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Brian & Carina are hopeful adoptive parents from Minnesota waiting to adopt a baby.

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

Congratulations!
We're Adopting a Boy.

Dear Birth Mother Hello! Thank you for taking a few minutes to learn about us through this letter. We admire your commitment to finding the ideal home for your baby, and we want you to feel guided and reassured as you make this important and difficult decision. We hope we can offer a perfect match for the kind of home and family you envision in your baby's future – and no matter what, we hope you find what you're looking for.

We are incredibly excited about the prospect of having children join our home and our lives. As best friends who eventually fell in love and got married, we have a great relationship. Our home is full of love and laughter. At our wedding, we were given wise advice to hold each other's happiness above our own, and we've found this to be the recipe for a strong and happy marriage. Our children will benefit from parents who put our family's happiness and well-being first and foremost in everything we do.

Our Life Together Fortunately our life situation will allow us to spend lots of time with our children. Carina is a homemaker and Brian's job as a fulltime musician allows for much more time at home than the average job. We will take advantage of this time with our children and fill it with lots of family togetherness and favorite activities: reading, singing, arts and crafts projects, all kinds of music, baking cookies, taking walks, and discovering the world around us. We're excited to discover our children's interests and incorporate those into our family time as well. Children raised in our home will be loved unconditionally, nurtured and encouraged to develop their unique talents.

We have consciously tried to build our marriage on principles of love, kindness, patience and service – and a good sense of humor to help keep everything in perspective. As a couple, we strive to live according to Christian values. We look for opportunities to serve others, in our neighborhood, church and community. We will teach our children these important principles by example.

Soon after our marriage began in 2002, we moved to Minnesota for Brian's career as a classical musician. Among our activities have been a variety of home projects (including a nursery!), inside and outside. Gardening is close to Brian's heart because when he was growing up, his family had a big garden. Every year, each family member chose a crop to plant, weed and harvest. One year Brian chose carrots. On the flat stake that marked the beginning of his row of carrot seedlings, he wrote, "Carrots—Awesome". His family laughed, and he produced an awesome little crop. It took two years for Brian to convince Carina to let him till up some of our backyard for garden space, and we've been enjoying the harvest ever since. We have grown lots of vegetables and fresh herbs, but we are still working on producing "awesome" carrots.

We love food and the creative process of cooking – especially dessert. As a gift, Carina registered Brian for a pie making class, and now he is quite the pie chef. His most requested pie is caramelized walnut with tart cherries (yum!). Lots of friends encourage his pie making by volunteering to be guinea pigs for his latest creations. Carina loves the smile on Brian's face when he comes home to the smell of whatever she's been stirring up. We enjoy the company of friends for a good meal and conversation. We've strengthened many relationships laughing and talking around our table. This is a big part of our social life. One friend says our home is her favorite "non restaurant" to frequent. We look forward to welcoming children to the warmth of our family table.

We also love celebrating traditions that draw us closer as a family. One of our favorite traditions is our Christmas Eve "shepherd's dinner." We sit on the floor, eat foods native to Jerusalem, sing carols by candlelight and imagine what it might have been like to live when Jesus was born. We have another tradition of making peanut butter cups that we give to friends at Christmastime. Have we mentioned that we like food?

Since we didn't grow up here, we have done a lot of exploring in our city and state, to experience all they have to offer. We enjoy taking walks in our neighborhood and around the many beautiful lakes—especially in the fall when the colors are brilliant and the air is cool. The vibrant city and scenery are great for Carina's hobbies of photography and exercise. Brian's career connects us to music year-round, and Carina enjoys attending concerts – both Brian's concerts and others. We also like trying new restaurants (there's that food thing again…), watching movies, playing games, traveling and saving money – and Carina admits to having a special place in her heart for cool music from the 80's. But most of all, we enjoy sharing time with each other, with family and good friends. Our circle of friends includes families of diverse backgrounds, many with young children.

We live in a charming, yet modest home built in 1940. Our urban neighborhood is filled with huge trees and kind neighbors. It's a great place to explore. There's a marshy lake at the end of our street. Brian calls it "The Swamp." We've spotted frogs, turtles, bunnies, squirrels, hawks, geese and even a fox! We can't wait to include children in our neighborhood explorations.

