Hi! We are TIm and Lauren, and we have seven biological children and one adopted.  Since our adoption of Isaiah in 2020, we are continually reminded of our son's birth mother and the bravery, strength, and love that she possesses.

Our whole family knows how brave Isaiah's birth mother is. 

It is important to us to convey that to Isaiah and the whole family. 

You are possibly the next brave and courageous woman in our lives...our hearts will be the same for you as it is for Isaiah's birth mom. One of love and compassion. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Pictures and letters never convey all that we would hope they would. We pray God would fill in the gaps as He always does. 

As we thought about how we could encourage you in all that you are wrestling with right now, we thought a scripture verse would be best. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10 

Our story began in the spring of 2004. We had mutual friends and we all went bowling. I(Lauren), am a terrible bowler, and TIm and I were on the same team. As we began to play, I threw my bowling ball in the gutter almost every turn! We look back and laugh, but it was the beginning of our story. 

After bowling, we started talking on the phone. It became clear that the Lord had brought us together. That year of dating we spent almost every waking minute with each other!

We were married the next year. It was a surreal day and full of joy. 

Our married life has been wonderful! In the last 18 years, we have done many things, but our greatest joy is our eight children. We absolutely love our large family, and we believe it is a wonderful environment for a child to grow up in. 

Our family is large, loud, active, and loving. We have fun, and we enjoy each other. All of us are looking forward to bringing another child into our home through adoption. Our children ask us about it daily!

A good passage of scripture to set a direction in describing Lauren would be Proverbs 31:10-30. Verse 28 says, “Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:” I have much to “praise her” for. Lauren’s relationship with the Lord has made her an incredible wife and mother. She is such a blessing to live life with and she has truly made me a better person. 

Lauren is very smart and extremely talented. She has decided to use her gifts to invest in our children. She has set such a peaceful, fun and loving home that is such a joy to come home to. Being a stay-at-home mom, I could not be happier to know that our kids are able to be around a woman like this all day, every day. 

Lauren is an incredible mother and fully beautiful inside and out. Having older children, it’s been exciting to see the close relationship she has with our kids. I can confidently say that “her children rise up and call her blessed.” 

Lauren Enjoys:

• Exercise (and eating right)
• Gardening
• Cooking healthy and not so healthy meals from scratch
• Enjoying the lake with our family
• Good talks with good friends

Tim is the best man I know. He is a loving husband, compassionate, caring and yet so incredibly strong. He is the protector in our home, he is brave, he is courageous, and he provides well for us. I am so proud to call him my husband and best friend. 

Tim owns a small business as a logger. He works diligently. He is great at his job. 

Everone who knows Tim likes him, and all of our children ADORE him. He gives them his time, and his greatest joy is seeing them happy and thriving.

Tim inspires me to be the best person I can be, and his example makes our children better people. He leads by example and practices what he preaches. I couldn’t ask for a better man to share life with. 

Tim Enjoys:

• Vacationing: we go to Orlando for a few weeks in the spring time when Tim’s work schedule is slower
• A good dessert! He has a sweet tooth.
• Playing any sort of sports with the kids
• Making our home a fun place to be

We have eight kids. They are all so unique and have their own strengths that add to our beautiful family. We know the list is long, but we wanted to include a little snippet of each child because each one is so valued and so important. We could write pages and pages about our kids, but we kept it to a few sentences!

Lila is 17. She is graduating this year. She is taking online classes in the fall. 

Lila is fun to be around, a wonderful hairdresser (she LOVES to take care of Isaiah's hair), and kind-hearted.

Noah is 16. He just got his driver's license and is loving that. 

Noah is funny and witty, a great worker, and loves anything sports-related. He also loves Christian rap music. KB, to be specific. 

Abram is 14. He really enjoys hanging out with his friends and playing basketball. 

Abram is stylish and kind, and he also loves Christian rap music. He is diligent with his schoolwork and a good student. 

Naomi is 11. She enjoys piano, friends, and listening to music. 

Naomi is smart and good at anything she tries. She also likes basketball as well. 

Sybil is 7. She loves playing the piano, singing and helping Mom in the kitchen. 

Sybil is a gift giver, tender-hearted and has the best smile!

Canaan is 6. He is really enjoying playing basketball on our over-the-door hoop in the basement right now.

Canaan is smart, loves school, and longs to be like his older brothers.

Isaiah is 3. He is a handsome boy who is always happy. 

Isaiah loves jumping, singing, and playing with Rae-Lynn. He is so gentle and kind to her. 

Rae-Lynn is almost 2. She is adorable. She is learning so much right now; every day, it is something new.

Rae-Lynn is sweet and loving, but she knows what she wants and lets us know! 

Our home is where we enjoy to be the most. We live on a lake, and our children live right next door to Grandma and Grandpa! They also get to live right next door to 2 of their Auntie and Uncles, with a total of 10 cousins! Our children are blessed. 

We have a home where little (and big) kids can run around and have fun. Our kids have a lot of energy and our home is a place where they can laugh and play all together.

They enjoy games, plasma cars, basketball, making forts, play dough, painting, reading, watching movies, playing x-box, listening to music, wrestling, puzzles, gymnastics and more!

We also have one dog and some chickens. The animals keep it interesting around here, there is never a dull moment.

When we are not at home, we spend a lot of time with our homeschooling community. It is a wonderful group of families, with many families who have also adopted. We specifically prayed about this when we adopted Isaiah, and the Lord has blessed us with this group of people. Our children have many great friends and love being a part of this huge group of kids! 

We are so thankful that you took the time to read through this! 

We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to bring another child into our home and we are committed to raising this child to the very best of our ability, knowing that it is all through the grace of God. 

We LOVE the parenting journey. We enjoy all that it takes to raise children and even though it is hard work, it is the most important work we can do.

We are committed to raising our children to know God, to love others, to love to learn, and to have compassion.

We love to see our children thrive in an environment that gives them safety and security and the ability to grow into the person that God made them to be.  

May God give you peace and direction as you contemplate all the decisions in your life right now. We are praying for you every day. Each one of us.