Meet Ben, Danielle and Michael
 |
| Here we are - Danielle the mom, Ben the dad, and 6 year old Michael |
 |
| Ben and Danielle have been married for 14 years. We met in Kindergarten, so we pretty much know everything about each other. We stick together through the thick and thin. |
 |
| This is Michael. He keeps us on our toes. |
 |
| The Family |
About Ben:
 |
| Michael loves Ben |
Ben is fun to be with. He is smart AND funny and loves to play with
kids. Besides his main loves of baseball and spending time with the family, he also enjoys board games, video games, and college football. Ben is a
lawyer and gets to work from home sometimes.
We love sharing our days with him when he is home and enjoy going on
family outings.
 |
| Trying to be just like Dad |
About Danielle:
 |
| On our way to a waterfall |
Danielle sings, and plays the violin and piano. She loves teaching music to children and works part time as a violin teacher. Her
major in school was Human Development.
Watching children grow and learn at the different stages is exciting and
she is happy to put into practice the things she studied. She loves to be outside and enjoys hiking and exploring. She has a positive outlook on life and tries to see the good in people and looks for opportunities to help at church and in the community.
 |
| At the church Easter Egg Hunt |
About Michael:
 |
| Jedi training with Han Solo |
Michael is a happy boy who loves to play. He is in 1st grade and enjoys playing basketball with his buddies at school. He also plays soccer and baseball and is a yellow belt in Karate. He is a good singer and loves listening to music like Michael Jackson and John Williams. He would love to be a big brother.
 |
| 6th Birthday Party |
 |
| This is his 2nd year playing soccer |
 |
| Astronaut and Mission Control for Halloween |
Why we chose to adopt:
From the beginning of our marriage, having a family and raising children was something that we valued. We had dreams of having several children and tried right away, even though we were in school. Years passed without success and we decided that we would apply to be adoptive parents. Soon after applying we were contacted by Michael's birthmother and we will forever be grateful to her. The adoption process was very
memorable and heart-warming. The best
thing about it was that the wonderful woman who is Michael’s birthmother felt in
her heart that it was the right thing to do, and we felt from the start that
Michael belonged in our family. We have
open communication with Michael’s birthmother, which consists of letters and
pictures a couple times a year. It is
wonderful to know her and to know of her love for Michael. As he is getting older and we explain to him
about his adoption, he knows for certain that there are many people in the
world that care about him and that we love him.
We love each other very much. We work together, listen to and respect each other’s views, and support one another in our different pursuits. Most important to us is being good to each other. If we are, and if we are working towards the same goal, then we know that we can handle difficulties in life. One of the difficulties we faced in our marriage was that of not being able to have children. The decision we made to adopt a child brought us peace. A little over 6 years ago, we were able to adopt our baby boy, Michael. He became our new goal and because of him we have experienced more joy (and more difficulty) than we had ever known before. Parenting is hard, and working together is so vital. We support each other and we love our boy. We want to have more children to share our home with and would love to adopt again.
