Letters

THANK YOU.

Those two little words seem so inadequate in capturing the beauty of what you're doing, but we hope you truly feel the sentiment behind them. We want to take a moment to acknowledge your strength and bravery. We've never been in your shoes, but we know someone who has, and we've witnessed the consideration, love, and sacrifice that go into the decision you're making.

We are honored that you're taking the time to get to know our family. We have three boys, Trystan and Oliver (twins, age 8) and Harvey Lew (age 4). We adopted Harvey Lew in 2016, and the entire process...

We met on our high school cross-country team in 2003. However, we didn’t really “hang out” until 2007, after Sam serendipitously drove by Andy while he was out for a run and honked at him. We hadn’t seen each other for a few years, but that brief encounter led to an AOL instant messenger conversation later that evening. We ended up meeting up at a local park just to “catch up” but both almost immediately felt a deeper connection.

We started dating (long distance, as Andy was at West Point at the time) shortly after that first meeting and were married in 2009. Andy deployed to...

We own a ranch-style home in a rural area of Northern Indiana. It's surrounded by farmland, and we love how quiet and peaceful it is. The sunrises and sunsets here are gorgeous!

We encourage outdoor and imaginative play as much as possible. We have a large wooden playground, trampoline, and vegetable garden in our backyard. Our kids especially love playing on the giant pirate ship playground! It has three levels, a tube slide, firefighter pole, and swing-set. Sometimes we have picnic lunches or reading parties inside of it. Daddy and the boys even had a sleepover below deck...

We love Star Wars, Super Mario, Nerf battles, reading, pancakes, playing outside, Harry Potter, jumping on the trampoline, water fights, and just hanging out at home together.

Our kids are master Lego builders. We have an extensive Lego collection and a Lego table designed for playing and building. One of our favorite things to do as a family is have "Lego battles" where we each design our own Lego Army and battle one another. We love using Legos as a vessel for creativity, imagination, and fine motor skills. Sam has even used Legos for birthday decorations and math...

If there's one thing we can promise you for certain, it's this: If you choose us to become your child's family, he or she will be loved COMPLETELY, IRREVOCABLY, AND UNCONDITIONALLY.

We will make it our mission to ensure that your child always knows how much he or she is loved: by us, by our families, by our friends, by God, and by YOU. Your child will grow up knowing he or she had a generous, brave, loving, and STRONG mother who selflessly sought out the best life she could for her baby. And your child will know how GRATEFUL we are to you for choosing us as the recipients of the most...

We've always dreamed of having a big family, but we struggled for a long time to conceive our twins. The fertility treatments Sam underwent were hard on her physically and emotionally. When we were ready to have more children, she knew that if we pursued further treatments, she couldn't be the active, engaged, and emotionally-present parent that our kids deserved.

Having already considered adoption in the past, it was a natural and easy decision for us. Not only did we want to bring another child into our home, but we also wanted to honor the strong, selfless birth parents out there...

We are a Christian family that strives to live as Jesus did: with peace, compassion, tolerance, acceptance, and love.

Our greatest wish for our children is for them to grow up knowing that they are loved and valued by God, and for them to share that love with the world around them. We encourage EMPATHY, GRATITUDE, and UNDERSTANDING in our daily living. We pray every night as a family, and that includes each of us telling God what we are thankful for.

We do our best to allow our faith to guide our parenting choices in order to foster an environment of peace, love, and patience....

Andy’s Family

My parents live in Tennessee, across the street from my sister, her husband, and our three nephews. We stay in contact via phone calls and FaceTime and try to get together a few times a year. We enjoy trying new restaurants and recipes together. We're known for having a competitive streak, which comes out whenever we play games.

My mom is thoughtful and generous. She's willing to drive hundreds of miles to spend time with our family, if only for a couple days. My dad can fix almost anything and will always lend a hand to me or my sister when we...

I love Andy's passion, dedication, sense of humor, sincerity, and genuine love of life. When he commits to doing something, he does it full force, whether it's teaching, gardening, parenting, or playing a video game. His willingness to listen and adapt, to be humble and open to suggestion, are a major part of what makes him such a loving and dedicated husband, dad, and high school teacher.

I often tease Andy for looking like a big cartoon character because when he's having fun, his smile is so genuine and goofy that it's almost comical. He lights up around our boys and finds so much...

One thing that I’ve always admired about Sam is her honesty. She has this amazing ability to articulate exactly how she feels in speech or in writing, without having to think twice about it. I also love Sam’s mind. She’s one of the most intelligent people that I know. She's sharp-tongued in conversation, and she can delve deeply into issues to have more meaningful dialogue. Sam has never been one for small-talk or casual friendships, and I love her for this.

Sam is an incredible mother to our three boys. She loves being a stay-at-home mom (and a freelance writer/blogger), and plays...

Trystan (8) is smart, empathetic, artistic, creative, and kind. He loves to build his own Lego sets, color, do crafts, make his own books, comfort others, and read about science (especially outer space).

Oliver (8) is smart, athletic, meticulous, clever, passionate, and determined. He enjoys Legos, playing pirates and Star Wars, jumping on the trampoline, reading, and making up his own games based on books or movies he likes.

Harvey Lew (4) is a lot of energy wrapped up in a little body. He loves imitating his big brothers, reading (especially Pinkalicious and Curious George),...