Visiting Damian's Family
for Thanksgiving

Damian is an only child. He was raised by a single mother after his parents divorced. He has a large extended Italian family that includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Texas as well as other family in New York. Each family gathering includes a lot of Italian foods since the family takes great pride in their Italian heritage. Fond memories of family include helping his grandfather make and sell square donuts at the family bakery and licking the cake batter out of his grandmother's cooking bowls.

Other wonderful memories include trips with his mom, camping with family, and birthday adventures with his old buddy and adopted mother, Rose. They share the same birthday. We moved closer to Rose two years ago and recently bought a house together. Living with Rose has been a lot of fun! Rose is excited about being a grandmother. She looks forward to introducing a child to all the wonderful things in the world and seeing a child's delight as he or she explores things for the first time.

Some of Damian, Amy, and Rose's favorite activities are walking the dogs, attending church together, and family cookouts.

On a Trip to Pennsylvania
with Amy's Family

Amy is the second of three children. She has an older sister and a younger brother. Her older sister is married and has a daughter and a son. Her brother is attending college and will be graduating in May 2008.

Amy's family values togetherness. When she was growing up her parents made sure that the family ate together each night. Every summer the family would take a two day car ride to Pennsylvania to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. These car trips were filled with fun memories and adventures. Her parents would find fun stops to see along the way. She thinks that she has seen everywhere that President Lincoln ever went and many school reports benefited from these side stops.

Togetherness is still a priority; however, it is a little different now. Amy's mother lives a few hours away and visits often. She is very eager to have another grandchild and can't wait to start creating so many fun memories with him or her. Amy's father passed away suddenly in 2003. Since his passing the family has pulled together and has become even closer. Amy, her mother, and her siblings, try to get together as much as possible. When they get together they usually eat, talk, and do an activity. Last summer they all went to a water park and at Christmas they all got together and rode the train to the city for a fun afternoon. This summer the family plans on going to New York!

In Our Front Yard with Happy and Toby

We live in a two story brick home on a quiet street in Texas. We have four bedrooms downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs. Rose has the upstairs to herself, while we have the downstairs. We have a game room that is Damian's pride and joy. It contains a dart-board, Pac Man machine, and other games. We keep a toy box full of toys for when kids come over, and we have a variety of outside toys. The Slip N Slide is Amy's favorite, and the ping pong table in the garage is Damian's favorite.

The Park at the End of Our Street

At the end of our street is a paved walking trail. Along the trail is a creek that our dogs, Happy and Toby, can swim in, and there is a playground for children. There are always people walking or riding bikes in our neighborhood, as well as children playing at the park. There are several children that live on the street and schools and churches are located nearby.

We live within an easy drive to two large cities that have varied activities, like a science and history museum, aquarium, water parks, professional sports teams, dog parks, and amusement parks. Sometimes we ride the train to the city for a fun day.