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Hi! Thank you for getting to know a little about us
as you plan for the future of your unborn baby.
We are excited that you have chosen to consider us
as you explore your options. We wrote this letter
as an introduction to us, our lifestyle, values and
dreams for the future. The most important thing
you should know about us is that becoming par-
ents is something that we have always wanted. We
both love children and look forward to creating
our family through the gift of adoption. After
reading this letter, we hope you will want to get to
know us better, and will give us the opportunity to
learn about your hopes and dreams, too.
Enjoying a day at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We go
there often throughout the year.
A cold day on the beach at Grand Turk.
Sunset cruise in Charleston, SC.
Our Story
We met through a mutual friend who accidentally made plans with both of us for
the same night. To this day she insists that she was not playing match maker! We
lived far apart, so most of our courtship was telephone calls that lasted for hours.
Neither of us is originally from the Chicago area so when we married, family and
friends traveled
from across the
country
(Massachusetts to
Oregon) to be
with us. Our wed-
ding was all about
family and
friends - hosting
many dinners and
breakfasts.
Once we decided it was time for children, we quickly got pregnant. After what ap-
peared to be a healthy first trimes-
ter, we unexpectedly lost our baby
and Kathy was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer. We were devas-
tated by the loss of our first child
followed by the shock of being di-
agnosed with cancer. Fortunately,
the cancer was a very early stage,
so we were given fertility preserv-
ing options, but those came with
significant risks. We chose to
treat the cancer aggressively and adopt our children. Kathy is now perfectly healthy
and has an excellent prognosis.
We are excited to become parents and raise a family. We have such fun spending
time with nieces, nephews and friends’ children, playing games, reading stories,
making cup cakes and helping with homework. We live in the northwest suburbs of
Chicago in a quiet neighborhood that has lots of kids, many parks and great
schools. We are evangelical Christians and are actively involved in our church. We
will give your baby a loving, stable, family environment; we’ll teach values, and edu-
cation and learning will be emphasized in our home.
Some of Kathy’s aunts, uncles and cousins at our wedding. Kathy’s parents are the couple in the back row on the
right.
From Kathy
My dad was in the Air Force, so I grew up moving around the
United States. I have one brother, who lives in Texas with his
wife and two children, and I have 15 first cousins.
I earned both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Baylor
University in Waco, Texas. I am an environmental health and
safety professional and have worked in education, consulting
and manufacturing. Currently, I have a corporate role with a
company that manufactures building materials.
Away from work, I have many interests and hobbies. I have al-
ways been interested in wellness and nutrition and love to cook.
I enjoy entertaining and am usually trying new recipes for
meals with family and friends. I enjoy fitness and try to ex-
ercise every day.
As a little girl, I took ballet lessons and gymnastics and did
competitive gymnastics for six years. After leaving gymnas-
tics, I tried everything - track and cross country, drama, and
various clubs. In college, I started dancing again and
taught both gymnastics and dance to children. After col-
lege, while establishing myself in my career, I continued to
follow my love for dance in a modern dance troupe that
performed throughout Eastern Iowa.
My life-long hobby is photography and many of my
photos are on display in our home. We enjoy travel-
ing and I make scrapbooks of pictures taken during
family visits and vacations.
John talks about Kathy
When I first met Kathy, I knew there was something special about
her. I was not looking for a romantic relationship nor was I inter-
ested in a long-distance relationship, but I really enjoyed speaking
with Kathy from the first day on. Kathy is passionate about her
faith and lives an active lifestyle, two things that interested me.
Kathy is very caring and compassionate, with a great sense of hu-
mor. She likes to cook and I like to eat so a great partnership
started right away. She makes sure to keep in touch with her fam-
ily, usually calling her parents and brother at least once
each week. Kathy loves children and is all smiles when
around them. She also lets me play like one of the kids
when we visit friends with children. Kathy is independent,
but great at sharing and is a loving partner in life. I love to
watch her take photos…setting up the shot and considering
the scene, lighting, etc. She is very creative and can find a
great picture in just about any situation.
Having watched Kathy go through chemotherapy, I can say
that I am amazed by the strength and endurance she has.
She never gave up hope that God would carry her through
the ordeal.
John, Kathy and Bear with Kathy’s mom and dad at a park near our home.
