Dear Birthfamily,
We are John, Jennifer and Justin from Bryan, Texas. Thank you for taking the time to read and learn about our family. While we will never fully understand the emotions you are going through, we admire you for considering open adoption. We pray that God will give you the wisdom and strength to make the best decision for your child and you.
We have been married for 13 wonderful years and each year keeps getting better. We are members of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bryan. Our whole family loves the outdoors that our great God created. We enjoy going fishing, playing baseball, basketball and bicycling. Our most favorite, though, is camping in our fifth wheel travel trailer. We make a point to get away and go camping at a State Park at least once a month. The reason we enjoy it so much is that it creates wonderful memories and we can give each other undivided attention. There are no distractions and chores to take us away from each other. Quite often our extended family camps with us too, which makes it that much more fun!
John, 34, is a native of Bryan. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1997. About 3 years ago he took over his father-in-law’s cabinet shop and has made it a successful and a well known business in our area. He loves creating with his hands and following in Jesus’ footsteps of being a carpenter. Owning his own company gives him the flexibility to make time for family. In his spare time, he likes to create things with metal, work on fixing up our homestead and digging dirt with his tractor. John’s current project is restoring a 1953 John Deere model 70 tractor. It is a dream come true to share this project with his Son and Dad!
Jennifer, 33, is also from Bryan. She graduated from Texas A&M University in 1999. Jennifer works for the Texas Transportation Institute in their accounting office and has been with them for 10 years. In her spare time, she likes to weed her flower beds and prune her roses. She also enjoys taking walks through the woods behind their house to bird watch and sometimes she comes across a deer or bobcat. If she is not outside in her free time, she is inside with a good book. Her favorite authors these days are Patricia Cornwell and Ginger Garrett. If Jennifer could live anywhere she wanted it would be at the beach as it is so peaceful watching the waves and birds. When a child is placed with us, Jennifer plans on taking a ten-week leave period and will continue to work afterwards. When she goes back to work, the child will attend daycare at our church, St. Joseph. We have had a great experience with them and it is an awesome learning environment.
Justin, 6, is all boy and such a joy for our family. He is a first grader at St. Joseph’s Catholic School. He loves being outdoors and playing on his playground or riding his horse Patches. Justin is also a water bug and loves anything that has to do with water. He also loves to pretend to be the favorite superhero of the month at any moment and to wrestle with Dad. He is so excited to become a big brother and has even said that he will change a dirty diaper!
Justin was 3 days old when we adopted him through Buckner. He knows his adoption story and all about his Birth Family. We have recently relocated Justin’s Birth Mother and Birth Sister and are trying to get them more involved in Justin’s life, but so far we have only received limited response to our attempts at contact. Justin knows how much they love him and that they are a very important part of his life.
Family is very important to us. Along with camping, most every Friday we visit Granny and Papa (Jennifer’s parents) and have a good time talking or playing some games. Then on most Sundays, we go to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for lunch with all of John’s family and whoever is visiting that weekend. While there, we talk or go outside and play a game of bad mitten, horseshoes, baseball or blow bubbles!
Please know that we are praying for you and your baby. Remember that you are not alone in all of this. God is with you the whole step of the way and knows the plan he has for your life and your baby’s. Look to Him for the answers you need and He will never fail you! Our thoughts and prayers are with you. If you would like to find out more about our family, you can contact Buckner Adoption at 800-441-2670.
