We would like to thank you so very much for looking at our profile. We understand this process is a difficult one. With that being said, please know that if you should decide an adoption plan it will bring us or another family so much joy and happiness. Your gift is the biggest and greatest gift we could ever receive and we would cherish that blessing every day. We are respectful of you and your decision. The love you have for your child does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

This will be our second adoption. We also have a son Benjamin, who will be three in June, whom we also adopted through Sunny Ridge. We are so excited and can’t wait to see how this experience unfolds! We are thrilled to add another child to our family!

Marissa’s Childhood: My childhood and upbringing was pretty good. I have many fond memories from it. I grew up in a small town, which we still reside in. I have one brother who is 30, and a sister was is 27. I am the oldest child. I am super close with my sister. She is my best friend. I talk to her almost every day and we spend a lot of time together. I am close with my brother as well, but I don’t talk to him as much. He lives in Indiana and travels a lot for work. My mother and father also live close by as well. They have been married for over 30 years now. Our upbringing was pretty traditional. My dad worked and my mom was a stay at home mom with us up until my sister was in high school. She always took us to our sporting events and what not. We used to go swimming at my grandparents house frequently too. We belonged to a recreational beach club and would spend many days at the beach, swimming, running around, playing in the sand and having picnics. It was so fun. My brother played baseball so we spent a lot of time at his games. My brother and I are only 13 months apart so we did everything together as kids!

My sister and I were in dance classes. I loved doing that!! Especially the recitals and getting all dressed up in our costumes. When we were kids we would play outside all day and into the night. We loved to ride our bikes all over! We liked to play games like hide n’ seek and cops and robbers. We lived by a creek and the river, so sometimes we would go fishing but only with my dad with us. We always went on our annual summer Wisconsin vacation. They were so much fun! We loved exploring the woods and fishing. We especially loved swimming all day in the lake, waterskiing, and catching frogs. My grandmother also owned a cottage on the river. We really loved going there and spending time there. My grandmother has since passed away and now my father owns the cabin. He is currently working on it and updating it a bit. So we are excited to start going there again!

As I got a little older, I was in a lot of clubs and school activities. I took pride in being a good student and working hard at it. I loved being on the pom squad in high school. I loved to dance and compete. I was really into my art classes too. I loved drawing. I actually was pretty good at one point and won a couple contests too. I have the urge to draw sometimes, but don’t do it too much now.

I had a pretty ordinary adolescence and teen years even though I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of thirteen. I had no idea what it was or entailed. No one had it in my family at the time, so I had never heard of it. I was much more aware of things that didn’t really cross my mind before. For instance what I ate, what time I ate, taking insulin shots and checking my blood sugar. My parents were great though. Especially my mom. She was really strict with me, which at the time, I was really annoyed by it, but now I thank her for that. She made me be responsible and take care of myself. I did have great support from my family and friends. I have grown to accept it and it really has helped shape me into the person I am today. It is my life and yes of course I wish I didn’t have it, but there is nothing I can change about it as of now. It does not interfere with my life; I have lived with it now for over half of my life (18 years now). I take great care of myself and take pride in living a healthy life! No complications what so ever.

Another really cool story I like to share is the time I met Oprah. I was 17 years old and I went to the show with 12 other members of my immediate family. My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles all went to an anniversary show. Long story short, Oprah ended up sending the entire audience to Disneyland for a few days. It was really cool. I got to meet Oprah and talk with her and get a picture taken with her. She was very down to earth and funny. The trip was so much fun. Not too many people are able to have an experience like that, so it was very special. I had never been on a plane or to Florida before, so there was a lot of firsts on that trip!

Greg’s Childhood: I grew up in the same small town Marissa did. In fact I lived just on the other side of the park from her. I’m the only child to a single parent. My Mother raised me alone, with the help of my Grandparents. My dad was never around; I heard he said he wasn’t ready to be a dad. Aside from that, I had a really good childhood. I spent most of my time either fishing or riding my bike. When my mom was at work, my grandparents would watch me. That was fine with me; there were plenty of other kids my age to play with. They lived next to a creek, so I could fish whenever I wanted to. We would also take a few trips to Tennessee every year. I have tons of family down there.

