Allison loves to sing and perform in community theater and can’t wait to share her love of music with her child. She can see herself singing lullabies to her baby, taking her child to see Broadway musicals, and even performing in a show with her child (if her child wants to). Allison also loves crafting. She has many memories of crafting with her mom on a Saturday and is so excited to get to experience that with her child someday. Several years ago, Allison’s sister-in-law gifted her a cake decorating class. Since then, she has enjoyed making her stepsons’, nieces’, and nephew’s birthday cakes. She cannot wait to make her own child’s birthday cake and is excited to make lots of messes in the kitchen, teaching her child to bake.

Tim has a very active lifestyle. He loves running, biking, swimming, hiking, snowboarding, and scuba diving. He dreams of loading up a little one in a stroller and going for a run or hooking up a bike trailer and bringing his child along on his bike ride. Tim has many memories of camping and hiking with his dad, which he has passed on to his boys. He can’t wait to add another little one to his outdoor adventures and share his deep love of being active and spending time outside.

We have two boys, Gerard (15) and Kellin (9). Allison came into their lives when they were ten and three. They are Tim’s boys from his previous marriage and he shares 50% custody with their mom on a week-on-week-off basis. Having the opportunity to raise them from boys to young men has been the most fulfilling thing in our lives. One thing that we love most about being parents is how different each one is.

Gerard is in 9th grade. He is into anything that has to do with Japan and is currently learning how to read and write in Japanese. He loves to read any manga he can get his hands on. He also loves to play on his computer and spend time with friends. In school, his favorite subjects are math and science. He hopes to go to school in Tokyo and earn his computer programming degree. He is very excited about being a big brother again.

Kellin is in 3rd grade. He loves to draw, do crafts, and is often out riding his bike with the neighborhood kids. He loves anything Lego; he likes to see what new things he can build with the many boxes of Legos he has. Kellin loves to learn and his brain is full of obscure facts about many topics, which he will share with anyone who will listen. Kellin is excited to be a big brother and is prepared to teach his sibling “all the things Gerard didn’t teach me.”

Allison grew up in a diverse area of California where she learned respect and love for all people, even those who have different beliefs. She loves to try new food and experiences, and enjoys getting to know people and understanding how their cultural identity has shaped them. Education was important in her family so she got a masters degree in Statistics. Education has given her the opportunity to help others in her career as a medical researcher and the freedom to travel and pursue her hobbies in her downtime. She grew up doing musicals and still performs today. Music is a form of therapy for her and theater has been another avenue to meet new people and deepen her understanding of others.

Tim is from a small town in Oregon. With his mom being a teacher and his dad was a police officer, he grew up with a strong sense of community and service. He spent much of his life working retail management, which instilled in him a love of connecting with and helping all kinds of people. He recently finished his degree and started working for the state, which has given him a better work life balance and more time with family. Tim loves to run, bike, and swim and is often training for races. This has taught him how important it is to set goals, strive to meet them, and not give up when things get tough. Traits he wants to pass on to his children.

Our extended family is so excited to welcome a new little one into our family. Allison’s sister and her family live just 5 minutes away, and we love our bi-weekly Sunday dinners. Allison’s oldest niece, Olivia, is particularly excited about the baby and has said many times, “you’re going to let me help with the baby, right?” Which she quickly follows up with, “but I don’t do night shifts.”

Most of Tim’s family live in Oregon, including his mom (his father passed away), with one sister and her family in Virginia. We text with Tim’s family often, though we don’t get to see them as much. Tim’s mom comes to Utah about once a year and we are excited to be able to bring a child to Oregon to go crabbing, clam digging, hiking, and fishing with family.

Allison’s parents live in California, but they come to Utah several times a year. And we have a feeling that those visits will increase after a baby arrives! Allison’s parents are doting grandparents and have embraced Tim’s children as their own. We love trips to visit Allison’s parents in California and can’t wait to bring a child along to experience some of our favorite activities, like the beach, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the local farmer’s market. Allison’s family often gathers for the holidays. We love to play games, watch movies, and decorate sugar cookies. We envision many joyful holidays and summer vacations to come with our child and our families.

