Alana and Franklin’s Parents

Your child will not only have our unconditional love and attention, but also the love and support of siblings and a large extended family.

Alana’s parents live a few miles from us in a neighboring town. Her parents are retired and enjoy spending time with their grandchildren and traveling. Our sons love having their grandparents so close. We see them on a weekly basis and Alana and her mother speak daily. Alana's parents are happily married for over forty years. Alana's brother and his family live about an hour drive from us. We see them at family events and visits at each other's houses.

Our Extended Family

Franklin is the youngest of three children. His two sisters are married and have two and three children each. Franklin's parents and his sisters live in North Carolina. We spend a week each summer with Franklin's family at their beach house and Christmas week in North Carolina with his family. His sisters and parents also visit us each year. We also stay close with daily e-mails and frequent phone calls. Franklin's parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

Both of our extended families are very excited about our adoption plans and have supported us through out the process. We are also friends with several families that have adopted children of different races and provide great support for our adoption and will continue to do so.

Our Home

We live in a small town in New Jersey that is a short drive from both the New Jersey shore and New York City. Our town is very child oriented - with a combination of safety, community and a highly acclaimed school district. Our neighborhood includes African-American, Asian and Hispanic families and families created through adoption. Our street is quiet, with sidewalks and large trees. Our children can walk to school. We are also walking distance from our town library and town water park, which includes water slides, pools, and a long lazy river.

Our Back Yard

Our house has four bedrooms upstairs, a living room, family room, dining room and three bathrooms. We are in the process renovating our basement to include a large play area for the kids and an office.

There is never a lack of activities to do. Our town offers sports leagues, running races, a county fair and a wonderful library with lots of children's programs. We have a wonderful back yard with a two-level fort and swing set, plenty of space to run and tall trees for climbing. In December, Santa rides on a fire truck through our neighborhood throwing candy to the children. We are also a few miles from a large university, shopping and restaurants.