Blair and Lorie - Columbia, Illinois

Hello and thank you for taking time to get to know our family. We pray that the Lord will give you peace and strength as you go through your pregnancy and the wisdom to make the right choices for you and your child whatever it may be.

About Us
We got married in January of 1997 and have been married for 11 years. We met at a bible study that Blair was leading in his home and grew as friends for 3 years prior to our dating and marriage. We know that the time we spent as friends before we were married was a time of getting to know each other on a personal level and we are blessed because of it. When we got married we instantly became a family of five and it grew in the next 4 years to a family of seven.

Here is a little bit about our boys. Joshua (22) is married and living with his beautiful bride of 3 years, Cassie. Jacob (19) living on his own and going to a local community college and working with a goal to go into law enforcement. John Thomas (17) is a junior in high school and works at a local grocery store. Jeremiah (10) is in fourth grade and enjoys basketball, soccer and the outdoors. James (7) is in second grade and enjoys soccer, swimming, and the outdoors.

We do have a desire of expanding our family because of our love for children and the desire to help other children experience life at it fullest. Since we have not been able to conceive another child and we have always had the desire to adopt we decided to pursue the path of adoption. We are excited about what God will do in our family. With facilitation through Bethany in the beginning, we desire to have an open relationship with the biological parent/parents as long as it is beneficial to all parties involved.

A Little About Blair
Blair is 6’2” and has brown hair and hazel eyes. He grew up in the city with a longing to be in the country. His father worked for the union operating heavy machinery and his mother was a waitress at a local family restaurant. He has 3 older sisters and one fraternal twin brother. Through high school he enjoyed playing football and participated in track/field. Upon high school graduation Blair began working in the concrete construction. He moved on to roofing. Excelling at what he did, he was quickly moved up to managing roofing crews. Later he moved into the other aspects of construction. During the years to come Blair worked for several construction companies. Blair decided along with his wife, Lorie to start their own business. So in July of 1998 our company was formed and we are celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year. Owning our own business has been a great accomplishment in our lives and we enjoy working together.

Blair enjoys using his talents to help/serve others. He has been on a couple of mission trips to El Salvador and Mexico and is looking forward to what the Lord leads him in the future. Blair has a compassion for people and loves sharing the love of Jesus with everyone he meets. He is very active teaching in different children’s ministries at the church along with his wife. He believes strongly about serving along side of his wife and family.

He is a hand’s on dad helping in all areas of raising our children from coaching them in sports, comforting them when they are sick to affirming them in their accomplishments. He is a very humble person approaching difficult situations with grace.

A Little About Lorie
Lorie is 5’4” and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was raised in the country on a farm. Her father is a farmer and her mother was a housewife. Lorie has 3 siblings, one older sister, one older brother and a younger brother. She enjoyed playing sports through her school years like, baseball, basketball, and cheerleading. She also played the trumpet and was involved in the marching band. Living on the farm gave her the opportunity to have a horse. Riding her horse named, Toco, was a favorite pass time of hers. After graduation, Lorie moved to Florida and lived there for 10 years. She started working for a friend who was in the printing field but had the desire to become a secretary. She worked at several different businesses as a secretary. With the desire to move up, she became an administrative secretary in a major nursing home chain. Working there was a life changing experience for her. Her love for the elderly generation grew deep. Soon the desire to move back home around family became a part of her live and in the summer of 1990 she move back to her home town. There she continued in the secretarial field until we were married in 1997. The desire to become a stay at home mom had played a big part in her life and so we decided to make that a reality in March of 1997.

Lorie enjoys being a stay at home mom, exercising and scrapbooking. She is also the office manager for our construction company. Lorie enjoys reaching out to the people around her by helping with watching kids, doing errands or cleaning for someone. She is also involved with teaching Sunday school and other children’s programs at church with her husband.

She enjoys being involved with the kids at home and school. She also is a motivator in helping people stepping out of their comfort zone and enjoying something they may not have otherwise been involved in.

Our Family Life
We are a family that recognizes that we are not perfect but it is our love for our Lord Jesus Christ and the commitment to each other and to the family that gets us through any situation that might come up. Recognizing that we (Blair & Lorie) are the hub and the children are the spokes. As long as we nurture our marriage and keep our relationship strong, the children will have the security and love they need to succeed.

In saying that, we strive to have a date night where we might just go for a walk, take in a movie or just get an ice cream. Last winter we took dance lessons (swing) with some other couples from church. We enjoyed our time together learning how to dance and knowing how to dance at some of the weddings we attended was a great plus for too.

As a family we enjoy the time spent on our vacations. Last year we took the family to Missouri. A friend allowed us to borrow his boat so most of the time was spent on the lake boating/swimming. We also took in a couple of magic shows that we all enjoyed greatly. The younger boys could not understand how he (the magician) made the lady disappear.

Vacations are nice but that is not our real day to day life. Each day starts with us (Blair & Lorie) getting up and getting ready for our day. Then we wake John Thomas, Jeremiah and James up so they can get off to school. Jacob is on his own adult schedule of getting ready for college and work. Then once the kids are off to school we walk across our driveway to our office. There we handle the duties of a home base construction business. At 3:30 the kids get home from school and we begin with snack and homework. As this is happening we begin preparing for dinner and that evening’s activities. Those activities might consist of going to the library, playing a game, working on a home project or just watching a family movie.

As a family we also enjoy hosting others at our home in the country for various activities such as small group bible studies, fall harvest parties and other special occasions. We also have hosted two foreign exchange students for a summer session. One exchange student was from France and the other from Korea. It was a great time of learning about other people and their cultures.

We are so excited about the possibility of expanding our family through adoption. We pray that the Lord will bring you peace and clarity in this season of your life.

Blessings!

Blair & Lorie

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