Our little sunshine

Miss Gracie. This happy girl is ready to become a big sister.

To you:

Hello!

We are Blake and Amanda and we are honored to be sharing our story with you. Hopefully we can provide you with a snapshot of our life. Thanks for taking time to get to know us. We hope this shows you who we really are!

We met through mutual friends nearly 8 years ago and have been married for 7 years. Blake’s sister was dating one of Amanda's best friends. He wanted to hang out with Amanda so he decided to set up a blind date. We admit, the first date kinda crashed and burned! But for some reason Blake called Amanda a few days later and it was smooth sailing from there! We have a solid marriage full of love, laughter and respect.  

One thing about Blake that I really love is when he turns on a song and grabs me for a slow dance. He's always done this. Even when we were dating. The last song he turned on was Baby it's Cold Outside and we slow danced in his sister's kitchen. I absolutely love it when he does that. Also, Blake always makes me laugh. I love hearing him laugh. It's contagious and it gets me laughing every time. Actually, I'm laughing just thinking about it. And as sappy as it may sound, he sometimes writes me love notes that melt my heart.

Blake loves to golf. If he could golf everyday he would. He also really loves to play basketball and softball. He usually plays on a city softball league and they usually win 1^stor 2^nd place in the finals. Blake loves to hunt. Not just for the camping and hunting experience but he feels great knowing there is a freezer full of meat for his family. Blake enjoys spending time with family. He loves getting together and watching basketball games or football games with his brother-in-laws and having dinner and game nights with his sisters' families. Blake has 3 sisters who live near-by and a brother who lives in England so we have a lot of support and fun all around us. Just recently his sister, Chelsi, had her 3^rd baby and they made his middle name Blake. His brother-in-law said “I told Chelsi if our baby could be like anyone I'd want him to be like Blake.” So through tears Chelsi told her older brother that she named her baby after him. It was a priceless moment. Blake was speechless- which is rare!

Blake works at a company that supports and helps handicapped adults. He is learning many great skills that he implements at home with our child who doesn't have special needs. He is a great dad to our 3-year-old. He teaches her honesty and obedience. He loves and adores his little girl. He made a luge in our back yard out of snow. He rides down it with her in our toboggan sled. She loves it! Blake is protective of his daughter. He doesn't want anything bad to happen to her or harm her. He is so cute with her. Especially cute when he's painting her nails or doing her hair.

Amanda is everything I could ever hope for in a woman. Every day she amazes me with how perfect she is for me. The two most important things in her life is to be a wife and a mother and she shows it everyday. It makes me smile every time I come home and she Amanda and our daughter Gracie looking out the window waiting for me to pull in the driveway with big smiles on their faces.

Amanda is the best cook I know. She is from a family of great cooks. Everyday at work my friends would get jealous of the left overs I would bring for lunch and it wasn't long before they were begging me to bring extra for them. My favorite thing about her cooking is there is always something different. She is always finding delicious recipes online and cooking them up for us. It makes my mouth water just thinking about her cooking.

I absolutely love the way Amanda is with our daughter. There is no one else she would rather play with than her mommy. It's always fun to come home and see what new craft, toy, or piece of art they did together for the day. One of my favorites was the little doll house they made together. Our daughter was just so proud of it and I think secretly Amanda was more proud than our 3-year-old.

In a good way, I think Amanda has a personality of a child. At first she may seem a little shy, but those who know her will certainly tell you she has more love to give than anyone they know. She is as loyal as they come and goes to great lengths to be sure those around her are happy and loved. Her heart is as pure as they come and that is why I love her more every day.

We believe strongly in hobbies and talents. We encourage talents and learning. Our daughter is in a dance class and she loves every minute of it. She also enjoys painting and singing. We bought her a paint set and she takes time to paint often. It's also very fun painting with her. She loves to make up her own songs and sing as loud as she can. Which also shows she is full of personality. Developing and cultivating talents at a young age, we believe, helps a child gain confidence and a positive self-esteem.

We have a wonderful diverse family and friends who will and do care deeply about our children and they are thrilled that we are adopting again. There are two sets of devoted, doting grandparents who are excited beyond words to add another grandchild to their family. We also have an awesome Boxer dog named Bailey. She is exceptionally great with kids and loves hanging around people and makes for great company. She and our daughter get along very well. Bailey is the sweetest, gentlest dog and she plays softly with children. Even when our daughter is tugging at her ears or putting her necklaces on her, Bailey just stays still and takes it.

We have an open adoption with our daughter's birth mother. We are very comfortable with an open adoption and we look forward to our next child having the opportunities and comfort of really knowing their birth parent(s). We would regularly keep you updated with photos and milestones and we would like to include you in some important events such as birthdays or holidays. We will ensure that your child knows of the love you have for them and how they came to be part of our family. We are a pretty open couple however, if you would prefer a closed adoption, we would honor and respect your wishes. 

We thank you for taking the time to read through our letter and view our pictures. We hope you got to know us better.

We wish you the best!

