

Simon is 11 years old and is best described as charismatic and kind. He loves to read and jump on the trampoline. Simon is big-hearted and likes to sing. He wants to be a priest when he is old enough.

Damian is an energetic, rambunctious, and mischievous 9-year-old. He spends most of his free time climbing trees and playing with his brothers. He wants to be a pediatrician or a State Trooper when he grows up.

Felix is a silly, fun, and happy 5 year old. His favorite pastime is fishing and playing the Wii. He spends a lot of his time playing with his little sister, Eloise. When he grows up, he wants to be a Police Officer.

Eloise is 3 years old. She loves dress up and pretend play. She spends most of her day in search of beautiful outfits and pink anything. When she grows up she wants to be a princess.

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Lifestyle

There is no single word that could describe our lifestyle because we tend to be up for anything. Our faith in God is what has always given us the strength to take on whatever comes our way. Our lifestyle is best defined by how we are a family. Tobias goes to work each morning Monday through Friday. He works hard to provide monetarily for our family. Patty stays at home and works each day as a full-time mother, homeschool teacher, and so much more.

Our days at home start with morning chores, followed by breakfast. We have a morning prayer and gather around the kitchen table to start our school day. With different grades, the kids finish their lessons at different times then they play until Tobias gets home from work. We have the rest of the day for chores and recreation, and we always eat supper together around a very large table. During the winter months, we spend our time inside with things like reading, playing games, or doing puzzles. When the weather is warmer, we garden, play baseball, or just spend our time outside in the sun.

Saturday is our work day at home. Tobias doesn’t work on the weekends, so any tasks or jobs that need to be accomplished are done on Saturday. We love to spend summer evenings around the fire pit. Sunday is our family day and day of rest. We always start our day by going to church in the morning. We spend Sundays visiting our families, friends, or if nothing is planned at home.

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Our House & Homestead

We live in a cozy brick home with a finished basement. The upstairs has an open floor plan. The girl and the younger boys sleep in the two bedrooms upstairs. Babies sleep in the master bedroom until they sleep through the night. The older boys have the basement bedroom. We’ve always had the kids share bedrooms; it is a great learning experience for them to find out how to share and respect each other when they are occupying the same area. There is a play area and school room/library in the basement, but we spend most of our school day at the kitchen table.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

Being Christians, we have always been taught that we are all God’s children. Every person is unique and special in God’s eyes. We are called to treat each other this way also. Our church is very close to a military base which allows us to have friends from many cultures. This has been a great experience for us because our children have been able to learn that, even though every person looks different, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of the people that attend our church are also in our homeschool group, so our kids have many friends that not only have different skin colors but can speak different languages also. We believe this will be helpful for a child that may have a different skin color than us. We will love them just the same, but with our church and homeschool network, they would be able to spend time and play with other kids who might share their backgrounds.

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Our Families

We are both from large families. We both grew up in homes where there were always a lot of kids around, so the busy home we have today is all we have ever known. Both sides of our family are close and still get together for holidays and parties throughout the year. Our seven children each have several cousins that are very close in age. So these family functions are a great time for all of the kids because of their group of friends at each event.

Patty has 7 siblings and there are 37 grandkids in her family. Patty’s mother is a great baker and loves to try new things, thus meaning we get a lot of test batches and tasty surprises when she is trying to master a new recipe. During the summer she makes homemade ice cream for the grandkids at the parties.

Tobias has 6 siblings and there are 22 grandkids in his family. Tobias’ mother is an old-fashioned country cook. She is always eager to have us over for dinner and make a delicious hearty meal. During the winter months, she makes an Amish friendship bread every week for all of the grandchildren.

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Family Traditions

We always celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at our home. We have a standing invitation with both sets of our parents where we cook Reuben sandwiches, fried potatoes, and boiled cabbage. This has come to be a celebration we all look forward to each year.

Once our older children became a little more opinionated, they didn’t see the fairness in having Mother’s Day and Father’s Day but no day to celebrate kids. So, several years ago, we started Kid’s Day on the fourth Sunday in July. This is the day where each kid gets to pick one thing they want to do and we spend the whole day accomplishing each child’s request. We have spent this day doing things like playing football, kickball, video games, going to see a movie, and have gone to a pool for a swim. We can’t wait to see what kind of activities your child will want to add to our special Kid’s Day tradition.

Each person in our family is celebrated on their birthday. We have a party on the evening of their birthday with cake and ice cream that follows their choice of dinner. Some of the smaller traditions on more of a weekly basis are our Saturday morning breakfast, or “big breakfast” as the kids have come to call it. After a busy week of work and school, we all get up together and make breakfast. Our children are always happy to make suggestions and requests, and breakfast can range from sausage and fresh eggs to biscuits and gravy.

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Our Promise to You

• Our promise is that we will take your baby as the blessing that he/she is, and accept your child as one of our own.
• We will care for the baby and help teach and instruct them throughout their childhood years. We will surround them with family that loves them.
• As they grow older, we will help them to learn, to lead and make their own decisions to prepare for being adult.
• We will let them go out into the world to help this world be a better place by what they have to offer it. Whenever they leave home, we will continue to check on them and offer any support needed.
• Whatever the future brings, we will love and support them. We will play, and laugh, and grow together. We promise to be a family.
• We promise to tell your child about his/her adoption from the very beginning and only speak of you with gratitude and respect.