It is our hope that you will be comforted at this important and difficult time in your life. We feel that you are incredibly courageous for looking into adoption. We pray for you and hope this letter will help in bringing you peace. Adoption is so dear to our hearts as we have experienced it with our precious son. We imagine you must be doing some searching in your life right now; trying to decide what is best for you and your unborn child. There is no way that we can know the emotions you are going through but you are already a hero to us for weathering this stormy and uncertain time in your life. You are a daughter of God with limitless potential and whatever choice you make will be one that He will support you in. However, if your heart's desire leads you to choose us as adoptive parents here is a little bit about us to help you decide.
It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and although we believe this to be true, all the pictures and the words on these pages cannot fully express the love and history that lies within our hearts. Through the experiences we have had we have gained a strong testimony that adoption is part of the plan for us. We are not perfect, but we strive always to be prayerful about our decisions and follow the promptings of the spirit. We hope that our children will have strong testimonies of the gospel and come to understand the importance of it in their lives, just as we have.
We met in a Mexican restaurant where Camille worked. When our eyes met time seemed for us to stand still. We knew that we should be together and are to this day, grateful for the decision we made. After a lengthy six month courtship we were married on a beautiful June morning in a LDS Temple. As we knelt across from each other at that alter we knew that we were beginning a relationship that would have great blessings, hardships, and above all else a love for each other that would stand firm if we put our trust in each other and our Heavenly Father.
Brandon was born in a small farming community in Utah. He learned to enjoy work growing up on the farm. He loved being outdoors. There were cattle to move, fence to fix, hay to haul, and afternoon trips with his dad and grandpa to the swimming pool to cool off after a hard days work in the sun.
Every year he would watch the 4th of July fireworks at the stadium, enjoyed learning how to ride horses, playing with friends, cub scouts, and placing chewing gum under the desk in grade school. Second grade began the first year of Brandon’s big dream of being a fire fighter; one day his class visited the local fire department and the fire fighters let them slide down the fire pole. He still lives and carries that dream to this day.
Months turned into years, a cub scout turned into a boy scout who shared father and son overnighters with dad. Brandon was ordained to the priesthood, given priesthood responsibilities; he joined the military, he served a faithful mission in the southern states. He has attended College; where he received his EMT and a degree as a fire officer. He beat over 2,000 other applicants to work on the fire department of his dreams. Brandon enjoys working on the fire department, has a love for all sports, he has started his own business, and is a real estate investor. He serves as the Assistant Scout Master in our ward and loves home teaching.
Camille was born and raised in a tiny town in Idaho. She enjoyed playing basketball with her brothers and playing dress-up with her sisters. Her family would have cookouts and go camping often. They spent many warm summer days out on the lake playing swim tag. They enjoyed going on family vacations as often as they could. There were many family reunions that ended up in water fights, usually the big kids against the younger kids, but grandma was always there to save the day. Grandma always got everyone wetter than anyone else could possibly get her. They would play games late into the night. Her grandparents always had Fat Boyz and Casco ice cream to help the hot summer days simmer down, and grandma had the best home made wheat bread; it seemed to just melt in your mouth.
Camille’s family would work hard out in the yard, have family home evening, and make taffy or chocolate chip cookies together. They have holiday parties where the whole family gets together and have white elephant games and reminisce about the good ole’ days.
Camille was in dancing from the age of six. She enjoyed the competitions and performing in the end of the year finale for her parents. She enjoyed the drill team in High School and loved every minute of it. She still hasn’t grown out of her love for dancing. She worked on her friends’ farm feeding horses, shoveling stalls, and moving pipe. She has a love for the outdoors and enjoys gardening and working in the yard. Camille enjoys camping, quilting, scrap booking, playing volleyball and futsol, reading the scriptures and many other books, and serving in the Young Women in our ward.
Our Son :
The love that we have for our son Max is endless. He makes us smile and when we look at him we know that he is our most precious gift. We adopted him almost eight years ago; and having him in our lives has been a wonderful experience. We, and those who know him, describe him as a bright, happy, loving, and energetic boy. He loves playing soccor, basketball, and football. Max enjoys reading books, playing with his toy trucks and cars, he likes to help around the house; helping dad fix things and mom do the laundry and the dishes. He is a fast learner and amazes us with the new things he can do every day.
