Adoption is already a very large part of our extended family! Matt has six cousins who were adopted out of the foster care system and Bri has two brothers who are adopted. Bri remembers the adoption of her youngest brother really well since she was in high school at that time. Right now he is twelve years old, and he stays with us for a few weeks out of the summer every year.

From what we have seen, adoption can have many ups and downs, but it can be so worth it. We have seen the sacrifices people make to provide a child with a good home. We also have a couple of friends who adopted/were adopted, and their entire family dynamic changed for the better because of it. When we found out that having children naturally would be difficult for us, we knew that adoption was the path for us. We have talked about becoming parents since before we were married and it has always been a dream of ours. We are so excited to be on this adoption journey and we cannot wait to start this next chapter of our lives as parents!

There are several activities that we like to do in our free time at home. One of our favorite activities is to play ping pong in our garage. We have had a table for a little over a year and we play several nights every week. We have a scoreboard on the wall keeping track of all the games that we play. Bri was ahead for a long time but Matt has caught up.

On the weekends we like to play pickleball with Matt's siblings and parents at a local court. We get pretty competitive and have a lot of fun playing together and against each other.

Every evening we try to take our dog Rocky for a walk and get a little bit of exercise. We spend our walks laughing and enjoying each other's company.

We also like to watch TV with each other. Some of our favorite shows to watch are The Office and New Girl.

Cultural diversity is something that we both take an interest in. Despite the fact that our personal cultures are not very diverse, we plan to make sure that any child we adopt is in touch with their own cultural identity.

Matt went on a two-year mission for our church to Cabo Verde, a small country off the western coast of Africa. While there, he learned Portuguese and a creole dialect and really got to know a different life there. He loved the people there and always talks about his time there. As a high school Spanish teacher, he also teaches his students a lot about different Hispanic cultures. Bri speaks a little bit of Spanish as well, and we sometimes have small conversations together in Spanish.

We believe that cultural diversity is a wonderful thing that should be celebrated. The world is becoming more and more connected and it is becoming more necessary to be aware of other people's cultures.

We live in a small city in Georgia where we feel very accepted and southern kindness is real. The community comes together a few times a year with a fall festival, Christmas parade, and football games.

There are several families living close to us that have/will have children who will grow up with any children that come into our home. There is also a group of mothers who we go to church with who meet once a week for mini-preschool and play time.

We live in a three bedroom, one bathroom home that we bought a few years ago. It has a pretty big living room and kitchen. Matt's favorite room is the office, which is a bedroom that we are just using as an office right now. Brianna's favorite room is the kitchen because she loves cooking and baking. We finished up the fence for the yard when we first moved in so that our dog can go in and out as he chooses. We have a big front and backyard that connects around the house, offering a really nice play area for our dog and children. We have a garage where we keep our ping pong table, weight bench, punching bags, and lawn care equipment.

We have one park right now, and hopefully another park will pop up in the near future. We go swimming every summer at the college pool here that we can buy passes for.

Matt's parents and his four siblings all live close by. We are very close with them and we go to Matt's parent's house every Sunday for family dinner. We also love spending time with them playing pickleball and volleyball outside and lots of different board and card games inside.

Bri's family lives far away but we are still close to them. Her 12 year old brother has come out every summer for the last three years to spend a few weeks with us. In that time we go to the beach, play video games together, and go to the movies.

One family tradition that we have is every other year we like to go to family reunions in Idaho and Arizona where lots of our extended families live. While there we go camping and have lots of extended family members of all ages.

Something that is very important to us is our religion. We are both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and it plays a big role in our lives. This is something that we hope to share with any children that we welcome into our family.

Both of our families are excited for our adoption plans and will be so open and accepting of the child that we welcome into our family.

Hi!

We are Matt and Bri. We have been married for just over six years. During these six years we have always loved each other and have grown closer together through many of the trials that we have faced as a couple. We like to joke around and goof off a lot, and humor is one of the main things that we use to get through hard times.

We have been talking about adoption for a long time, but we never took that first step until now. We started trying for kids about a year after we got married, but we found out that Bri has PCOS and Endometriosis (two conditions that affect fertility). Finding this out was difficult for both of us, but especially on Bri. Bri has wanted a big family ever since she was a little girl, and when she found out that her dream might not be possible she took it very hard. We see adoption as a blessing and as a way for us to have the family that we have always wanted but are unable to have on our own. We are so excited for the opportunity to adopt and the joy that this process can bring to our lives.

Family plays a huge role in our lives. We both come from families with multiple siblings and we are still close to both sides of our families. The importance of families is something that we take very seriously in our lives, and something that we plan to share with any children that we adopt. Bri plans to stay at home with our child until they are school age. Matt is a High School Spanish Teacher. Even though he spends time at work, he always tries to make sure that he is home as often as possible, and this is something that would become even more important to him as we have children. We know that we will love the child that we adopt with all our hearts, and that love will be shared by all of our families and our community.

We are both active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints. We have both served in our church as teachers to kids of all ages, 1-18 years old. We really enjoy the time that we spend with these kids; they always know how to make us laugh and see the good in the world.

We cannot truly understand the feelings that must be going through your heart right now. We hope that as you get to know us better through our profile, through phone calls, and as well as hopefully meeting in person, that we can help bring you peace of mind as you try to decide what is best for you and your child.

As far as contact goes, we are open to as much contact as you feel comfortable with. Whether that be sending pictures and letters, phone calls, or even occasional meet-ups. We know that contact can be hard and we are willing to work with you in any way to help you feel more comfortable.

We appreciate you taking the time to read this letter and we hope that you will consider us as potential adoptive parents for your child.

Sincerely,

Matt & Bri