Brian and Lindsay

Family Pictures October 2010

2011-01-10T13:59:00.002-08:00

Our Beautiful Life

2011-01-10T13:59:00.001-08:00

About Brian

2011-01-04T13:51:00.002-08:00

Age: 30

Height: 5'10"

Hair: Light Brown

Eyes: Hazel

Education: Master's in Education

Occupation: Spanish/Social Studies Teacher

The first 19 years of my life were spent in Southern California, which means lots of theme parks, sporting events, and days at the beach. I also liked hiking, camping, and fishing with my dad and brothers. I served a mission for my church in Argentina when I was 19 and after that I attended Brigham Young University in Utah. College was a great experience – I learned a lot, made great friends, and fell in love with the most wonderful girl in the world. We were married in Idaho one semester before I graduated. I received a degree in education and got my first job teaching Social Studies in Houston, Texas. After a year, Lindsay and I moved here to Oregon and I am currently teaching Spanish and Social Studies. I love teaching and it is great having so much time with my family. While most of free time is spent playing with my son, some of my hobbies include traveling, hiking, camping, playing sports (especially basketball), watching movies, and reading books. I consider myself the luckiest man in the world for having Lindsay and Van in my life. Being a father has been amazing and I am excited about bringing another child into our family

About Lindsay

2011-01-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

Age: 28

Height: 5'4"

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Blue

Education: Bachelor's in History Teaching

Occupation: Stay at Home Mom

I grew up in a small mountain town in Idaho where I enjoyed swimming in the lake, hiking, fishing, and camping in the summer and sledding, skiing, building snow caves, and ice skating in the winter. It was really a wonderful childhood. After high school I attended Brigham Young University in Provo, UT where I made lifelong friends while studying to be a middle/high school history teacher. I had the opportunity study abroad in Vienna, Austria for one semester which was amazing. I've always loved traveling and was able to visit 10 countries while I was there. I met Brian the very first day of school the semester I returned from Europe. Our life together has been full of adventures! Life before we became parents was filled with traveling and fun. Now I am a stay at home mom to the most amazing little boy and it has been the greatest adventure so far. My days are filled with laughter, playing, teaching, and kisses. I can't wait to bring another little one into our home.

About Van

2011-01-02T13:53:00.000-08:00

He refuses to smile for pictures so this is the cute face he makes when he wants something.
He knows we can't resist!

Age: 2

Height: 36in

Hair: Sandy Blond

Eyes: Hazel

Education: Has mastered the alphabet!

Occupation: King of our Castle

Van was born in Texas on May 27, 2009 and officially joined our family three days later. We are constantly impressed with how smart, capable, and easy going he is. He is also all boy! His favorite things to play with are his blocks, balls, and tools. He also LOVES to read books. We've read to him since birth and by about 7 months he could sit and "read" a book by himself, not missing a single page. Now he knows the stories and asks us to read his favorites to him all day long. "Book" was one of his first words. He is talking up a storm now (maybe all the reading helps) and it is so much fun to hear what he has to say. He is growing up so fast! He is really a sweet boy and everyone he meets falls in love with him. Several of our friends actually ask to babysit him. That's saying a lot for a toddler! He loves babies and he is very good about sharing his mommy and being soft. He is truly going to be a fantastic big brother!

Boy Meets Girl (how it all begain)

2011-01-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Story of Us....According to Brian

A boy from Southern California and a girl from Idaho meet while going to school in Utah, get married and move to Texas for a year and then settle in Oregon. Our story in a nutshell, but if you want more details - keep reading.

In an education class at BYU is where our story begins:

During a group activity fate had us as partners. I fell for her right away and quickly found her to be as smart, funny, and sweet as she was beautiful. She must have felt the same because she laughed at my jokes and came to sit by me the next day.

She eventually fell victim to my charm as I sought any and every opportunity to be with her. We talked before, during, and after class (I was conveniently headed in whichever direction that she happened to be going). At the chance of seeming like a stalker I persisted, and the rewards turned out to be eternal.