We live in a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath home in a tree-lined, suburban neighborhood. We have wonderful neighbors of all ages, and (since our neighborhood is tucked away from any major streets) there are often kids out riding bikes and playing games. We have many neighborhood activities sponsored by our local church, such as summer pool parties, BBQ cookouts, trunk-or-treats, and holiday get-togethers.

Our home is cozy and welcoming, but with enough room for everyone to have their own space, particularly a workbench for Tim and a craft room for Allison. We have worked hard over the past few summers to renovate our modest backyard, and now it is a place we love to spend time eating dinner, roasting s’mores, and watching outdoor movies. But our favorite room has to be the living room. Whether it is warmed by the fire and bursting with Christmas decorations or glowing with sunlight on a warm spring morning, the living room is a peaceful and relaxing place to talk, play games, and watch a movie. It's a place we can picture our families gathering to dote on the baby while blankets, pillows, and baby toys are strewn about.

We've struggled with how to start this letter for weeks, but we want to start by saying, we can’t imagine how difficult this decision is for you. You’ve probably been reading what feels like endless letters trying to decide what is the best direction for you and your baby. Just know that regardless of your decision we love and pray for you.

We've been happily married for five years. We met 6 years ago, lucking out with online dating. We have two boys that Tim has brought into our marriage, Gerard (15) and Kellin (9). Allison doesn’t have any children, but she stepped into a parental role right away with the boys. We all love dogs and currently have a 15-pound Havanese named Ginger. She is cuddly, spunky, adorable, and feisty. She loves all people, big and small, as long as they play with her. Our home is a cozy 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath house at the foot of the mountains, just 20 minutes north of Salt Lake City. We live in a quiet neighborhood where we care for and support each other. We often walk to the neighborhood park where we love to play as a family and let Ginger run.

We also love to travel as a family. We’ve gone on road trips to Oregon and California to visit extended family and taken international trips with our extended families, most recently to Turks and Caicos! When we travel we love to do as many activities as we can. Our family is very adventurous with food and love to try local cuisine. In fact, our boys might be even more adventurous than us!

Family means everything to us. When we started dating, we were nervous about whether the boys would be accepted into Allison’s family. But even before we got married, Gerard and Kellin became close friends with Allison’s nieces and nephew, who live just 5 minutes away. Allison’s mom said to us that she couldn’t ask for anything better than having more grandkids to love and spoil. And her dad has shown them more love and protection than we could ever imagine. Tim lost his dad seven years ago to cancer and we firmly believe God brought him to this family so Gerard and Kellin could have a grandpa like Allison's dad; someone who cares and wants to be involved. Allison’s parents live in California, but they spend a lot of time in Utah and our boys are closer to them than any of their other grandparents.

Allison loves to craft and bake. Many times Kellin is in the kitchen with her, “helping”. She is a statistician by profession and she is the first person Gerard comes to for help with his math homework. She has always dreamed of sitting at the table with a child crafting on a Saturday afternoon, or in the kitchen covered in flour and sugar as they bake together.

Tim is an active person; he loves to run and bike. He's been dreaming of loading up a little one into a running stroller or biking trailer and taking them with him. Tim considers himself a jack of all trades when it comes to working around the house and with cars. When Gerard was younger he was Tim’s shadow, helping him while he worked. Kellin has now taken on that role, and Tim hopes someday to have another little one following him around.

If you’ve made it this far we hope you have a good feel for us as a family. We have so much love in our lives, and have so much more to give. If you entrust us, we promise to shower your baby with love. We will keep you up to date with photos and letters, and we are open to more communication. However, we know how hard that could be for you, so we want you to know we are happy to be as open as is comfortable for both us. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and no matter what, we love you and hope the best for you in the future.

Sincerely,

Tim & Allison