John & Kay

About Us

We first met at a summer church festival when we were eighteen. John was the bass player and Kay’s brother-in-law was the drummer for a Christian rock band. We never said a word to each other that day, but sat side by side eating pizza and experiencing attractive tension after helping take down the music gear. Thanks to Facebook and Skype, our long-distance relationship blossomed and we began long-distance dating a few months later during Thanksgiving. We have been together for over twelve years now and married for ten.

OUR PASSION INVOLVES THE OUTDOORS AND THE EARTH. We love to hike, explore trails, bike, kayak, forage, and experience the beauty of nature around us. We also enjoy gardening, cooking, and canning/preserving the “fruits and veggies” of our labor. Our dream would be to further develop our property and grow the majority of the produce we eat on a daily basis, or to buy a larger property and homestead in the country with a few larger animals in addition to our current chickens. Every year we try growing a new/novel vegetable or herb and further expand our gardening experiments. WHEN NOT OUTDOORS, we enjoy reading, making music, watching movies, and learning about homesteading, and natural health. We can’t wait to include our child in gathering eggs every day, feeding the chickens, planting and tending to the garden and helping to cook/eat meals we’ve made with our homegrown food. When it comes to family and friends, we value: loyalty, faith, work ethic, compassion, and humor.

Kay loves music, she has a beautiful voice, and plays piano and the flute as well. She loves to cook, read, watch movies, make things like soap, cards, and gifts, and is very creative. Kay loves her work as an RN in the infusion department caring for cancer patients and any other patient requiring an infusion. The fast paced and hands on patient care is what draws her to this particular specialty and most importantly the relationship that develops from caring for the same group of patients on a regular basis. She finds inspiration from those she treats and loves to make the most of each visit with each patient. She also has pursued education in natural health and nutrition and has started her own holistic health consulting business to help clients nourish their bodies into optimal health.

John enjoys working in construction, doing full house builds, remodels, windows, roofing, etc. He finds it very fulfilling to work with your hands and see the outcome of your hard work. He also enjoys bettering individuals and family’s lives by improving their living space and quality of life in their home. John’s hard work ethic, sincerity, humor, encouragement, and strong faith are some of his best qualities. He has always made the financial and physical security of our marriage a priority, through living simply/non-materialistically, creating a budget, and forward thinking.

5 Fun facts about us:

• We are almost 1.5ft apart in height!
• Kay has donated at least 9 inches of her hair 6 different times
• John earned his 1st degree black belt in Karate at age 16.
• We play 6 different musical instruments between the two of us.
• John knows how to professionally roast coffee

Our Home & Community

We live in a cozy raised ranch with a large fenced back yard that includes three gardens and a chicken run and coop attached to our garage. The neighborhood is quiet but friendly, filled with young parents with children, young couples, middle-aged couples with families, and older couples. We are within walking distance of multiple community parks, a public fishing pond, bluff hiking trails, nature preserve, an elementary school, high school, and grocery store. A look out our front bay window includes breathtaking views of the bluffs. We love to spend time walking the neighborhood and visiting with our next-door neighbors, having campfires in each other’s yards when the weather is nice and exchanging homegrown produce.

Our 3 Favorite Local Attractions:

• CHAD ERICKSON PARK- provides lovely nature spot for families to enjoy fishing, playing in the park, walking/ hiking within the city.
• PERROT STATE PARK- beautiful hiking trails, breathtaking views of the Mississippi, great picnic spots, camping opportunities
• WINTER ROTARY LIGHTS- a magical winter wonderland of lights that includes ice skating, Christmas caroling, hot chocolate/cider, live nativity, and an igloo warming house.

Our Favorite Traditions:

• Evening walk and talk
• Grandma Ann’s homemade birthday cakes
• Annual Easter brunch and egg hunt at grandparent’s house
• July pool party/combined birthday bash with John’s extended family
• Fall deer hunting and Thanksgiving in the North Woods with Kay’s family

Our Thoughts about Parenting & Adoption

Watching those we love around us have children has been exciting and beautiful, and has strengthened our persistence in starting a family of our own despite our struggles with infertility. After prayerful consideration and conversations with friends and family who have experienced adoption firsthand, we feel this is the chosen path for us.

As our siblings have continued to have children, it has been exciting to see John’s interactions with our nephews and nieces, from simply holding/cuddling with our newest niece, to playing Pokemon, engaging in Nerf battles, and acting as a living jungle gym for our older nephews. It is during playtime with our nephews and nieces that John’s inner child emerges! His love for children has steadily grown over the past few years, and I can’t wait to begin this journey of parenting with such a fun, caring, and supportive individual- Kay

To put it simply… Kay is warm, lovely, hardworking, creative, talented, kind, passionate, and encouraging. I know deep down that Kay would make just as good of a mother as a child could possibly have-John

We look forward to our future parenthood and the highs and lows of becoming a family and growing together with one another in love.

Closing Thoughts

We promise to teach our child about God’s love for them, that character matters more than status or job salary, gratefulness makes one content, to have respect and compassion for all, how to grow and harvest food from the earth, and finally to make the most with what we have been given. Thank you for taking the time to get to know us a bit better by viewing our profile. Most importantly, thank you for considering an adoption plan for this beautiful little life you are bringing into the world. Know that we are praying for you during this decision making process and hope for the best outcome for your child, regardless of whether or not that involves us. God bless!