I took many vacations with my Mom, Grandparents and other relatives when I was younger. I went to Thailand once too. That was a really cool experience. I think my childhood was good, mainly from the hard work and sacrifice from my mother. She worked really hard to make sure I had everything growing up. I think that is one quality that rubbed off on me too. It’s important for me to be able to provide for my family, and it makes me proud to be able to do that. My Grandfather also affected me quite a bit when I was growing up. I think since my dad wasn’t around I looked up to him as a father figure. He passed away in June 2001 from cancer. I have many great memories of him and me, but my fondest memories are the ones of our yearly hunting trips. It was kind of like “guy week”. About thirteen of us would go to southern Illinois to a cabin and hunt and tell stories all week. I miss him. He was so funny. I would have loved for him to meet my children.

Other people that have been a big part of my life are Nina, Mark and the late Siri. They are originally from Thailand and became part of our family since before I was born. My grandmother worked at a nursing home in the 70’s where they came to work and sort of took them under her wing. They have always been involved in our family.  When I was growing up I always went on trips with them and spent a lot of time with them. Nina, their daughter, is a few years younger than me. She is like a cousin. She lives in Indiana now with her husband and two children. Ben and Maddie are 6 months apart so they really like to play together. Mark has since moved back to Thailand since Siri passed away on 2001, also from cancer. We keep in touch; he was just here recently for a long visit.

A little about us: We live in Greg’s childhood home. It is a white Victorian house, with a big front porch and a lot of character. The backyard leads to a beautiful park. We spend a lot of time there when it is nice out. There are baseball fields, playgrounds and picnic areas, with the river surrounding the park. It is especially beautiful in the fall with all the trees changing colors. We live in a quiet, safe community.

We have three dogs, all dachshunds. They are small dogs that love to cuddle! Otis is our first one we got; he just turned 10 years old. Then there is Mable, the smallest of them all. She is only a little over 6 pounds. She will be 10 in July. Then there is Daisy, who we adopted later, she will be 11 in June. They are good dogs and very entertaining. They are good with kids. Everyone just loves them and has their favorites. They all have very different personalities and unique qualities.

Greg enjoys fishing, hunting, gardening, cooking, reading, and working out. He loves to have his garden in the summer. I enjoy taking pictures and doing photo enhancements. I also like to go antiquing and to garage sales to find some “treasures”.  I don’t buy a lot just look more than anything. I also LOVE listening to music and dancing around the house! Ben & I will put on a CD and dance around the kitchen. Music always puts me in a good mood and gives me a boost of energy! I like just about every kind of music out there.

 We both really enjoy going to our beach club in the summers, swimming and picnicking. We are planning on doing some camping too. We enjoy spending time with our niece and nephew too. We have them over for sleepovers and vice versa. We enjoy taking them for outings too, like going to the zoo, shopping, the movies or chuck e cheese. They are so special to us. Hopefully sometime soon we will be adding another niece or nephew to the family because my sister and brother in law are trying to have another baby. That will be so nice since my nephew is 8 now and my niece is 6.

We love to plan day trips and try new places to go hang out. We enjoy date nights with each other. Not too often, but it is nice to have a night out alone too. We love being parents and love doing things as a family. Whether it be hanging out at home playing and stuff or going to a museum. As long as we are together, that is fine with any of us! We love to go on vacations too! We have our annual Wisconsin vacation in the summer. My parents, brother, sister, brother in law, niece and nephew all go. We rent cabins on the lake. It is a real nice relaxing time. No TVs, no cell phones, no computers. If you want to watch TV you can go to the lodge. The kids have a great time, just like we used to when we were little. We have a campfire every night, maybe roast some hot dogs and make smores.  

We also started going every March to an indoor water park for three nights. This was our 3rd year doing that. It is a nice break in the winter months to get out and do something fun and different. Greg, Ben, myself, my sister, brother in law, niece and nephew all go on this mini vacation. If you can’t tell by now, we really enjoy spending time with them! Last year we took a family vacation just, Greg, Ben and I to Florida. That was so nice. As much as we do love vacationing with family, it was refreshing to have an alone one. We plan on going every year now in April. This year we are trying out Gulf Shores Alabama. I just love the ocean. It is so beautiful and relaxing. We enjoy taking Ben swimming and showing him new things. We can’t wait to do all of this stuff with another child as well. Greg’s mom and step dad are retired now and are thinking about buying a condo in Branson Missouri, so if they do, we will have to be sure to go visit them too.

