Thank you for considering us and reading our family profile. We realize that you are up against many challenging and difficult decisions right now and we admire your courage to consider adoption. We have great respect for you making such a sacrifice to provide the best possible future for your baby. If we are lucky enough to be chosen to love and care for your child, we promise to always be open and honest about how they became a part of our family. Adoption has been such a huge and wonderful part of our lives since adopting our daughter three years ago. We are extremely excited about adopting another child and having our family grow.

Derek Sandy Job Description Business Analyst for Internet Company Stay-at-Home Mom Education BS - Psychology & Criminal Justice BA - Communications & Advertising Favorites Hobby Woodworking Hobby Photography Sport to Play Surfing Sport to Play Running Quality about my Spouse Patience & Humor Quality about my Spouse Kindness & Optimism Children's Book The Giving Tree Children's Book Guess How Much I Love You Family Activity Going to the Beach Family Activity Going to the Beach Children Grace-4 years old

Adopting our daughter, Lily Grace was truly an incredible experience for us. We found out that we were selected to be her parents the day after she was born. The next thing we knew, there was a whirlwind of pink baby items gathered for us by family and friends in the next few hours and then we were on a plane headed to the hospital to meet her birth mom. We made an immediate connection with the birth mom and spent the rest of the day getting to know her and taking many pictures together. We felt a sincere appreciation and respect for her and formed an immediate bond that day. We told her that she will always have a place in our lives and Lily Grace will grow up knowing that she is our adopted angel and we have her birth mom to thank for this gift. We continue to write letters and share pictures with her regularly and as Lily Grace gets older we will read the letters to her and show her the photo album that we made for her with pictures from the day she came into our lives. Our feeling about adoption grows stronger and prouder as our daughter grows. We share our story and the journey we took to become a family with everyone. If we are blessed to be chosen as parents to your child we promise to always be open and honest with how they came into our lives and how much they are loved by you.

Being a parent has been the most rewarding and amazing experience of our lives. Not only has it made our marriage stronger as a couple but we also get to see a new side to our spouse as a parent. The level of dedication, patience and unconditional love is an incredible journey to go through together. We have a very strong and loving marriage and rely heavily on open communication. The most important and impressionable times of a child's life are the younger years so we decided even before we became parents that Sandy would be a stay-at-home mom. She loves being at home with our daughter sharing a special bond with their daily routines - everything from picnic lunches in the living room with her dolls to the nightly bath, books and prayers that they look forward to.

As a parent, we want to make sure our child is safe, healthy, happy and fulfilled. We love to provide as many new opportunities for a child to experience and watch their curiosity grow. Some of the things that our daughter, Lily Grace loves the most right now are learning about animals of all kinds, painting, dancing and dress-up. We try to balance nurturing her creative curiosity with teaching her to be respectful and kind to others. Our goal as parents is to raise our child with the strong morals and values that we grew up with.

We want very much to adopt another child and have our family grow. We would love our daughter to become a big sister and share a special bond of adoption with another child. They would grow up together in a happy, healthy home filled with love, laughter and stability which also includes a lovable 4-year old Labrador Retriever, Riley!

Our Family at the Beach on Vacation

Family is everything to us so we really love to spend as much time together as possible. Family dinner is a simple and fun tradition that we have because it gives us a chance to catch up on the day. Lately, Lily Grace likes to 'help in the kitchen' so dinner can get a little creative every so often. On the weekends, we always try to find something to do that everyone will enjoy. Our favorite place to go is the beach and since we live a few miles from the ocean we spend our summers and most of the spring and fall there. Our favorite time of year to be at the beach is late fall. We pack a picnic lunch, a kite and a few tennis balls for our dog, Riley and spend the day enjoying the beauty of the ocean, making sandcastles and chasing seagulls. Derek is counting down the days until he can bring Lily Grace surfing with him but until that day comes, we just watch and cheer him on.

Another tradition that we have started is during the winter months the families in our neighborhood take turns hosting Sunday Supper. It's great for all the kids and parents to get together and share fun meals and memories. The kids love the gatherings and play well with each other; the older children look out and play with the little ones, which is so nice to watch.