As farm owners, much of our leisure time may look like "work" to others, but we both deeply enjoy working outside and improving our farm one project at a time. Some of our favorite days together are "clean up" days where we clean and improve a place on the farm.

Outside of farm work, Patrick enjoys sports. Most evenings, he will relax on the screened-in porch and watch a sporting event or game of some sort. On the weekends, and especially, if there is a game with a lot of fanfare, Patrick enjoys planning a special menu and trying out new recipes to cook. He keeps notes about his favorite recipes and how/what to change.

Johnna's leisure time is often spent with their horses or family pets. She rides each weekend when the weather permits. During the summer, Johnna rides her horse 2-3x a week and sometimes travels to Lexington to take lessons with her trainer. Johnna also loves to read- all genres. It is not unusual for Johnna to read 100-150 books a year! She also really loves to relax by the pool.

We also enjoy taking special trips, going to concerts, and spending time with our friends and their kids. Each year, we host a campout on our farm. This is our favorite weekend all year, and we devote a lot of time preparing for it.

We always prioritize faith, family, serving others, and hard work in our household. We attend a wonderful local church. Many of our community service activities are through this church. Johnna works in the nursery 2 Sundays a month.

We both coach an Upward Basketball team for our church. Our preferred age group is fourth/ fifth grade- so that Patrick can teach youngsters the important foundational skills of basketball. (He was a high school varsity basketball coach for 13 years.) Johnna teaches a short devotional lesson about the Bible or Jesus at the start of each practice. Patrick utilizes his former players as assistant coaches so that he can help these young men become community-minded and determine if they want to pursue coaching as a career. Patrick is passionate about helping his former players to become the best young men that they can be.

We maintain close relationships with our parents, aunts/uncles, and siblings. Family traditions are very important to us, and we most often enjoy sharing meals with our family members.

When we are facing personal difficulties, we live by the creed of "serve who is in front of you." We find ways to help others or to use our jobs to help others. Patrick's business will often sponsor youth sports teams or a family in need. Johnna is a dedicated teacher. She sponsors 2 student organizations and passionately advocates for the education profession and the needs of students.

Patrick admires Johnna's honesty and loyalty. She has integrity and she will not speak falsely about others or circumstances. Johnna says what she means and means what she says. While her words are kind, they are also straightforward. She is dependable. You never doubt that she will come through for you or do what she says she will do. She will defend and uphold those that she loves. She is not a "fair weather fan" and will stick by what she believes in or loves even when she must face difficulties.

Johnna loves that Patrick is hard-working and very tender-hearted. He is ambitious and invested in improving our home, farm, and lives. He is not afraid to take a risk or learn or try something new. It is inspiring how he will research and look for new or creative solutions that are out of his comfort zone. Patrick makes friends everywhere he goes, and he can make a connection with and talk to anyone. Though he may initially seem very reserved, he is very tenderhearted. It is very touching to watch how much he loves our little four-pound dog. He always is very sensitive about others and is moved to help those in need.

We live in a small, rural town and a neighborhood with strong community connections. Our home is at the end of a dead-end street, so it is very peaceful. We have a lovely mountain view and an extra-large yard. All of the residents of the street and neighborhood are either current or retired teachers or coaches. There is a "family feel" to our neighborhood and everyone is trustworthy and looks out for one another. Our neighbor, Ann, has ten grandchildren who visit often. She also has a private pool that Johnna visits often in the summer.

Our home is one mile away from a neighborhood park and Kentucky Splash Waterpark. Also, one mile away is our church and Main Street- which has some cute restaurants and cafes that we enjoy regularly. The school campus (where Johnna works) is 4 miles from our home.

We also own a family farm. It is located about 4 miles away from our home. We have lots of pastures, wooded areas with riding and walking trails, ponds, and a creek to enjoy.

