“…whoever welcomes a child like this…. welcomes Me.”
Meet Al & Laura
A video message from Al & Laura
A Letter from Al & Laura
Hi! We’re Al and Laura (and our two dogs Rey and Daisy). It’s lovely to meet you!
We’re so excited to begin our adoption journey, and to give a baby a safe and loving home. Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and for considering us. We’d like to get to know you too, so feel free to reach out using the form below or contact Lifetime to get in touch with us. We are open to staying in contact through texts, photos, and visits, whichever way you feel most comfortable with.
About Us
We’d like to share with you a little about our story in a quick-fire Q&A fashion!
Q: HOW DID YOU FIRST MEET?
A: We first met in our freshman year of college when we both started working at the coffee shop on campus and quickly became friends.
Q: WHEN AND WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST DATE?
A: We started dating our sophomore year and since our school was small and located in a small town, there was only one fast food restaurant, perfect for broke college students—Subway! Then we went to the college basketball game afterwards.
Q: WHEN WERE YOU MARRIED?
A: We were married in 2010 in Laura’s hometown in Ohio. Since Al is British, he wore a kilt with his family tartan as his suit, even though it turned out to be a sweltering June day.
Q: WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO TOGETHER?
A: We enjoy watching sci-fi or fantasy shows/movies at home as a way to unwind from the day, but we also like going to our local cinema for a night out. Another way we like to unwind (and try to fit more steps in for the day, too) is taking the dogs for a walk around our neighborhood or picking up dinner and taking them to a park. We enjoy playing video games together and playing board games (we have a huge collection of board games in our dining room!), and we love, love, love doing escape rooms together. We may or may not have completed all the escape games at our favorite place more than once.
About Al (written by Laura)
Al loves the Lord and has always wanted to be a father. Al has such a quick wit that still often takes me by surprise, and he has a great laugh. Another thing to know about Al is how smart he is. He has two degrees in mathematics, and he picks up things so quickly. He’s usually the one who reads all the rules to a new board game, for example, and is able to teach everyone how to play in a way that’s clear and easy to understand. I know he’ll be a go-to for our child when they need help with homework. Al enjoys board games, video games, working on his HO scale model trains, and interacting with our dogs (he’s a big animal lover).
Here are just a few of the many things he’s excited about doing as a new dad:
* Helping with bottle feeding and caring for our little one
* Making silly faces and playing with toys together
* Teaching our child how to swim, ride a bike, and play football (soccer) in the backyard
* Going on family vacations
* Working on model trains together
About Laura (written by Al)
Laura is a joy to be around; she lights up any room that she is in. Her laugh was the reason I fell for her, and I can’t wait to see her share that joy with our child. She loves Jesus, and she loves family. I have loved watching Laura interact with our nieces and nephews over the years; I know she will make a great mother. She is an avid reader and will often stay up into the early hours to finish just one more chapter, so it’s no surprise that she works in the book industry. Laura is looking forward to lots of snuggle time with our child, teaching them how to cook and bake with her in the kitchen, and watching them experience fun things for the first time like going down a slide, riding a rollercoaster, or eating ice cream.
Some of Laura’s other favourite things to do are:
* Knitting or Crocheting
* Walking the dogs
* Gardening (most recently growing some of our own produce)
* Cooking and baking (especially around the holidays)
* Experimenting in the kitchen (she has recently gotten into canning and preserving food)
Our Extended Families
Both sets of our parents are thrilled that we are adopting! Laura’s parents live close by, while Al’s family lives in the U.K. It’s important to us to stay connected to both families, even though Al’s family lives far away. We try to visit with Al’s family once a year, whether it’s the two of us traveling to the U.K. or his family coming here to visit. Video calls and texts make things so much easier to stay in touch with them, too.
We have 3 nieces and 3 nephews altogether between Laura’s sister and brother-in-law and Al’s brother and sister-in-law, spanning from 2-18 years of age. Laura’s sister and her husband were the ones who placed those seeds of adoption in our hearts. Laura’s brother moved to Colorado a few years ago, but we keep in touch as much as possible and try to visit often. All of our siblings are excited to love and get to know the baby that joins our family.
Some of our family traditions include:
* Birthday parties with Laura’s family since they live close by, which involves favorite desserts, singing “Happy Birthday” (not always on key), and sitting around the table talking or playing games
* A family vacation to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN every other year or every couple of years which includes go-karting, lots of shopping, putt-putt golf, and relaxing at our cabin
* Getting together for major holidays with us hosting Thanksgiving (Al’s family often comes to stay with us for the holiday), Laura’s parents hosting Christmas, and Laura’s sister hosting Easter
* When we’re visiting Al’s family in the U.K., we play lots of board games together, have family meals, and always try to go experience something new near where Al’s parents live
Our Home in Ohio
We live in an older neighborhood, on a quiet cul-de-sac that is situated outside of the hustle and bustle of our city in southern Ohio, but still conveniently located next to many restaurants and businesses (hooray for laser tag, water parks, rollercoasters, and go-karts!). We picked our home with a growing family in mind, so our house has four bedrooms, all upstairs. We’ve begun working on the nursery in one of those rooms which has a nice sunny window overlooking our street. We often see owners walking their dogs down our street or moms and dads pushing strollers while running or walking.
