....Our desire to have a family came to us later in life. Adoption was always at the forefront of our thinking when we spoke of having a family but we never felt that we were in a place where we were ready to have our own. That changed when I took a job offer and moved to Billings, MT to work at a charter airline as the operations manager-in-training.

After several months of commuting on the weekends we were faced with making the decision to relocate. The new career had potential, but we would be required to leave our family and friends in Missoula and a job that Jonna loved. Then on one of Jonna's weekend visits to Billings, we had the chance meeting with Lilly, the adoptive daughter of one of the pilots. Lilly had recently joined her "forever family" through an international adoption from China.

Jonna and Lilly giggled over a spilled Dixie cup of water on the linoleum floor of the terminal lobby. She was inquisitive, shy and darling and she stole our hearts. That evening we talked for hours about the idea of international adoption.

We ultimately chose to stay in Missoula and on a cold afternoon in May, I packed up and drove the 375 miles back to Missoula.

I had a lot of time to think about the previous six months and what this career transition meant. We were both concerned, not knowing what the future held. Clarity came that evening when I shared my thoughts and frustrations about the "lost months in Billings" and the meaning in all of it. Jonna replied, "You learned a lot in a very short time; our relationship is stronger than it's ever been and we met Lilly. That's reason enough."

Later that year we began the adoption journey....