Thank you for taking the time to view our profile and get a glimpse of the life that we have to offer. We would be honored to share our life and love with your child. May you feel peace and comfort in knowing you are making the right decision for yourself and your child.

Andy Carol Job Description Education Program Coordinator for an Art Museum Serials Coordinator/Interlibrary Loan Assistant in a College Library Education BA in Art, Currently Working on Master's in Public Administration BA in Sociology, Minor in Multi-Cultural Studies Favorites Childhood Memory Family Vacations Childhood Memory Ice Skating Family Activity Biking Family Activity Sledding Hobby Painting & Drawing Hobby Shopping Movie The Life Aquatic Movie Little Miss Sunshine Type of Music Indie Rock Type of Music Indie Rock Children Leighton-2 years old

Prior to getting married we had reason to believe that we may not be able to conceive a child on our own so we had discussed the idea of adoption. When we decided we were ready to have children and found that our suspicions of infertility were right, it was a very easy decision for us to build our family through adoption.

In 2005 our dream of adopting became a reality when we were blessed with our son, Leighton. We feel so lucky every day that we are his parents. He is the love of our life.

We are so grateful to Leighton's birth family for giving us the opportunity to become parents. Through our semi-open adoption we were able to meet Leighton's birthparents prior to placement and have maintained relationships with his birthparents and extended birth family. We are very open with Leighton about his adoption and he knows just who his birth mom is every time he sees her.

Art and education are two things that we value as being an important part of our lives. We both have Bachelor of Arts degrees and Andy is currently working on his Master's Degree. Our son, Leighton, just started in the preschool room at his daycare and is so proud that he has his very own backpack and goes to school like big kids do. Carol loves that she's able to work in the library at one of the local colleges. It's a perfect fit for her.

As an artist himself, Andy has exposed our family to the art world, which we just love. We try to visit as many art museums and galleries as we can. We're always really proud when those galleries have Andy's paintings in them, which they have a few times now. Leighton likes art too - anything from sculpting with Play-Doh to painting. Our home is filled with Andy and Leighton's artwork. Andy is also very lucky to have a job so closely tied to his passions. He works at a local art museum organizing their educational programs.

We hope that our children will grow up to value art and education as we do.

Andy with Our Dogs

We always make the most of our free time by having fun together as a family. We love spending time outdoors playing at the park, watching a ball game, walking the dogs or going for bike rides. Of course there is always plenty of fun to be had indoors too - inviting friends and family over for dinner, playing games or snuggling up on the couch for family movie night.

We enjoy living in an area where we get to experience the true fun of all four seasons. Springtime is perfect for playing in rain puddles. Summer is fun for BBQ's and swimming at the pool and of course the best part of fall is jumping in leaf piles. We take advantage of our snow covered winters by sledding, ice-skating and making snowmen.

We enjoy doing things together as a couple and look forward to our monthly date night. Our ideal night out would be dinner followed by a concert.

Traveling is one of our favorite things to do as a family. Whether it's driving a few hours to visit family or taking a plane half way across the country, we're always up for the adventure. Together we have been to eight states and Leighton has been with us now in four. We plan to make a tradition out of visiting at least one state each year and our ultimate goal is to see all 50 states.

There are so many things we like to see and do when we travel. We like to visit state and national parks taking in the beautiful scenery in each state. We also enjoy spending time in a larger city in each state we visit to absorb some of the arts and culture of the area. It's always fun to visit cafes, museums and shops that are unique to the area we are visiting.