We live a relaxed lifestyle with lower stress and positive energy. We try to move through life at a slower pace in order to more fully enjoy life experiences and avoid life passing us by unknowingly.

We are both hard workers, devoted to each other and family, putting our best foot forward in all we do. We love to balance our life through travel to different places for some rest, relaxation, adventure and fun. We have gone with friends on golfing trips in Hilton Head Island and hiking/ fly fishing in NC, attended archery competitions in Alabama, and Charlie has gone on annual Salmon Fishing trips with college friends in Michigan. One of our favorite trips was with Stephanie's sister and brother-in- law to Portugal, where Stephanie's maternal grandfather and his family were from and some still live. Our absolute favorite place is St. John, USVI. We enjoy the peace and serenity of the island, hiking trails, preserved sugar mills, snorkeling, and deep sea fishing.

When we are at home, we enjoy playing with our cats, and doing outdoor activities together and with family and friends when they are in town visiting. Activities usually include hiking, exploring new areas including parks and playgrounds, golfing, basketball, tennis, bicycling, fishing, boating, and card/board games.

First and foremost, we want our child to be happy, healthy, and loved. We dream that our child will have a wonderful childhood like we both had, filled with fun and happy memories and a strong sense of family. We want to give our child the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to fully explore and experience everything this life has to offer. Seeing a child experience success in his/her aspirations and pursue his/her true passions in life is always a dream come true for parents.

We hope this child will feel the love and support from both of us, all of our extended families and friends, and you throughout his/her life. We pray our child will know, understand and appreciate how lucky he/she is to have so many people involved and invested in his/her livelihood and successes. We dream our child will become resilient and independent as an adult, but always knows that we are all here for him/her at anytime under any circumstance, positive or challenging. We hope this child grows into an intelligent, loving, caring adult, who finds his/her passions in life and soulmate just as we have found ours, maybe even starting his/her own family to enjoy the experience of being parents him/herself as well.

Becoming parents is something we have always known we wanted to experience in life - to share our lives, home, and unconditional love will be truly special and allow us to complete our family unit. When we decided the time was right, we started discussing what our hearts were telling us - that the perfect child for us was going to be yours.

Starting a family is a very personal decision, and after much spiritual contemplation, self reflection, research on adoption including hearing adoption stories, and discussing our thoughts and feelings regarding potential routes for expanding our family, we both felt strongly that adoption was our calling and the clear path for us. We feel that adoption will be the most rewarding and fulfilling experience of our lives and both know that we will love this child more than we ever thought possible. It is a privilege and an honor to have the opportunity to be a part of something greater than ourselves. Beginning this adoption journey with you simply feels natural to us.

We know this will be a very special story for an amazing child! We cannot wait to build our relationship and share this journey with you! We also know this will be an opportunity to help you in your own life journey, which is another blessing. Words cannot express how much excitement we feel when thinking about raising this child, and all the wonderful moments that lie ahead.

We are blessed to both have extended families whom we love and with whom we engage in active relationships. Stephanie is very close to her parents and we are fortunate to have them both living within the same household. Stephanie has an older brother (Ohio), an older sister (Indiana), and a younger sister (NY), and we also have nieces and nephews. Although Stephanie’s siblings/families do not live locally, we remain in touch regularly and always make time for visits. Even though Charlie is an only child, he is very close to his paternal cousins. They see each other throughout the year when attending Indiana football/basketball games, reunions, and weekend visits. Charlie has family members in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and Colorado, allowing travel to many different places.

Our family has cultural diversity with Stephanie's maternal grandparents and great grandparents being from Italy and Portugal, our brother-in-law from India, and our niece and nephews of Caucasian-Hispanic descent. We embrace those differences within our family as well as those of other cultures. Our family has always shared their belief that we would be amazing parents, and as we have told them about our adoption plans, their enthusiasm and joy has been obvious. We all cannot wait to welcome this child into our family!

Kentucky - Our home was built in 2017 on 15 acres and was designed as two homes in one with each level being a complete living space, the perfect floor plan for us and Stephanie's parents.

Our home has six bedrooms, three bathrooms, two family rooms, two kitchens, and great outdoor space. In fact, our favorite room is the screened-in porch.

We have a large yard excellent for playing, including a playset with swings and slide, basketball hoop, and trampoline, as well as ample space for multiple other sports. We also have future plans to install a swimming pool on the back side of the house.

We live in a rural community in Kentucky that has a wonderful small town feel, perfect for raising a family. We have neighbors with younger children who your child will get to know. The local school district is well rated with a new elementary school currently under construction that your child would attend.

Thank you for taking the time to read more about who we are as a couple and a family. We hope that learning more about us will help allay any fears you have as you consider adoption for your child. We know that this decision is not one to be made quickly or lightly, and may be the most difficult decision of your life. We admire your strength and courage in making this difficult decision. Our prayers are with you and your child during this time and throughout this journey.

We met in college 20 years ago through a close, mutual friend, and have been together ever since. We have been married a wonderful 14.5 years and share a very close and meaningful relationship. We are truly blessed to have found our soul mate and best friend. We have spent the initial years of our marriage traveling together to new places and exploring new things, learning new things from each other, enjoying many outdoor activities together, enjoying time with family and friends, and establishing our careers. Stephanie has always been passionate about helping others and has found her calling in the field of physical therapy, specifically with the geriatric population for rehabilitation to home after hospitalization and maintaining quality of life in later stages. She is very compassionate and caring towards her clients, treating them as if they are family. Charlie's greatest passion has always been aviation and he has finally found his dream job at a regional airport, fulfilling his career aspirations. We love our life together and want to experience all this world has to offer, including being parents.

Although we have no children, we have been blessed with nieces and nephews whom we love as if they are our own. We have had many experiences taking care of and helping raise them, which has further solidified our desire to become parents ourselves. We have considered all options for expanding our family. With God's guidance through prayer, spiritual contemplation, signs from above through the arrival of our hummingbirds, and many deep conversations, we came to the conclusion that adoption is the clear path for us to grow our family unit. Adoption will be an amazing journey to help us share our life and love with a child, filling the empty spaces in our hearts. As we have shared our decision to adopt with family and close friends, they have been nothing but supportive and expressed their excitement for us and of having another child in the family.

Please know how important it is to us that we fulfill all of your hopes and dreams for this child. We assure you that your child will be loved unconditionally and be the joy of our life. We promise to give your child a safe and loving home, lead by example to foster Christian beliefs with good morals/values and work ethic, and provide a good education and every opportunity/experience possible to develop this child's strengths in order to help him/her to reach his/her full potential. We promise to teach your child his/her adoption story in an open and honest way.

We’d like to get to know you and for your child to know his/her biological family in addition to ours. We promise to make you a part of our extended family - you are important to us and we invite your continued interest in your child's life. We want to develop and maintain a healthy relationship with you and are happy to send letters and email updates with pictures and stories of your child's growth, milestones, and life experiences, and make arrangements for visits together. We will emphasize to your child how much you love him/her and how selfless you have been in the decision you have made for him/her.

We want you to know your child will be our everything. It is hard to describe our excitement about the future and the joy we feel as we progress down this journey. We anxiously await the day this opportunity arises.

Sincerely,

Charlie & Stephanie