Greg works at an oil refinery. He has been there about ten and half years. Greg works a twelve hour swing shift. He is a supervisor for his unit. Greg gets more vacation time now and with his schedule he works 4 days one week then only 3 days the next. So he is off quite a bit and gets to spend a lot of time at home with us. I am a registered nurse, but am currently mostly a stay at home mom. I say mostly because, I have my own jewelry business where I go out and do home parties. I work an average about 6 nights a month. I leave in the evening for a few hours and do the home show. Otherwise I work from home and have most of the time off to enjoy my family and take care of Ben. I decided to quit my job at the hospital when Ben was about 4 and half months old. I did not want to miss a thing! Since it took longer and we had been through so much to start our family, I cherished being home with him. I love being a mom and have no regrets about putting my nursing job on hold. I have my whole life ahead of me to do nursing and only a few short years when my children are young to stay home are care for them. We are blessed that I am able to do that for our family. If I feel I want to go back, I can do that anytime. I am totally content right now. I want nothing more than to take care of my children.

Our courtship and marriage: We dated for about nine months before we got engaged. We knew right away that we wanted to get married and spend the rest of our lives with each other. We actually talked about marriage after only about three to four months into dating. We got to know each other through mutual friends, but we did know each other prior to dating. We were so giddy and excited to be around each other. We both had never been this excited before over another person. We just couldn’t get enough of each other, talking on the phone all of the time, spending every moment together when we weren’t working. I was still in nursing school at the time and we were both living with our parents. We could talk for hours and we really enjoyed getting to know each other. I thought Greg was the nicest guy I had ever met. And still do! I was actually the first girl to ever meet his mother and I was honored by that.

Greg proposed in October 2000, the day before his best friend’s wedding. We were married almost exactly one year later! It was very romantic, there were flowers, candles, music, and Greg was even wearing a tux!  We were just overjoyed and couldn’t wait to tell everyone and plan our wedding. Our wedding day was absolutely beautiful. We had so much fun. There were about 200 people there and we had a large wedding party, 20 people all together. We have been married for eight years now. I was 23 when we got married and Greg was 26. We have a very strong, loving and affectionate marriage. We both take part in decision making and chores. He is very helpful with everything. Greg does most of the cooking when he is off work because he loves to cook and I don’t mind at all! We get along really well. We balance each other out I think. It may sound kind of silly, but we rarely argue. If something is bothering one of us, we say something about it and try to take care of it right away. We help each other with everything. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful marriage. We are very much in love with each other! We enjoy spending time together as a family and a couple.

Infertility: We did invitro fertilization twice with no success, and had many other attempts canceled for one reason or another. We also did IVF one time with donor embryos that also did not take. I had a feeling in my soul that I would not have a biological child and that adoption is what we needed to focus on. After about 4 years of treatments we decided adoption was it. We leaned on each other for support throughout those trying times. We really only had each other, because no one else in our lives had dealt with infertility before. Once we made the decision to adopt if felt like we were free again. Since going through an adoption once, we couldn’t be happier to do it again. We truly feel blessed that our family was made through adoption.

Marissa’s thoughts on Greg: I truly think I have been blessed with such a wonderful husband and father to our son. Greg is a very loving, caring, and nurturing man. He is a great husband, friend, father, and son. He is very helpful, to me and others. He is a hard worker and has a good head on his shoulders. Greg is very laid back, patient, and calm. He is a very hands on Dad and does everything for Ben. As soon as gets home from work he is playing with him. He loves to play with him and Ben just lights up when he sees him! He is a great provider as well. When he works day, I can’t wait for him to come home! I get so excited to see him. I love Greg so much! He means the world to me and I am so glad to share my life with him.
Greg’s thoughts on Marissa: Marissa is the strongest person I have ever met. She always keeps a positive and uplifting attitude. I admire that she is her own person. Marissa follows the path that she sets for herself. I’m lucky that she has chosen me to walk down that path with. I’m blessed that I get to wake up next to her everyday and that she feels the same love for me that I feel for her. Marissa is very patient and nurturing. I love being married to Marissa; I think she is a great wife and mother. She takes great care of Ben and he loves her so much. She is unselfish and giving to us as well as others in her life. Marissa is very loving and a lot of fun to be around. She is very funny too.