While we enjoy living the small-town life, our proximity to I-75 makes it very convenient to travel. We are an hour and a half from Lexington, Kentucky (Johnna's college town) and the Kentucky Horse Park. We are also an hour and a half from the Knoxville Zoo, Pigeon Forge, and Gatlinburg, TN. That makes it easy to visit these places for shopping, concerts, sporting events, and other leisure activities.

We share in the grief of having lost a parent. Patrick's mom passed in 2022 and Johnna's dad passed in 2019. We miss them very much, and we are hopeful to pass on their memories by sharing their stories and traditions.

Patrick's dad lives next door. He is retired and comes over each day to walk our dog while we are at work. He spends time with his sisters and attends all of the sporting events of his nieces so that he can cheer them on. He is excited to become a grandparent. We have regular gatherings with Patrick's aunts and cousins. These always include favorite foods and competitive games for silly prizes.

Patrick has a half-sister who lives 3 hours away. She is an elementary school teacher and visits often. She plans to move closer when she becomes an aunt so that she can be very involved.

Johnna's mom lives nearby on the family farm. She has many siblings; therefore, Johnna has lots of cousins of all age ranges.

Johnna has a half-sister who lives in Kansas. She visits each Memorial and Labor Day.

Hello there. We are so grateful that you are giving your time and consideration to this letter. While we don't know your name(s), or even where you are from, you are a person who is in our daily prayers. We lift you in prayer at our dinner table. We lift you in prayer when we are in a worship service. We lift you in prayer each time we see an expectant parent in the grocery store or at a restaurant. While we can't know what has brought you to this stage in your journey, we do know that you are reading this letter because you have incredible courage.

Our journey to writing this letter has been filled with both wonderful delights but also incredible heartbreaks. We have wanted to grow our family for so long. Our romantic love story began 2011 when we met through mutual friends, who had just had their first child. Many of our early dates were double dates where we listened to our friends talk about the joys of becoming parents and the hardships of caring for a newborn. Even then, before we were married, we would share these wistful looks and these sweet moments of connection, wondering, "What will it be like for us when we become parents?" Our love story and courtship was filled with first birthday parties and first ball games, and at the end of each of these dates, there was the unspoken wish of "When will that be us?"

We married in 2014. Similarly to our courtship, we spent a lot of our date nights going to recitals and t-ball games to cheer on the children. When we still shared those wistful looks, we began making a plan to grow our family. And now here we are, almost 10 years into our marriage, still wondering, "When will that be us?" Around 5 years ago, we were struggling to cope with our difficulties to have biological children. The shared looks between us became less wistful. During some difficult times, we wondered, "Will that ever be us?" Our love story led us through a difficult valley, but it helped our relationship to deepen and our love to become more real. And then, through a thousand tiny "nudges," we realized that our Father had been whispering to us all along.

And so we are pursuing adoption. We are excited to be on this journey. Our life is filled with simple joys- shared time outdoors, giving back to our community, pursuing our hobbies and interests- and we cannot wait to expand our lives and hearts to include children of our own. What simple joys will children bring? What will birthday parties and first ballgames be like for our children?

As we began to explore adoption, we realized that an adoption plan is also an incredible love story. While we cannot physically conceive and "carry" a baby, we know that we already carry a baby in our hearts. We cannot wait to meet him or her (or them.) This is only the beginning of the love story, however. This love story will include a very courageous hero. (You.) This courageous hero will be a part of our hearts and lives. We will pray for this courageous person after we brush our teeth and before we are tucked into bed each night. On holidays and birthdays, we will pick out a special card for this person and write a special letter. We will pick out some of our favorite photos to send to this person. Sometimes we will make special drawings or artwork for this person. There will be times when we have questions for this person, and maybe we will want to FaceTime with them. It would be so fun if this courageous person would write us a letter or send us a card! It's always so fun to get something special in the mail. And maybe, if the circumstances are right, we can meet or visit this courageous person.

We know that you are facing some difficult decisions. We are praying for you. You have our gratitude and our love.

Patrick & Johnna