Hello –

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good, and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.

We hope that this verse gives you encouragement as you seek to make the best plan for your unborn child, just as it has given us hope in our journey to this point in our lives. We cannot imagine how difficult this time must be for you, and we pray that God would give you wisdom, strength and peace. We admire your courage in choosing life for your baby.

We understand your desire to gather information as you make decisions for you and your baby, so we’ve done our best to try to give you a glimpse of who we (Rick and Heather) are in the next few pages.

Meet Heather
I grew up in Wisconsin with a very stable, happy, loving family life. I have one brother who is two years older than me. He owns a business refurbishing classic cars. My mom is very sweet and loves being hospitable and finding ways to help others. She is shy with new people but fun and silly with her family and friends. She retired a few years ago from her job at a retail store.

My dad is a friendly, encouraging and wise man. He worked as a drafting engineer with the same company for 45 years. When I was young, he was always quick with help with homework and as I grew older I often looked to him for advice on difficult life decisions. I have fond childhood memories of going on family vacations, playing catch with my dad, shopping with my mom, playing kickball in the street, playing Barbies on the deck, traveling with my church youth group and waking up every birthday to a home-made card from my dad. I look forward to helping my children create fun and lasting memories of their childhood.

I graduated from Wheaton College in 1992 and then lived in Mexico for fourteen months working with children and families, starting a food program and teaching them about the Bible. I have since maintained my Spanish-speaking skills by teaching Spanish part-time to both children and adults. After returning from Mexico, I worked in child welfare as a foster care caseworker for several years. Currently, I work part-time in youth development and part-time with the school district working with homeless families. When God blesses us with children, I will become a stay-at-home mom.

As a single adult, I lived with several female roommates. We were family for each other, as our relatives lived a distance away. I was pleased to purchase a townhouse in 2002 and live on my own for the first time.

I now enjoy spending time with Rick and my friends, playing with our dog Newton, shopping for a bargain, baking (chocolate chip cookies are a specialty), and taking any opportunity to practice my Spanish.

Meet Rick
I grew up on a small family farm in Indiana. The farm was located just outside the city limits of a town so small that it, to this day, has not one stop light. I have two younger brothers and a younger sister. To make ends meet for a family of six, both of my parents worked full time. My mother was an elementary school teacher who recently retired after teaching for 41 years and my father was a construction worker who retired a few years ago to help care for my niece and nephews in Indiana. I have fond childhood memories of working on the family farm, at various times raising hogs, cattle, turkeys, horses, goats, dogs, cats, and rabbits. I can recall preparing milk bottles for baby calves and feeding them before and after school. It was through these activities that I formed an early understanding of the level of effort and responsibility needed to care for another living being.

My recreational time was usually consumed by sports offered through the local school. I participated in baseball, basketball, football, and track. I also enjoyed academics and did very well in school.

I graduated from Purdue University in 1994 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Following graduation, I took a position with Motorola, Inc. working initially as a software engineer and now as a systems engineer. My division within Motorola develops large radio communication systems for public safety customers such as state and local police forces. One of my brothers also works in the same division and lives in a nearby suburb.

As a single adult, I lived with a roommate in a rented apartment, and then purchased a townhouse, where my brother lived with me. I met many new friends and enjoyed activities such as golfing, water skiing, and snow skiing. It was also during this period of time that I became interested in flying personal airplanes. I realized that I could attend many more family events in Indiana if I could cut down on the travel time, so I began training in 2003 and later received my pilot’s certificate.

In my spare time now, I enjoy hanging out with Heather, reading, studying all kinds of history, and flying airplanes. I recently started volunteering with an organization that flies people in need of medical care to their doctor’s visits.

Our Life Together
Our story together started with a first date to a fun Italian restaurant in 2003. Heather was first attracted to Rick’s good character, intelligence, sense of humor and beautiful hazel eyes. She later came to know and love his kind heart. Rick was impressed by Heather’s sense of humor, financial independence, ethics and red hair. As we began dating, we found that both of us came from close-knit families, shared the same values and laughed at the same things. We dated for almost a year and were engaged for five months before marrying in April 2005. We believe that our marriage is stronger because we were older when we married. While single, we had the privilege of sharing in our friends’ experiences and learning from their struggles – lessons which we brought with us into our marriage.

