Hoping to adopt

Hi, we are Bryan and Suzanne and we are excited to add to our family again through adoption! We have two sons, ages 12 and 7. They are SO excited to add another sibling. We have an open adoption with our son's birth parents and love having that connection. We post and share photos and messages and visit whenever we can (cross country). 
We live in Northern Utah right up next to the mountains and have lots and lots of family nearby. Bryan is a Pediatrician and Suzanne is a stay at home Mom. We are a very musical family and we love traveling, literature, movies, games and sports. 

We have two big sweet dogs that we all adore, Leia and Padme. (extra credit if you know where their names came from ;) 

We feel strongly about education and making sure our children have opportunities to discover and grow. We want our children to have the opportunities to follow their passion and be the best they can be at whatever they want to do.

We would love to chat and answer any questions you may have. We are an open book.  Please feel free to email us at bryanandsuzanneadopt@gmail.com . We want you to know of the appreciation and admiration we have for you. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us, taking a peek into our lives and understanding our dream for a baby. We have the greatest respect for parents who place their children for adoption, recognizing that our joy springs from their sorrow.

Why we want to adopt

We have always wanted a large family, we love the large families we grew up in, and want that same experience for ourselves and our children. We talked about adopting before we were even married. It's something we've both always known we wanted to do. We had planned on having a few biological children and then adopting to complete our family, but things have worked out a little differently. We had Daniel right after our first anniversary, and adopted Sam about five years later.  Our boys have brought so much joy into our lives. We would love to share that joy with more children. We haven't been able to have children over the years, and rather than pursue fertility treatments any further we want to adopt. Adoption is something that we both have always looked forward to and we are so excited to bring another child (or children) into our lives and home.

Bryan

Bryan grew up in Pittsburgh and Utah as the oldest of 6 kids. He attended BYU and graduated in Italian and Music, in both the Trombone and Voice. He spent 2 ½ years in Italy on a church mission and on study abroad. We went to Italy a few years ago as a couple and he was an excellent tour guide! (all the natives complimented him on his fabulous, fluent Italian) He graduated with his MD, finished Residency and is now a Pediatrician. He loves every minute of it.  Bryan loves sports. He loves to golf almost anytime, in the summer you can find him in the pool, and in the fall he loves to play basketball with some of the guys from church. His favorite teams to watch are the Yankees, the Steelers and the Penguins (you can take a guy out of Pittsburgh, but not the Pittsburgh out of the guy ;)  ), and the Jazz. Bryan loves to read and reads anything from the classics to sci-fi books. Overall we would say that Bryan’s favorite thing to do is let the kids run around with their cousins while we relax, play games and chat with his family. Suzanne- "One of the reasons I fell in love with Bryan was because I knew he would be an amazing father. His love and patience astound me. He has a great sense of humor and keeps me laughing and smiling even when things get rough."

Suzanne

Suzanne grew up in Washington state, living around the Seattle area until she was about 14. Her family moved to Walla Walla during High School and then back to the Seattle area. She is the 6th of 8 kids. Suzanne also attended BYU and got her degree in Vocal Performance. She was heavily involved in the performing arts, performing in Musicals, Operas, Recitals, and Nationally acclaimed choirs. Her two favorite things in college were singing in BYU Singers (Choir) and performing the lead in Carmen, singing over a full orchestra. She taught voice lessons, but has stopped while our children are young. Suzanne is currently devoting her time and talents to being a stay at home Mom. We were both lucky enough to be raised in families where our Mother’s were at home during the day. We feel strongly that we want her to be able to stay home and be available for our children whenever they have questions or need a friend. She loves spending her time with our adventurous boys and can’t wait to add more children to the mix! In her spare time Suzanne loves to be creative and learn to do new things. Some of her current projects are sewing, pattern making, quilting (still learning a bit), photography, home design and refinishing furniture. She also loves to read and some of her current favorites are the Harry Potter series, the Mistborn Series, and pretty much anything that her Mother-in-law suggests! She loves her friends and chatting on the phone with her many sisters. Bryan: "Suzanne is the perfect partner through the many ups and downs of life. Her perspective and calm make her a wonderful wife and even better mother. I love the thought of my sons spending hours with her and learning her wisdom and loving ways. I very much want to add another child to our family and give them the same opportunity that our children have."

