I was born and raised in the suburbs of Seattle with two older brothers, the oldest being adopted at birth. We all loved to play outside as kids. We had a third of an acre backyard and four neighbor boys our age so we played lots of football, baseball, kickball, soccer and of course pine cone fights! When I went to junior high I started playing baseball and continued to play throughout high school. As well as playing ball another highlight I remember well was working at the local Albertsons grocery store and saving enough money to buy my first car by the time I graduated. It was only $1,000 but to me that was a lot of money! After high school graduation I took a year off from school, worked long hours at a drug store and moved into an apartment with a friend. We saved enough money to go to Hawaii together that year. The next year I started junior college and moved back home with mom and dad. Two years after that I left home again and moved to a small university town to finish my bachelor’s degree in International Business.

It was during my university days that I roomed with Julie’s brother and that is how I met her. We enjoyed "hanging out" together during our college years and a few years later we got married. I feel lucky that we were close friends before I thought about her as my girlfriend. It seemed like our relationship just grew and suddenly I knew we weren’t "‘just friends" anymore. Now 13 years, and lots of experiences later, we still are more than great friends. She will always be the one from which I get love and support and I will always be there for her to do the same. We have enjoyed lots of international travel together and even lived in Japan for a year while teaching English. We continue to work together fixing up our home and basically do everything together!

Katrien is the next joy in my life. She was born in 2000 and I have enjoyed every minute of her time with us. She amazes me so often with her developing personality and cognitive learning! I never knew a child could learn and grow so fast! We spend lots of family time together, the three of us, playing and having fun.

I went back to school about eight years ago and earned my teaching certificate. Now I teach Japanese part time at a middle school and continue to run an import/export business from our home. I only have two Japanese classes in the morning and so I get to take care of "K-chan" everyday while Julie teaches at her elementary school. Although sometimes it is hard to get much accomplished with my business during the day, I would not have it any other way. I am more than happy to spend so much of my time helping raise our daughter. Work usually gets set aside because I know these beginning years are precious and will soon be gone. I can always catch up in the evening! When Katrien starts Kindergarten our plan is to have her attend Julie’s school so we can keep a protective eye on her but also pick her teachers since Julie knows the staff well.

Emily. Emily is Katrien’s birth mom. I have genuinely enjoyed getting to know her and her family. In my opinion both Emily and Robert made a responsible, albeit extremely difficult decision, to give up their baby. Because of their choice, Julie and I received a gift beyond our wildest imaginations! We take parenting very very seriously and recognize the immense impact we have on this gift of life we received from both Emily and Robert. Everyday we are thankful for the chance to raise a child, and do so as lovingly and carefully as possible.

We want you to know that if you do choose us to raise your baby, you can do so fully knowing that we will love, protect and raise them in the very best environment we can provide; just as we are doing with our daughter, Katrien. We would love to make contact with you if you are considering our family for your baby. We would love to talk about what open adoption means to you and to us.

If you would like more information about our family or would like to visit further, please use this link to send us email.

Respectfully and sincerely,

Michael and Julie