Our story

Our story started in 1985, when Jeff and Shannon met. We knew that God has brought us together and our love for each other quickly grew. We married in 1987, and 1 year and 9 months later our first child was born, Joshua David. Little did we know at that time that the Lord had planned a larger family then we thought we would have. Joshua was followed by 3 brothers, Robert , Bryan and Aaron. We were happy and content with our family. With 4 boys we were always going to some sporting event, all year long. The love we had in our family was amazing. There was never a dull moment in our house, but still something was missing from our family. A daughter. We began doing research on adoption, both domestic and international. After much time in prayer we felt God was leading us to China. I began doing much research on adoption agencies and after researching 47 agencies, we finally were led to apply with America China Adoption Association, which is now America World Adoption Association, which not only has adoption programs in China now, but many more countries . We started our adoption process in January 2001. All of our paperwork was in China 4/01 and we began to wait. Little did we know at that time our daughter had already been born. On Christmas Day 2000!! God had led us to our daughter who was on our agencies special needs list. Her special need was she was born with a cleft lip and palate. After much prayer we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God brought this child to us. 3 1/2 months after seeing her face for the first time we were in China, uniting with our daughter Brooke. She has been such a blessing and joy to our family. We did think at that time our family was complete. However once again we felt the calling of the Lord to pursue another adoption. The decision was made in 6/07 , and in 8/07 we once again applied with America World to help us bring our daughter home. The process has changed over the years which is to be expected. We have been on our agencies waiting children's list since 9/07. We hope to be DTC(dossier to China) by 5/08, if not sooner. We are only waiting for the immigration office to process our paperwork, which unfortunately they are very slow at now. Our first time it took 2 weeks, this time its approx 31/2 months. Our faith is in God, and we pray for His perfect timing in all things. Families are asked to request some specifics of the child they are asking for. Example, boy/girl, either, approx age , special need if any. We knew we wanted another daughter who is cleft affected. However we weren't sure on what age to ask for. We knew we wanted her to be the youngest, but weren't quite sure about a baby or preschooler, and after much prayer the answer was very simple. We have asked for 0-4 . We don't want to miss out on a blessing that God has for us, so however old she is, that is who God has planned for our family. We are very excited to be adding once again to our family. We invite you to follow us on our journey.