Our Beginnings

We officially met at college. Suzanne worked at the Music Library, and Bryan came in to check something out. ;) We soon attended the same Opera Workshop in Washington DC that summer. We ended up spending the whole 2 weeks of the workshop together, and took our breaks enjoying the monuments and museums that DC had to offer. Suzanne was impressed with Bryan’s knowledge of history and art. Bryan was impressed with Suzanne. ;) We spent a long time sitting in front of a Van Gogh painting taking in its vivid beauty. (We now have that same print hanging in our home, a constant reminder of that day :) When we got back to school we started dating and were married the next winter. We both couldn’t have found better matches and love just being together.

Our Fun Times

Some of our favorite times have just been spent snuggling as a family as we talk and laugh. We like to go out to eat at new places as a family and always stop to play a few games before we head home. We love to travel together and just spent two months driving cross country visiting family and friends. (and both coasts!) 

One of our favorite places to be is the beach in California, and we make it out there about once a year. Sometimes we are able to go there with Bryan’s family. We all stay in a large condo where we can play games, hangout at night and spend our days at the beach. (and take the occasional trip to Disneyland and other fun places) We love to visit historically significant places, and go on hiking trips when there’s something beautiful to see. 

One of the things we look forward to most is the yearly family reunion at the lake. All of Bryan’s cousins, Uncles, Aunts and Grandparents gather for a weekend of boating, sandcastles and playing. This summer we’re also looking forward to getting together with all of Suzanne’s siblings and their families for a week long party… who knows what to expect! ;)

Family and Friends

Bryan's Side (plus two more Nieces due any day now :)

We have a huge support group of family and friends that we just love. Bryan is the oldest of 6 kids and Suzanne is the 6th of 8 kids. Our lives are full of love and laughter. Bryan’s family spends a lot of time together. They like to spend time in the pool, just kick the ball around, or sing around the piano. BBQ’s and family parties are very frequent during the summer, so we get to see the extended family too. 

(Missing 2 in-laws and 11 cousins :)

Suzanne’s family loves to get together and play the card game Nertz, they are all pros. :) She and her sisters talk…. a lot. They love having each other (there are 5 sisters in a row!) to laugh and share with. Again, we would love to nurture this type of relationship in our children.

Our Home and Community

We live in Utah, in a nice suburban setting. Far enough out that we have some space, but close enough to support Suzanne's Target habit. ;) We absolutely love where we live. We are so happy to have finished up Bryan's medical training and to have finally settled near both of our families. We love to host family get togethers at our house especially around the holidays.

We are lucky enough to be surrounded by beauty year round, with summers that are mild enough to enjoy all of the parks and go swimming, and a particularly gorgeous spring and fall. Winter here never disappoints, and we always have enough snow for snowmen and snowball fights. Our neighborhood is great, our neighbors are wonderful. There are kids everywhere and a park down the street. We have extra bedrooms just waiting to be filled. :)

Open adoption

Sammy giving his biological sister a hug. :)

We would love to have an open adoption. We have an open adoption with Sam's birthparents and cherish the time we got to spend getting to know them over in Tennessee. We keep a blog just for them full of all the pictures we take of Sam and updates on what he's up to.  We speak on the phone occasionally and have driven to visit them about once a year.  We are so grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to meet some of Sam's biological family. We're grateful to have answers to a lot of the questions he will have later in life and to have that connection to turn to as he grows. (we don't post many pics including them to respect their privacy, those pics are highly prized though :) Suzanne also has two friends who placed their daughters for adoption and has seen firsthand what a positive experience an open adoption can be for all involved. The child gets to know where they came from, you get to know that your child is loved and well cared for and have an open relationship with them, and we get to know the wonderful woman who gave us our child. We recognize that an open adoption is not always best for everyone, and we will also respect that. We will still teach our child that they were placed with us by a loving woman who only wanted what was best.
Thank you!
Thanks so much for learning a bit about us and our dreams for our family. We would love to chat with you and answer any questions you may have, please don’t hesitate to ask us anything. We would love to know of your hopes and wishes for your child’s future. We wish you the best as you make this difficult decision and hope to hear from you. Bryan and Suzanne