John & Amos

To help you in making such a big decision, we thought you might like to know us, how we came to fall in love and marry, what our extended families are like, how we grew up, and the life that we would provide for your child, should you so generously choose us.

We met through a friend at a Fourth of July party on the ocean. We spent that evening watching the fireworks together holding hands. Several years later, Amos proposed by the New York Harbor. While we stood by the river, the waves crashed against the shore while the sun was starting to set. Amos got on one knee and proposed. It felt like we walked on air as we strolled through a beautiful night in moonlit Central Park, with the streetlamps turning on as we passed.

We felt drawn to have our parents and siblings gather near our family home on the water to have a small intimate wedding, the joining of two families. John’s sister Becca and Amos’ brother Lorenzo officiated the ceremony. Each member of our family gathered and shared touching, personal blessings for the newlyweds.

We both have big extended families, so while only our immediate families were present on the day of our wedding, each side of our families threw us wonderful celebrations with extended family, friends and people we grew up with. Amos’ mother Marta threw us a great party with a delicious trés-leches cake, and John’s mother Jeanne hosted an amazing boat party for us, on the Boston Harbor with family coming as far as Alaska for a joyous reunion complete with family traditions like riding into the night on Uncle John’s putt-putt.
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For fun we like to cook, and have friends and family over for dinners and parties. Being surrounded by people we love and sharing a meal and an experience is one of our favorite ways to create new memories. We regularly go on long walks with our sweet and gentle dog Hattie Mae, around the city where we live and on hikes in the woods. Hattie is great with kids. Traveling, going to movies, theater, and out to dinner are fun ways we like to explore new experiences and spend time together. Our “happy place” is definitely being by water, and we love going to the beach or the pool with an iced coffee and getting some sand and sun.

Fourth of July in Massachusetts: We love going to visit John’s parents in Massachusetts in the summer. At the end of the hill they live on is a small neighborhood beach, which is great for kids. At high tide there is a big rock in the water that the older kids climb up on to jump off into the cool, clear water. When we visit Massachusetts we always make sure to add on a few days to visit John’s childhood friend Karen, her husband Matt and their high energy and fun boys, Nathan and Trevor for baking, wrestling in the backyard and reading “just one more book” before bedtime. We can’t wait to have your child join in these activities.

Summer reunions in Connecticut: Every year Amos’ family gathers from around the world (California, Chicago, North Carolina and Portugal) to enjoy time together at Aunt Maggie and Uncle John’s house on the Connecticut coastline; dancing with sparklers, playing charades, paddle boarding and digging for clams which we later eat! His cousins Cecilia (8) and Amelia (5) (cousin Rachel’s kids) are free spirited little ladies, very excited to one day have a new cousin to play mermaids and fairies.

Labor Day in Maine: John’s grandfather, Grandpa M, had a house on a lake in Maine for the past fifty years, and John remembers being so excited to drive up to visit for weekends in the summer with an aunt or smushed in the front seat of his dad’s truck with his sister. The family now has a few different houses around the lake, and so we hop in boats to have snacks at various locations throughout the weekend, with John’s cousin Timmy’s daughter Josephine leading the parade and cousin Carolina’s son Porter marching at the back. Everyone brings a dish for dinner and we play music, have Cornhole competitions on the lawn and laugh and tell stories around the campfire. All the family is eager for us to become fathers together and will welcome your child in the fun.

Halloween:
We love getting into the fun of Halloween, and we both grew up loving putting together costumes for Halloween and running around the neighborhood for candy with our friends and siblings. We like to decorate our house and front steps for Halloween, and dress up to give out candy to all the trick or treaters. The neighborhood gets really excited about celebrating – and it’s a fun night for the adults and the kids alike. We’re excited to dress up as a family and continue the fun!

Thanksgiving: Turkey day is both of our favorite holidays, ever since we were both little boys. It means family, delicious food – and the turning of the seasons. For the past several years we have taken over this tradition ourselves, cooking a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our families at our parent’s house – everyone at a long table up to 30 people gathered together to enjoy a huge feast. The best part is cooking together, with everyone helping out – from the little kids to adults working together decorating and baking, mixing and setting up. The turkey starts to get brined and some side dishes prepared the day before, and all day on thanksgiving it smells amazing with the cooking smells filling the house while we catch up with each other. Amos’ dad Daniel is on oyster shucking duty, John’s favorite dish is his mom Jeanne’s famous Jell-O mold and potato casserole. Marta is a whiz with flower preparation and fills the house with arrangements and makes the table look amazing and inviting, with candles and leaves. She always makes sure to make extra of her delicious oatmeal-raisin cookies.

