We are lucky to share a relationship that is grounded in shared values and mutual respect for one another, which has enabled us to create a loving home in which we hope to grow our family.

Zachary admires Kevin's deep sense of curiosity about the world, his ability to be playful and nurturing with children, his charismatic sense of humor, and his thoughtful, responsible nature. Most of all, he appreciates Kevin's willingness to be helpful to those around him – always the first to clean up after a family meal or offer to run errands for his parents when we are visiting. His selflessness is genuine and very rare, and it is a central part of what makes Kevin such a warm and generous individual.

Kevin appreciates that Zachary's professional life has always been focused on serving others and making people's lives better, and that he is kind to all and never speaks poorly of anyone. He is very creative, has boundless energy, and is funny and witty. He is curious about the world and is always genuinely interested in others. His family and friends are very important to him, he prioritizes making time for those in his life important to him. Zachary has the confidence to do what he believes is right, even when others might not agree or approve. To Kevin, this makes Zachary an incredible person.

Celebrating traditions with friends and family is an important part of our lives. Each January, we throw a joint birthday party for Zachary and six of our friends (who happen to have birthdays within a couple of weeks of one another). Though the nature of the celebration changes every year, it is an opportunity to celebrate friendship and bring light to our lives in the coldest part of the year here in D.C.

In D.C., the Cherry Blossom Festival is a community tradition that welcomes springtime. We live a short bike ride from the Tidal Basin, where the trees turn cotton-candy pink during the season, the whole city comes together to celebrate with cherry-blossom themed sweets, and friends come to town to see the trees.

Memorial Day serves as family reunion weekend in Indianapolis with Kevin's family, and includes a visit to the Indianapolis 500 race, a tradition that has been in his family for generations. Each Labor Day weekend we visit Zachary's family in Rhode Island for the annual Portuguese American festival.

Kevin's favorite Christmas activity is decorating our home with colorful Christmas lights, which we do together on Thanksgiving weekend. We open our home to friends and family throughout the holiday season for game nights and dinners – it is an opportunity for Zachary to practice his baking skills and share holiday treats with others. Christmas day is filled with food and family traditions like writing and acting out plays in which everyone has a part.

We have known since early in our relationship that adoption was a path that we hoped to pursue to grow our family. This is an important reason why we have decided to make Washington, D.C. our home, as it is a culturally and racially diverse city with great public education, an incredible network of community organizations that make the arts accessible to youth, and boasts a ton of public parks and playgrounds within walking distance throughout the city.

Regardless of the race of our child, raising them in a city that provides them access to traditions from different cultures – such as food, art, and history – is an important value for our family. If we were, however, to have the opportunity raise a child who is a different race than us, living in D.C. offers us the chance to ensure that our child would be raised in a community of people that share their racial identity, and also allow us to connect our child to the cultural traditions of their birth family's racial identity. Living in D.C. means that we have access to doctors, teachers, and neighbors that would share our child's racial identity, that they would be enrolled in classrooms and early childhood programs that reflect the diversity of our city, and that they would see themselves reflected in its many museums. This, among many others, is an important reason why we are so proud to call Washington, D.C. our home.

Our home is in a sunny, tree-filled neighborhood in Washington, D.C. We're a short 10-minute walk from our local elementary school, which is on the same block as a city playground that includes a kickball field and two jungle gyms – for children and toddlers – that are filled with neighborhood kids. On Saturdays, there is a farmers market that sells locally-grown produce and flowers, and during the fall there is an arts festival.

Across the street from the elementary school is a 100-year-old neighborhood corner store that sells groceries, includes an ice cream shop that the elementary school kids visit after school, sells Christmas trees during the holidays, and has a small preschool next door. Nearby there is a bustling main street with coffeeshops, a toy store, a library, and a locally-owned produce store. Busses run regularly down the main street and take us into downtown D.C., where we can visit the monuments and museums along the National Mall.

Our home is a bright, cozy house on the corner of two quiet streets. We have a backyard that has plenty of room for a future swing set. Our block includes many young families with children who attend the local elementary school. Our favorite room in our home is the enclosed porch, which is filled with sun year-round and is often where we eat dinner. It's the perfect spot to watch the flowers bloom or the leaves change and say hello to the neighbors as they pass by.

Our vibrant community of family and friends is a gift that we look forward to sharing with our child.

Zachary's large extended family lives in Rhode Island, and visits home involve a lot of activity. Afternoons at the local beach, baking a new recipe with Zachary's mom, watching Disney movies with our niece and nephew, and ending the evening with banana splits are all typical of our visits.

Visits to Kevin's family in Indiana are similarly full of quality time. We spend afternoons crafting with our niece and nephew, visiting the children's museum where Kevin's sister volunteers, watching classic movie marathons with Kevin's mom, and trying out new coffee shops.

In both cases, we prioritize spending holidays, birthdays, and other life milestones with our families and are grateful that they are both just a half-day drive away. Also in both cases, we leave each visit having eaten way too many sweets.

We are lucky to have good friends who live all over the world, but many of our closest loved ones, including Kevin's twin brother and his wife, live right here in D.C. Several of our friends here have young children, both biological and adopted. Time with them includes making dinner at each other's homes, attending school plays, and creating meaningful traditions such as our New Year's Day potluck and February weekend trips to the mountains.

It means so much to us that we have the opportunity to share who we are with you; thank you for taking the time to learn about our family as you consider the best home for your child. We know there is so much uncertainty in the adoption process, and while we can't predict the future, we can assure you of one certainty: that we are ready to offer your child the love, happiness, and stability that will allow them to grow up and create a future that is defined by fulfillment and joy. Above all, we are committed to raising a child who knows how deeply they are loved by their birth mother, by us, and by our diverse extended family who will be meaningful members of their community. We consider this - that they are uniquely loved - to be the first and most important lesson we will teach them.

Family is what makes our lives so rich. To us, family means the siblings, cousins, grandparents, parents, and extended members who are active parts of our life; it also means the many close friends and loved ones who serve as our community near and far. Our life is filled with celebrations and traditions with those around us: birthday parties and potluck dinners, trips to the beach, afternoons spent crafting with our nieces and nephews, or weekends cooking with our parents during one of our many visits home. Our child will know the support, love, and sense of imagination that our loved ones bring to our lives - we can't wait to share our families and traditions with our child, and for our child to create new traditions with them.

We live in Washington, D.C., in a neighborhood with friendly neighbors and lots of children, an elementary school that is just three blocks away, and a national park at the end of our street that is perfect for weekend bike rides with kids. Zachary works in education; having run early childhood classes and after-school programs in the community for the past ten years, he knows firsthand the many educational resources that our city has to offer, and we are eager for our child to be part of the diverse, vibrant learning communities that make D.C. such a special place to grow up.

We have been together for nine years and have been married since 2019. Two years ago, we moved into our home - a sun-filled, yellow house on a quiet corner with a big backyard and a bright upstairs playroom. It has been a labor of love to learn how to renovate it with the goal of making this the perfect home in which to raise our family, a home that provides a child with the space to be creative, playful, and feel safe.

One of the reasons we have chosen to pursue adoption through American Adoptions is because we hope to have the option to know our adopted child's birth parents. We will honor your level of comfort regarding communication, but in addition to sharing letters and pictures of your child's life, we are very open to email exchanges and future visits with you, should that be something you chose. We are looking forward to ensuring that you know - in whatever way is most meaningful to you - that your child is loved and cared for as they grow.

Thank you again for taking the time to read a little bit about us. We hope to get to know you through this process, but regardless, we wish you well on your adoption journey and know that you will find the right path.

Kevin & Zachary