We both appreciate and recognize the value of traditions in our lives and that of our future children.

Every year we go on a family fishing trip to Spectacle Lake in Washington State. We usually organize this trip around late spring and have our closest family and friends join us for a weekend of fun, relaxation and fishing. This is one of our favorite family trips because the lake and cabins are basic, rustic and just all about family fun. We love all the pictures we have taken over the years. Another very special tradition is a trip to the Washington Coast to a place called La Push, which is a beautiful oceanside community in the Quileute Native American reservation. This is one of the most beautiful places in the state with views of beautiful evergreen forests next to the Pacific Ocean and a rich Native culture. These trips are all about enjoying natural beauty and family.

We also enjoy celebrating holidays at home and love decorating for each. Our home is usually found in a colorful and playful mood. We look forward to being able to provide a rich environment for our future children, and one in which they can appreciate their heritage.

We both come from humble beginnings. Luis was born and raised in Panama and lived there until age 18 before moving to the United States. He is of Caribbean/African descent and had the fortune of growing up in a country that his multicultural (Chinese, Indian, Black, Latino and White) so he has enjoyed the benefits of being surrounded by people of different backgrounds. He grew up in a modest house with siblings and many other neighborhood children who he was able to play with and explore local creeks, go on many adventures, and play dodgeball (or directly translated from Spanish "the poisoned ball")

Robert is White and Mexican and was raised in South Texas, near the Mexican Border. He enjoyed growing up in a Mexican-American household with lots of siblings, cousins and other extended family. He grew up with 5 other brothers and their lives were rich in love, adventure and culture. He was raised mainly by his maternal grandparents who had a huge role in his upbringing. We both speak Spanish and would like to raise our child bilingual.

We both grew up by the ocean. Luis grew up in Panama with access to the Pacific Ocean, and Robert grew up in South Texas by the gulf of Mexico. Many of our most cherished memories revolve around enjoying family time at the beach.

Since we now live on the West Coast, Maui has become one of our favorite beach vacation spots. This is our favorite island because it has ready access to the beach, it never feels too crowded and the people are very down to earth just like we are.

It is an easy family vacation because you can enjoy Hawaiian culture, food and all sorts of activities, but you can do as much or as little as you like.

One of our favorite times to go is when the mamma whales are birthing their calves and you can hear their singing underwater.

One of our favorite treats is the Hawaiian shaved ice because they are very similar to to ours (Raspado in Panama) and (Raspas in Mexico) and is something that brings us back to your humble beginnings.

We are very close to our extended family, having many close relatives visit often. We know our children will benefit from having a genuine and diverse extended family. We also have great friends, who are like family. We enjoy playing with our godchildren and when they visit, we often go hiking together, play boardgames, or play soccer in our yard. One of our favorite board games to play as a family is Quirkle, however, Twister is also very popular. When we get together with family and friends, we always find the opportunity to engage in something active. There is always cooking involved, the environment is typically loud, and people feel free to be who they are.

Every spring we go on a fishing trip to Eastern Washington. That has been one of our longest-running traditions, and we plan to continue it for many years to come.

Luis’ mother is very involved in our lives, and we hope she will play a large role in our child’s upbringing.

We live in a community in Washington State surrounded by fruit orchards and mountains. We are fortunate to have amazing views of the surrounding landscape and a large yard where we can play and continue to make memories. We have large trees on our property, a tree house, fruit trees and a basketball hoop that we use often to play ball.

The neighborhood is safe and quiet. Many of our neighbors have younger children, so we are excited about our child playing with neighborhood kids. We have ready access to hiking trails, rivers, parks and ski resorts nearby.

We are able to take advantage of fruit picking which is a perfect family activity and benefit from local farmer markets, shops and small business that give our town a very laid-back feel. The town itself has a lot of offer, but we have easy access to a large urban city within a 3 hours drive from where we live.

We hope that when you see our profile you are moved by our story and are able to place your trust in us. We cannot start to imagine all the emotions, questions and uncertainty surrounding your decision to place your baby for adoption, but we are here to be understanding, respectful, and supportive of this life-changing decision. We believe that open communication is important and will strive to be as honest as possible when we talk to our child about their adoption journey and how grateful we are for the opportunity you are giving us to become parents. We understand the benefits of open adoptions, and would love to create opportunities for you to be part of the child’s life. We would love to keep lines of communication open via letters, pictures and videos so we can share important milestones in their lives. We would also like to create a plan to meet in person in a manner that is comfortable to you.

We have been together for 11 years and married for 4 and are committed to each other and building our family. What makes our relationship unique is that we both come from multicultural backgrounds and feel at ease exploring diversity. We plan to raise our child with the same principles and strive to provide a diverse and culturally rich experience. We are fortunate that we are able to provide such experience within our circle of family and friends.

Our home life is lively and we enjoy listening to all kinds of music. Any given day is always accompanied by either Luis listening and dancing to Salsa, Merengue or Bachata, to Robert listening to roots or dancehall reggae, to us singing our hearts out (never in tune) to one of our favorite 90s R&B favorite songs. Most days are normal and filled with home cooking, sharing stories of our days and connecting (both in person and virtually) with our family and friends. We enjoy walking the trails near to our home to stay active and enjoy the surrounding scenery. In winter we enjoy snow tubing with our godchildren and nephews whenever they are visiting. We also enjoy snowboarding nearby. Spring is filled with lots of fishing in nearby lakes and preparing the garden to plant our flowers and vegetables. We also start playing tennis to get back into action following a long winter.

We hope to impart all these experiences and more to our child. We hope to impart the love of nature by continuing to enjoy camping trips, fishing, and hiking. We hope our child learns to appreciate simple joys such as bird watching right in our own backyard, sitting by the fire pit roasting s’mores over a beautiful sunset, or decorate our tree house to fit our child’s personality. We are excited about teaching them Spanish so that they grow bilingual, and also provide ways to celebrate their own culture and roots. The celebration of who they are and where they come from will be central to their upbringing as we teach them to be aware of how special they are. We hope for our child to become independent, curious, and sensitive, and provide a life where they become intellectually and culturally curious where they can celebrate diversity and their own uniqueness.

If you have read this far, we thank you for your time and consideration. Whatever your decision may be, we appreciate you and support you in this huge undertaking. We are grateful for the gift of family and the sacrifices you are thinking of making to give people like us the opportunity to grow our family.

We will be forever thankful for your consideration.

Luis & Robert