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| Hi! We're Carol & Jim Stradley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thank you for reading our letter and getting to know us a little better! Through the adoption of our beautiful niece Leah we have seen how adoption can be a joyful process for everyone involved. We are excited about open adoption and want to have an ongoing relationship with you that feels right for all of us. Choosing a family for your baby takes great courage and love and you have our deepest respect. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| About Us | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After 12 wonderful years together, we are true partners and the best of friends who share the same values, hopes and dreams. We really enjoy being together and laughing a lot! Our home life gives us warmth and stability and we are blessed by close relationships with our families and many great friends. Raising a child together will be the most rewarding experience of our lives and will make our life together complete. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carol and her sisters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| We live in California, across the bay from San Francisco. We recently moved into a brand new home and are busy getting ready for our new baby. Our neighborhood has lots of families with children of all ages. In fact, our next-door neighbor's son just turned a year old! Our location is only minutes away from schools, parks, and great recreational areas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nephew Ben getting a lesson in birdwatching | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hi, I'm Carol. I'm orginally from the Chicago area and am the oldest of 4 girls. I consider myself to be a very accepting, open-minded, level-headed, and caring woman. I like spending time with family and friends, taking walks, reading, and listening to music. Although I am currently employed, I can't wait to become a stay-at-home Mom! |
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| "Since the first time I met her, I knew Carol was a very special woman. She is warm, loving, easy-going and gets along well with everyone she meets. Kids adore her! I know she'll be a terrific mom for our child." -- Jim |  |
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| Hi, I'm Jim. I grew up in northern California, the middle child of 5, and have 3 sisters and a brother. We had a very stable and happy upbringing and my parents were always very supportive of everything we wanted to do. I want to provide the same secure and loving environment for our child. I am a happy, creative, and outgoing person who enjoys home improvement projects, golf, music, and computers. I set myself a goal of trying to learn at least one new thing every day. I am employed as a Director of a telecommunications company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Jim is a genuinely caring man who is a wonderful listener and always very supportive. He has a great sense of humor and loves trying new things. He likes having people over for a barbeque and playing catch and frisbee with all the children. I know he'll be a very wise and patient Daddy." -- Carol | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Family and Friends | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Who's
got the lollipop?
(with niece Annie) |
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| Barbequing at our Wedding | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Though Carol's family lives in Illinois, Minnesota and Los Angeles, we get together several times a year. Carol and her sisters are quite close and distance doesn't keep them from regularly keeping in touch by phone and e-mail. Now that her youngest sister's children are old enough, we try to get them in on the converstations too! All of Jim's family live nearby and we get together often for holidays and other special events. All of our relatives and friends are thrilled about our decision to adopt and can't wait to help us welcome a new baby into the family! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fun Stuff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| We like to go camping, see movies, read, garden, and go for morning walks. We also enjoy going to baseball games and having dinner parties. We love having people at our house and spending evenings with our families and friends. There are always lots of laughs and fun stories to tell when we all get together. We also enjoy traveling and especially like taking weekend trips to the beach or mountains. Once we have a child, we'll pack up the car and we'll be ready for many more family adventures! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing Yahtzee at our favorite campsite | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| About being parents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We are happy and very excited about sharing our life and love with a child. We dream of the day we can cuddle and rock our new baby to sleep with a lullaby, smile back at the first toothless grin, watch our child take those first steps, and curl up on the couch to read a bedtime story. As we grow as a family, we look forward to cooking special treats, going on picnics, taking hikes, playing catch, visiting family and friends, and sharing lots of hugs and kisses. Education is very important to us, so we plan to be actively involved in our child's education. We want to encourage our child to do well in school and pursue a career in an area that he or she finds rewarding. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Leah and Jim snoozing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We look forward
to talking to you and getting to know you! Please feel free to call
us toll-free at 1-800-484-3803, code 7120, e-mail us at jicbs@pacbell.net,
or call our adoption counselors at the Independent Adoption Center at 1-800-877-6739.
Warmly, Jim & Carol Stradley |
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