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Thomas & Mara are hopeful adoptive parents from Wyoming waiting to adopt a baby.

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

Dear Birth Parents We are very thankful for you! We cannot imagine how tremendously difficult the decisions you are making must be. Adoption truly is about love. We know it is your love for your baby that is leading you to consider adoption. We’re amazed by your strength and courage to make this great sacrifice. We pray for you, that you will feel the Lord’s love and find comfort and guidance. You are giving a precious gift. We are very humbled and honored by your consideration of us as adoptive parents.

It has always been the desire of our hearts to have children. We know the Lord works miracles as we have two precious children in our lives. They are our greatest blessings. After 8 years of fasting, praying, and many medical procedures we were blessed to have Dustin who is now
4 1/2 years old. We knew our family wasn’t complete and felt guided to complete our adoption paperwork. We were blessed with another miracle as Nathan came into our lives through the beautiful plan of adoption almost 3 years ago. We have so much love for Nathan’s birth parents. They have given us the greatest gift anyone can offer in this life. Getting to know them is an experience we cherish. We have felt the promptings of the Spirit telling us there is still one more child waiting to come to our family. If we are blessed to receive another child into our home, we hope to develop another great relationship with his or her birth parents.

About Us We’d like to share a little about ourselves so you can get to know us.

We met over 14 years ago. A group of our friends planned a country dancing night. One by one, the other couples cancelled, leaving only us. We soon discovered that no place was open for dancing that night. So for our first date, just the two of us ended up dancing in Tom’s living room. We had so much fun that we started dating regularly and 10 months later we were married!

These are Tom’s words about Mara: “At first glance her outward beauty was striking. After getting better acquainted, I found her inward beauty just the same. I knew I found a special heart when I discovered she cared for many disabled individuals. She has the most wonderful, friendly personality that brings a smile to your face. Watching her care for our children is a joy as she strives to nurture and enrich their lives. Because of mom, there are smiles on the faces of our children every day.”

These are some of Mara’s thoughts about Tom: “Not only did I fall in love with Tom because he’s a great dancer and incredibly handsome, but he is very caring, patient, dependable, and hardworking. I always knew that Tom would make a wonderful father. Now that I see him with our children, this is confirmed daily as I watch him play with them, teach them, and work with them. He is a hands-on dad. He does everything from changing diapers and comforting tears to building forts and going on bike rides. The boys are so happy when dad comes home. He radiates peace and strength.”

Hobbies and Interests There are many things we like to do together. We still enjoy dancing whenever we get the chance. We also are very fortunate to live in an area where there are lots of opportunities for outdoor recreation. The mountains are just half an hour from our home and we love to hike, camp, snow ski, snowmobile, and do other outdoor activities. Tom’s family has a big ranch just two hours away from us. We spend the weekend with his family whenever we can, helping out with the ranch work. And of course, we also take time out for fun–riding horses, four- wheeling, roasting hotdogs, sledding and ice skating.
Whether we are going on walks or bike rides, playing in our backyard in the sandbox or on the swing set, or splashing in the wading pool, we just love being together as a family.

We also like to do community service. We recently helped our community get a new playground by assisting with fund raising, recruiting volunteers, and building. Tom is always helping neighbors with home improvement projects or moving. Mara has done volunteer work for Special Olympics, Project READ (an adult literacy program) and the Refugee Assistance Corporation. This fall, she participated in a Halloween play for the children of the community and plans on being in another play this Spring with the “Enchanted Entertainers”.

Serving in our church is also very important to us. We have great faith in our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ. We know they love us and that they hear and answer our prayers as they love and hear all of their children on earth. We’ve held many callings. Currently Tom helps with the finances at church and Mara works with the Young Women. She loves being with the girls. Right now we are learning to sew pioneer bonnets and aprons in preparation for a handcart trek we’ll be taking this summer.

Traveling is something we like to do. Before we had children we were able to take some fun trips, including a vacation to Europe where we rode on a gondola through a Venetian canal, visited a castle in Bavaria, and saw the tulips in Holland. We also visited Mexico where we saw the ancient ruins of Chichen Itza and climbed a pyramid. We still like to visit new places with the boys. On a trip to Arizona, Dustin fell in love with the desert.

Our Family More about Tom: I was raised in the country, on the family ranch, outside of a small town. I am the youngest of five children. Growing up I enjoyed going to the mountains with my family. We camped, hiked, rode horses, and fished. We also had fun doing the ranch work, cutting wood and trailing cattle. In high school, I participated in football, basketball, and track. I enjoy playing a variety of sports. I currently play City League basketball. I love to be outdoors in the mountains. I enjoy target shooting and riding horses. I served a mission in Holland. I have a two-year degree in Electrical Automation. I currently work in that field, troubleshooting and maintaining industrial electrical and mechanical equipment.

Mara: I grew up in a different world from Tom. I lived in the middle of a big city, the oldest of 3 children. We loved taking family vacations together. Every summer we’d take road trips to different destinations around the country, camping and site seeing. Our family also enjoyed serving those in our community. We often provided shelter, meals, and transportation to those in need. I grew up dancing and tumbling. In high school I was a cheerleader. I love to read and I’m a member of a Book Club. I have always loved animals. I like to take our dog, Pepper, on outings. Now that I have children I’m having fun developing new talents such as cross stitching birth samplers and making birthday cakes. I served a mission in Montana for our church. My bachelor’s degree is in Special Education. I taught children with autism and have worked in other settings with individuals with disabilities. I completed a Master’s Degree in Psychology and received certification as a School Counselor. I would like to work as a School Counselor some day, but right now I am doing my dream job—staying home with our two boys.

Dustin loves to “read”. He loves learning about new things. His current interests include astronauts, rockets, and space. He likes to play “pretend”—pretending he is a knight rescuing the princess from dragons, a cowboy riding in the rodeo, or a paleontologist digging for bones. He also loves watching movies and eating popcorn. It is always a special treat for him when we have family movie nights.

Nathan loves balls of all shapes and sizes. He likes to throw them, kick them, bounce them, roll them and catch them. We have to be prepared at all times for flying objects. He likes to shoot baskets and play t-ball. Nathan loves to be outside. He likes to slide, swing, climb, jump, and swim. Besides playing with balls, his favorite thing to do is EAT!

Both of the boys LOVE babies and would make great big brothers.

We would love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have. Thank you for learning about our family. We pray daily that we may find one another. May God bless you, guide you, support, and sustain you. You already have a special place in our hearts!

Sincerely,

Tom and Mara
Dustin and Nathan