Jim and Frances

HELLO!
We are grateful that you are taking the time to read our letter. We know that you love and want the best for your child, and we hope that you find a family that is a good match.

I (Frances) was adopted as a baby and began a relationship with my birthparents as an adult. My birthmother loved me enough to choose adoption when she realized she wasn't yet ready to parent. Being adopted has turned out great for me and I have benefited from the love and support of many people of both families. Open adoption is a natural choice for us.

About my husband, Jim
Jim is a passionate, extremely honest, and hard-working man. He is a sports lover and former construction worker who understands the value of working with his hands and is educated and open-minded. Jim's wide-ranging interests impress me. He studied both Irish history and Native American studies in college, and spent a year in Taiwan teaching English to small children.

He fills the house with music either by blasting his stereo or by picking up his guitar. He loves playing horseshoes with his brother, bike riding, and picnics or camping at area lakes. As a husband he is supportive, caring, and skilled at communicating his feelings.

Jim is a natural teacher who shows the composure and creativity necessary to work with middle school children who have learning disabilities. Once he dressed up like neuron to teach about the brain and memory! Jim is a loving and involved father to Emma. He questions his colleagues and relatives to learn about the various stages of child development. He thrills at Emma's accomplishments and coaches her to crawl or pull up. He plays albums and dances with her as part of her "music education." I know he will be there for his children.

About my wife, Frances
Frances is fun to be around, and her upbeat personality rubs off on others. Her cheerfulness and quick wit liven up any conversation. She is extremely intelligent and possesses an impressive vocabulary! With no fear of new experiences, she has traveled around the world, visiting Europe to practice French, studying in India in college, and backpacking around Asia.

Frances lived in Japan for three years after graduating from college where she learned to speak Japanese; she now teaches it in high school. She is an avid outdoors person and can dazzle anyone with her skills in a canoe or on a horse. She enjoys gardening and good food, and can cook a variety of international dishes. Frances started working with children as a camp counselor and she enjoys working with high school age children as a teacher. She has touched the lives of many and a lot of her students maintain contact, even after graduating.

Frances is an amazing mother to Emma. She loves to sing to her and has patience to read or play with her. She enjoys her days with Emma doing baby yoga, swimming lessons, ECFE, and even baby Spanish class for fun. Frances reads tons of books on baby care, makes her own baby food, and is committed to using cloth diapers.

"Our Story"
We met in graduate school when we passed notes and made quips during class. We were good friends before marrying in Sept. 2001. Jim was raised Catholic and Frances was raised Jewish; we found a common ground and had our ceremony at a Unitarian church. We have built a strong relationship over the years and have a deep love and commitment to each other. We share liberal values and are open to exposing our children to diverse people and perspectives. Since we were having difficulty having biological children, we decided to jump right into parenting and volunteered to host an exchange student from Poland. He shares, "From the first day I was treated like a member of the family." You can read the complete letter in our album.

After many years of infertility treatment, Emma joined our family. We would love to share with you the amazing story of her journey into our lives. Both of us grew up with brothers and sisters, so we believe both Emma and her future sibling will benefit from having each other. Happy and healthy, we're certain she will make an excellent big sister.

Family and Lifestyle
We live near many of Jim's immediate family and look forward to getting together for big events such as weddings, birthdays, and Christmas. The 4th of July picnic is especially fun with boats, BBQ's and games of softball, horseshoes and badminton. Frances' family lives out of state and we often visit her parents and brother, who is also adopted, and his family.

Frances feels fortunate to know her birth family. We have attended many major family events throughout the years since reconnecting with them. We also have a wide circle of friends who love being "aunts" and "uncles."

Since we are both teachers, we have the summers off and plan to spend time vacationing as a family. A typical summer week in our house is filled with biking, games of scrabble, outdoor concerts at the park and trips to the Dairy Queen for malts. We sometimes take a lunch, ride bikes for a while, arrive at a beach and go swimming. On weekends we like to invite friends over and Jim cooks pancakes, eggs and all the brunch fixins. It's all about the food! Whether traveling to Spain for a quick dip in the Mediterranean, or a train ride to San Francisco, our summers will be spent having fun together.

We hope you now have an idea about what life will be like with us. We're nervous and excited to get a phone call from you and hope to build trust so that you feel comfortable. Please know that we will consider any requests that you have.

Feel free to call us at home(collect call is ok) at 952-929-5381. Or email us at
Website: http://jimandfrances.wordpress.com

With warm thoughts,

Jim and Frances