As soon as I saw you, I knew an

Adventure was going to happen.

- Winnie the Pooh

Thank you for taking the time to consider allowing our family to raise this child. We know this is a most difficult and impor-

tant decision you have to make and there are many choices and op-tions available to you. We are pleased that you have chosen adop-tion, to give our family an opportunity to grow. We hope that as

you get to know us through these pages, that you have found the home for your child you’ve been wishing for.

Everything happens for a reason, and although we don’t always understand we know God has a plan for us and

having a family. Sometimes we have to learn to stand a little rain first if we are going to see the rainbow.

~ Brian and Stacey

Hello!

We met online. On a beautiful May afternoon, Stacey saw Brian’s profile online and gave him a “wink”. Later that same day, Brian

sent his first of many messages. Then we shared a long phone conversation one night and learned that we had family members that knew each other long before we met. We found that each had aunts and uncles had gone to school together or worked together… It just seemed too coincidental. We are both big

country music fans and when reminiscing about concerts, we had been to many of the same ones yet somehow

we hadn’t yet crossed paths.

Our Story

After seven months of dating, Brian proposed on Christmas Day. He gave Stacey a ring in a wrapped box, in a box, in a box. It is a characteristic of both sides of our families to like to play jokes on

each other – (all out of love of course!). It wasn’t what Stacey was expecting, it was way more. We were both so happy to start

our life together. We were married on May 15, which just so happened to be the 60th wedding anniversary of Stacey’s

Grandparents, Don and Leona.

We began trying to have children and after about a year with no success we began to explore options at our local fertility clinic.

Various tests were run and we learned that we were fighting an uphill battle. It was about this time that we decided we needed to explore more options and began looking into adoption. We talked to friends and family members that had experiences

with adoptions, and recommendations on possible agencies. We very much want to have a family and after further

research and talking with the director from a recom-mended adoption agency we decided this was some-

thing we really wanted to do.

Choosing AdoptionBrian with our nephew Blaine as a baby

About UsBrian says: Stacey is quite the character and social butterfly. Very friendly, outgoing and the most loving person you will ever know.

She is a patient service representative with Keene family medi-cine. I know she is going to make a great mom some day. I can

see it in how she cares for our pets, and when we babysit for our two nephews Blaine & Anson.

Stacey says: Brian tends to be more quiet. He has worked as a mechanical engineer with the same company for

the last 14 years, and really enjoys his job and the different challenges it brings daily. He also loves

woodworking and likes anything he can take apart and put back together.

Choosing AdoptionAt a birthday party for our

nephew Anson

We share a lot of common interests. We often spend fall Saturday af-ternoons tailgating prior to Tiger football games. In the winter months we brave the cold walk to attend Tiger basketball games. We also very much enjoy the outdoors – anything from family ski trips in Colorado

to whitetail deer hunting. We love country music and like to attend concerts – most recently we went to see Reba and George Strait.

We also like baseball, but here's another funny thing about our re-lationship. Brian has always been a Cardinals fan. Stacey used to be until one day her late grandfather’s cable company stopped

broadcasting St Louis channel 11 and started with WGN out of Chicago. So she and her grandmother are Cubs

fans. We and our family members are always giving each other a hard time around baseball season.

Hobbies

We have several aunts that are breast cancer survivors, and have been involved with Susan G. Komen events for many years. We have made several trips to Washington for the Seattle 3-Day for the

Cure, and to visit Brian’s aunt & uncle. It was his aunt Mary Ann that introduced him to this wonderful cause.

We attend church regularly, and we both sing in the choir. Brian plays guitar at church and for music ministry at area

nursing homes. Both of help with various parish volun-teer activities during the year. Stacey enjoys cooking,

baking, sewing, and knitting. Brian enjoys wood/metal work, tinkering with his tractor and taking

care of upkeep on our 5 acres. We love to fix meals together.

Hobbies

We both come from large families. Brian is the oldest of three and Stacey is the oldest of four. Brian’s father is one of 7 children and his mom is one of 8. Stacey’s mother is one of 5 and her father is

one of 6 so we have a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. Extended family gatherings usually take place for

all the major holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter and others. This makes for a lot of family gatherings,

some falling on the same day, so we alternate – that is if we can remember – where did we go last year?

Our Families

Family gatherings are always a hoot as we both have uncles with a sense of humor and practical jokers. Brian told Stacey to watch out when she first met some of his family, only to learn that she was

already prepared as some of her uncles could be just as teasing. So as you can probably imagine family gatherings are always

fun!

Our Families

We live in a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath ranch with walk out basement and a horse barn situated on 5 acres. Part of the basement is fin-ished and we have room to add a 4th bedroom and second bath

downstairs. Our home is located in a rural subdivision with access by gravel road and we can reach nearby cities that have

medical facilities and other amenities within 15 to 30 minutes. Our neighborhood includes 11 homes. One unusual benefit of this arrangement is that we have the acreage and are

allowed to keep horses if owners choose. There are several other families in the neighborhood that have

school age chidren.

Our Home

We now have one cat, Oscar, and a dog named Sunny. We love them. Oscar is about 15 years old and is really sweet. He is getting to be quite the pork chop – about 11 pounds and loves to be a

lap cat. Sunny is a lab-heeler mix and is about 6 months old. We adopted her from our local humane society.

Our Pets

Thank you so much for taking the time to review our story and giving us a chance to be considered as the adoptive parents for your

child. We know this is a brave decision you have made and that you did not come to this lightly. We want you to know that with

the gift of your child, we will love and nurture with all we have to offer in our hearts. Our life together is overflowing with love for each other, and nothing would enhance this more

than to be able to share that love with a child.

Thank You

2401 Bernadette Dr. Suite 209AColumbia, Missouri 65203

Phone 573-356-0025 Fax 573-445-9435Birthparent Line: 1-888-564-HOPE (4673)

Email: info@aGiftofHopeAdoptions.comWeb: www.aGiftofHopeAdoptions.com

a ofGift HopeA D O P T I O N S