Dear Birth Parents,
As you go through what is most likely one of the hardest times in your life, please know how incredibly grateful we are that you are considering adoption. We can’t comprehend the strength it takes to do what you're doing. But, what we do know is that your strength is making it possible for us to have a family, which is a gift we can only repay by promising we will cherish and love your child unconditionally.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
A Little About Us...
Meet Katrina
When I was young, my family lived in a small Texas town. My parents wanted their children to grow up in the country, so when I was four, we moved to a ranch in Kansas.
My favorite childhood memories are playing outside with my siblings. We lived in the middle of nowhere so we had to be creative and make our own variety of fun.
I also loved playing with our animals - we had LOTS of them - dogs, cats, goats, horses, llamas, rabbits, peacocks, donkeys, chickens, geese, turkeys, ducks, & the list goes on...
Though my parents worked really hard, we were a low income household. Even so, they made sure their kids and animals were taken care of. We didn’t get shiny new things often, but when we did, it was special and meaningful.
Just like everyone else, my childhood had both good and bad times. Sadly, my big brother passed away at a young age. I still miss him very much, but I believe he is always watching over me and my family.
Things we did as a family (parents included) that I'd like to do with my children one day:
- Play board games
- Jump on the trampoline -Â my dad broke ours once doing a flip
- Raise all sorts of baby animals and teach my children how to take care of them
- Read together at bedtime
- Ride bikes
- Make homemade decorations and treats for each holiday -Â sometimes we would dye Easter eggs in July or make Christmas cookies in February, just because...
These seem like generic things, but doing them together really helped nurture our relationships and created good memories for us to look back on.
We laughed the loudest and fought the hardest on our vacations. There was a lot of "Mom, they're putting their feet in my face!" and "Mom, they sat on my french fries on purpose!" coming from the backseat.
I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
School Stuff
In school, I liked learning about animals, loved reading and writing, and hated math. I still hate math. I am thankful that Adam is good at it so I don't have to do it very often.
After high school, I earned a Bachelor's degree in Family Studies and Human Services from Kansas State University and had plans of becoming a family therapist.
But, I always dreamed about writing stories for TV and one day I just decided to give it a shot!
I applied to The New York Film Academy (their Los Angeles/Hollywood campus) and was accepted into their Masters of Screenwriting program along with offering me a scholarship based on a story I had written as part of my application.
About the time I decided to move from Kansas to Los Angeles, I met Adam.
Meet Adam
I grew up in Kansas on my family's farm where my grandpa, dad, and uncle all worked together farming and trucking.
My parents divorced when I was nine and from then on my two younger brothers and I split our time living with each parent.
My favorite memories while with my dad are traveling all over the United States with him in his semi-truck.
It's a testament to my dad's patience that my brothers and I survived those road trips.
My favorite memories while with my mom are her teaching us how to ride and take care of horses.
She used to be a barrel racer in the rodeo and my grandpa and uncles trained horses for the Kentucky Derby.
One thing I really appreciate about my childhood is that all the adults made a point to spend time with the kids, which included teaching us what they knew how to do, as well as just taking the time to play with us.
My Interests & Hobbies
- Building model cars and airplanes
- I have a Hot Wheels collection anybody would be jealous of
- Watching the History Channel - I like shows about WWII & American history
- Learning about Roman and Greek mythology
- Working on old classic cars
- I like researching how things are made - everything from freight trains to candy corn
I learned from my grandpa how farm equipment works and how to maintain it.
He turned me and both of my brothers into really good mechanics.
I continue to work on my family's farm and drive a semi-truck alongside my dad.
We also travel to Texas in the summer to help other farmers harvest their wheat.
In my early 20s, I had a daughter. I raised her as a single father, but my entire family helped me with her, tremendously.
Just like my grandpa taught me how to farm, my dad helped teach my daughter.
She worked alongside us until she went to college.
She is now an Agronomist and has a family and farm of her own.
I always wanted to have more children with the right person. And I finally met her...
