Renée’s Family at Our Wedding

Renée is originally from New Orleans. Her parents (Tommy and Peggy) and her two brothers (Tommy and Brian) still live in Louisiana. Tommy is married to Melissa and they have 2 daughters, Sara (16) and Samantha (12). Brian is divorced with 2 daughters, Jaci (18) and Jodi (16). Both brothers and all 4 nieces were in our wedding. In addition to her immediate family, Renée has an enormous extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins, and even family friends who are all considered part of the family. Even though we are a distance apart from them, we keep in constant touch through numerous phone calls each week. Since adopting Elizabeth, we visited Renée's family at least 4 times this past year. This has allowed us to be strongly connected to both sets of families and provides a very large and loving extended family.

Birthdays and holidays are events cherished by our family. Although we can not always be with our Louisiana family for these events, we still participate through phone calls and gifts. Elizabeth's first birthday party was an event including 45 friends and family members. Renée's family adores Elizabeth and is very excited about our decision to seek adoption again for her sibling.

Larry’s Family during the Holidays

We spend many holidays like July 4th and our annual Labor Day BBQ with our friends and families eating hamburgers and hot dogs and playing croquet. When we are fortunate to be able to travel to Louisiana for holidays, family gatherings are just as festive but include New Orleans food specialties like red beans and jambalaya. We feel extremely blessed to have such a variety of friends and family.

Larry’s mother (Renee), brother (Paul), and grandmother (Bessie) all live within a half hour from us. We are close to Larry's family and see them regularly. Paul is married to Rhea and they have 2 children, Evan (7) and Jordan (4). Evan was the ring bearer at our wedding. He seemed to hit it off with one of Renée's cousins of the same age. It was very cute seeing them "dance" together. Evan is constantly asking Larry's brother when he can sleep over at Uncle Larry's house again. Both boys enjoy playing in our yard, playing with our cats and especially baking cookies with Aunt Renée. While both boys love Elizabeth, Jordan especially loves to play and share his toys with her. Larry also has cousins in the area and we always look forward to family gatherings. Larry's family adores Elizabeth and is very excited about our decision to seek adoption again.

Our Home

We are fortunate to have a nice home that is large enough to grow our family. We bought this house especially with children in mind. We enjoy decorating and renovating it together. We have worked hard at making our home a place that your child will love to grow up in. Our backyard is like a park, complete with fishpond, gazebo and gardens that Larry loves taking care of. Nature is truly right outside our door with deer, bunnies, birds, and groundhogs often seen in the yard. Inside we have a full finished basement which has become an entertainment and play room for the family to enjoy together.

Our Backyard

Our community is family oriented with some of the top-rated schools in the country. We live within 2 miles of all schools and the bus stops just in front of our house. We live very close to church, parks (playgrounds), and libraries making it an ideal spot to raise children. Our town also is home to numerous hiking/biking trails, and areas that provide swimming, track and field, and sporting activities. Many neighbors have young children and look forward to us adding another one to the neighborhood.