We met in the university dorms when we were only 18 years old! We were both students at the University of Washington and had both moved away from our childhood homes for our freshman year. We were in the same circle of friends that gathered for study groups, weekend fun, and Sunday dinners. Because most of our friends had also moved from faraway places, we all became very close friends and surrogate family.

After graduating, each of us took very different paths after our college studies. We wanted to travel the world, live in different places (Australia, New Zealand, Guam, Argentina), and try new things. But we kept tabs on each other through one of our close friends and reunited in 2010. That's when we started dating and we married in 2014. Our wedding was a reunion of the same circle of friends that had been so close back when we were students. It was so much fun to have everyone back together and celebrating with our families in a beautiful backyard wedding. We always knew we wanted to be parents and made extensive plans before we got married. However, we did not foresee that there would be some challenges to overcome in building our family. One of our past struggles has been a health issue that prevented successful pregnancies and that created many difficulties. But we have learned that the heartache of loss – and all life challenges – can be overcome with uncompromising love. This is a key lesson that we carry with us on our path to parenthood through adoption.

Caring for others, including animals, has become an important part of our lives. We built our small family by embracing opportunities when there was a need for a loving home. Today, our family now includes two playful rescue dogs (Targy and Rooroo), our two handsome toads (Gumbo and Bisque), and a very curious turtle (Crumpet).

Our dogs, Targy and Rooroo, needed homes and came into our lives as puppies. Targy was a small black puppy that we brought home from the pound. To our surprise, he grew up to become a gentle giant! While he can sometimes be very stubborn, he is sweet, gentle, and loves lounge around in the sunshine. Rooroo is playful and affectionate. Unless he is pestering Targy, he will follow us around the house, hoping for a yummy treat.

Our other, more unusual pets were also rescued. A few years ago, Jamie brought home two injured toadlets. She was confident that all they needed was a safe home, time to heal, and some loving care. While people don’t always appreciate small creatures, Patrick agreed that we should take them in, and he quickly fell in love with the two handsome toads. They healed, grew, and became members of our family! Today, our family might be a bit odd but we adore all of our pets, big and small, and know our lives are fuller because of them.

We are both passionate about education and deeply committed to idea of life-long learning. We consider ourselves lucky to come from a family of educators where our own learning was a primary focus of both of our parents as we were growing up. In fact, our parents spent at least part of their careers in a field of education. And we are carrying on that tradition! Currently, Jamie is a university professor and works with students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate school levels. Her specialty is in teaching biology and other science related fields, but she also teaches topics in research and communication. Patrick holds certifications for teaching flying and aviation and began his career as a flight instructor. In addition, we are both value learning that happens outside of a traditional classroom.

We are equally invested in teaching life skills, which can include all kinds of additional practical experiences and know-how and extracurricular activities. We are both committed to creating an environment where our children will appreciate and enjoy the process of learning.

With family, it is the unconditional love that binds the beautiful parts of life together and makes all things possible. We are extremely close with our family and friends and – even if some live different states or countries – they form the bedrock of our lives. While our closest family friends live within walking distance, we also regularly travel to spend quality time with our parents, siblings, and extended family across the country and overseas. For example, Patrick’s extended family lives in Thailand and we have all journeyed across the pacific to enjoy time with our Thai family members. The occasions to be physically present with family are jam-packed with games, like Uno or playing soccer, goofing around and trying out our best bad jokes (we have a calendar of "wise cracks"), and, of course, we are constantly surrounded by the aromas and tastes of delicious food (Patrick's mom and aunties are amazing Thai cooks and Jamie's dad has a tradition of making pasta from scratch).

Our friends and family are eager to be actively involved in raising our child, especially our own parents who will likely relocate to be actively involved in their childhood. We are confident that, near or far, our children will be absolutely drenched in love, not just by us, but also by our community of friends and family here at home and around the world.

Nevada - We live in Reno, a short distance from beautiful Lake Tahoe. It is a lovely small city, nestled at the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. From our home, it is a reasonably short drive to beautiful destinations like Yosemite National Park, the California Redwoods, and San Francisco. Due to its location close to the mountains, we spend a lot of time out exploring trails, snow skiing, fishing, and camping. For our daily routine we walk along the river where our dogs can run, chase sticks, and swim.

Our neighborhood is extremely family- friendly, often buzzing with activity, with neighbors out on front lawns, with kids turning cartwheels or playing hide- and-seek. On an average day, most of the neighborhood kids walk to school and to the nearby park that is located just beside the Truckee River. The park has a playground, lots of grassy hills and trees, all of which are perfect for monkey bar swinging, log- rolling, and tree climbing.

In the summertime, the park is a gathering place for a weekly event called “Food truck Friday”, which attracts tons of families with kids. Since the park is right by the river, kids play in the water, skip stones, and tube down small rapids. Also, the holidays are especially fun! There is parade-like atmosphere at Halloween, and at Christmas time, the streets are full of lights, with Santa and reindeer decorations.

Thank you for taking a moment to read about us. We can only imagine that this is an incredibly challenging time for you and your family. We want to promise and reassure you that our family and home can provide a place of steadfast and unconditional love. Here are a few more details to give you a sense of who we are and what we are looking forward to most on our journey to becoming parents.

Jamie has always been motivated by a love of living things. She is a wildlife biologist at heart, although her professional title is “Professor” or “Ecologist”. She truly loves all animals, even small creatures like frogs and toads, and she is strongly devoted to her conservation work. She is passionate about teaching her students, particularly in her mentoring for girls and young women interested in science. Her work blends very well with her other life interests. She is an enthusiastic outdoor adventurer and loves to be outside, camping, hiking, biking, stargazing, and bird watching. She is also an expert tent pitcher, camp cook, marshmallow toaster, and campfire storyteller.

Patrick is unfailingly the friendliest guy in the room. He is accepting, respectful, and engaging with all people. He followed his childhood dream to become a pilot and fly airplanes. He is now a pilot for United Airlines and so happy in his career in aviation. Patrick is also a talented and patient teacher who wants to share his knowledge with young ones. Not only as a flight instructor with new pilots, he is also a great coach and teacher for swimming, soccer, tennis, fly fishing, cooking, and traveling. He believes that life should be fun, and he ensures that there is lots of fun and laughter in our lives.

Together, and with our extended family, friends, and beloved pets, we are a fun-loving, adventurous family. Our personalities and life’s passions are very complementary. Jamie is hard-working but also completely devoted to family and friends, dependable, and can be quite silly (often a total goof ball). Patrick is serious, especially while flying, but also loyal, loving, with a great sense of humor. We share an enthusiasm for exploration, learning, and a love of living things.

We have big adventures planned for our family. We dream that our children will spend time outside playing, camping, riding bikes, getting wonderfully dirty, and exploring the great outdoors. We also expect we will take our children to travel around the world. We imagine that they will hear unfamiliar languages, taste new foods, and see breath-taking sites.

We are deeply committed to nurturing children’s sense of curiosity, love of learning, and joy of discovery. Caring for others has become a unifying and enriching part of our lives. We promise that our family will always be a place of unwavering love, not only love from us as parents, but also from grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and our community of friends here at home and around the world.

We will always embrace opportunities to build relationships. In addition to sending letters and pictures, we welcome additional contact, such as exchanging emails, texts and phone calls, and future visits. We realize this is a challenging time and we deeply appreciate your time, energy, and consideration. We are leaning into these comforting words: “whether or not it is clear, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should” (from The Desiderata). We wish you and your family big and unending love.

Sincerely,

Patrick & Jamie