Katrina's mom used to own a restaurant and we met while she was waitressing there. I asked her out on a date and...
Yep, we made it work... with LOTS of plane rides!
We flew back and forth to see each other as often as we could. Though it was hard to be apart, Adam encouraged Katrina to pursue the goals she had made before we met and was supportive of her going after what she wanted.
We continue to support each other through every life decision and know how important it is that we have both have goals as a couple and goals as individuals.
When Adam visited L.A. we went everywhere!!!
DISNEYLAND!!!
Above is Katrina's favorite picture of Adam. Obviously, he loves rollercoasters.
THE WALK OF FAME
Adam's a pretty good sport when it comes to Katrina's love of Harry Potter and Katrina goes on rollercoasters she's terrified of... just for him :)
While we were apart...
Adam developed an awesome relationship with a farm equipment manufacturer.
Since Adam runs their equipment on our farm and is an accomplished mechanic who understands how their equipment works, they sometimes interview him to get his opinion on improvements they could make.
They film these interviews to create segments to share with the farming community. They have also taken photographs of Adam running their equipment to use in magazines and ad campaigns.
So, even though Katrina went Hollywood, Adam is the one who became a celebrity!
Meanwhile...
Katrina worked to obtain her Master's Degree in Screenwriting.
She wrote several screenplays while in school that have gone on to win awards at various film festivals. She also filmed her own short films and worked as an intern for a production company at Universal Studios, where she got to see celebrities in their natural habitat.
To help pay for school, she worked as an extra on several TV shows such as This Is Us, Euphoria, and Stumptown to name a few.
She also just got to do some really cool stuff...
After Graduation...
The New York Film Academy hired Katrina as a Teacher's Assistant for the Screenwriting Department. She still works for them while continuing to write screenplays and enter film festivals. She aspires to also write books for children and become a published author.
Since her job is now remote, Katrina lives in Kansas, but travels back to L.A. every so often to catch up with friends and collaborate on projects with them.
Katrina got the chance to meet folks from all over the world and made really good friends with people from places like Indonesia, The Philippines, and Bulgaria. They have taught her so much about different ways of life in other cultures.
The lasting friendships she made in L.A. is what she cherishes the most about her time there. They have withstood the test of time and distance.
And Now...
We live together on our farm. And these are the people who we love:
Our nieces and nephews on Adam's side of the family live close by and spend time on the farm with us. They like to ride in the combines and trucks with Adam and his dad. The older ones sometimes help out during harvest and run combines, themselves. We spend holidays with each other and enjoy traveling together to attend our annual family reunions.
Katrina's Side of the Family
Katrina's mom lives in Texas along with Katrina's sister and nieces. Katrina goes to visit them as often as she can. To the right is the two of them at Universal Studios.
Katrina's dad still lives on the ranch she grew up on, which is fairly close where Katrina and Adam live now. He still has TONS of animals and we love helping to take care of them.
Sometimes we get to go on vacations with Katrina's cousins and other extended family. Last year, a large group of us went to the Redwood Forest.
Katrina's two nieces have been a very large part of her life. There were times when Katrina, her sister, her two nieces, and her mom and dad all lived in the same house together. Those were very happy, very loud, very joyfully chaotic times that turned into some of the best memories. Helping take care of them is in large part what makes Katrina want to have children.
Our Pets:
Plus all the animals at Katrina's dad's ranch!
Goats, peacocks, chickens, donkeys, pigs, ducks...etc... Plus one cat and one dog.
A little glimpse into our life...
The thing we want you to know the most about us is we would love nothing more than to share our life and love with a child. We have been unable to have a baby of our own and it is clear to us that adoption is the path we are meant to take to make our family complete.
Thank you for considering us!
If you would like to learn more about us please contact Lori Titsworth at Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas at (620) 792-1393 or ltitsworth@catholiccharitiesswks.org
Lori and her team have supported us wonderfully throughout this process and will do the same for you.