Their family did not arrive in the way they first imagined, but love kept saying yes, again and again, until every room was full. Kelly and Sindy first crossed paths at American Express in Phoenix. For a long time it was just daily hellos, then quick chats, then real conversations that turned into dating. They spoke early about wanting a family. Six weeks after they met, they learned they were expecting. Four months later they were engaged, and by September 2003 they were married on a beach in Hawaii.
A week after their honeymoon, their son Hunter died. The next year brought a miscarriage. Sindy had always understood adoption, PCOS ran in her life, and adoption was common in her family, so after the second heartbreak they told each other they would become parents however God opened the door. The very next day they started research and watched a documentary about China’s one child policy. Their hearts moved toward China. They chose an agency and began the mountain of paperwork, learning each step as they went. Classes with other waiting parents made the time feel bearable. Family and friends stood behind them, and their home turned into a project of hope: a hand-painted nursery, new furniture, two people dreaming about a baby they had not yet met.
On August 2, 2007, the call came. They had been matched. They waited until both were home to open the envelope, then fell in love with the photo of a little girl named Allison. In China that year, the moment she saw them she reached out with open arms. It felt like two journeys meeting in one embrace. Allison came home easily and happily, and fourteen months later they began again. In 2009, Katie joined the family through a waiting child program. Harper Skye followed in 2012, and Jennifer in 2016, born in the same hospital where they had lost Hunter years earlier, a quiet circle closed. In 2019, after Sindy helped start a respite and connection ministry for foster and adoptive moms called Seas The Connection, another door opened and Gracie came home from China. By then, they had become veterans of adoption’s slow lanes and sudden turns, guided by agencies and a growing community that knew the path.
Not every part of the story has been smooth. Three of their five daughters have special needs, and all carry some measure of grief from losing their first families. Medical issues have been manageable so far, and Kelly and Sindy keep learning how to help their girls heal, often with the wisdom of other adoptive parents who understand trauma and attachment. In 2020, they moved to the Midwest for small-town roots, nearby relatives, and more time for school activities. A larger house opened up their hearts again. They first pursued two sisters from Eastern Europe, thinking they would always be a family of girls. Then in 2021, they felt called to a different path: a nine-year-old boy from China. After losing a son long ago, they chose to trust that this was the way their hearts would be redeemed.
At home today are five daughters with strong personalities and bright futures. College dreams fill the air. One child, who has Kleefstra Syndrome, will likely live with them long term, and their hope is steady and straightforward: that she thrives, loved and supported, at her own pace. Kelly and Sindy are older parents than they expected to be when Jennifer arrived, fifty and fifty-eight at the time, and they see that as part of the blessing. A child needs a family more than a calendar.
They want other would-be parents to know that help exists, that community matters, and that the road to a child can bend in ways you cannot predict. There are grants and guides, classes and counselors, care agencies, and families who cheer you on. Their story shows the long arc: losses that nearly broke them, a call that changed their country and their house, and five girls who turned a quiet nursery into a noisy, joyful home. Now they wait with open hands for a son they have not yet met but already love.
