We want to give your child the opportunities to grow and develop into the best person he/she can be. We feel our job as parents is to provide unconditional love, support and encouragement. We feel we've been so blessed, especially with loving family and friends and we hope to share all our blessings with your child.

Juan Julie Job Description Provide Financial/Accounting Management Consulting Services to the Federal Government English Teacher, Currently Full-Time Student, Future Stay-at-Home Mom Education Bachelor of Science, Accounting B.A. English Education, Pursuing M.S. in Counseling Favorites Dream Vacation Sailing the Caribbean Dream Vacation Ireland Family Activity Family Movie Night Family Activity Hiking Hobby Planes & Trains Hobby Writing Olympic Event Downhill Skiing Olympic Event Gymnastics Video Game Xbox Halo Video Game Xbox Nascar Racing Children Griffin-9 years old, Jacob-7 years old

Juan: Mainly my family and my wife have shaped the person I am today. My parents emigrated here from Ecuador in 1959. They had to work hard to provide for us, sacrificing many things so we could have opportunities they did not. My parents taught us the value of hard work, faith and education. My wife Julie has also shaped my life. When I first met Julie at age 18, I was young and somewhat self-centered. Julie helped me to see beyond myself and how I could make an impact on others. I became a Big Brother volunteer, which was a great experience in my life. I feel blessed to have such a great family and wife that continue to shape the person I am.

Julie: My family, faith and experiences in life have made me the person I am today. Growing up the youngest in a large Irish Catholic family has shaped me into a loving, spiritual adult. I have concern for others and want to make a difference in the world. Going through some difficult experiences in my young adult life led me to become a youth leader in my parish and that in turn, led me to teaching. I loved teaching and often my students would come to me for advice. This one-on-one interaction with my students helped me to realize that I wanted to be a counselor. Finally, Juan and my boys continue to help me be a better person, shaping the person I am today.

A typical fun day near our home would include hiking, swimming, going to one of the kid's sporting events or getting together with friends and family. However, since we live so close to both Washington D.C. and Baltimore's Inner Harbor, another fun family day is taking advantage of all those cities have to offer. The boys love the museums in D.C., especially the Natural History museum with the dinosaur exhibit. We also love playing on the National Mall and eating good food from so many different restaurants that offer multitudes of ethnic cuisine. In Baltimore a favorite place to go is the Maryland Science Center. They have an interactive room especially built for kids of all ages. There's a water table where the kids put on a smock and play with all sorts of cool devices in the water. Other parts of the Science Center include a big dinosaur exhibit where the kids can dig for fossils or the demonstration stage where live exhibits are given throughout the day. After taking advantage of all the interactive displays we always catch one of the IMAX movies they offer. The kids love the Science Center. After leaving the Science Center, we enjoy all the other great treats the Inner Harbor offers - from crab cakes to ice cream cones. It's always a wonderful day at either D.C. or Baltimore.

Summer in Deep Creek

There are two places that we love to go as a family for vacation. The first is Deep Creek Lake in Maryland and we go there in all seasons. In the fall it's beautiful to hike up the mountain or ride the chairlift to the top to enjoy the awesome view and the fall colors. In the evenings we have campfires or play games (all the cousins love to play charades) or play in the hot tub. In the winter the mountain hosts a ski resort and we either snow-tube or ski. Summer time brings water activities on the lake - swimming, boating, tubing and water skiing. There's also a beach area at the state park that we sometimes go to, or we swim right off the dock of our rental house. Our other favorite vacation spot is the beach and there are two that we love. One local beach and the other is North Carolina's Outer Banks. We rent a big house with a few friends who also have young children. It's a very family oriented beach, not too commercialized and there are rental communities that offer many kid-friendly activities. After a day on the beach, the kids also love to swim in the pool or get involved in the sports tournaments. There's also a karaoke night at the beach club and a vacation wouldn't be complete without one of us embarrassing ourselves on stage.