He loves popcorn and enjoys watching his favorite shows, "Transformers (animated series)". Max even knows all of the Transformers names. He likes to play with his trains and tracks and you can hear him using his imagination. He also loves being outside, in fact he could be out there all day and not get bored. A born explorer. He loves his grandparents and follows them around when he visits. We have a puppy named Sadie and she is one of his best friends. He often calls her his sister. Max is very loving and kind. He will make an excellent big brother. He loves babies and helps Camille when she babysits for her brothers and sisters. We love Max very much, we know he loves us. He is very good at giving hugs and kisses. We are truly grateful for him.
Max is a joy in our lives and we are very excited about adopting another child who we know will bless our family, bringing us more joy. We have a large extended family who is excited and awaiting the arrival of the children who will come to bless our home.
Closing:
We enjoy attending the Temple, watching sports together, going to the movies, taking Max to the park, camping, vacationing, riding bikes, spending time together wherever we are, making memories and creating traditions that Max will carry with him as we have with our families.
We love children and pray for the opportunity that we will have in blessing, guiding, and directing the lives of those who may come to bless our home. We have a love of the gospel and our Savior. We know the desire of our heart's is to raise our children with the knowledge that their Heavenly Father loves them always and to love the Lord and trust Him.
Thank you again for reading about us. Regardless of what decision you make we hope you find your heart's desire and peace. Our love and prayers are with you.
Brandon, Camille & Max
Age: Brandon is 32 Camille is 29 Max is 6
Profession: Brandon:Engineer/Firefighter, Camille:Homemaker
Religion: LDS / Mormon
Smoking: No
State: Utah
Married: 10 years
Residency: House
Neighborhood: Urban
Family Structure: Married, with only adopted children
Pet(s): Blue Healer named Sadie
Preferences For a Child Age: Newborn - Newborn
Gender: Either
Ethnicity: Open to discussion, Caucasian, Caucasian/Asian, Caucasian/African American, Caucasian/Hispanic, Caucasian/Native American, Multi-Racial,
Special Needs: Open to discussion, Premature birth, Multiple birth, Conceived through rape, Nothing known about father,
Favorites :)
BrandonBook: "Rich Dad Poor Dad" I loved this book because it gave me the courage to change my thinking about money and business. It helped me gain the courage to start my own business and buy our first real estate investment.
Childhood Memory: My grandparents usually took me to see the 4th of July fireworks at the College football stadium, I love being with them very much.
Color: Blue - not sure why but it seems to fit me.
Day of Week: Monday, because most other people complain about them, besides my schedule at the fire department often leaves monday feeling like a Friday. We also have family home evening activities on Monday which is usually fun.
Dessert: Cherry Cheese Cake, my mom makes it for me every year for my birthday.
Disney Movie: Robin Hood as a child, National Treasure as of late.
Dream Job: I have been very fortunate to have my dream job. Since I was in the 3rd grade and given the opportunity to slide down a fire pole, I have wanted to be a fireman. My main responsibilty is to drive the fire engine.
Dream Vacation: We very much enjoyed Disney World Spring of 2006. We went to SeaWorld because as a military family we got in free, I thought it was going to be boring; however, turned out to be my favorite.
Fast Food Restaurant: Wendy's and I always order a biggie #6 combo (spicy chicken) ranch dressing for my fries, and sprite.
Fruit: Raspberries are my favorite sweet fruit, and grapefruit my favorite sour fruit (with a dash of salt).
Leisure Activity: As a child my Grandpa Max usually took me horseback riding in the mountains, now that he doesn't ride we love to go Jeeping. Anything to do with the mountains.
Memory with a Child: First time he rode the fire engine to help wash the Elephants that were in town for the circus. Max was only 6 months, but it meant a lot to me to have him ride on the fire engine.
Movie Munchie: Popcorn with lots of butter.
Music Group: Growing up it was Chris LeDoux, lately it has been a toss up between Neil Diamond and Billy Joel. Weird taste according to my wife.
Perfume/Cologne: Obsession
Play: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (because it is the only play I was in, Freshman year of High School)
Quality About My Spouse: Besides her ability to laugh hysterically when watching "America's Funniest Home Videos", her unwaivering support and love for Max and I (not to mention people in general).
