“If I could reach up
and hold a star for every time you’ve made me smile, the
entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand.” ~Unknown
Our story truly began May 2, 1998.
On this beautiful day, Jonathan and I were married in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina – one of the most special
places in the world to us. I had just finished pharmacy
school, and Jonathan was starting his third year of dental
school. Looking back it’s amazing how young we were and
how we had the whole world at our fingertips. Two years
later, Jonathan graduated and was commissioned into the US
Navy as a dental officer, and we moved to Camp LeJeune,
North Carolina. We were blessed with our two sons, Brendan
(almost seven) and Jackson (five) while we spent those
three years in the military.
In May 2003, Jonathan separated from the Navy and joined a
dental practice closer to my hometown. As the years passed
and our children grew from infants to toddlers to young
boys, we felt very strongly that our family was complete.
What more could we possibly ask for or need? Well, the
desire for a baby girl is stronger than one may imagine!!!
From my first memories of growing up and having children,
I’ve always wanted a daughter. I did not know when or how
this was going to happen, but it’s just something that I
always felt in my heart. In December 2006, we first began
talking about another child. At that time, Brendan was in
Kindergarten, and Jackson still had a year and a half in
preschool. The timing was just not right so we put these
thoughts of a daughter on hold. After Christmas this year,
however, the time was right! It was as if our plan had
been laid out before our eyes by the Lord. There were no
questions or what ifs this time – we just knew what to
do…adopt! It didn’t take us long to decide that Russia is
the country where our little girl is waiting for us. We
chose Carolina Adoption Services as our agency at the
beginning of March 2008, and we haven’t slowed down yet!
We are both so blessed to have our wonderful families
living close by to us now. Jonathan’s parents and his
brother’s family both live about 30 minutes east of us,
and my parents and my sister and brother-in-law live about
30 minutes west of us. Emma will be so lucky to have such
wonderful brothers and cousins who love her. She will also
have two other members of the family, our mini-dachshunds
Rosey and Franklin, to love and watch over her as they do
Brendan and Jackson.
Our family is so excited and anxious about our adoption
process. We are glad that you can follow along with us as
we embark on one of the most important journeys of our
lives. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for us and
for Emma. |
Corey and Jonathan at the Old Well
- Chapel Hill, NC
Honeymoon - Negril, Jamaica
Brendan and Jackson
at their first UNC football game. |
