Letters

We are John and Jessica. We are honored that you are interested in learning more about us as prospective parents.

We met in college and became fast friends. Our friendship grew into romance, and we started dating while studying abroad in 2004. John graduated in 2004, and we married right after Jessie graduated in 2006. We both agreed we wanted a large family. We planned to try to conceive, but we always considered adoption another great option. Over the years, we have been blessed to adopt three beautiful children, two from South Korea and one domestically. Hannah is twelve,...

I grew up in a big family, the third of nine children. All my life, I have been surrounded by family and kids. My parents sure were busy with all of our activities! I loved playing baseball as a kid and continue to play pickup sports to this day. Whether it's a hike with the family, playing football with friends, building sandcastles with the kids on the beach, or just going for a walk, I'm always happier outdoors.

My parents instilled in us a desire to learn and to tinker with things. A highlight of my childhood was helping my dad and brothers to design and build a...

I am so lucky to stay at home with the kids! My mom is a teacher, and I use the skills and the knowledge I learned from her and my mother-in-law to homeschool the three kids we are currently blessed with. We often go out for adventures or field trips during the day; a trip to the zoo, a visit to a natural history museum, or a nature walk. I love how much time we get to spend together as a family.

My artistic side shines out the best when I am cooking. I love the challenge of making a healthy dinner for the family and having it on the table by 5. I also sing at our church and...

We live in the historical part of a small city between Baltimore and DC. Our house was built in 1889 and has a fenced-in backyard. Our yard has slowly acquired more and more playground equipment and currently has a swing set, seesaw, and trampoline. We love having dinners on the picnic table when the weather is nice and a small fire in the evenings to roast marshmallows. Jessie has been planting fruit trees in the yard. She got enough cherries last year to make a pie and is hoping for a few apples next year....

We have a huge and supportive extended family. John has eight siblings, and Jessie has two brothers. We have over 45 nieces and nephews! We are very close to all of them. Three of John's brothers and father live nearby, and we often get together. Monday night dinners with Papa are a weekly event for our family. When John's side of the family gets together, there is always music and good food!

Jessie's mom comes down to visit at least for Thanksgiving and Easter. She lives with one of Jessie's brothers, and her other brother lives just 10 minutes away.

Everyone on...

Hannah (12) is a very responsible young lady who loves babies. She is well known as the neighborhood artist, and we find her teaching her younger brothers art tricks. She also loves to bake cookies and have good books to read.

• Hannah is a natural artist with any medium; painting, drawing, hair, and baking
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Our family loves adventure and travel. We go camping, to the beach, to national parks, and even overseas. Last year we took a trip to Austria and Italy. Our family got to walk through historic European castles, see the Sistine Chapel, and eat a ton of pasta.

We like to look at the stars and watch for meteor showers or lunar eclipses. We love to explore nature. This summer, we went out west to the Black Hills, where we saw buffalo and Mount Rushmore, and went kayaking in a mountain lake.

Family dinners are important to our family. It's a time to reconnect and touch...

We are blessed to have these three children, but we still feel our family is incomplete. We have plenty of room in our hearts to love more children.

Each of our kids has had a different story about how they came into our family. We cherish their birth families and honor them for all they have done for these children. We are open to contacting birth families through letters, pictures, or visits....