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Mark & Annie are hopeful adoptive parents from Alabama waiting to adopt a baby.

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

Hello Thank you for looking at our profile. Although we can’t fully understand the decisions you are making, we know it is difficult, and we want to thank you for considering us. We can only imagine the love you have for your child, and we know you would want the best for your son or daughter.

We want to give you an idea of what we are like, but it is difficult through a letter and a few pictures. To start, we met in 2004. A mutual friend named Kirsten thought we should meet and go on a date together. However, neither one of us was interested in another blind date. Unknowingly, we both ended up being at the same college hockey game. While Annie was watching the game, she noticed a good-looking guy nearby. Later in the game, Annie happened to bump into Kirsten, who told her, “Oh, the guy I want to set you up with is here,” and she pointed to Mark. Annie was shocked to see that it was the same guy she noticed earlier. She told Kirsten she would love to be introduced. The following week we met at a Weber State basketball game, and we both knew at that point we wanted to go on a date with each other. On February 18th, 2004, we went on our first date together. We met each other after class and went to dinner at Applebee’s. We were married exactly one year later on February 18th, 2005. Every year we celebrate our anniversary at Applebee’s.

We are both the youngest in our families. Annie comes from a family of five children. Her three older brothers were always trying to talk Annie and her sister into doing crazy stunts, such as flipping them in the air onto the couch cushions or jumping off the roof into snow banks. Mark grew up with six brothers and sisters. With that many children, there was always something happening, and he always wanted to be a part of it. Since he was the youngest he never wanted to go to bed at his bedtime before everyone else, so he would try and be as quiet as possible so he would not be noticed and could stay up with everyone else. Since we are both the babies of our families, we developed easy-going personalities and are able to go with the flow. It takes a lot to make us mad or stressed out. Our personalities are very similar and we share the same goals and attitudes about life. We are both still very close to our parents and siblings, and even though some of us live far apart from each other, we talk on the phone, email, and try to see them as often as possible.

What we enjoy One of our favorite things to do is travel, whether it be with family or just the two of us. Annie’s family goes to Lake Powell every other year. We stay on a house boat together for four or five days. We have had fun and exciting experiences while in Lake Powell, whether it be cliff jumping, wake boarding, waterskiing, or playing with nieces and nephews who love it when Mark catches lizards. Another memorable trip was when we visited the Dominican Republic, which is where Mark served a 2 year mission for the LDS church. It was absolutely amazing, but we did have some unpleasant events that make us laugh when we look back. To start, we got at least four flat tires on our tiny rental car due to the huge potholes in the roads. Annie quickly learned how to say in Spanish, “Where is the gomero (tire shop)?” Annie also got to try some interesting foods that she thought tasted like wet cat food. Mark on the other hand didn’t mind and was used to the local food. Power outages happened throughout the entire week and we were covered with bed bug bites half way through our trip, but we are still glad we went.

We like to stay busy. We are constantly trying to fill our time up with fun things to do, such as finding a good restaurant, exploring a new area, going to the park with our dogs, or watching a movie. Camping in the summer is one of our favorite things to do. We have been able to go on some amazing camp trips together (and with our dogs) including the Olympic rain forest and the Pacific Coast. We truly consider each other as our best friend and we will try to do anything and everything together. We are lucky to have so much in common.

About us -How Mark feels about Annie
Annie has a very sweet and calm personality. She is the most loving person I have ever met. She is always genuinely concerned about everyone and everything around her and is willing to help in whatever way she can. For example, a couple weeks ago we drove by a turtle in the middle of a busy road. She instantly made me pull over and put the turtle safely on the other side. Annie is always fun to be around. We enjoy watching funny movies or playing card games and board games. One of our favorite games lately is Settlers of Catan, and sometimes it can get extremely competitive. She has her priorities in line and knows what is most important – her Heavenly Father and her family. She has always looked forward to being a mother and knows that it will be the most rewarding and important thing she can do.

-How Annie feels about Mark
To describe Mark, I want to relate how he proposed. About six months after dating we knew that we wanted to get married. Mark had starting planning how he was going to propose. After a lot of thought he came up with a perfect way to ask. He suggested that we go on a hike one afternoon and since I love hiking I said yes quickly. We left after work and started up the mountain. We arrived at the top of the hike and Mark said he knew of a secret trail that gets you even higher on the mountain. We starting walking up this “secret trail” and I saw a piece of paper tied to a tree. It said “Annie, I love you because….” There was another note up ahead, and soon it turned into a trail of notes leading to the top, and each one had a reason why Mark loves me. When we got to the top there were hundreds of papers hanging from the trees and bushes. He had biked up the mountain just hours before and hung all of the strips of papers. After I gathered up all the notes and read each one, Mark got down on one knee and proposed to me on top of a mountain at Snow Basin.

Mark is a great husband. He truly is a good person with a big heart. I really appreciate him for being such a hard worker and such a strong member in the church. He is willing to serve others happily. The thing I love the most about Mark is his sense of humor. He is constantly making me laugh by saying goofy things, quoting a movie, playing practical jokes on me, or making a fool of himself by trying to dance.

Thank You You are probably wondering why we are adopting. After two years of marriage we decided we would like to start having children. Unfortunately things have not worked out, and we have been unable to have children of our own. Through medical testing and procedures we have not found a reason or a solution. It has been difficult for us to understand, and we have had a lot of heart ache, but we believe that there is a reason for everything. We have faith in the Lord that all will work out the way that it should. At this point in our lives we feel strongly about adoption and feel it is the path we are meant to follow.

We are looking forward to having children and are excited about adoption. We will be happy to share with you pictures, letters, and updates about the child’s life if you desire. We hope and pray the we can be receptive to God’s plan. Annie is looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom, and we both hope to raise our children with the love and support they need. Again, thank you for taking the time to read about us and we appreciate you and the decisions you have made.