Thank you for taking the time to read this profile and for considering us as an adoptive family. Our idea of a family has always included children and we have lots of love to share with a child. Even as we planned to get married, we discussed the idea of adopting a child in our future. We can't wait to have kids!

Matt Maryellen Job Description Employment Lawyer Intellectual Property Lawyer, Future Stay-at-Home Mom Education A.B. in Government & Law & J.D. B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering & J.D. Favorites Animal Horse Animal Parrot Memory with a Child Taking Our Nieces to the Zoo for the Day Memory with a Child Taking Our Nieces & Nephews to the Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade Movie High Noon Movie Star Wars Type of Music Classical Type of Music 80's Pop Music Sports Team Phillies Sports Team Phillies Children None

We are social people and a lot of our leisure time is spent with family and friends. Our house is great for entertaining and we frequently have barbeques and dinners. We also have fun going out to the theatre, movies, art exhibits, and dinner with family and friends. We are fortunate to be able to take vacations to some of our favorite places like New York City, Alaska, Spain and Hawaii. We have also been fortunate enough to travel to other places in the United States and other countries. We love exploring new places and meeting interesting people. When we are at home, we enjoy playing Scrabble and chess together and doing home-improvement projects.

When we are around our nieces and nephews, we love playing with them - digging in the sand, reading books, doing puzzles, throwing balls and playing hide and seek. All of this is great but the best thing is when we see them the next time and we see how much they have grown and advanced. We look forward to watching the child grow and develop, spiritually, intellectually and physically, through the years. We are also looking forward to playing sports and games together. We already intend to plan fun family activities such as visiting the zoo and museums, and taking vacations to national parks, other cities, and the seashore as a family.

We think that a child's education begins on day one. Both of us will be involved in early childhood development by, for example, reading to the child. Since Maryellen will be a stay-at-home mom, we feel that she will have the opportunity to continue to enhance the child’s development through different daily activities. On the weekends we plan to have family adventures, such as hay rides, apple picking, and going to the circus. We will send the child to the local Catholic grade and high schools. We want the child to take piano and swim lessons and other classes according to the child's interests. We will encourage the child to go to college and graduate school, and expect that we will be able to help the child pay for higher education.

Our Alaskan Adventure

All of Maryellen's family get together at the seashore for several weekends every year. We rent a few small boats and take all the kids fishing. It is mostly a contest to catch anything we can and we always make sure that everyone catches something. Rarely the fish are edible, but the more fish and crabs we catch, the more fun it is! After we get back on shore, we spend the rest of the day at the beach and have a big cook out. We swim and catch waves with the older children. We also enjoy taking the children to the boardwalk where we enjoy amusement park rides, playing miniature golf, and eating ice cream.

This year we decided to spend our vacation in Alaska - a place neither of us had ever been. It was unlike anywhere we had visited - a beautiful place. We spent one entire day viewing an enormous glacier. Another day we hiked to a mountaintop outside of a little village to view the surrounding areas. The highlight of the trip was taking a whale-watching boat and seeing over 40 whales, including a group of 15 or so feeding for 30 minutes. The entire time we were having such an active vacation, we kept thinking how wonderful it would be to share these experiences with a child.