We fell in love, met the parents, and soon enough (or finally – depending on who you ask) we were engaged. We were sealed in the Boise Idaho Temple on December 27th, 2005. It was dark, it rained, and then came the blizzard, but it was the most beautiful day of my life.

For our honeymoon we traded in the snowy mountains of Idaho for the sunny beaches of the Caribbean. We took a cruise leaving out of Houston that stopped in Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. It was magical to say the least. Room service, warm sunny beaches, and marital bliss – who could ask for more?

After the honeymoon we lived in Provo while I did my student teaching and Lindsay finished her classes. Then came the opportunity we just couldn’t pass up – Texas! Sounds like an adventure. BYU had a program that placed student teachers in Houston and the same district offered me a job. We traveled all over the South, made friends, and had some great experiences.

While we loved our time in Texas we always knew that we wanted to be back in the West, closer to family and friends. We had a special feeling about Oregon and after a crazy summer and a string of miracles we knew that this is where the Lord wanted us. We love Oregon!

I’m glad that I went to class that fateful day where we were first paired up. Lindsay has continued to be my partner, my best friend and my soul mate.

So Happy Together (our family)

2010-12-31T13:53:00.000-08:00

We are a very affectionate and fun loving family. We love to play outside as a family. We love outdoors activities. The Northwest is a wonderful place to hike, camp, fish, ride bikes, or take a day trip to the beach. We love to just take a walk to our local park and play together in the grass and on the playground. We also love to snuggle up and read books together or wrestle in the living room, as long as we are together. We value family time and try to spend as much time all together as possible. Education is a very important part of our family. Both Brian and I have parents who are in education and we both chose to follow that path. Brian recently completed his Master's and we hope to teach our children the value of a good education. We try very hard to have a Christ centered home. One of my proudest moments as a a mother was the first time Van ran over to our picture book we use at family scripture time and exclaimed "Jesus" without any prompting. Every time he folds his arms or shouts "AMEN" we can't help but hope we are on the right track. We love being a family of three and cherish every moment we have together. We can only imagine how wonderful being a family of 4 (or 5;) will be.

Our Journey To Adoption

2010-12-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

When we got engaged and were planning our life together we naturally began talking about the family we hoped to have. As all couples do we dreamed of our beautiful children and the fun we would have as parents. We talked about the perfect time to start a family and made all kinds of plans. Included in these talks was adoption. I had been told by a doctor when I was 17 that I might have problems becoming pregnant in the future. I had looked forward to being a mother since I was a toddler so I didn't take the doctor seriously. I thought of course he was wrong, I was destined to be a mother. However, I thought Brian should know about it before we got married. We both agreed adoption would be a wonderful thing and moved forward with our wedding plans. When we had been married about six months we felt it was time to start our family, it was sooner than our original plan but the Lord knew we had a long road ahead even if we didn't. Sure enough, months and months passed with no pregnancy. After pursuing fertility treatments for a year and a half with no success we knew adoption was the right path for us. We moved forward with excitement and through the miracle of adoption we were able to become parents. Our son Brian Van (we call him Van) was born May 27, 2009 and officially placed in our family on May 30. We are so excited to once again be hoping and waiting for another little miracle.

Open Adoption

2010-12-04T13:54:00.000-08:00

We would like to have an open adoption with you. We were chosen by Van's birth parents when his birth mother was about four months along. We were able to spend the next five months getting to know them, including flying out to meet them in person before the birth. We feel very blessed to have them in our lives. Van will never have to wonder about where he came from. He will always know them and that is a wonderful thing. Of course, we understand everyone is different and every adoption is unique. We look forward to getting to know you and finding out what kind of relationship you would like to have with us.

Frequently Asked Questions

2010-01-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Do you want a boy or a girl?
We would love either or both;) Honestly, we don't have a preference.

Are you open to twins?
Absolutely! Twins actually run in my family so they would fit right in.

Are you open to any race or bi-racial?
Absolutely!

Contact Us

2010-01-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

We would love for you to contact us so we can get to know each other.

E-mail

brianandlindsayadopt@gmail.com

Phone

503-588-5683

Adoption Agency

LDS Family Services (Tigard, Oregon)

1-877-936-7537

Case Worker

Julie Russell (available at our agency number)