Dear Friend:
Hello! We are so excited that you are taking the time to get to know us and we hope to get to know you better, too. The decision you are facing is a difficult one, we know, but we hope your decision can help bless us with a child, and also bless you as you become a cherished member of our family. We'd like to tell you a little bit about ourselves, first:
Brandon is funny, entertaining, and playful. He is an excellent father who loves to play with his little girl, teaching her how to throw and run and tickling her and teasing her and making her giggle all the time. While he is all-boy, with his love for sports, hunting, and fishing (he fully intends on teaching his daughter to do all of those things), he is also a bit of a softy, with great taste in pink dresses. His personality is carefree and laid-back but he is very responsible and always calm when faced with conflict. He treats his wife and daughter (and everyone) with great love and respect--a love and respect he will also show to a new baby.
Brandon is a researcher in Nuclear Engineering at the Idaho National Lab and has a PhD in Nuclear Engineering. He enjoys working in the field because of the challenges it presents, but even more he loves living in his native Idaho. Brandon loves to hunt and fish and be outdoors, and looks forward to when his kids can participate in those activities with him. He also loves sports, especially baseball, and we love to go to sporting events around the country as a family.
Elise is cheerful and likes to keep busy. She is a great mom and loves to teach and play with Cadence. She is always putting Cadence's needs first and will continue to do so with another child. Cadence loves and adores her and they are best friends. She takes great care of her family and loves them all.
Elise has an undergraduate degree in psychology and neurobiology and a graduate degree in business. She loves to learn, especially languages, to do projects around the house, crafting, baking, piano, reading, traveling, and spending time with her family. Like Brandon, Elise has a great passion for sports and loves to support her home-town Badgers.
We also have a beautiful daughter--Cadence. Cadence was placed with us in June of 2010 by her birth mother, who is also an important part of our family. Cadence is cheerful and happy and a joy to us both. We feel so blessed to have been selected to raise her in our family and we feel like there was great purpose in the way she came to our family.
We had a wonderful experience adopting our daughter, Cadence. Cadence's birth mom and her family are amazing and we think of them as an extension of our own family. We like to visit with them when we can and we keep in regular contact with Cadence's birth mom. The whole experience of adopting Cadence was wonderful and really increased our testimonies in eternal families.
Lastly, we have two playful and cheerful pugs. They are named Bellatrix (Bella) and Narcissa (Nessa) after the evil Harry Potter witches, but they are sweet (and a little mischievous). The dogs love Cadence and she loves them, especially when they let her pull their tails.
Brandon himself is partially adopted--his father adopted him but he his biologically his mother's--so we had a great appreciation for adoption even before our own experiences. We also know, from his mother's experience, how difficult it can be to make the decision to place a child into adoption or not. We hope that our adoptive child--your child--will continue to be a part of your life in pictures and letters, if not visits, and that you will think of us as part of your family as well.
Thank you for your thought and you are in our prayers-
Elise and Brandon