We love pets but no longer have Bear.
From John
I was born in Southern California, and lived there into grade school. My family moved to Minnesota where I stayed until going off to college in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I loved Michigan and stayed there for more than 10 years before moving to the Chicago area for career and travel flexibility.
My parents divorced when I was young, but I regularly spent weekends with my dad until moving to Minne-sota when the visits changed to a few weeks each sum-mer. My mother remarried and we lived in a suburb
of St. Paul near where my mom and step-father worked. My step-father and his eight siblings are from northern Minne-sota and I have many fond memories of weekends at “the lake” with aunts, uncles and cousins.
Being from a blended family, I have three half-brothers and two step-sisters, 19 nieces and nephews, two great-nieces, one great-nephew, and countless cousins. Growing up, I spent time with my dad going to the beach, playing miniature golf, and building and flying model rockets.
John with his mom and step-father.
My step-father taught me to hunt, fish, and spent many hours each year making an ice rink in the back yard so this California kid could learn to skate. As a child, I played a little soccer and baseball, but hockey was my sport. My mom was always my greatest cheerleader while practicing and playing sports.
I attended Michigan Technological Univer-sity in Electrical Engineering and Univer-
sity of Phoenix in Business Management. I work in information technology and am interested in science, computers, and watching sports with friends. I like movies, especially science fiction, com-edy, action, and adventure movies. I love to golf and I played volleyball competitively until sustaining an ankle injury in 2005. I enjoy hiking, swimming, working with and helping others to work with computers.
Miniature golf is a vacation tradition for us. This was a cold rainy
day in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Playing around on the beach in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
On the board walk in Kemah, Texas, with Kathy’s niece
and nephew.
Exploring state parks in Michigan.
Kathy talks about John
John is the kindest person that I know. What attracted me to John initially was his kind spirit. He has compassion for anyone who asks him for help. John has a real heart for children, and kids love John too. When visiting with family and friends, John always ends up in the middle of all the kids. He is light-hearted and playful. He values fam-ily and friends and carefully balances his career with his personal life.
John is my best friend and he loves and cherishes me more than I ever dreamed possible. He is a dedicated hus-band, and during my cancer treatment he was always at my side. He attended every doctor’s appointment, sat with me for che-motherapy and even slept nights (in a chair) at the hospital while I recovered from sur-gery. He is always encouraging, loving and supportive and can always make me laugh. When we were dating, I knew he was some-one special when he could make mundane errands become fun events.
I know John will be a super dad. He has been known to baby sit for friends and dur-ing our first year of marriage, he coached a
church league basketball team of second graders. He would come home from practices so excited about how the team was developing skills and looked for-ward to someday having children of our own.
John loves learning. He is always reading and studying and enjoys computer programming and physical sci-ences, like physics and engineering. He also loves the outdoors. We often go for walks around the neighborhood or will go for day hikes at state parks within a few hours of home.
Hiking in Sedona, Arizona.
Visiting John’s family in California for Christmas.
Our Life Together
Our families are spread across the country and we love to travel for vacations and
family visits. Both John’s parents and Kathy’s parents visit us at least once a year and
we travel to Minnesota, Michigan and Texas each year too. In addition to family vis-
its, we take one week-long vacation and many weekends away each year. We love vaca-
tioning at the beach and the mountains, exploring the outdoors, but also enjoy visit-
ing museums, local restaurants and anything else that catches our attention.
In addition to our families, we are very close to our church family. Our Bible study
small group consists of the two of us and six other couples. We get together regularly
for Bible study but also enjoy social time together. These couples are our Chicago-
land family.
We are excited and hopeful to become parent’s, and all of our family and friends are
thrilled for us as we pursue our dream of adopting a baby.
If you choose us as the adoptive parents for your unborn child, we will respect your
wishes and treasure you and the decision you have made. Just considering placement
displays your love and selflessness. We hope that this
letter has given you a better idea of our lives to-
gether. If you would like to know more about us,
please call us at 888-881-1954. If you prefer, you
may call our adoption counselor, Tobi Ehrenpreis, at
800-869-1005. Tobi would be happy to answer your
questions, too.
Eagerly Awaiting your Call,
John and Kathy
We toured the NASA Clear Lake station during
one of our visits to Texas.