Christmas: Christmas is a time when we make an effort to spend time with both sides of our families, it’s a special time to celebrate traditions and create new memories. Usually we drive to both Massachusetts and New York to try to see as much family as possible. John’s Aunt Anita throws a family Christmas Party the weekend before the big day, which always falls on the same night as the live nativity downtown, with a procession of all those in the manger (including real horses and sheep walking through the town). We love seeing the excitement in our little cousin’s eyes when we walk by the sea through the little town, and the streets are filled with people singing and holding candles to light the way. John’s dad Dave makes enough ham to feed a small army! We can’t wait for your child to experience moments like this, surrounded by family in the salty air after a big get together and delicious food.
When we land in upstate New York to see Amos’ family, we are greeted by many cousins and even more of their kids excited to begin unwrapping presents. The best part is decorating the tree together, with ornaments from when Amos’ dad was a little kid. The cousins (even the ones with kids) all put on a funny outfit or pajamas, and walk down the staircase together trying to sing – but usually laughing too hard to really get all the words. After lunch we might go ice-skating together (some people prefer taking naps), or bowling. But the most fun tradition is to pick a blockbuster movie the day it comes out in the theaters. Usually the youngest cousin chooses! We love this tradition – but we are also excited for the day when we will experience these traditions as fathers, focusing on your child.

As you can tell, we both have big families and like spending time with our aunts and uncles, cousins, and our cousins’ little kids playing at the beach, the lake, and in mountains in Vermont. It’s even more fun now that there is a new generation to experience things like learning to swim, sailing, picking blueberries, making sand-castles, fishing, and toasting marshmallows. We try to balance exploring new places and things with friends, and also spending time in special places with family. We are so excited to share these experiences with your child.

Some of our favorite recent trips were visiting John’s sister, Becca, in France when she worked there for a couple years. We had equally as much fun, our first winter together when we went to New Orleans with Amos’ father and visited some of the people who he befriended when he was filming a documentary there. We took a bayou tour and ate MORE delicious food. Can you tell we really like food?

Wherever we go, whether it is close to home or further away, we discover new things about one another and are reminded of what initially drew us together: a passion for life and curiosity to try new things. And we hope to pass this curiosity and passion on to a child one day. We look forward to learning from a child also…if we find that he or she has interested and talents that are different than ours, we intend to learn about their interests and encourage that they pursue them.



We are both very familiar with adoption, and it is close to our hearts. John’s grandfather, Francis, was adopted back in the 1920’s because his mother felt she was not in a position to give him the life that he deserved, and through being nurtured in another family he became a father himself to 7 children, and a leader in his community as a police officer, fireman and sports coach. After having four children, Amos’ Aunt Paula and Uncle Wayne adopted their fifth child, Daniel, when he was a teenager after their eldest daughter, Amanda, met him in an after-school program. Having grown up with these experiences we want to provide opportunities for a child. As two men, we recognize that family is not “traditional,” nor just biological, and is a combination of different cultures and communities of people that help shape children’s lives.

We look forward to welcoming a child into a loving, positive environment where they can grow creatively and feel safe and nurtured. We are lucky to have great parenting examples in our own parents, who found a balance of encouraging creativity, imagination, and a healthy lifestyle with reasonable rules and boundaries to keep us safe and secure. We want your child to have exposure to experiences that will help them grow as a person and experience a well-rounded education. We both have big families, and are excited for your child to grow up with cousins and aunts and uncles, to share holidays, play at the beach, in the woods and become a part of our lives together in every way.

We hope that this book has helped you get to know us a bit better, and we would be happy if you would call or text us at: 800-989-6766 so that we can get to know you better and learn what you hope for the future of your child. You may also feel free to email us at: email@johnandamoshopetoadopt.com. If you choose us, we look forward to welcoming your baby into our family with open arms and are so excited to see the amazing person they grow up to be.

If you have any legal questions about us or the adoption process, please contact our attorney, Suzanne Nichols at 1-800-255-1415.