Please feel free to read our letter.




Dear Birth Parents,
It is hard to know exactly how to begin this letter but we want to say thank you so much for taking the time to read it and get to know us. We cannot begin to imagine what you are going through at this time in your life, but we wish you peace, clarity, strength and understanding as you make this most difficult and important decision.

A bit about us: We are both 33 years old and have been happily married for almost 8 years. We have known each other for over 12 years. We met through a mutual friend while Pete was working on the island we now live on. I was immediately impressed with how kind and intelligent he was. Pete says he was impressed by my ability to make people feel comfortable. I remember on the evening that we met I thought to myself, “I am going to have this guy as a friend for the rest of my life.” Little did I know we were already falling in love. We quickly became friends and after three years of dating, Pete proposed while we were on a vacation cruise in Alaska. It was a very romantic proposal, especially because I was extremely seasick the entire evening and when he proposed, he included the words “through sickness and ….sickness.” It made me laugh and I said I would be a fool not to marry him. It was a very memorable proposal….and vacation. We married one year later in September 2001.

We have a very relaxed, respectful and fun relationship and express our love for each other every day. We laugh a lot, talk extensively, and are best friends. We have a ton of fun together and truly enjoy each other’s company. We have been extremely fortunate to have been able to travel to multiple countries together and have driven across the U.S. twice (which I would highly recommend at some point in everyone’s life).

Erin and Pete’s History: We were both raised in smaller communities in Washington State. Erin grew up on an island in Puget Sound with a population of around 5,000 people. Pete grew up in a community in Whatcom County with a population of around 10,000 people. After Erin graduated from high school she traveled to Mexico for a few months then attended college in Seattle. Pete attended college at Western Washington University in Bellingham then transferred to graduate in Seattle. After getting married we decided to live in Bellingham and made that our home for almost 5 years. We so enjoyed living in both Seattle and Bellingham but decided we would like to raise our children in a smaller community. So, when the opportunity arose that we could move back to the island where Erin was raised and has family, we jumped at the opportunity. We now own our own Eco-Tour company which is actively operational in the ‘summer’ season, so we have ample opportunity to spend time with family or relax at home during the ‘off-season’. We were both fortunate to have stay-at-home moms when we were children and Erin is so looking forward to being a stay-at-home mom with our children.

Being raised in the Pacific Northwest it is hard not to love the outdoors. We enjoy kayaking, hiking, skiing, boating, swimming and biking. We also enjoy playing board games, (especially Monopoly and Settlers of Catan), Backgammon, Cribbage, Uno, Wii and the much loved Rock Band I and II. And on some nights we like to veg out to our favorite T.V. shows (Lost, The Office, Survivor, and Erin’s a big fan of any “hospital/medical” show.). We also enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction books and grocery shopping together then cooking huge meals and feeding our family/friends. Sometimes for fun we will get into our car and take, what we call, ‘an island drive’ and turn on one of our favorite music groups (Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, John Mayer, Nora Jones, Madonna, or any old school Hip-Hop) and laugh, talk, laugh some more and we usually end up stopping somewhere along the way for multiple scoops of ice cream.

We do not have children yet due to infertility issues, but when we do have children, we plan on creating fun experiences with them as well as help them discover their own interests. We plan to teach our children essential life lessons like how to work hard, to take pride in their education, how to be responsible and make good decisions, to enjoy the little things in life like cooking, creating and exploring new ideas and adventures. Most importantly we want them to be happy and will give them encouragement, guidance, stability and love every single day.

We both come from large, loving families. Erin has two older sisters (Auntie Angie and Auntie Charis) and Pete has one older brother (Uncle Kirk) and one younger sister (Auntie Laura). Erin and her sisters are all very close in age while Pete and his siblings are around 5 years apart. Erin was raised in a Christian home with parents who are Pastors and Pete was raised in a Catholic home. Erin’s parents (Grandma and Grandpa) have been married for 38 years and Pete’s parents (Gammy and Gampy) have been married for 40 years this September. We have two nephews and two nieces whom we adore and are extremely close with, multiple aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, as well as God children and tons of friends with kids. Erin’s parents live 2 miles from us and Pete’s parents as well as his brother Kirk and wife (Auntie Jenny) along with their two kids live about 90 miles from us. Pete’s sister (Laura) and her boyfriend (Uncle Jeff) live about 80 miles from us. We see Pete’s family at least twice a month regardless of the distance and of course we see Erin’s family every day.

Our families are the most important people in our lives which is evident because we choose to vacation with them, spend holidays together, attend their sporting events, theatre plays, spend long weekends together playing games and we like our family so much that we actually live next door to Erin’s sister and her husband and live about a 1 minute drive to Erin’s other sister and her husband along with their two children. We live about 2 minutes from Erin’s best friend and her husband and their two boys. We were lucky enough to attend our nephew, nieces and God children’s births, so we really understand the magnitude of giving birth. These births were extra special for Erin due to her not being able to have children and give birth. One of her nieces was born 3 weeks after she miscarried and one of her Godsons was born 8 months after she miscarried and even though this time in her life was difficult, Erin was so thankful to be a part of those special births as it helped heal her longing to give birth as well as provided the realization of how much she wanted to adopt a child.
Our friends are definitely part of our family and have been so unbelievably supportive in our process and decision to adopt. We are so thankful to have loving, supportive parents as well as family and friends who are so looking forward to welcoming another addition to our family. When we are fortunate enough to adopt a child, that child will be welcomed with open, loving arms by our entire family.

The child we are lucky enough to adopt and parent will always be cherished and loved with all of our hearts. We will make it a priority that our child knows the love, sacrifice and gift you have given to them and to us. After placement, we are happy to continue a relationship with you through letters, photos and are more than willing to explore further levels of openness. Again, thank you for reading our letter and if you have further questions please let us know. We would love to meet you and get to know you better. Our hearts and prayers are with you and we wish you all the best.

With love,

Erin & Pete