Christmas has come early for Brian Henry and John Zeldenthuis of Limelite Show Horses. Tuesday is a big day as the Colorado natives and partners will officially be a family of three. On this day, the couple will be officially signing adoption papers for their four year-old daughter, Jesse, who they have had as a foster child since she was two.
“We have been in this adoption process for almost three years, and a few days ago received a call from our attorney stating that we had a date for adoption for Tuesday which was insanely fast!” Zeldenthuis excitedly told us. “It all finally came together, but that being said, we haven’t had time to plan any celebration, so we just invited our closest friends and family to the event and we are doing a lunch after the adoption.”
Henry and Zeldenthuis currently own and run Limelite Show Horses and Limelite, a show clothing company located in Grand Junction, Colorado. Brian trains APHA and AQHA All Around Horses and has had several World and Reserve World Champions.
“This is such a special thing for us,” Zeldenthuis reveals. “I grew up in an LDS family (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) and was taught so many things about my lifestyle, so accepting myself for who I truly am was very hard. I always knew that I wanted a family, but never knew exactly how it would happen. Now I do!”
Zeldenthuis explained in detail about the long adoption process which he says has been very trying. “There are a million hoops to jump through. There are so many ups and downs, but in the end it is all worth it. It has taken us 921 days from the day that we took placement of our daughter until we will officially sign the adoption paperwork.”
According to John, their adoption agency has been amazing and supportive and accepting of them being a gay adoptive family. “Never once did we run into any problems with our agency. We tried for several years to adopt and things just never worked out for us. Our friends had just adopted two children and told us that we should look into the Fost-Adopt program. So we started investigating our options and found an agency that we felt would work for us and we started the long process of paperwork, home visits, background checks, etc.”
Zeldenthuis continues, “After we were licensed, we were called and we got to go meet a little girl that had just turned two years-old at a park. Her family history was very disturbing, but we decided to meet her and go from there. Once we met her, our lives would never be the same. The first time she met me she called me ‘Daddy’, and asked for a pony!”
John told us that they let Jesse pick what she would call them. “The first time we met, she called me ‘Daddy’ and that is what she has always called me. She started calling Brian, ‘Dad Brian’, however, she has since shortened that up to just, Dad,” says John, who is a three-time APHA World Champion. She loves having two dads. All of her friends at school tell her how lucky she is to have two dads.”
The couple adore their daughter, Jesse, which is obvious when we asked them to talk about the adorable little girl. “She is such a fun, loving little girl. She loves fashion and everything has to match. She is full of energy and just loves life. Jesse loves to show and she ‘owns’ several horses. She begs for new horses all the time. Between dance and horses, her life is very full and exciting for a four year-old. She has been the biggest blessing we could ever imagine or hope for. We are extremely overwhelmed by all the support and love that the horse community has shown to our family.”
