Our traditions tend to be related to holidays. Every year, Paul plans a special Christmas date out in the city. It's different every year but we've gone to concerts, a family light display at the baseball park, and the Nutcracker. We dream of having your child join us on these special family dates! Both sides of our family decorate Christmas cookies every year. We brought this extended family tradition into our home and make shortbread cookies for an open house holiday party at our house.

Every year, Anna's side of the family participates in an end-of-year tradition called the Annual Lucy Memorial Cup, named in honor of the late family dog. This is a board game competition and the winner gets to sign a banner and participate in a short awards ceremony with Pomp & Circumstance playing. It's a different game every year and this past year, our niece (8) and nephew (6) competed for the first time!

Paul's dad grew up bowling and has passed his love of the sport on to the kids. Every time all of the children and partners are together, we go bowling. Paul is a superb bowler…Anna might be improving? Our nephew Benjamin participated last time we were together and he wasn't even one! Paul's family also enjoys playing double solitaire.

Anna About Paul: Paul is thoughtful, intentional, kind, and really funny. I knew this within hours of meeting him! He is authentically himself in all circumstances and settings. Reading is his first step forward on learning something new. I admire that. I love that he tries new hobbies, too! He just took up biking to exercise and explore the city. If you come to Paul with a question, he will listen, think, and respond with such intentionality. Paul's humor is full of puns and dad jokes. I can't wait to grow old with him and see him as a dad!

Paul About Anna: Anna brings so much fun and passion to life. She brightens up any room she walks into. Anna loves deeply and can become fast friends with anyone. She wants to be sure that everyone in her life knows about everyone else in her life. Her family is also incredibly important to her, and she includes them in all aspects of her life. During Covid lockdowns, she set up a weekly Facetime date with our niece to teach her sign language. Anna wears hearing aids but doesn't let hardships constrain her. I am ceaselessly amazed at how she refuses to let her hearing get in the way of living her life. She has mastered this aspect of her life so well, that friends have been surprised to learn about her hearing loss.

We are Caucasian, as is our extended family. We live in an incredibly diverse city (race, economic status, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc.) and our church reflects this makeup of the city. Our close friends reflect that diversity. We'll have conversations with our friends that have backgrounds similar to your child, and ask them to serve as a mentor. Your child will always have peers and adults that look like them to engage with relationally. We also know that learning comes in many different forms and be sure we, together, watch movies, read books, go to restaurants, and attend events that reflect your child's heritage. Our family and community are accepting of cultural diversity and a child would be accepted as anyone else would. We will also make certain that your child knows their cultural origins.

We live in Washington, D.C. and believe that this would be such an exciting place to grow up in! The National Mall is our playground with monuments and free museums. The National Zoo is world renowned and has pandas! Our corner of the city has a pool and a river trail. When the weather is good, we'll walk on the trail to get ice cream! The river trail has a huge park with a pirate ship for imaginative play. Many of our friends with young kids live just a few blocks away. Our church is very important to us. We have a vibrant children's ministry that we currently volunteer in as teachers. There's nothing like home though. We have three bedrooms and want to repurpose the den into a playroom. Our favorite room in the house is our living room and kitchen (open concept). We start every day in blue chairs by the window, reading and playing Wordle.

Your child will join a growing extended family with aunts and uncles, grandparents, and close-in-age cousins! Anna grew up in Ohio, which is where everyone lives today. Anna's parents just retired (Dad was a lawyer and Mom a lifelong educator). Anna has one older sister who is married and they have one daughter and one son. We love being hands-on Auntie and Uncle Paul. We visit them a couple times a year and they come to see us too! Anna's parents have a house on a lake. We visit there every summer playing mini golf, swimming in the pool or lake, playing games, and doing arts and crafts. Anna's parents have a bunk bed room at the lake for all the cousins to share. Once your child is older, they'll join the cousins' bunk room!

Paul grew up in the Chicago area. Paul's mom was a stay-at-home mom and Paul's dad has run many software companies. They still live in the house Paul grew up in. When we are with Paul's side, we always plan a bowling excursion and play many games of double-solitaire. These are big family games! The basement is filled with fun, antique slot machines and arcade games, which Paul's grandfather collected. Paul's brother lives in Chicago with his partner. He plays drums in his band. His sister lives in Boston with her husband and new son, Benjamin. Benjamin can't wait to have a cousin and we are looking forward to seeing them grow up together!

Wow! Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and get to know us a little bit. We are committed to giving your child a loving and safe home. We understand that this is a difficult decision. As you are making this decision, we are praying for you. Family is of the utmost importance to us and we are excited to include you in your child's life story after adoption.

We met each other in the most unexpected way-our small colleges have an intense basketball rivalry and we met during one of the alumni association watch parties for a game. Our relationship started with a bit of good natured teasing over who went to the better school and humor remains an important part of our relationship and life together. Anna was immediately drawn to Paul for his humor, intelligence, and kindness. Paul was taken by Anna's sense of fun and her big heart. We dated for a year and a half before getting engaged at the spot for our first date. Our wedding was in Anna's hometown almost two years to the day from our first date. We have been together for six years now.

Over a year ago, we began trying to grow our family. We quickly learned that we are unable to have biological children. We moved through this difficult moment by leaning on our faith, family, and each other. We are resolved to grow our family and know that adoption is our path forward to be parents. We each are so grateful to have grown up with siblings and hope to have two to three children, all through adoption. We love the children in our lives so much and we often exclaim in wonder just how much we will love your child! In addition to our niece and nephews, we treat our friends' children as family. Some even call us Tio and Tia (Spanish for uncle and aunt). One of our favorite holiday traditions is thoughtfully picking out books for each of the important children in our lives. This becomes such a fun date, as we take in all that the bookstore has, talking with each other about each child's interests and passions, working to find the perfect fit for each individual!

We are committed to raising your child with a strong value on education, hard work, and our Christian faith. Education is important to us inside and outside the classroom. Our city offers free preschool for residents and we live close to an elementary school. Faith is also incredibly important to us. For ten years, we've taught in our children's ministry. We love teaching Bible stories to children, and have been shaped by the children we teach. We can't wait to have kids in the Sunday school program.

We know that learning occurs outside of the classroom too. We love to travel, both to see our families and explore new places! Cooking, camping, music, and board games with friends are ways we love to fill our time. While we hope to share all of this with your child, we also look forward to identifying and fostering the child's interests and passions. As a family, we will make their interests part of our family plans.

We know that if you choose us as adoptive parents for your child, we will be linked forever. We are excited about the ways that your child will experience the blessing of even more love surrounding them, as we work to include you in your child's life in our home. We love the ways that seeing pictures and videos of our growing niece and nephew, help us feel connected to them even though we do not live close by, and with that understanding, you can be confident that we will work to regularly keep you updated on your child through letters, pictures and videos. We'd also be happy to set up phone calls, FaceTimes, or in person visits, whatever you are comfortable with.

We cannot wait to include you and your child in the story that God is telling through our life together as one family. Thank you for considering us for your child.

Paul & Anna