Religion: Ben and I attend a local Christian church every week. Greg does go with us sometimes, but because of his work schedule it is difficult at times. I was not raised in a religious family, we never attended church. Greg did go to a Baptist church regularly growing up. The last few years I have personally felt a calling to the Lord that I have never felt before. It was really scary for me, since I didn’t know anything and I am still learning. I was baptized two years ago and we had Ben dedicated in our church. I am thrilled that some of my family is attending services with me as well. My Mom attends church with me every week as well. I also volunteer in the church nursery.  I feel I am a much more spiritual person. I pray daily and trust in the Lord. We want our children raised with religious values and to honor God in all they do.
A little about our son: Ben will make a great big brother! He is so helpful and caring. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He is very social and outgoing too. Ben is a happy child who loves to play and have fun! He loves trains and to go for rides in the car! Anyone who comes over to our house is his friend and welcomed right in! He enjoys playing with everyone. Ben is very bright and smart. For a young toddler he is already a compassionate person. He is a very cautious little boy and doesn’t get into too much mischief. I could go on and on about him. We just feel so very blessed to have him in our lives. We have been telling him that he is going to have a baby brother or sister. He tells us he is going to help take care of the new baby.

Plans and parenting: We would love to add another child to our family. It is very exciting and words can’t express how grateful we are to be able to do this again. We are excited to watch our kids grow and be involved with their childhood and teen activities as well. We have so much love to give! We love doing things as a family. We love being parents too. Motherhood for me has been even better than I ever imagined. There is so much more joy and happiness in our home now. We plan on raising our children with respect and to teach them to be respectful, responsible, caring, courteous people.  We want them to be strong, passionate people as well. We would like to instill in them to think for themselves and make their own decisions too. Hopefully wise ones as well! Education in very important too. We also want to instill them to work hard for what they want and that if they do, anything is achievable and possible. We also both have very supportive friends and family who are extremely excited to the idea of us adopting another baby.

Openness: We agree that open adoption is very supportive for everyone. We currently have an open adoption with Ben’s birthparents. They originally wanted a closed adoption then changed their minds. We did not meet them before Ben was born because they did not necessarily have an adoption plan. They knew they were going to do one, but had not told anyone. They also chose not to look at profiles and pick a family. So we were first on list with Sunny Ridge and got that phone call we were so anxious to get. God is good; it couldn’t have been a better match. Our relationship is growing. We enjoy getting together with them and I enjoy sending the letters and pictures. I send letters and lots pictures about every 3-4 months still. We have recently exchanged phone numbers and emails so I can send pictures more frequently through email. I call our birthmother on the phone to set up when we will get together and when to expect a package. We have met with them 3 times. We will continue to meet with them at least 1-2 times a year. Of course this relationship is different than any other we have experienced our entire lives and quite unique. But we are so glad and grateful we have it and are excited for it to grow and flourish. We really are so grateful for them and their decision. We have the utmost respect for them. Words cannot describe the love, empathy, and gratitude we have for Ben’s birthparents. Without their decision and the works of God, we would not be able to experience parenting or have a family.

We are open to the same relationship with you if not more depending on how comfortable you feel. There are no words of thanks big enough for your precious gift. We would think of you as an extension of our family and you would never be forgotten. We look forward to getting to know you and have you learn more about us. But per chance, you do not want a really open adoption or open at all; we are fine with that as long as we can get a good medical/family history. We know it can be difficult for some people. We respect your privacy and feelings. We hope you have gotten some idea of who we are. We truly feel for you and empathize with your decisions to make. We have much respect for you. You will be in our thoughts and prayers. God bless.

For more information please contact Sunny Ridge Family Center.

Marissa & Greg

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