Our Photos

Enjoying the New England outdoors on one of our hikes

Neil and his nieces get crafty!

Prime Meridian, Greenwich, England

Bec meets John Adams in Quincy, MA

All the kids love a tractor ride

Having fun on the sledding
hill behind our home

Attending the game with friends.

Gulfoss Falls, Iceland

A family Thanksgiving

Our family going for a walk in England

Enjoying a day on the slopes with niece Kate

Bec teaches our niece Ava to ski

Neil and Rebecca

No matter how much we plan, organize and dream, life is full of unexpected joys and challenges. We all make our way the best we can, both by leaning on and supporting family and friends, and sometimes, people we have never met.

We have never met you, nor you us; and yet here we are. You are preparing to read about us, our lives, our joys, and our hopes for the future. We are wondering about you, your plans, joys and sorrows; hopeful that you are the one who will feel a connection to us.

We met while teaching children to ski. We were both hired as weekend ski instructors at a small ski area one winter season and quickly fell in love with the people, the place and each other.

On the surface, we seem to come from very different backgrounds. Neil grew up in a small family in the bustling city of London, England; I grew up in a much larger family but a small town in Maine. Yet we both grew up surrounded by love in very tight-knit families.

And although we enjoy sharing our diverse experiences – from cheese, football (soccer) and afternoon tea, to lobsters, baseball and 4th of July – we also share many common interests. We love to ski, garden, travel and spend time with family and friends.

We continue to teach skiing every winter and look forward to the first snow fall every year. We are fortunate to own a lovely camp that is tucked in the mountains and in close proximity to a small ski area. The camp is a wonderful place for our family and friends to gather at any time of the year. And we are excited to spend time there with our child.

Traveling and exploring new places is something we look forward to each year. We are both interested in history and like to explore museums of any kind, from the Natural History Museum in Reykjavik, Iceland to the Spade Museum in Stratford-upon-Avon, England!

We truly enjoy each other’s company. We have dinner together at the kitchen table most every evening and look forward to catching up on the day’s events, sharing something of interest, or planning an upcoming activity.

We live in a friendly neighborhood on a cul-de-sac in a small town in southern Maine. Our home is set back from the road and we have a large yard complete with a sledding hill, a main attraction in the winter for both the kids and adults alike!

My family lives all around us. We get together for birthdays, for local celebrations (the annual summer parade in town) and just because. We are close friends with my siblings and their families; we all help with the children (whether a ride to soccer practice or time for a dinner out for a mom & dad), share advice on home projects, celebrate life’s joys and support each other during life’s sorrows.

And of course there are the holidays. For more than 40 years, my family has celebrated Thanksgiving at my Mom & Dad’s farm. My Mom cooks the turkeys, my Aunt makes the apple pies, one cousin is in charge of the crab dip, and another the pumpkin bread, and so on. And all family is invited – even Neil’s Mum & Dad have flown over from England to join in! It isn’t fancy (dinner is in the barn, on tables made of plywood and sawhorses), but it is warm, inviting and unconditional.

Rebecca’s thoughts about Neil
Neil is smart, funny, warm, silly, confident and patient. He works as an information technology project manager and is a natural and admired leader.

But at heart, he is just a big happy kid. No matter the family event, Neil is always off playing with various nieces and nephews. He takes pleasure in volunteering as a coach for one of our younger nieces’ soccer team, chatting about sports with the nephews, and always has time for a game of hide-and-seek or a snowball fight with whichever group of children are around.

And he can always make me laugh.

He was born and raised in London, England but has found home in the outdoor life of Maine. Neil loves to ski and hike, and enjoys spending time working in the yard (especially when he gets to use his tractor!).

His Mum taught him to cook when he was quite young and Neil takes over in the kitchen to make dinner several times a week. I love to sit at the kitchen table, chat with him and watch as he happily chops this and sautés that, rarely following a recipe – but the dish he creates is always delicious (or at least he always thinks so!).

Neil is a warm and caring friend and the best husband I could’ve possibly hoped for. He will be a wonderful dad.

Neil’s thoughts about Rebecca
Who is Rebecca? Well, I fell in love with someone named Bec, and Bec is smart, caring, family focused and has a laugh that lights up her face and which is completely infectious.

Bec’s laugh says so much about who she is; it is full hearted and draws you in. That is how Bec is, someone who cares, trusts and is trusted by all who know her.

Children flock to Bec because of her enthusiasm and fun and her laugh, of course! Nowhere is this more obvious than in the ski lessons she teaches each winter with her father as her co-instructor. Her winter programs are the most sought after by the kids, because they always have so much fun, and by the parents, because the kids always learn so much without ever realizing it.

We both love to travel and our trips are always packed full of fun things to do because Bec enjoys, almost as much, planning our travel adventures. She spends time researching the sites, people and customs of the places we’ll visit and is as excited and enthusiastic about a trip to Boston, which is just a 2 hour drive from us, as a trip to England, Iceland or Bermuda.

If I am the crazy cook in the kitchen, Bec is the consummate baker. Her whoopie pies, blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies are legend in the family. When Bec starts baking, word gets out, and we get visitors!

When I think about Bec, I am in awe about how much I have learned from her, how thoughtful and loving she is, and how she and her family have taken a city boy into their fold.

I cannot wait for her to be a mom and be all these things and more to a child that is desired most of all.

Our views on parenting
Both Neil and I grew up with love and support. Family dinners were part of daily life and we were always encouraged to explore, learn, and try new things.

We will do the same for our child.

Neil and I both strongly believe that education opens doors to countless opportunities and that the foundation for learning is curiosity, interest and passion. Our child will be encouraged to explore, try new things, and discover his or her interests – and a college education will always be an encouraged option.

Being part of a family also comes with responsibilities. And our child will be raised as an active participant in our family. She or he will be encouraged to share thoughts and interests, but also to respect and support others.

And we will be there always for guidance, support and love.

Closing
Neil and I have each other. We have love and laughter. We have incredibly supportive and loving family all around us. And we would love nothing more than to become parents, and welcome a child into our family.

Your child will always know that your decision was selflessly made out of love, and that she or he is, and always will be, loved by you.

Thank you for taking the time to read about us; we hope this letter has given you a sense of who we are and about our daily lives. If you feel that we may be the kind of family you would like your baby to grow up with, we would love to speak with you.

Please contact Cindy Simonson at A Loving Alternative, 1-800-556-5635.

Warmest regards,

Contact This Family

To talk to this family, please call Cindy at 800-556-5635 or by sending an email below