Warmly,

Blake and Amanda

Bailey

Bailey is our Boxer. She is so sweet and is SOO good with Gracie and patient. She loves walks, car rides and being outside. She is a very good and energetic dog

Bailey is
2
Brown and Happy

Gracie Jen

Born June 1, 2009
Brought to our Home June 2, 2009
Adopted December 4, 2009
Sealed to her Mommy and Daddy December 5, 2009

Gracie has brown hair and green eyes

Gracie is:
3 years old
Happy and energetic
Sweet and loving

Gracie loves:
Her dog Bailey
Mom and Dad
Her friends and cousins
Dancing, singing, coloring, painting, cooking with mom
Pink
Matching clothes
Making jewelry with her beads
Church and Primay
Jesus
Her church teachers
Bubbles
Laughing
Strawberry Shortcake
My Little Pony
Princesses

Eternal Family

We have adopted our first baby: Gracie

Born June 1st 2009

***A Little Bit More About Us!***

We went to high school together and graduated in 2002, yet we didn’t know each other. It wasn’t until a week after Blake returned home in May 2006 from an LDS mission that we were introduced on a blind date. Things went very quickly from there and we were married in September that same year. Amanda had been going to Utah State University for 3 years majoring in Interior Design before we got married, so Blake moved to Logan so Amanda could finish school; at least that was the plan. After less than a semester we decided the drive was too far away from our families so we made the move back to where we grew up. We love being near our families and being able to attend all of the family get-togethers. Where we live now is a 30 minute drive or less to our parents, brothers and sisters. We see them often and get to be a part of our many nieces and nephews lives.

We wanted children right when we got married. After nearly 3 years of trying with no success we found out we can’t have children. Our thoughts and hearts immediately turned to adoption. We have always wanted to adopt, so we were thrilled to know that’s how we would build our eternal family.

We are close with every member of our families. Blake loves Amanda’s family and Amanda adores Blake’s family. Blake’s family loves golfing and being outdoors while Amanda’s family loves the comfort of home and watching old movies. We travel with Blake’s family to Park City often for getaways, his parents own a timeshare there. We try to go to Michigan with Amanda’s family as often as we can since Amanda’s dad is from there. We have family in Michigan and Idaho so those are places we visit as regularly as we can.

Both of our families are extremely supportive of us adopting. Our children will be surrounded by cousins and other loved-ones who will help teach them and share their love with them.

Amanda’s aunt and uncle adopted 2 children through LDS Family Services and we see how it has blessed their lives. Their children get along well, even look alike, and add so much to the lives of their parents. Another aunt and uncle to Amanda had adopted 2 children from Africa. She remembers helping them raise money to bring them to America. It stood out to Amanda how the whole family was so supportive of the adoptions.

Blake

Age: 29
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 5'11"Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hobbies: Playing sports, hunting, shooting, golfing, snowboarding, watching sports, camping

Favorites: Blue, Orange, Green, Black, Grey, Mexican food, movies of any kind, Cheetos, sweets

Education: High School
Job: NES

Amanda

Age: 29Ethnicity: Cacasian
Height: 5'4"Hair Color: Naturally light brown- but I change it a lot.Eye Color: Blue
Hobbies: Crafts, scrapbooking, decorating, cooking, baking, sewing, writing, blogging
Favorites: Green, Mexican food, comedies and romantic comedies, vacations

Education: High School. Then 3.5 years at Utah State University. First year's major- Journalism~ then switched to Interior Design and minoring in Art

Job: Homemaker and Wife

Junior

Age: 3 RIP

Ethnicity: Miniature Dachshund

Height: Very Short

Hair Color: Black and Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Hobbies: Chewing bones, sneaking people food, running around, licking

Favorites: Red (assuming), his toys, his sister Lilly, having his neck kissed

Education: He has learned to sit, stay, roll over, play dead, lay and stand

Job: Keeping us company and giving unconditional love

Amanda- In Blake's Words

There is no better way to describe my wife then pure love. Our time together has been more than I could ever ask for, and I owe it all to her. I can completely be myself around her, whether I am being a complete dork, or a tired and boring man, her love for me never changes. No matter how bored she gets with my sports watching, she still comes home and lets me know what channel my favorite teams are on and when they start. This may not sound like anything big to some, but it shows to me that I mean the world to her and she wants more than anything else to make me happy. This is in her nature, it is who she is. She strives with all her strength to share her love with everyone, and she does an amazing job at it. There is not a person that knows Amanda that has not put a smile on their face when she was around. She can make anyone smile and laugh, whether it is because of her cute sense of humor and personality or because of the pure love of Christ that shines through her. She will cheer up your day, especially mine. I know that when she holds her future children that they will be held with this pure love. I also know that those children will feel that love and reach for it. They will do all they can to be near her. Just like our little puppy Junior. He will stop at nothing to get into her arms. He will fall asleep in her arms just like a little baby. And at night no matter how hard I try to keep him on my side of the bed, he always finds a way to squirm over to her. This is all because of her amazing motherly love; you just can’t help but to feel comfort and warmth in her arms. I love my wife with all of my heart and I am grateful for her in my life. Nothing will make me happier then to see our future children in the arms of an angel, my beautiful wife Amanda.

Blake- In Amanda's Words

Blake is a kid at heart. He loves to be active. He loves hunting, snowboarding, golfing, playing basketball and softball. He also loves an occasional video game. Blake is a big movie going fan. One thing that he and I like to do together when we can is go to a movie at the theater. Blake is great with his nieces and nephews. They love playing with him and he loves playing with them right back. Watching him interact with them I see he is going to be a great dad. He is loving and fun and full of energy. However, he also knows how to be firm. He protects what is sacred to him which is family and the gospel. He is a great teacher. He will teach his children well and raise them the best he knows how. I know Blake loves me. Not only does he say it often, he treats me well too. He keeps me safe. Blake is known to take my hand and lead me in a dance. Whether we be in the living room, kitchen or at the park he’ll sneak in a slow dance. Blake is a leader. He is a great speaker and a loyal friend. I notice people flock to Blake. He is great at making friends and great at keeping them too. I admire him in many ways. The way he can speak to others, his animated way of telling stories and being a loyal friend. Blake is my best friend. I trust, love and honor him.