Our Families and Background Carina is a Utah native, the oldest of four children. She has three fabulous brothers. As a child she always wanted a sister, but now that everyone has grown up she wouldn't trade her brothers for anything. All her siblings are married and live in different states, but we love getting together with them to laugh, talk, play games and make new memories. Her growing up years were somewhat difficult. Her parents divorced when she was a teenager. She learned thrift and self-sufficiency watching her mother raise four kids as a single parent. Sometimes the hardest experiences end up being the most valuable. She appreciates Brian and our relationship and will never take it for granted.

Brian also grew up in Utah, in a family of seven kids. His dad taught by example to value work and to serve others tirelessly. His mom taught the family to enjoy life and always do our best. Brian's parents supported and encouraged him in his musical aspirations by paying for and enduring countless lessons and concerts. He learned valuable lessons from each of his siblings about being kind, motivated, honest, positive and overcoming life's challenges. We love getting together with our extended family on both sides, and we make it a priority to do it as often as we can. It is a joy to see our seventeen wonderful nieces and nephews grow up. They will be sweet cousins to any child who joins our family.

More from Carina:
My heritage is very important to me. My ancestors came from Scotland and Italy. Both my mom and dad passed down family traditions and taught me to be proud of who I am and where I came from. Because of this, I would want our children to be proud of their heritage—both through birth and adoption.

I like traveling, languages and maps. For our five-year anniversary Brian and I traveled to Italy. Going to Italy was a lifelong dream of mine. I had a lot of fun studying Italian before we went and using it while we were there. We visited Rome, Tuscany and the little hill towns in southern Italy where my family came from over 100 years ago. That was our favorite part. I look forward to more traveling as our family grows.

Before getting married I lived in London for a while with my brother. We had jobs there to earn money for concerts and sightseeing. The highlight was visiting Scotland together – with Scottish ancestors, the trip was particularly meaningful. It was so green and beautiful. Among the many places we visited was Loch Ness…but no monster sighting.

About Brian: He is calm and sensible. I call him "the voice of reason." He is confident, yet humble. He is generous with love and praise. He has a strong sense of integrity and is a hard worker. Brian is a natural with kids, and he can make anyone feel at ease. He is creative and funny—I love his laugh. He is incredibly sweet about celebrating each monthly anniversary by bringing me flowers. I love him with my whole heart, and I know he feels the same about me. I can't wait to parent with Brian because I know he will be a loving, patient father.

More from Brian:
Music filled my parents' home. We had singers, drummers, flute, clarinet, trumpet, horn, piano and organ players and even a self-titled radio player. Music so inspired me that I determined to pursue a career in music. For years I put all my energy into becoming a professional musician. Eventually I reached my goal. I often get a lump in my throat and my eyes well up with tears while performing music composed under the inspiration of God. It is an honor and a blessing to play music every day. I call it my dream job. I look forward to sharing my love of music with children as our family grows.

I teach several teenage music students in our home. I love seeing my students' excitement when they understand a musical concept or play particularly well. In addition to being their music teacher, I enjoy being a positive influence in their lives. I feel trusted and respected when they ask for my opinion about non-musical challenges they are facing. It brings me joy to encourage and cheer them on. I appreciate this meaningful association with young people.

About Carina: She is the most grateful person I know. She is humble, kind and thoughtful. She surrounds herself with uplifting friends. She supports me in my career, church and community activities. I admire her sharp memory and unique style. I appreciate her sensitive and affectionate qualities. I am humbled when I consider how much she loves me. To see her smile fills me with joy and delight. I love Carina with all my heart. She has a great laugh and then a rare superpower laugh. Only a genuinely funny moment can draw it out of her, so occasionally I resort to good old-fashioned tickling to hear it.

Finding the Right Fit through Adoption After several years of unsuccessful fertility treatments, we feel great about the decision to build our family through adoption. We're so excited to meet the children who find their way to our home, our lives and our hearts. We can only imagine what this time is like as you make decisions that will affect your future and that of your baby. We don't pretend to understand what you're feeling, but it must be difficult and our hearts go out to you.

Our promise to you is that your child will have a life filled with love, affection, kindness, laughter, encouragement, and opportunity. We can assure you that our adopted children will always know of the love and sacrifice of their birth mother, and of the tremendous gift she has given to them and to us. We see the advantages of an open adoption if that is your preference – for you, for your child and for us. We will help our children develop love and appreciation for their birth families. We would like to share their progress with you, if this is also something you desire.

Thanks for taking the time to meet us through this letter. We admire you for the selfless decision you are making for your child. Your decision will bring great happiness to the right family. May you feel the peace, comfort and assurance you desire. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Sincerely,

Carina and Brian