Our most lived-in areas of the house are the kitchen and family room located at the back of the house, with windows and a patio door overlooking the backyard and deck. Both areas are basically one open room which will make it convenient to check on our little one while he or she is playing in the family room or playing outside. We play board games with friends or family in our dining room at the front of the house, and we host Thanksgiving there every year.
Our Promise
We promise to raise your baby knowing how much he or she is loved by us, by our extended families, and by the Lord. We will teach your baby to be kind and loving to others, about the joys of growing food and working in the kitchen, and the value of doing your best work, including the small things at home, school, and work. It will be an absolute joy to teach them how to respect and love animals and to watch them develop their own interests and hobbies.
We promise to raise your baby in a Christian home, teach them about Jesus, and involve them in our church family. Know that we are (including our extended families!) lifting both you and your baby up in prayer, and that we’re thinking of you.
You can always reach us through Lifetime if you’d like to speak with us or send a text. We hope to learn more about you, and we’re open to an open adoption in whichever manner you feel most comfortable with, whether through texts, photos, and/or visits.
We’d love to talk or answer any of your questions. Please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.
—Laura and Al
Learn More About Al & Laura
| Al | Laura | |
|---|---|---|
| Our Education | Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Financial Mathematics | Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing | Bachelor of Arts in English |
| Our Professions | Retail Sales Manager | Sales & Marketing Director in Publishing |
| Stay-At-Home | No | Part-time |
| Our Racial Background | Caucasian | Caucasian |
| Some of Al & Laura's Favorites | ||
| Color | Orange | Blue |
| Escape Game | Prison Break | Gold Rush |
| Dessert | White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake | Tiramisu |
| Sports to Play | Football (soccer) and Racket Sports | Volleyball and Racket Sports |
| Place to Travel | Yorkshire, England | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Favorite Restaurant | Akbar's in the U.K. | Taste of Belgium |
| Coffee | Chocolate and Orange Latte | Latte |
| More About Our Family | ||
| About Our Dogs | Our two rescue dogs keep us busy by playing fetch in the fenced-in backyard everyday (well, Daisy does the fetching, Rey just watches), and we take them on long walks (Rey would prefer them to be shorter) around the neighborhood or to the local parks, including a couple nearby national parks with lakes for swimming or boating. We can't wait to take our little one with us on our walks and teach him or her how to play fetch with Daisy. | |
| Church and Faith | We attend a multi-ethnic church about 15 minutes away from our home with a great children's program and many great ways to get plugged in. We can't wait to have our little one get involved and attend church as a family. It will be important to us to share our faith in Jesus with our child and to continually model our faith for our family. | |
| Christmas Traditions | Since Al is from the U.K., we blend our Christmas traditions together as much as we can. One of Al's British traditions that we can't wait to do with our little one is to bring Santa's stocking into their room on Christmas Eve night and leave it at the foot of the bed. Our little one will have gifts to open from Santa as soon as they wake up in the morning, which will probably be early (but that's okay—we'll be excited too!). More Christmas Fun: | |
| More Q&A with Al and Laura | Q: WHY ADOPTION? A. We both felt the Lord place adoption on our hearts early on in our marriage, and although we haven't been able to have children of our own, we feel the Lord is leading us now to adopt a child into our home. Q: WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO TOGETHER ON YOUR DAYS OFF? A. Coffee is a must first thing in the morning so Al either takes our dog Rey, who loves car rides, to a local coffee shop and brings back coffees and breakfast sandwiches or pastries, or we go out to one of the breakfast places around town. If the weather's nice, we'll take the dogs for a good long walk at the park, and usually we stop by a local board game shop or bookstore while we're running around town. Q: WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING TOGETHER WITH YOUR BABY? A. We can't wait to begin new traditions as a new family. We're looking forward to spending time together at home or visiting with family on weekends, going to local playgrounds when the baby gets older, and splash parks or amusement parks during the summer months. | |
| We Prefer a Child Who Is... | ||
| Age of Child | Newborn-12 months | |
| Twins | Yes | |
| Gender | Either | |
| In Closing | ||
Thank you again for stopping by our page and getting to know us a little bit. We're honored that you're considering us as potential parents for your baby, and we hope you will reach out to us below for any questions or to receive more info about us. We're open to post-adoption contact and visits, whenever you're comfortable to begin that step. All the best, —Al and Laura |
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