Dear Birth Parent(s),

For thousands of years, the Chinese and Japanese have used a symbol of a mother holding her child to mean the word "Love". They saw the unique and special significance of this passionate bond. Similarly, we respect the deep love you must feel for your child. We are honored that you might consider entrusting the future of your child with us.

We have three daughters and one son. Two came to us from China and two from Guatemala. The beauty of children is that they love unconditionally. No matter where they were born, they all possess the need for trust, love and confidence. We embrace cultural and ethnic diversity as normal characteristics of our daily lives. If selected to raise your child, you can be assured that your child would be equally loved and celebrated.

Our daughters all enjoy dressing up as princesses; prancing around the house in the most layers of dress-up clothes possible. Our son is a typical boy - into dinosaurs, cars and mud. If you choose us, your child will be right in the middle of all this - adored by new friends all wanting to play dress-up, tea party, or dinosaurs, cars and (heaven forbid) mud.

We offer a very stable home; having been married for 17 wonderful years. We both work from home, so our schedules are very flexible. We chose this work arrangement so that at least one of us is always available to our children during work hours. We understand others may need to rely upon daycare. However, we made life decisions that put the development and direct support of our children at the very front of our priorities. For example, we begin every day with phonics lessons and exercise to stimulate both the body and mind. While one of us is working, the other may take our children to a playground or playgroup or push them on the swing set in our backyard. Additionally, we both set aside 30 minutes every day for "one on one" time with each of our children. This, our coaching approach to child development, has proven quite successful - our oldest daughter earned straight "A's" all year and our two pre-schoolers are reading at the kindergarten level. We are frequently complimented on how well behaved, kind and considerate our children are.

We have many family traditions; here are a few that we enjoy. We give thanks to God at every meal and at bedtime; remembering to bless each of our immediate and extended family members. During dinner, we play the "Favorite Thing” game where each of us has a turn at sharing with everyone what his/her one "favorite" and one "fun" thing was that day. Once a week, we have "Pizza & Movie Night" where we eat pizza while watching one of our DVDs in the living room.

We all love adventures. With each adoption, the whole family travels together so that the new family member gets comfortable with us right away. Doing so reinforces the family bonds we have with our children while exposing them to new cultures, sites and events. We encourage our children to be good global citizens wherever we go; treating everyone with the same degree of respect and courtesy that we prefer for ourselves.

In summary, we are well versed in the concerns and realities of the adoption process and environment. Your feelings and thoughts are very important to us. We would encourage the frequent sharing of information, via American Adoptions, if you decide to place your child with us. Whichever path you choose, please know that our thoughts and prayers are with you at this significant time in your life.

With kind regards,

Bob & Lisa