Greetings!

We are Justin and Jen. We are very pleased that you are taking the time to get to know us a bit through our letter. Please understand that we cannot imagine the decisions you are making, but know that we have so much respect and admiration for you for considering adoption. We hope that you have the best of luck in your decision and consider us as adoptive parents for your child(ren).

About us......
We have been married for six and a half years, but we have been friends for much longer. We met when we were in elementary school. We were always friends and have had many friends in common since school. We finally got together after college and then began dating. Shortly after that, we were married. Justin has worked as a General Manager of Maintenance for the past 8+ years for the same company very close to home. Jen has worked for 3 companies in the past 10 years as an Office Manager. We love to share weekends with family and friends up at the lake.

About Justin......
Ever since I have known Justin, one thing is true, he is the most honorable, friendly, and steady man I have ever met. He draws people in with his honest personality and his willingness to help anyone he knows. When our friends called and said they were moving, Justin was the first one to volunteer to help and was the first one on moving day to show up with the truck and trailer ready to go. Also during a really bad storm one night, Justin gave up the generator we had at our house to the neighbors so they could heat up bottles for their seven month old son during the night. Justin will make a great father; he always puts children's needs before others. When we have BBQ's at the house, Justin never gets the cooking done because he is in the backyard playing ball with the kids. Family values and morals are things that Justin will positively pass on to his children. Justin has taught me and many others so many things about sharing our lives and families. I'm truly honored not only to have him as a husband, but to have him as my best friend.

About Jen......
Jen is one of those people that you always remember with her warm smile and willingness to help. I remember when I went to watch Jen umpire one night in the youth leagues, she was working the Mite teams, which are 6 and 7 year olds. There was a really little girl up to bat and it was her first time. Jen stopped the game and helped her learn to swing. The girl did not even make contact with the ball that night. But I also remember Jen was working the game where the girl got her first hit and how happy Jen was when she came home that night. I think Jen even went down to first base after the hit and high-fived the girl. Jen just does things like that and I know how happy it makes her. She doesn't even realize how happy she makes the other person. It is qualities like this that tell me what a wonderful, giving, and loving mother Jen will be. Jen has taught me many valuable lessons about love and life, and that is one of many reasons why I'm proud to have her as my wife, but even more proud to have Jen as my best friend.

Our family......
We both are very fortunate to have come from loving and strong families. We feel you can measure the strength of your family by how much interaction and openness you have as you get older and families get bigger. We not only share holiday meals, but we continue many childhood traditions as adults. Every Christmas Eve, we meet at my parents house at midnight and open our presents to each other then. This usually lasts for several hours and ends with homemade carmel rolls and a whole lot of wrapping paper to burn. Likewise on the Fourth of July, we have a day long celebration starting with golf and ending with fireworks up at the lake, rain or shine. It is very important to all of us to share these special times and to just enjoy being around each other, it has really made all of us stronger with support.

Our Community......
We live in the northern end of the Twin Cities, and grew up in the next community north. We love the area and all that it brings. We have an elementary, middle, and high school within .6 miles from our doorstep. We also have a public library, fire house, police station, and the largest park in the city less than .5 miles from home. The mall, grocery store, and church are a 5 minute car ride away. We live in a central location with many family and friends less than 10 minutes away. The neighborhood is going through a youthful transition and over half of the families have children under the age of 5.

Our pets......
We have both grown up with pets in our houses, so we carry on that tradition. We have 2 dogs, a Golden Retriever named Hunter and a Labrador Aussie named Peter. We also, we have two cats, Griffey and Ripken. We learned that if you have 2, they have each other to play with and keep company. Our dogs love to go swimming at the lake.

Our hopes......
Both of us have so much love to share, we know that children would complete our family. We look forward to the day of seeing our children in T-ball, dance, swimming lessons, in a play, or whatever they would like to try and being in the audience cheering them on and supporting them. We have already started a savings account for a college fund for our children. Being the oldest child in each of our families, we hope to start the next generation, and know that our siblings are right behind us in expanding their families. We know that this decision you have before you is so life changing, that to us it is unimaginable. We hope that you have been able to learn about us more through our letter. We hope that you would consider meeting us and teaching us about you, and talking about your child's future, so you can help us help you. Mostly, we know our family would be blessed many times over if you chose us and that nothing would give us more joy than to be chosen by you. We can be reached at 763-443-3449 for anything.