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Ken & Heather are hopeful adoptive parents from Utah waiting to adopt a baby.

If you are pregnant and considering placing your child for adoption, please read the following Dear Birthmother Letter.

Congratulations!
Adoption in Progress.

Dear Birth Family When a child is coming into the world, there are many people who have an interest in that expected child and its future. This letter is to all those people…birth mother and birth father, birth grandparents, and all the extended family. We have 2 adopted children so we know first hand the intense love and attachment a birth mother has for her child, as well as the love and attachment the entire birth family can have for this same child. We have a deep love and admiration for our children's birth mothers. This love and regard extends to the birth mother's and birth father's entire family because we know the decision to place a child has far reaching effects.
Because it may be quite an emotional time for you and your family, it may help you to know that one thing we have enjoyed about the adoption process is corresponding with our adopted children's birth families! We love to tell about what amazing people they created! We know birth families need to feel 100% sure that their child is going to the right place and that this feeling needs to be reassured after placement and for years to come.

Here is a little information about our family. Its hard to know with a surety what a family is like with a few short typed pages and a few pictures. So please Send us a message

While trying to start a family we were both able to get our college degrees, Heather in Chemistry and Ken a Masters degree in Wildlife Biology. Heather was able to work as a chemist and Ken got his wildlife consulting business going. After exploring the adoption process we knew without a doubt it was the path for us! Within just a few months Josh joined us. Then two years later, we got Kasey Lu. Now the number one thing on everyone's mind is adding to our family!

Meet the Gang We are a close family. By this we mean we spend a lot of time together, we like to do hobbies together, we can share problems with each other without getting judged, we are willing to sacrifice time for each other, and of course we make each other laugh. We like to be spontaneous and will frequently jump in the car on a moments notice, taking the kids out of school if needed, to have some good family recreation. Ken always says, “You can’t let school get in the way of your education.” Almost all of our extended families on both sides live close by. We have 4 grandparents, 17 aunts and uncles and fourteen cousins under the age of 12 . This is so great because the children are growing up with close friendships with their cousins. The girl cousins will sleep over at grandmas and make bread sticks, have a tea party, sew a pillow, or do crafts. Last summer, grandpa shared his love for gardening by working with each grandson planting and tending a row in his garden. We will go pheasant, rabbit, goose, or duck hunting multiple times a month. Each spring the fathers and kids go to New Mexico for a week long turkey hunt. They talk about it all year and always bring home interesting pets to raise (turtles, tadpoles, lizards). At the last monthly Sunday dinner at grandma and grandpa’s we had 40 people! The kids have been to Disneyland with their cousins a couple of times. We look forward to our children growing up with such an awesome intact support group. We realize how lucky we are to have such a large extended family and that this family spends alot of time together.

Here are some things about Ken that I really love and admire and why I think he is such a remarkable person...
First, Ken has always given me wings to fly. He encourages me in everything I want to try. He gives this support by footing the bill and covering for me with home responsibilities while I take art classes, community computer classes, tutor math and science high school students, to name a few. He didn't hesitate when my sister and I decided at a moments notice to drive 12 hours to surprise our other sister on her birthday. Anything I want to try, he is there encouraging me and making it possible. This makes our marriage strong because it is built on unselfishness and a desire for me to have dreams and to succeed.
Ken's number one interest is people, especially young men who may be struggling or having a difficult time in their life. He will spend one on one time with them to show his concern and to be a friend. It is not uncommon to get letters from young men in our neighborhood telling Ken that he made a huge difference in their lives through his example and friendship. This shows me what a great Dad he is and will be when our own children have a crisis in their life.
Ken is better than anyone I know at Daddy/daughter, Daddy/Son dates! A night at a hotel, doing perler beads for an hour, coloring, looking for turkeys up the canyon, giving bull rides, catching bugs to feed to the lizard, pulling the kids and the neighbor kids for hours behind the four wheeler on sleds in the snow, ping pong tournaments....he likes to play and play hard.
I want to share a memory I have of Ken when we were first dating. He took me fishing, which I had really never done before. He said he could catch a fish with his bare hands. I said rather sarcastically, "Yeah, right!" And then he reached under the pond bank and pulled out a 14 inch fish! I thought to myself, “Life with this guy would not be boring!” And it certainly hasn't been!
Our family has greatly benefited from Ken’s love for hunting and fishing. It is definitely a big part of our lives not only because its part of Ken’s private consulting business, but because he has shared his love and knowledge for the outdoors and wildlife with us. It brings us closer together as a family, and now we love it too. I feel our children are really lucky to have Ken for a Dad because he is affectionate with hugs and kisses and expresses love verbally, two things I think are essential to raising a happy, confident family.

Here are some things I love about Heather....
Heather has always been the independent type who won't take no for an answer. If she tries something new, she gets impassioned about it. She wanted to get into painting, so she turned the entire kitchen wall into a mural. She and the kids and even the neighborhood kids painted on it for weeks….dragons, and castles and caves. Another instance of her strong nature is that she was having some knee pain and the Dr. said she should stop running for a while, so she took up biking and swimming. She loved it so much she started training and now she is doing triathlons. Since Josh loves running, they decided to train for and run in a 5 K race together. I love how she involves the children in her hobbies.
Our children don't watch TV because there is always something going on. Heather also emphasizes working hard and doing well in school. Homework and learning are a priority. Heather likes to teach the children how to do things around the house like cooking and laundry. Her philosophy is that if the children are capable of a chore, then it becomes a responsibility. Our kids do their laundry, help cook meals, mow the lawn, etc. But not just the practical things. She loves science and she'll get the kids looking through microscopes, doing chemistry, and other experiments. Our family has a telescope and we like to gaze at Jupiter and Saturn! A few years ago she discovered she enjoys art and drawing with pastels. Our home is decorated with some of her work. She loves to connect with the kids when they are going to bed. She will lay with them and talk about the day, frustrations, funny things, and she finds the kids really open up at this time. Some of her talents and hobbies are biking, drawing, remodeling our house, food storage and preservation, plays the piano, creating adventures and learning experiences for our family, and working in the yard and garden.

