Since our relationship started, we have always referred to each other as our adventure buddy. Nicholas' job allows him to travel with his family locally and around the globe and we intend to take our future child everywhere we can. We imagine between visiting Natalie's family, our child's birth parents (if that is something the birth parents would want), and other family vacations, our child will be an experiences car and plane traveler rather quickly.

Despite being adventure buddies, we have very different ideas of what makes the perfect vacation. Nicholas grew up in scouts and loves camping in the outdoors. No matter what the weather calls for, Nicholas is literally a happy camper. Natalie, on the other hand, doesn't mind going camping if it's guaranteed to be warm. She's an avid sunbather and enjoys floating in a tube or napping in a hammock.

Our last vacation with just the two of us was on the big island of Hawaii where we spent the week snorkeling, observing volcanoes, and swimming with manta rays. We were able to catch some rays by the pool and float next to sea turtles. Hopefully we'll be visiting Oahu soon so we can check out Pearl Harbor.

Nicholas has always admired how big Natalie’s heart is.  Whenever someone needs a friend, someone to support them, or someone to just be a listening ear, Natalie is always there no matter how long she’s known the person.  Her love is endless.  Nicholas is also jealous of her patience.  Natalie is the embodiment of the scripture “love is patient, love is kind.”  She’s always putting others in front of herself as her cup overflows when others are happy.  And if that weren’t enough, Nicholas is in awe of Natalie’s positive attitude.  She’s had so many hard experiences in her life and even when the days are rough she still makes the best of each one.

Natalie loves Nicholas’ kindness and the way he shows up for the people he loves, especially her.  She admires his work ethic and the way he pours so much of himself into everything he does.  He never gives up, and that passion inspires her to be better, not just for herself, but for everyone around her.  She loves the way he always wants to make sure everyone around him is doing their very best.  Above all, she respects his integrity, his honesty, and how much he values their relationship and that they are always growing together.

Though we just moved into a new neighborhood and are still getting familiar with this community, we are in love with where we live. Whether we are walking down the street or working in our front yard, someone will always stop and say hi. We have met a number of our neighbors personally and each one has been kind enough to support us however needed as we get more settled. With a 5 minute walk, there are three different parks we can play at each with different playground items. Our neighborhood is generally older, however with schools a close drive away many of the older residents are leaving and younger families are moving in.

We live in a tri-level house with three bedrooms and three different living areas. Natalie's favorite room is the enclosed sunroom in the back for crafting, reading, and playing games. Nicholas love spending time in the den area watching different movies and basketball. The backyard is filled with vibrant flowers, apple and pear trees, and a nice grassy area we hope to put a small pool or trampoline for our child to enjoy. During the warm summer evenings, we plan to sit by the fire pit and roast marshmallows.

Both of us consider ourselves close nit with our families. Most of Nicholas' family lives in the within about fifty miles of us and we love getting together to celebrate different holidays, life events and just because we can. Nicholas' brother lives in Iowa and to stay connected, we have family game night nearly every week over Zoom. Even our youngest nephew gets in on the action from time to time and everyone is looking forward to adding another game player to the family.

Natalie's family all lives in the Midwest, but mostly around Kansas City where she grew up. We travel to see them once or twice a year and her parents will come out here every few years. Once we've added a child to our family, we imagine they'll start making a few more trips out here. We've got a niece and number of nephews who are all extremely active in various activities and we love going to watch those when we are in town. Kansas City is known for its amazing barbecue and whenever we visit, we make sure to munch on some sausages, brisket and ribs at least once. Though being far away can be tough at times, we make sure to video chat with everyone on a regular basis.

If you're reading this, we want you to know we care about you. Though we've never met, we have always believed that caring for those we don't know is just as important as those we interact with every day. Secondly, we want you to know that we hope you are healthy and safe. Your journey through life is one we will never be able to fully comprehend, but we'd love to support you with however we can.

When we realized we wouldn't be able to have our own children, we were beyond devastated. This dream of building our family had been ripped away from us and the glimmer of hope we had was destroyed. As we started to share our story, people came from all over telling us how amazing adoption is and can be. These testimonies from so many people we cared about reignited our hope of having a family; it just wasn't going to look like what we originally envisioned. In preparation for bringing home a child and eventually multiple children, we sometimes get lost in the daydream of watching our children learn and grow into an amazing people. We dream of teaching them to ride a bike, travel around the world, and enjoy small things like roasting marshmallows around the campfire. We cannot promise we'll be perfect parents, but we can promise we will never stop caring for your child and showing them how wonderful and amazing this world can be.

We've been married for seven years now and we just moved out of our old house into a bigger one with the primary goal of being able to support the family we intend to build. Though we haven't started putting the nursery together, everywhere we look we find ourselves noticing kids clothes, toys, and things that will make our child's life better. Our friends and family are constantly asking how the adoption process is going because they are so excited to meet our future child. To say that this kid will be spoiled is a bit of an understatement; we smile just thinking of all the people in our lives who are thrilled to meet this child.

We have long believed that it takes a village to raise a child and we fully intend on growing the village as large as we can. We want to assure you that you are and will always be a part of this village. We plan to not only send pictures, letters, and even the occasional arts and crafts project, but we also want you to be an integral part of this child's life in person. Yes, we will video chat and email with you so you can see this child grow up, but we also want to meet with you in person every so often. Whichever child we are blessed to raise, we want nothing more for them to have a wonderful, loving relationship with everyone in their lives, which includes you.

We could go on and on about how excited we are to adopt your child and how lucky we feel for this opportunity. Honestly, we feel we should wrap things up where we started: with you. Making the choice to put your child up for adoption not only shows your strength, but shows how kind, compassionate and loving you are. We know this road hasn't been easy and we'd be lying if we said it was magically going to get easier. What we can promise is that this child will be loved as our own. They will be taught to show compassion, help those in need, and understand what unconditional love truly means. Not only that, but we promise to teach our child where we learned these important life lessons: you.

You are seen, you are loved, and we hope you bless us with raising your child.

Nicholas & Natalie