Welcome! Meet:

Kellen + Heather

Searcher / Stay-at-Home Mom, Author

Utah

Caucasian

Christian

All About Kellen & Heather
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Kellen & Heather

Married for 14 years, we’ve embarked on numerous adventures. Of all our adventures we’ve shared, the most fulfilling is our mutual dream of being parents. We feel so blessed to have raised our two daughters, aged 9 and 7. We have wanted to expand our family for a long time, but after finding out Heather had secondary infertility have turned to adoption. Adoption is something that has always been close to our hearts, especially because Kellen’s closest cousins growing up were both adopted.

For us, family is a bond nurtured over time, filled with understanding, compromise, and unwavering support. Our journey has been defined by our dedication to one another and our shared dreams. Heather, with her compassionate nature, and Kellen, always the rock of the family, we feel grateful to have traveled and experienced the world together while creating memories that last a lifetime. Our love story is one we’re excited to share with you, as we look forward to the joy of expanding our family through adoption.

Why Adoption?

Kellen and I have always felt a special place in our hearts for adoption. Kellen grew up with two adopted cousins and saw the joy of his extended family growing through adoption. After fertility struggles for us, we turned to adoption to add to our family. We love hearing the stories and experiences of the families in our neighborhood who have adopted and feel in our hearts this is the right path for our family. Our whole family, including our two daughters, are so excited to welcome another child into our family.

Family & Home

Nestled in Daybreak, Utah, we live in a brightly-colored home that is filled with warmth, laughter, and family fun. Not only is our community filled with large parks, playgrounds, and beautiful lakes, but our neighborhood is home to many families who have adopted children. Our home has many bedrooms and is ready to welcome and nurture a new life. Having raised two babies, we feel prepared with everything necessary to add another child into our home and can’t wait to share in that joy once again.

From our travels to Disneyland, Disney World, Hawaii, and Boston, to enjoying the simple pleasures of home, our hobbies and traditions show our shared love for making new memories as a family. We love celebrating holidays with our daughters and it’s typical to see us dressing up as a family for Halloween, decorating the house together for Christmas (and then dancing around the tree), or spending a Sunday afternoon baking treats (chocolate chip cookies are our family favorite).

Our family, including our daughters and super fluffy orange cat are a circle of love and joy. We enjoy spending time with each other at dinner, during family game nights and movie nights, or in the ordinary day to day. With relatives and friends who eagerly await our newest member, we feel lucky to be surrounded by a community of support, enthusiasm, and kindness.

How others describe me

About Heather (Written by Kellen)

Heather’s brilliance isn’t just in her Harvard degree or the books she’s authored. It’s in her laughter, kindness, and the love she pours into our family. A talented author with four books under her belt, Heather is also very creative and driven.

Her ability to empathize and understand is truly unparalleled. Over the years, I’ve watched her grow, adapt, and conquer challenges with spirit. Whether it’s being immersed in a project or planning our next weekly adventure, Heather’s enthusiasm is contagious. Her love for travel, her commitment to our family, and her infectious laughter make every day a joy. Through highs and lows, Heather’s resilience and optimism have always been our guiding light.

About Kellen (Written by Heather)

Kellen is amazing, not just because he has degrees from UVU, BYU, and Harvard, but because of how dedicated he is to our family. He is a great listener, protective, patient, helpful, and kind. He has a passion for banana-flavored desserts and a fun-loving nature. As we await the new addition to our family, I find solace knowing that Kellen will guide and love our child with the same dedication and affection he has to our daughters.

Always ready with a word of encouragement or a solution to a problem, Kellen’s logical yet sensitive approach to life has seen us through countless challenges. His love for family and his ability to find joy in the little things make him an amazing father. I have loved watching him play with our youngest as they pretend that they are pirates (or mermaids, or super Mario characters), or patiently help our oldest daughter with her math homework, or cheer on both our daughters after teaching them how to ride a bike.

How We Met

Kellen and I met when we were teenagers. We had mutual friends and connected with each other over social media. On our first date we went to see the movie “Bewitched” and got ice cream afterwards. After that first date, we realized our shared interests–a love for pug dogs, Disneyland, musicals, family time, good food–and felt an instant connection to each other. Years later, on a family trip to Disneyland, Kellen proposed to me at Snow White’s wishing well. Now married for 15 years and having become a family, we feel that our love has only continued to grow.

Advice to Future Child

Embarking on this journey of adoption, our hearts are filled with hope, excitement, and optimism. We’re eager to share our world, our love, and our dreams with you and are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do so. We promise a world filled with love, laughter, adventures, safety, and boundless affection.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

To the biological parents, know that we respect and value your wishes and hope to include you in this journey as much as you’re comfortable. We understand and respect the significance of open adoption, recognizing it as a relationship that extends beyond the adoptive parents and the child, to include the birth family.

We believe that maintaining a connection with the birth family can enrich a child's life, providing them with a deeper sense of identity and understanding of their personal history. We are aware of the challenges that may arise and have identified resources and support systems, including counseling and adoptive family networks, to help us navigate these complexities. Our perspective on open adoption has been shaped by thorough research, discussions with experienced adoptive families, and reflections on what it means to build a family based on trust, respect, and unconditional love.

Favorites

Kellen

Favorite Movie: Right now, Leo
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Halloween. Decorating the house, taking the kids trick-or-treating, and taking kids around the neighborhood to see all the other home’s decorations (our neighborhood goes all out for halloween).
Hobbies/Interests: reading, movies, playing with kids, working
Dream Vacation: Disneyland Paris
If I Could Choose a Superpower: flying

Heather

Favorite Movie: I’ve loved Parent Trap ever since I was a kid. Now I love watching it with my girls.
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Christmas and Halloween. We love decorating the whole house, baking treats, and planning fun festivities for the holiday season.
Hobbies/Interests: reading, writing, baking, dance, Disney
Dream Vacation: Disneyland Paris, London, New York
If I Could Choose a Superpower: power of flight