After marrying, we were excited to start our family. We have since had to face the difficulty of not becoming pregnant, and then the unbelievable sadness of miscarriage after infertility treatment. We have trusted in God and grown in our faith throughout the journey. We believe God’s plan for us includes children and we are trying to follow God’s direction - and trust in His timing - in this and every aspect of our lives. As Christians, we believe that adopting a child is an important opportunity to experience what God has done for us when He adopted us as sons and daughters into His family. We believe God has chosen for us to experience parenthood through the miracle of adoption and pray daily for the child that God has for us.

Our faith in God is very important to us. We are very involved in our church and enjoy serving together in various ways, including helping with the homeless ministry. Rick is also on the church softball team, and Heather is part of the hospitality team.

For fun, we enjoy spending time with each other and our friends, talking, laughing, seeing movies, watching our favorite TV shows, trying new activities, going out to eat and playing board games. We find that living in the Chicago metro area affords us many opportunities to go to the theater, visit interesting museums, and try lots of ethnic food.

Our Parents
Heather’s parents have been married for 43 years and Rick’s have been married for 42 years. They are loving and gentle, compassionate and generous, funny and entertaining. They make frequent trips to Illinois to visit us. We also frequently go to Wisconsin and Indiana to visit them, our siblings, and their families. Both sets of parents LOVE being grandmas and grandpas to our nieces and nephews. They will be thrilled to one day welcome another grandchild.

Our Dog
As we mentioned, we have a cute dog named Newton. He has a really funny personality and loves to play. He believes it is his duty to protect all children and is very patient and kind with them. We laughingly say that he thinks babies are “bald dogs” as they crawl around by him on the floor.

Our House and Neighborhood
We live in a house that has plenty of space for a family but still has a cozy, homey feel to it. It’s situated in a safe, friendly neighborhood that has many large trees and nice backyards. We bought the house three years ago with the intention of raising children in it, so we made sure it was located in an excellent school district. We’ve decided that the light green room right next to ours will be the baby’s room, and we are excited to start decorating for a little baby boy or girl.

Our neighbors include older adults as well as young couples with children. Our home is close to many of our friends as well as the church we attend, so play dates and special children’s activities will be easy to find! We enjoy doing projects around the house, including gardening, yard work, painting and updating the décor.

Caring for Children
We both love children and have experience caring for those of our family and friends. As the oldest of four children, Rick had many responsibilities caring for his siblings as he grew up. Heather has seen Rick interact with children of family and friends and says he’s patient, playful, silly and responsible. Heather has worked with children and teens in both a professional and volunteer capacity for over 15 years. Rick says Heather has a great rapport with children, and is good at balancing being both an authority figure and a friend and confidant.

When we are blessed with children, we will cherish them and thank God every day for such a special gift. We believe in encouraging children to try new things, just as we did, so they can see what they are good at and what they enjoy. We both agree that children should experience a childhood full of love, happiness, laughter, opportunity, and quality education – all in a safe environment.

Thoughts on Openness
If you entrust us with your child, we will make certain he or she knows the boundless love you showed by choosing adoption. We look forward to meeting you if you would like to learn more about us after you read our story. We would be happy to discuss the amount of contact that you are comfortable with. We understand that the degree of openness can vary for everyone involved and know that different people may have unique requests. At this point, we are definitely ready to send photos and updates on a regular basis. We want to do everything we can to ensure a healthy, happy upbringing and also meet the needs that you have regarding staying in contact. We think it would be a great benefit for the child to know his or her birth family.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and get a glimpse of what makes us a family. We will continue to pray for God’s direction and peace for you in this journey.

For more information please contact Sunny Ridge Family Center.

Heather and Rick

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