Fun traditions in the family include our concord grapes that grow alongside our house. Every year in the fall, we have friends and family over for a day of picking around 75-100 pounds of grapes to be included in pies and juices. Often times harvest day includes a football game and a chili lunch. Our Memorial Day and Labor Day weekend traditions includes going to Scott's family land where family meets to camp, fish, hike, make s'mores, and enjoy each other's company around the campfire.

For gatherings on Lisa's side, it has been a fun tradition to have theme-based birthday parties for our nieces and nephews including dress in your favorite sports theme, red carpet night, rodeo themed and others. We have been known to throw in some contests along the way, for Christmas family members will get crafty and create holiday ornaments and vote on winners. Our family has instilled in us to be grateful and show our appreciation, my sister has passed this along to our nieces and nephews with some of the most special thank you notes and we plan to do the same.

Each day we look for ways to get out and moving, whether that is walking, exercising, biking, or Lisa's newest found interest—paddle boarding. We enjoy having home cooked healthy meals. We enjoy traveling and experiencing different adventures together. However, our favorite times include getting together with family and friends—nothing outranks that!

We work hard in our professions, both having dedicated commitment in our workplaces over a decade for both of us. We are very fortunate that they offer flexible schedules, we have the ability to work remote, and our workplaces value family/life balance.

We enjoy our individual hobby time as well. Over the last year Lisa has helped in her spare time with a women's empowerment group teaching skills to be applied to business, finance, and life decisions through learning a game.

Scott enjoys both watching and working on his golf game as well as watching baseball and football. He also plays a little fantasy football as a great to keep in touch with his college buddies.

Lisa About Scott: I knew Scott was a special guy the moment I met him. To know him is to love him. He has shown me patience, love, loyalty, and kindness day after day and I know he would do the same for any child we welcome in our family. He always accepts me as I am. He has been my rock and best friend. He lightens the mood whenever he's around with his humor and easy-going nature.

Scott About Lisa: What I love most about Lisa is that she always sees the best in people and genuinely cares about all those around her. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body. She has an amazing heart, a gentle soul, and an infectious laugh that you won't forget (especially after coming up with a good pun!). Losing both her parents was obviously a difficult thing for her to go through, but she handled with grace and humility and I know they both would continue to be proud of the woman she is, as am I.

We live in a ranch-style home with three bedrooms and a furnished basement in a residential neighborhood. Our neighborhood is a family oriented area with lots of children and families. In our backyard, we have a giant soccer field that is safe for children to run and play (and Scott to hit golf balls!). The elementary school and high school in our district are just a short walk from our house.

Our community also has many fun activities to participate in year-round including events through the public library, YMCA programs, church, city and county parks, holiday parades and sports activities. A beautiful new community swimming pool has recently been upgraded to now include waterslides. In the summer there are many local festivals to choose from. The county and state fairs are close by where we've enjoyed watching our family and friends show animals at over the years. We also frequent our local farmers market on Saturday mornings which has recently inspired us to start our own garden ... time will tell how well that goes!

We both have been blessed growing up in loving, positive, and supportive families who have given us the best display of love and commitment towards each other and to us. They have enriched our lives with good education, fulfilling life experiences and being incredible role models. We plan on setting that same example.

We are very fortunate that we live nearby to close family and friends. We live in the town where Lisa grew up and we still keep in touch with her best friends from grade school and a group of our college friends that live in the area. They all have children of their own and we consider them our second families. Scott's parents have recently retired and love their new status of full time grandparents. Our nieces and nephews have lit up our lives with their energy and personalities and we enjoy doing many activities with them around town (roller skating, swimming, ice skating, fishing, game nights, Disney shows, plays, circus, zoo, adventure parks, overnight visits). We have been their biggest fans cheering them on for soccer, dance, cross country, and flag football. We cannot wait to share in these experiences with a child of our own.

We appreciate you taking the time to learn about us and get a glimpse into what life is like for us here in Wisconsin! We like to think of ourselves as loving, responsible, caring and funny people and, unless our friends and family have been lying to us, we are not far from accurate here. For two people who generally would rather talk about anything other than themselves, pouring our collective life and heart into these pages has definitely been a new endeavor for us, our motivation is strong and genuine as we cannot wait to become parents.

We were neighbors in college and formally met after Scott mustered up the courage to introduce himself in the library one afternoon. We have now been blessed with eighteen years of marriage. After trying unsuccessfully to conceive, we know that we are meant to build our family through adoption and are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead.

We both came from a stable and loving family and believe we can offer that to your child. We value experiences and memories over possessions and we are so excited to be able to share those with a child as they grow. Scott enjoys watching baseball and football and especially playing golf. Lisa enjoys biking, crafts, and playing cards. Together we play softball and golf, enjoy walks in the neighborhood, movies and traveling!

As adoptive parents, we plan to honor and respect your relationship to your child through open discussions and talking about you and your family. We believe it is important to discuss adoption with a child from an early age. We understand that this is a difficult and emotional time for you and want you to know we would want to be there for you should you need extra support along the way. We are open to sharing in e-mails, phone calls, video calls, and exchanging photos. We are also open to making visit arrangements with you in the future. We will make sure he/she is aware of how much you love them and what a blessing that they are in both of our lives.

We promise to protect and raise the child to the best of our ability in a home filled with joy, kindness, respect, laughter, and acceptance. We will provide them unconditional love, emotional and financial support, a safe and stable home, and a good education. We look forward to watching and supporting them through all the adventures of life, guiding them along the way in an effort to help them grow and succeed into the person they were meant to be. We believe it is important to allow a child to experience a wide variety of activities to help them become a well-rounded person and find what they will enjoy and be passionate about.

Our family and friends are extremely supportive of us pursuing adoption to complete our family and look forward to being a part of our child's life. Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and for considering us as potential adoptive parents for your child. We truly respect and admire your strength for considering adoption and we look forward to being able to get to know you as we navigate this journey together.

Best Wishes,

Scott & Lisa