A little about Josh.....
Josh is 10. In recent months he has passed hunter’s safety, learned to “heelie”, and to jump on a pogo stick. He is a friendly guy that looks out for the underdog. He loves little babies and children. When asked who he wanted to invite to his birthday party he said his 2 best friends from school and the 2 year old that lives behind us! I asked him what he wanted to do at his party and one of the things was to take a package of dental floss down to the football field and measure it to see if it was really 100 yards long...and it was!

A little about Kasey.....
Kasey is 7. She is quite expressive. She loves horses and is excited to go on her first pack trip in Montana that Ken is planning for the family this summer. She wants to be a veterinarian and live on a farm. She likes taking piano, but her favorite is horse back riding lessons.

What Makes Us Unique Each family is unique. We would like to share a couple of things about our family that we think are unique and a blessing to a great family life. First of all, Ken works at home. He has his own Wildlife Consulting business. Because he gets to spend so much time at home, he has been here for everything….first step, first word, trips to the hospital for stitches and asthma, the first time the children rolled over or stood on their own, etc. All those exciting little things that life is made of. He will type on the computer while the kids take a nap on his lap and he can eat lunch with them everyday they are not in school. Our children exposed to what a work world is like by hearing his phone calls and business meetings. They help out with paperwork and mailing business letters. Since Ken consults for Private Land owners, we have access to millions of acres of private lands in our home state and surrounding states. When Ken travels to these ranches to do wildlife consulting work, he will at times take the family with him and we will count deer and elk and other wildlife, explore the ranch on a four wheeler, and meet with new people and situations. It is a great blessing that the kids can have this kind of connection with their Dad and these valuable learning experiences of life by sharing Ken’s profession with him.

Heather does not have a job outside the home. While waiting for children to come into our family, she was able to work as a Chemist. But as soon as we adopted Josh she quit her job to raise a family. This will always be the case. She wants to be involved in all aspects of her children’s lives so she helps weekly at school in the classroom, is a great room mom, takes the children and their friends swimming, biking, hiking, to the city, or wherever the adventure might take them.

We have a strong belief of Service. We create and find many opportunities to serve. For instance, one night last fall Josh spoke up and said, “Let’s rake the neighbor’s leaves”. We took 6 truck loads of leaves to the dump over the next 2 days! We have a neighbor who is a widow and the kids will visit her or draw her a picture. They do it time and time again because they can see how happy it makes her. There is a note on the bulletin board that Kasey wrote to Josh that says, “I will make your bed”. It creates a very profound feeling of genuine love and respect in our home that we all just love being here, and the neighborhood children can feel it too because we frequently have a houseful of friends. One of our traditions is to serve a free Christmas dinner at a local restaurant on Christmas Eve for the homeless. Last Christmas Eve as Kasey was rolling utensils into napkins she said, “Mom, why do I feel so happy?” We feel service and caring for other people is so important to our children’s happiness and perspective on life.

A House...A Home We love our house, and our favorite thing about it is the back yard: big shade trees, fruit trees, tree house, a tramp and swings, sandbox, grapes, raspberries, and big enough for frequent games of kickball, or getting pulled by the four wheeler on a sled in the snow. We have great neighbors and we know all of them well. We truly feel blessed to have found such a wonderful place for our family.

But the essential thing is to make a house a home. Many things make a house a home, making snicker doodles with the kids and getting sick eating the dough before you’ve even cooked a batch, or turning off all the lights and reading a story together by candle light. Not stressing over a dent in the wall and being friendly with the children’s friends is a priority. We have read Summer of the Monkeys, Where the Red Fern Grows, Tales of Narnia, My Side of the Mountain, Harry Potter, and many other books together. We all enjoy our "Family Olympics" competing in cushion jumping and other unique events. Little things like these and time spent together all help keep our family connected.

Another important thing that makes a house a home is how we face challenges. Always being available to talk, and not overreacting when a concern is brought forward have helped us deal with our children’s concerns successfully. When appropriate, we help them come up with solutions on their own and guide them in carrying out these solutions. Rather than just taking care of their problems for them, we want to give them the skills they need to deal with challenges when they arise.

Traditions also make a house a home and keep families connected. Some of our favorite traditions are on holidays (i.e. pink milk and heart shaped pancakes on Valentines, a cousin Easter egg hunt, Green mashed potatoes on St Patrick's, giving out awesome Halloween treats like hot dogs and pop or hot pizza, exploring the mountains to cut our own Christmas tree). Experience has taught us that simple traditions such as these help make a house a home and a place where our children want to be and bring their friends.


We hope this helps you get an idea of the kind of life your child would have with us. We're sure because you love your child so much you want to be sure you're giving them the best. As with the birth parents of our first two children, we look forward to corresponding or meeting with you so that you feel like you know us and that you will have no fears to go forward with confidence. Our children like to hear details about their birth mothers and birth families. It is an important part of their heritage. It would be the same of any child that came to be a part of our family. Feel free to Send us a message

With Highest Regards,

Ken and Heather