Hoping to Adopt Feature!

 RYAN & AMANDA

Ryan and I met in college. Ryan came to visit my apartment one day during the first week of school, and we have been together almost every day since. We have now been married for 8 fantastic years!

Although we do have some separate interests (I love dancing and reading, Ryan LOVES sports – watching, playing, reading about, etc.) we also share a lot of interests and would be happy if we could be together 24/7. We love anything nature – hiking, rock climbing, rappelling, camping, swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, plants, and animals. And we love to travel and find new opportunities to experience nature. We also enjoy playing games and have a closet full of them. But we are most passionate about our families and our faith.

Ryan’s family is on the small side. He has is parents (of course) and two sisters – one older, one younger (they are both single at this point). That’s it – maybe it’s a normal family size, but compared to mine, it is small. I have my parents and 6 sisters; all are married, all have children. So far we have 19 nephews, 6 nieces, and another nephew due the beginning of July. We live within 45 minutes of all Ryan’s family and so get to see them often, which is great. We live about a 2 hour flight from my family or a 20 hour drive. Considering this, we see my family quite about, probably on average 4 times a year. We love spending time with both of our families and are so grateful to be part of them.

We were both raised as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and are grateful for it. We both served missions. And we both having strong testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel and try to keep our Savior Jesus Christ as the center of our lives.

When we found out about 4 years ago that we would likely not be able to have children without serious interventions we were first shocked and extremely disappointed. But after the shock wore off we realized that it didn’t matter to us how our children came to our family. We wanted whatever children were meant for us, whatever children Heavenly Father chose for us. And we were willing to pursue any options to bring those children to us. We chose adoption when Heavenly Father confirmed to us that that was the way we would receive our children – and we couldn’t be more excited!

We do not resent our infertility. Because of it we have had opportunities we would not have had otherwise. We have met wonderful people we never would have had we not had this experience. Our understanding of and faith in our Savior’s love for us has increased as a result. We have become part of a new community. And because of it we will be able to receive the children meant for us. And so we are grateful.

To learn more about Ryan & Amanda click here