Through the gift of adoption, we received our daughter Emma in September of 2020. She is the most precious blessing in our lives, and we couldn't love her more. Adoption truly has changed our lives for the better. Both of our families, friends, and everyone in our lives have accepted her well, we know that any child added to our family will be warmly welcomed by everyone around us!

Chris's brother Michael and his wife have also adopted three children and we think it's nice that our children will have adopted cousins to relate to. Our community has a large number of adoptive families, and we all rally together to support each other, and there are several events every year that these families come together to connect, fellowship and socialize with each other. We have made many friends through the adoption community that we are part of, not only in Ohio but in several other states.

We want to give you a peek into the Amish way of life. There are many differing groups of Amish, and the Amish are often misunderstood in the world today because of social media and reality TV shows that are presenting false information.

We are Christians who have simply chosen to live a simpler lifestyle. Our community is very close knit and family oriented. We live a slower paced life and have more family time together since we don't have all the technology distractions such as social media, TV, or smart phones. This means we get to be outside more, walking the trails in our woods with our dog Queen, camping, fishing, playing games or snowboarding and skiing. We have basic cell phones for proper communication through talk and text. We live off the grid, plant our own garden, and live a sustainable life in general. We do have solar power and a backup generator for running our appliances like the vacuum, washer, our lights, etc.

We don't believe that being Amish is the only right way to live, but we grew up in that culture and wouldn't want it any other way. We have several close friends and cousins who chose not to live the Amish lifestyle who add diversity to our lives. From a parenting perspective, we are more concerned about our children knowing Jesus Christ and serving Him wherever they feel that is, than we are about making sure they stay Amish.

We live in a 5 bedroom, 3 bath home located just outside of a small town in Ohio. We live directly next door to JoAnne's' parents and her one sister, which is convenient for the times we need a babysitter. We love our home in the country and want it to have a warm, inviting atmosphere that is perfect for a young family. We enjoy raising our own vegetables in the garden and spending time in the great outdoors.

Our community is unique for several reasons. We are Amish and live in one of the largest Amish / Mennonite communities in the United States. Our neighborhood and area is very community oriented and we all help to care for each other whenever there is a time of need. Quite a few of our neighbors are good friends of ours and we will get together frequently to have an evening of games, food, and fellowship. Our child will grow up with many friends living close by and will experience winter sled riding with neighbor children and having summer campouts in our back woods which is part of our property.

Our local town always has a Great Big Fall Festival that we are part of through Chris's work. There are lots of food vendors, fireworks, and a fun parade at the end to top it off. Our daughter really enjoyed being part of the parade and throwing candy at the crowd.

We feel blessed to have both of our families living within 30 minutes of our home, which means we are able to spend a lot of time together.

JoAnne has several sisters as well as her parents who live within easy walking distance. JoAnne is the youngest from a family of six girls. She has lots of nieces and nephews who are looking forward to having another cousin! Her family has a yearly tradition of everyone going camping together. We play softball, volleyball, sit by the campfire, roasting s'mores and telling stories. We like to get together to play card games or to celebrate birthdays. Christmas is always a special time with lots of food, gifts and good times.

Chris's family consists of three boys and two girls, and ironically, he is also the youngest of the family. His family is full of fun, outgoing and enjoys family campouts during the summer. He has plenty of nieces and nephews who are looking forward to getting another cousin. As a family they get together frequently for cookouts and to celebrate birthdays and holidays.

We are Chris and JoAnne, we met at a community volleyball youth night almost 13 years ago. After dating for a few years, we got married in the fall of 2014.

To us, marriage means a strong commitment of love, faith, and having a serving attitude. We strive to be the best we can be every day, and feel God brought us together intentionally. We are very opposite from a personality perspective, but it allows us to make a balanced team. We both love to have fun, and our home is often filled with laughter. Chris has a more adventurous and driven personality and JoAnne tends to be more reserved and quieter.

Chris loves his career in sales and outdoor design, working with people every day. JoAnne gets to be a stay-at-home mom every day for any child in our lives, which is something that is very important to us. As parents, an important role to both of us is guiding our child as they grow to help them develop personally, honor God, figure out their purpose in life, and live out their calling.

We have always dreamed of raising a family together, but a year so into our marriage we realized we might have fertility problems. After another year or two trying to be patient and then doing some tests, we were told we would probably never be able to have biological children. That was a hard time in our lives, but we were able to move on and realized that God might have other plans for us. Both of us were always open to adoption and soon we got started in that process. In September of 2020, we were overjoyed when we became parents to Emma Nicole. She has been the biggest blessing in our lives, and we love being parents. We couldn't imagine life without her and are forever grateful to Emma's birth parents for choosing adoption, they will always hold a special place in our hearts. We know that Emma would love to be a big sister and have a playmate. We also believe that having a sibling who is also adopted will be beneficial for our children as we celebrate each of their unique adoption stories.

Thinking of adding another child to our family fills us with excitement, but we also feel humbled by the huge responsibility that comes with being parents. A few words that come to mind when we think of parenting is love, patience, and commitment. We look forward to helping our children figure out their purpose in life, and then giving them all the tools we can to help them achieve that.

We want you to know that if you choose us to be parents for your child, we will be the best parents we know how to be. We will be open and honest with your child about their adoption and will make sure your child will know how much you loved and cared about them. We would be happy to share pictures, letters, and emails with you, throughout the years as your child grows up, we are also open to other methods of staying connected.

It is our hope that our profile has given you a better glimpse into our lives. We realize that you are facing a hard decision and want you to know, we think adoption is the most beautiful gift you could ever give someone. Without adoption we would never get to be parents, and because of that we would be forever grateful to you and the brave, unselfish decision you made.

Sincerely,

Chris & JoAnne