| Family Type: | Heterosexual Couple |
|---|---|
| Children: | Yes |
| Location: | UT |
|---|---|
| Religion: | Mormon/Spiritual |
dear expectant mother
Thank you for considering us to be a part of your adoption journey. We don’t pretend to know the magnitude of the choices you have in front of you, but we want you to know we want what is best for you and your baby, regardless of what decision you make. We hope you and your baby have happiness and peace in your lives.
We have a lot of really big feelings about adopting. First and foremost is our overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the mother who will help us grow our family. We know this is a huge, life-changing experience for everyone involved, and we are humbled by the amount of trust you are considering putting in us to raise your child. When our daughter was born, we both felt a mix of incredible joy and an immense responsibility to do our best for her. We feel the same joy and responsibility at the prospect of adopting.
We want your child to have a sense of belonging—to our family, to your family, and to their community. We feel we have the responsibility to understand where your child comes from and, as best we can, to help them know and be a part of it. Being parents has been the most amazing, frustrating, hilarious, exhausting, sweetest, emotional, draining, educational, and fulfilling experience of our lives. Our daughter is looking forward to becoming a big sister and we are all really excited about the opportunity of adding another child to our family.
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About Us
Our goal as a family is to continue the loving traditions we grew up with. We really like being parents. While we both enjoy our careers, we find more fulfillment in our day-to-day activities that revolve around our toddler. When we aren’t reading Peter Rabbit ten times in a row, or trying to get her to eat her vegetables, we enjoy filling our lives with a variety of activities such as hiking, cooking, road trips, board games, and the arts. On any given weekend, could be spending time with our extended family, going to the symphony or a rock concert, doing home improvement projects, or lounging at home with popcorn and a movie. We look for opportunities to share our love of the outdoors and things that grow with our daughter. In the few years since we moved in, we have been turning our house and yard into a beautiful and comfortable home.
Our Home
We moved into our house a few months before our daughter was born. We have planted many trees and flowers, installed grass, and built garden boxes. We recently finished the basement to provide better guest space for visiting family. We feel fortunate to have amazing neighbors around us. There are many kids in our neighborhood, and they regularly play together while parents sit in front yards and chat. Our community has pocket parks every few blocks as well as two larger parks, one of which has a splash pad. In addition to the regular public school, there are two charter elementary schools and a K-12 academy that serves kids on the autism spectrum. We are grateful to have found this neighborhood.
Our Extended Family
Zak comes from a large family. He is the youngest of five siblings and has at least 20 aunts and uncles and too many cousins to count! His family grew up camping and enjoying the great outdoors. Most of his family lives nearby, which means there are lots of little cousins running around when the family gets together multiple times a month. They have a years-long group text that covers everything from memes to physics to food assignments for the next family gathering. When Zak’s family gets together there are always games, laughter, and retelling tall tales.
Kendra has two older siblings, and each of her parents has only one sibling, so “getting the whole family together” was usually about ten people. It has created a fairly tight-knit family who did a lot of activities together. Her love of plants is rooted in many summer days spent caring for or harvesting vegetables, fruit, and flowers. When Kendra was young, her family drove to national parks to spend a week doing every hike and attending as many ranger-led talks as possible. One of her family’s greatest traditions is attending plays at a Shakespeare festival almost every year for the past 40 years.
What Led Us To Adoption
We have both always wanted to have a family, and while dating, we discussed the possibility of that including adoption. Zak’s brother placed his daughter for adoption when he was in high school. It was an open adoption, and the family has kept in contact with his daughter for the past 20 years. She and her parents have become an extension of our family, and we feel incredibly blessed in it. We underwent three rounds of IVF, and we were blessed with our daughter, who is now three years old. We know now is the time to grow our family, and our daughter can’t wait to be a big sister!
Fun Facts
About Kendra
| Occupation | Administrative Director at a university |
|---|---|
| Education | MS in Applied Biological Science |
| Race | Caucasian |
| Favorite Hobby | Plants—indoor and outdoor |
| Favorite Sport | Whatever Zak is watching |
| Favorite Holiday | Thanksgiving (all about family!) |
| Favorite Music Group | Gregorian chant to Green Day |
| Favorite TV Show | Doctor Who |
| Favorite Book | Middlemarch |
| Favorite Tradition | Family vacations |
| Dream Vacation | Europe, Asia, tropical islands |
About Zak
| Occupation | Engineer |
|---|---|
| Education | BS in Civil & Environmental Engineering |
| Race | Caucasian |
| Favorite Hobby | I love listening to, sharing, and writing music. |
| Favorite Sport | Baseball, football, basketball, Olympics |
| Favorite Holiday | Halloween (love the monsters) |
| Favorite Music Group | Radiohead or Rachmaninoff |
| Favorite TV Show | Seinfeld, The Office |
| Favorite Book | The Lord of the Rings (nerd alert!) |
| Favorite Tradition | Board games with my family |
| Dream Vacation | Ireland, where my family is from |
Contact Kendra & Zak
Choose a Family for
Your Baby With Confidence
As you browse our list of hopeful adoptive parents, you can feel confident in knowing that all of the adoptive families working with Angel Adoption are prepared to offer your baby a safe, stable, and loving environment along with a wealth of opportunities for a happy and fulfilling life.
Each adoptive parent has been thoroughly evaluated through a home study course conducted by a licensed agency. A completed home study means the family is emotionally, physically, and financially ready to adopt a baby.
The home study process includes assessments of each parent’s character, marital stability, financial situation, lifestyle, and medical history. The agency also runs background checks to verify there is no record of criminal activity or child abuse. In addition, a social worker will inspect the family’s home to ensure it is a safe environment for a child.
Furthermore, Angel Adoption requires each family to be educated on adopting and parenting. After a baby has been placed with the adoptive family, a social worker will continue to monitor and supervise the family. We go to great lengths to make sure all the families you have to choose from are going to be excellent parents for your baby!
Not sure how to start? See our How to Choose an Adoptive Family resource page.
If you need more help, you’re always welcome to contact us any time!