With Family, Releasing Red Balloons in Honor of Parker's Birthmother in China

We have a very close relationship with our family members - they are not just family but our friends, counselors and support system. Some live nearby and some live across the globe, but despite location, we are a tight knit family.

Sebastian’s family is spread throughout Europe, mainly in Germany and Holland. We don't get to see them as much as we'd like, but visit as often as we can and speak several times a week. Sebastian is the oldest of two boys and his family still lives in the tiny town outside of Cologne, Germany where he grew up. There are only eleven houses in the town and the landscape looks like a beautiful scenic painting. His family home was built in the 1870's and is quaint with lots of history. Everyone always gets a good laugh when we visit because the house was not built with tall people in mind; Sebastian is 6'5" and he has to stoop down to get through the front door. Although most of the house is very comfortable for him, his head hits the ceiling in the kitchen; his mother says it kept him out of her way while she was cooking meals when he lived at home.

At the Pumpkin Patch in Northern Arizona with Family

Kimberly is the oldest of two; her younger brother joined their family through adoption. She also has a stepsister who is adopted from Korea. With adoption being such a positive part of her family, it was a natural decision for us to choose adoption to form our family. Her parents live in a neighboring city and we see them on a regular basis. Kimberly and Parker will meet up with Grandma and Grandpa during the week to visit the zoo, shop at the nearby outlet mall or go to the water park for some cooling off during the hot Arizona summer.

When talking about family, we want to be sure and include our close friends that we consider family - we always say that friends are the family you choose. Our close circle of friends are there to support each other, celebrate the victories and console the defeats. They are included in all of our celebrations whether it be holidays, birthdays and even vacations! We are so thankful to have them as part of our lives.

Everyone is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newest family member… there will never be a shortage of hugs and kisses! Our parents can't wait to become grandparents for the second time and we are getting prepared for the constant stream of visitors who plan to fly to Arizona and stay with us once our second adoption is complete - a new baby is certainly something to celebrate!

Our Home in the Beautiful Arizona Desert

We live in a large 4 bedroom home in a beautiful gated community which backs up to the desert mountain preserve. We enjoy taking nature walks on the trails and paths just outside our front door. Our community is surrounded by several community pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, fantastic playgrounds and top rated schools. We have made many friends in our neighborhood and Kimberly enjoys meeting up during the week with other stay-at-home-moms and their kids for play dates.

At Our Community Easter Egg Hunt

Our community is family oriented and always has an array of activities planned. Our favorite is the annual Easter egg hunt with over 600 children participating. The event includes a pancake breakfast, pony rides, petting zoo, carnival games, hot air balloon rides and of course, the famous Easter egg hunt. For two years in a row, Kimberly has practiced with Parker to perfect his egg locating skills a few days before the hunt which really gets him excited for the event. Our community also hosts Breakfast with Santa, outdoor movies on a big screen by the community pool, Mother/Son and Father/Daughter Valentines Day Dances as well as shipping in tons of snow in February (enough to fill a soccer field) so the Arizona kids get a chance to make snow angels and participate in snowball fights. We also have a monthly calendar full of children's classes and activities which include soccer, cheerleading, tennis, golf and swimming lessons, arts and crafts, dancing and gymnastics.

We are grateful to live in a diverse neighborhood with several families formed through adoption. We are especially thrilled that many of these families are biracial/bicultural so there are other families that resemble ours. We know this is the right place for us to live because our children will make friends whose families are unique like ours - these are the kids they will be going to school with, playing soccer with, taking dance classes or golf lessons with and so much more. In our community, adoption is seen as another wonderful way to form a family.