Quote: "Whatever you are thinking and feeling is a perfect reflection of what is becoming"
Song: Lately it has been Josh Groban's "To Where You Are" and for a long time it was Billy Joel's "Goodnight My Angel"
TV Show: MacGyver and Star Trek
Thing to Cook: Jalepeno Pork Roast, mashed potatos, with grilled asparagus.
Vegetable: No question about it, a fresh garden tomato with the right amount of salt and pepper.
MaxActor: Optimus Prime a Tranformer or Mr. Incredible
Beverage/Drink: Chocolate Milk
Disney Movie: Toy Story 1 and 2. His first sentance had to be "To Infiniti and Beyond"
Fruit: Apples and Bananas
Sandwich: Peanut Butter and Jelly
Song: You are my Sunshine
Sport to Watch: Basketball
Color: Blue
Animal or Pet: puppies
Candy Bar: Twix
Dessert: Bubblegum and chocolate ice cream, brownies, and chocolate chip cookies
Flower: Marigolds
Food: Chicken Nuggets
TV Show: tranformers
Restaurant: Sizzlers and Wendy's
Family Activity: camping
Quality about dad: we have fun playing games together
Quality about mom: she takes care of me and will snuggle with me
Camille
Actress: not really one in particular, but I do like Drew Barrymore in Ever After
Animal or Pet: puppies, they are so cute and cuddly when they are little
Author: Gerald N. Lund, Stephenie Meyer, Jane Austen
Bedtime Story: Goldilocks and the Three Bears, my father always had a special version of the story that would make us laugh instead of being ready for bed.
Beverage/Drink: Water or Milk, quite dull but good
Book: I like to read all kinds of books so I really don't have a certain favorite
Candy Bar: kit kats, twix, or really anything that's chocolate!
Childhood Memory: water fights with grandma she would always win, they would also be in her house.
Childhood Toy: a brown stuffed bunny that my grandma and grandpa gave me for my birthday
Classic Movie: My Fair Lady
Color: I love quilting so it is really difficult to pick a favorite but I like pale green and cream
Day of Week: Sunday, a day of rest and relaxation
Dessert: chocolate dipped ice cream cone, I crave these all the time
Disney Movie: The Little Mermaid, my favorite ever since I was a little girl
Dream Job: I have it, I get to stay home with my son
Dream Vacation: there are many places that I have always wanted to go to; Hawaii, London, Cancun, Nauvoo ILL
Family Activity: taking Max to the park and going down the slides with him
Fast Food Restaurant: Wendy's I really like their spicy chicken sandwich, and of course I order it in the meal #6, substitute drink for frosty!
Flower: lillies, they are beautiful
Food: Pizza and cheesy garlic bread
Form of Exercise: aerobics, kick boxing, belly dancing, yoga, zumba
Fruit: pears, they are so tasty
Hero: my grandfather has always been my hero, we named our son after him
Hobby: crafts; quilting; scrapbooking
Holiday: Christmas time, my whole family gets together and we have dinner and do white elephant presents and play games.
Ice cream: cookies n' cream or cookie dough
Leisure Activity: laying in the grass during fall time or reading a book
Magazine: Parents, it helps me to get fun ideas to do with Max
Memory with Spouse: the first time I ever saw him time seemed to stand still and it seemed that we were the only ones in the room, right then I knew that we were to be together.
Memory with a Child: when Max was only about 8 months he would crawl into our closet and just throw our shoes out, silly yes, but he so enjoyed himself that I just laugh everytime I think about it
Movie: Pride and Prejudice - the most recent one
Musical: The Music Man - most recent
Plant: anything that is green and pretty, well I like plants that flower, I love flowers
Quality About My Spouse: he's spontaneous and brings me flowers when it is unexpected, hardworking and is a great dad.
Restaurant: Olive Garden - I like their Pasta Figioli soup
Sport to Play: volleyball, especially with the young women in the ward, and futsol.
TV Show: Chuck and So You Think You Can Dance
Type of Music: I really like all kinds, but mostly the ones that make you feel good and happy about yourself
Vegetable: tomatos!! yummy!
